MIRACLE FEEDING OF 5,000 MEN. WOMEN –CHILDREN- MATTHEW 14
Only two miracles are recorded in each gospel: the resurrection of our Lord and the feeding of the 5000. It tells of the magnificent supply of our beloved Lord. Old Testament reveals His adequate supply of flour and oil for the widow. (1 Kings 17:11-16), who prepared the meal for Elijah. Moses spoke of the Lord’s provision in Exodus 16:12, when God gave manna each morning, and quail at night. While in Numbers 11:21, God spoke of butchering flocks for 600,000, surprisingly demanding that they catch every fish in the ocean to fulfil His promise.
Over many hours Christ taught this vast crowd of the Kingdom of God - and healed them of countless diseases. Only the Lord of glory can minister to such great multitudes, as in the once- communist state of Moldova, Franklyn Graham recently preached the precious gospel. Please notice how the Lord of glory was moved with tender compassion, as He healed them of their numerous diseases. A medical marvel. He was grieved when the disciples planned to send the multitude away, seeking lodging, which would have been impossible, and searching for food, so improbable. Our Lord knew the prohibitive cost.
Desperate disciples sought human resources, which are always inadequate. (v15)
Our gracious Lord told them that ‘They need not depart. Give them food to eat.’(v16) Deity held absolute control of the situation. Then a little boy unravelled his lunch pack, containing five barley loaves, speaking of his humble origin, yet barley presaged the resurrection. And the laughable two fish, was ridiculous for an immense, hungry crowd. The Lord was in command.
I reject the teaching of my youth from one of England’s preachers that the selfish crowd was so ashamed that their secret lunches appeared. This would deny the glorious power of the Christ of God to show His creative glory. Christ is God.
CREATION and Intelligent design dominated the hours of teaching on the Galilean slopes. Christ held the five loaves in His hands, and lifted them to heaven.
Why five loaves- and not another number? I suggest the following:
5 fingers reveal the dexterity of the hand, as revealed in music of the keyboard, viola, guitar; the preparation of the delightful meal to follow; the knitting of the clothes we wear. The hand is so intricately structured that Paul Brandt, the world authority on reconstructive surgery of the hand had an open line for the world for embattled surgeons who needed direction during this intricate, tedious surgery.
The sandalled feet of the Lord Jesus showed a normal foot with 5 toes, essential for perfect balance. When a friend lost his big toe in a farm accident, he had to relearn balance as he walked. Our Lord taught during the moments of this adventure.
The same Creator Lord gave us five senses: namely those of smell, sight, hearing, touch and taste. Each demanded special organs, e.g. eyes, ears, nose, spinal column, and tongue. Did our Lord allude to them as HE held the five loaves in His hands?
Then He inbuilt 5 appetites into every life. Hunger, demanding food: thirst satisfied only with drink: weariness necessitating sleep: sexual desire, to be fulfilled in God-blessed marriage: and a true self-esteem.
HE is the LORD OF ALL CREATION. Make HIM Lord of your life.
Doubtless, the Lord told the history of the Loaves, reminding them of the barley sown in the soil, nourished by sun and rain over several months, and then reaped; and separated from the chaff. Did the Lord liken the burial of the grains of barley to His dying and rising again? God’s marvellous harvest was 30/ 60/100 fold. I suggest the Lord explained the crushing of the barley into flour, as speaking of His bruising and piercing at Calvary as their sin-bearer. . Then the salt (expressive of the Holy Spirit), water (He is the living water) and olive oil (expressive of the Spirit of God) were added to the dough. What superlative teaching.
He taught how dough would be heated in the oven, signifying His intense suffering as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Our Lord probably spoke of that mighty chapter, Isaiah 53. I had followed His example in speaking at a funeral in Indonesia, referring to the nearby farmer planting his rice and reaping a harvest. It portrayed our Lord Jesus dying for their sin and rising again.
The eternal Christ miraculously compressed the natural processes of 6-12 months in a moment of time. He taught possibly twenty thousand during those precious moments. God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Scripture often refers to the number five: for example, 5 books of the Pentateuch constitute Moses’ writings. David sought 5 smooth stones in his approach to the giant Goliath. Our Lord told how 5 sparrows were sold for 2 farthings ( Luke 12;6): and how a trader gained 5 pounds.( Luke 19:18) He spoke of the 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins. The apostle Paul courageously received 40-1 (39) stripes on five occasions. (2 Cor 11:24) God’s Spirit chose 5 curtains, bars, sockets, cubits, pillars for the perfect structure of the tabernacle. Five is the number of grace in scripture.
But why did the boy have two fish? Christ is the great Anatomist, and would have revealed that the brain had two hemispheres, controlling all body functions. We have two eyes for perfect vision. A sweet granddaughter tragically lost an eye in Java spending years adjusting especially in sport. Our two ears give sensitive hearing; two nostrils for breathing; two palates, hard and soft, to digest and speak.
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Our heart has two auricles, for receiving blood and two ventricles for pumping to the lungs and body; we breathe through two lungs; the large bowel and small intestines for digestion; Our Creator gave two kidneys for excretion. He planned two reproductive organs, testes and ovaries for male and female. He created us with two arms for multiplied, complex activity; and two legs for mobility. The intelligent Creator taught His perfect creation of man, made in His likeness.
Galilee was the natural breeding ground of these fish. Again, the Lord of glory compacted in His hands the development and multiplying of these fish in a moment.
Scripture presents the truth that ‘2’ represents union. For example, God created man from the dust and woman from the rib of man united to form a family: God wrestled with Jacob; Joshua met the Christ, the Captain of His salvation; Christ in you is the hope of glory; God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself.
The vast crowd sat down in their fifties and hundreds on much grass, commented on by the gospel writers. Seed with its unique DNA (the Instigator of the DNA and RNA controlled the scene) had provided this beautiful coverage for the weary audience, while HE, the Lord of agriculture, called them to rest.
He took the offered loaves and fish. Christ always accepts our offerings. Nothing is too small. HE invoked heaven, and blessed the food. Never had they heard MAN speak with His Father in heaven. He broke the bread and fish, just as we do in the Lord‘s supper. Then He commanded them to gather the fragments, after their hunger had been satisfied, so that the twelve disciples carried telling evidence of the mighty reproduction with them..
Christ sent the disciples away by boat for refreshment, only following His teaching and demonstration of His Deity. Christ also sent the multitude away- only after He had healed, taught, fed, and prayed with them. WE should too follow HIM.
Dr Adrian Rogers, distinguished pastor of the vast Memphis Tennessee Church of 29,000, President of the Southern Baptist Convention on 3 occasions, sponsor of Love Worth Finding recently went home to glory. He delighted in telling what His glorious Lord had achieved. This should be our constant ambition.
A unique discipleship class of 5000 men, women and children; 20,000 probably.
After the multitude had gone, HE alone retreated to the mountain for prayer.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is Creator, Deity, Healer, Multiplier, Redeemer; the Compassionate one.