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HOW MANY LOAVES HAVE YE? (YES, YOU) GIVE YE THEM TO EAT

01-08-12

(Mat 14:13-17)  When Jesus heard of it [the beheading of John the Baptist], he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart [apart from the multitude, but with His disciples to rest and to pray, i.e., re-charge]: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth [from the ship], and saw a great multitude [perhaps 15,000 people], and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick [the action He was “moved” by the Holy Spirit to do]. And when it was evening, his disciples [Gk: learners, pupils (students)] came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time [for dinner] is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy [for] themselves victuals [Gk: food]. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart [they need not separate themselves from our fellowship]; give ye them to eat [i.e., minister to them of your self]. And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes [Jesus knew that was all the food they had before He commanded them “give ye them to eat” (ref. John 6:5,6].

1.      compassion = Gk: to have the bowels yearn, i.e. feel sympathy, to pity.

2.      Commentary: “moved with compassion” in the Greek text the same word for this English phrase is recorded twice, i.e., splagchnizomai splagchnizomai. Compassion is an “action” word. Movement is inherent within the meaning of “compassion.” Com is a prefix meaning “with” passion wherein “with” represents the action-movement of the otherwise inert passion. Without the action, without the movement, which is a positive response to the circumstance focused upon, there is no compassion. This conclusion is clearly exemplified in the narrative of “The Good Samaritan” wherein the priest and the Levite who each saw the wounded man did nothing to aid him; hence, they had no compassion. But the good Samaritan both saw and performed helpful positive actions.

3.      desert = Gk: lonesome, i.e. (by impl.) waste:--desert, desolate, solitary, wilderness. 

4.      (Luke 9:10,11)  And the apostles [first mention, they were previously called disciples], when they were returned [from preaching, teaching, and healing by twos, manifesting the power of God], told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida [Heb: fishing-house] [situate just east of the Sea of Galilee]. And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.

a.      (Mark 6:7)  And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits; (Mark 6:12,13)  And they went out, and preached that men should repent [Gk: think differently, reconsider]. And they cast out [through the cooperative internal working of the invisible Holy Spirit] many devils [from the inside of men; the devils were the evil causes of the sicknesses], and anointed with oil [a visible symbol of the Holy Spirit applied as a sign to the outside of men who were manifesting the evil effects of the internal devils] many that were sick, and healed them [i.e., healed them of the cause (devils) and effect (sicknesses)].

b.      Commentary: “and healed them that had need of healing” = this phrase can be interpreted two ways. It could be interpreted to mean that He healed only those who were sick. But didn’t everyone need healing?? Yes, they certainly did.

5.      (John 6:5-9)  When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip [Gk: fond or friend of horses], Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove [Gk: test] him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth [two hundred day’s wages] of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here [Gk: a little boy: child] [connotation of innocence], which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

a.      Commentary: barley is a coarse grain, relatively plentiful and fairly inexpensive (personal sacrifice - an expense is a sacrifice). It was eaten primarily by the poor people, and was also used as fodder for animals. Barley, representing Passover, His first coming, the Old Testament, was the first grain to mature in the crop year. Wheat, representing Pentecost, His second coming, the New Testament, was the second more delicate and much more expensive (personal sacrifice) grain to mature during the crop cycle.

b.      Commentary: This is the only miracle that is recorded in all four gospels; the prominent theme is “present your bodies a living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1). The “five barley loaves” represent the Word of God, the body of Jesus Christ (John 1:14) who is the “bread of life” (John 6:35,48), while the “two small fishes” (please note the diminutive use of “small” connoting humility) represent us, His disciples (ref. Mat 4:19; Mark 1:17).   

(Mat 14:18-21)  He said, Bring them [the five barley loaves and two small fishes] hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven [in prayer], he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude [therein illustrating the divine order of service]. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

1.      (Mark 6:39-44)  And he commanded [first military term] them to make all sit down by companies [second military term] upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks [third military term], by hundreds, and by fifties [the latter two verses are presented from an entirely military point of view, commanding and expecting obedience (2 Tim 2:3,4)]. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake [Gk: brake down] the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided [Gk: to part, i.e. to apportion, share, or (fig.) to disunite] he among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

a.      (2 Tim 2:3,4)  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier [warrior] of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth [that goes to war] entangleth [entangles] himself with the affairs of this life [Mark 4:19]; that he may please him  who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

                                                              i.     (Mark 4:19)  And the cares [Gk: distractions] of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful [Gk: barren: without fruit]. [and as a soldier without power]

                                                            ii.     ordain = Dictionary: 1. to invest with ministerial or sacerdotal functions; confer holy orders upon. 2. to appoint authoritatively.

                                                           iii.     (John 15:16)  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain [i.e., be eternal]: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Amen