After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee [of Tiberias]. 2 A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish feast of Passover was near. 5 When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” 6 He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little [bit].” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. 12 When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” 13 So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. 14 When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” 15 Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
A large crowd followed Jesus as a result of the signs and wonders he did (Jn. 4:48). Jesus “moved with pity (Mk. 6:34)” for the large crowd asked Philip about buying food to feed them even though he knew what he was about to do. Philip estimated that a laborer working six days a week for eight months would not earn enough to buy enough food to feed the crowd. Andrew found a boy with five barley loaves and two little fish which could only feed a handful of people at most. Barley loaves were a staple food of the poor, and three small barley loaves would be consumed by a man when having a hearty meal (Lk. 11:5).
Jesus had the five thousand men plus women and children sit on the grass in rows of 50 or 100 (Mk. 6:40). He prepared a table for them as God prepared a table for the Israelites in the wilderness (Ex. 16). Jesus gave a customary Jewish blessing before meals and the disciples distributed the bread and fish. “They all ate and were satisfied” (Mk. 6:41-42). Jesus took a small amount from a child and provided an abundance for many. When they gathered the fragments from the meal, they filled twelve wicker baskets. The crowd recognized Jesus as the messianic prophet they were awaiting (Mal. 3:1,23) and would have made him king because of his mighty deeds, so Jesus withdrew to the mountain to avoid the fervor of the crowd.
Almighty God, help us to trust in you and to offer you whatever little we have so it can be multiplied through your generosity. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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