Read Mark 6:30 - 44
They all ate and were satisfied, [Mark 6:42 NIV]
[Photo by Jacob Vizek on Unsplash.]
The feeding of the five thousand from five loaves and two fish is well-known and has often been used in Bible teaching and preaching. For today's blog, I want to concentrate on only one verse from Mark's record of this miracle. But it is a very important verse - "They all ate and were satisfied."
In the first place, this verse demonstrates the effectiveness of the miracle recorded in this passage. Mark highlights the reality of the situation.
A large crowd of 5,000 men (no mention of women and children in Mark's Gospel)
People were very hungry because they had been away from their homes for a long time.
There was no supply of food near at hand.
The people had nothing to eat.
It would have been too expensive to pay for enough food to feed this crowd - the cost would have been the equivalent of eight months wages for a labourer (calculated at minimum wage for adult would come to £9,979 in today's money - but maybe the cost of food was much more relatively expensive then).
The miracle is another example of the Creator at work. Jesus demonstrates that he has power over the scientific laws because he created them and the universe functions according to his divine power. The sceptics might say that this account is the product of a vivid imagination or an optical illusion or some other attempt to play down the significance of this miracle. As a believer in the power of the Son of God, I am content to see the hand of the almighty Creator at work.
But the significant point is that the people were not given a few crumbs. They were fed enough to have their hunger satisfied. They did not desire to eat any more - their bellies were full. A lovely feeling!
There is a spiritual lesson for us too in this verse. If we feed on Christ the living bread, we will be truly satisfied. Humans are made with a hunger which only God can fill. We might try a whole range of alternatives but true satisfaction can only be found in Jesus, the Son of God. Judging by the number of quiz shows with significant cash prizes, people imagine that money can provide satisfaction. There are cheers when someone wins £20,000 in cash. We imagine that a whole range of pleasures will satisfy us and we will need anything else.
The prophet Isaiah laments to the people of his day, "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy?" He uses two metaphors to describe the spiritual state of his own people - the kingdom of Judah. They are thirsty but they are drinking liquid which will never quench their thirst. They are hungry but they are eating food which will never nourish them. He is telling them that their thirst will only be quenched when they return to the Lord and their hunger will be relieved when they return to the Lord.
There is an interesting verse in the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament.
Death and Destruction are never satisfied,
and neither are human eyes. [Proverbs 27:20 NIV]
This is a fair description of life in the United Kingdom in the 21st Century. We live in a materialistic society which is never satisfied. We imagine that if only we had such and such a possession, we would be happy and contented. But we soon discover that the new acquisition does not bring satisfaction.
I have covered this theme in many previous Day Shares. Here are two examples - Day Share 22/10/2020 entitled "Never be thirsty again" and Day Share 09/11/2020 entitled, "The Bread of Life."
If we are discontented and dissatisfied, this is a sign that we are not truly feeding on Christ. We are perhaps feeding too much on what this world has to offer and not enough on Jesus, the Bread of Life.
I love the verse in the best-known Psalm.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
The imagery here is of a banquet where there is abundant provision. When the writer says that his cup overflows he is making the point that he has more blessings from the Lord than he deserves and they are overflowing. God is a generous host - he wants His guests to be satisfied and well-filled.
5 loaves, 2 fish and twelve baskets left over is Jesus' fulfilment of bread of presence in Lev 24:5-9 = 12 loaves, 1/5 ephah flour, 2 rows of 6 loaves in each.