Our story opens with John the Baptist. He came preaching repentance. Remember that before his birth, an angel announced his coming. Zechariah, his father was serving in the Temple when an angel appeared to him. This wasn't just any old angel; this was Gabriel. He told Zechariah that his aging, barren wife was about to have a son who would be born with the spirit and power of Elijah.
Zechariah didn't believe the message. After all, he and Elizabeth were getting on in years. Gabriel said, "I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was He who sent me to bring you this good news," (Luke 1:19 NLT). He struck Zechariah mute until the moment he could deliver the name for the child that God had commanded, John.
John was the fulfillment of Malachi 3:1 which says:
"Look! I am sending my messenger and he will prepare the way before me."
We have to take a moment and ponder the place in history in which John was born. God had been silent for around 400 years. There had not been a prophet since Malachi, the very prophet who told of the messenger to be sent before the Lord.
Not only that, people that were paying attention were expecting the Messiah because of Daniel's prophecy that gave an actual countdown (Daniel 9:25). This amazing prophecy says that from the time of the decree to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince would be 483 years. Israel was in a state of heightened anticipation when John burst on the scene out of the prophetic silence. As a matter of fact, many thought he was the Messiah. John refuted those claims and pointed the way to Jesus.
The miracle of the Feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle performed by Jesus that was found in all four Gospels. Well, there is the Resurrection that is included in all, but it is debated whether the Son, the Father, or the Holy Spirit performed that one (sorry folks, a little joke there). We are going to link the story in all four Gospels because we will probably visit something from each, plus passages for some extra background material found in Luke and John. Here are the links: Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 7, Luke 9, John 3, and John 6.
John's disciples saw the disciples of Jesus baptizing and asked John about it. This is after God had confirmed to John that Jesus was the Messiah by the Holy Spirit descending like a dove after Jesus' baptism. John told his disciples that that was the way it was supposed to be. He must decrease and Jesus increase.
Shortly after this John tells Herod Antipas that it is unlawful for him to marry his brother's wife which got him arrested. As he languished in prison, John has what appears to be a moment of doubt because he sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he really was the Messiah.
Jesus sends a message back to John. He said, "Go back to report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised and the good news is proclaimed to the poor." All these are fulfillments of Old Testaments Messianic prophecies.
Everyone points to the mission statement Jesus gave when he began his ministry. He entered the synagogue and quoted Isaiah 61:1 which says:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of prison to them that are bound."
But what Jesus tells John is closer to Isaiah 35:5-6 which says:
"And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer and those who cannot speak will sing for joy."
All of the things Jesus told John are here except one; lepers shall be cleansed. I can't find a prophecy from the Old Testament that the Messiah will cleanse the leper. As a matter of fact, cleansing of lepers is glaringly absent in the Old Testament. We have Moses' leprous hand for a sign to Pharaoh, and Meriam, Moses' sister, who was stricken with leprosy, then healed. She had to remain outside the camp for seven days after talking smack to Moses (Exodus 4 and Numbers 12 respectively). We have King Uzziah who displeased God. And we have Naaman the Syrian (2 Kings 5).
The thing about these cases is that if anyone was healed from leprosy, it was God that did it and everyone knew it. Other than Moses, Miriam and Naaman, we have no record at all of someone being healed from leprosy and showing themselves to the priests. Naaman, being a gentile from Syria, wouldn't have been compelled to show himself to a priest, so imagine their surprise when a former leper who met Jesus showed up at the temple to be inspected. They would have known that something was up because it was as rare as the blind receiving their sight.
I believe that John felt relief after he received that message. Just as he had told his disciples, he had to decrease so that the Messiah could increase. He likely knew he would never leave the prison and didn't want to die in vain. As it turned out, Herod had him beheaded to satisfy a stupid vow made in lust.
When Jesus heard of John's death, he told his disciples that they should go to what most translations call a desert place, a wilderness if you will, to be alone. They jumped in the boat and took off. The people followed around the edge of the lake. The Bible says that Jesus felt compassion for them.
The disciples said, "Jesus, it's getting late. Let's shut this down for the evening so these people can go get a bite to eat (paraphrase of course)."
Jesus said, "No, that's okay. You feed them."
The disciples said, "What? There's no way we can feed all these people!" The Bible says that there were 5000 men not counting women and children. Why not count the women and children. Wouldn't the miracle seem greater if there were 15,000 to 20,000?
Then there's the fact that the miracle was done with five barley loaves. Why barley?
Then there's the odd detail that the disciples sat them on the green grass. What's up with that?
In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses tells the people that God will raise up a prophet like him from among the people and that they should listen Him. What would make a prophet like Moses? How about feeding a multitude in the wilderness.
That scripture from before in Isaiah 35 was the tail end of a passage:
Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the Plain of Sharon. There the LORD will display his glory, the splendor of our God. With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. Isaiah 35:1-3
Jesus was fulfilling a huge Messianic prophecy here. He was giving the multitude bread from heaven in the wilderness like Moses, and all of it on the green grass like Isaiah had prophesied.
What about the barley loaves? We are told of one of Elisha's miracles in 2 Kings 4:42-44. During a time of famine, a man from Baalshalishah (which means 'thrice great Lord') brought Elisha 20 barley loaves as a offering for first fruits as laid out in the Levitical Law. He also brought some grain. The King James Bible says 'ears of corn' but corn is a new world vegetable. In King James time, all grain was referred to as corn.
Elisha told him to lay it before the men for a feast. The man balked and asked what was so little bread among 100 men. Elisha told him they would all eat their fill and have leftovers. An absolute foreshadow of Jesus feeding the multitude with barley loaves.
Jesus was also fulfilling Psalm 132:15, which says:
"I will satisfy its poor with food."
Oh and, as for the 5000 men? I believe it was accounting like the men in the book of Numbers. God counted men over the age of 20 for the army. Women and children were ineligible to serve. Not to mention that five is the number of grace and the thousand is multiplying God's grace.
This feeding of the 5000 was basically the official launch of the Messiah as the Messiah. It was a public display and anyone with any knowledge of the Old Testament would have known what it meant.
Right after this, we see Jesus walking on the water. This was another miracle that could have been expected if one was paying attention. Job 38:16 says:
"Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?"
I only include this miracle because when Jesus came to them on the sea and calmed the storm, the disciples were amazed. The bible says:
"...for they still didn't understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in." Mark 6:52
Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.
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