Feeding of the 5000

In the gospel of Mark, there is a miracle called The Feeding of the Five Thousand. In chapter 6:34-44 and is located in the Galilean Ministry of Jesus, in Mark. The Galilean Ministry of Jesus is when, after John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:14-15).” The Feeding of the Five Thousand is the only miracle of Jesus that is recounted in all four gospels. In the miracle Jesus is taking, breaking, and giving to the disciples. This corresponds to the actions of Jesus over the Last Supper and the Eucharist.

In this passage Jesus goes to a deserted place for rest, in the same time He attracts a great number of people. Jesus then sees the vast crowd and tells his disciples to go to the nearest villages and farms to gather food for the people. The disciples only had two hundred days worth of wage, so Jesus sent them to get as many loaves and fish. They brought back five loaves and two fish. Jesus took the loaves

and looked up tp heaven and blessed them. He then broke the loaves and gave them to His disciples and also divided the two fish among them. The people were satisfied and then picked up the wicker baskets and drank from them. Jesus had shown compassion towards the people and had feed them, after he wanted to rest (Mark6:33-44).

This corresponds with the Last Supper and Eucharist, Jesus is breaking and giving the bread to the disciples and followers. The breaking of the bread refers to the Last Supper when, Jesus says, “this is my body and will be given up to you.” Jesus has symbolism in the breaking of the bread as He looks up to heaven and blesses the loaves. Jesus is preparing His people for the Eucharist and the final banquet in heaven. This is proving the point that Jesus’ connotation that the breaking is referring the bread and the body he will be giving up. When there is fragments left over and the word fragment, is used in the singular, of the broken bread of the Eucharist (Mark 14:20). It might very well have been regularly retold in a Eucharistic setting, as the way Jesus breaks the bread and gives thanks, would be a good way into teaching about the Eucharistic meal, and Jesus’ self-breaking on the

Cross.

Although, the story is in all four gospels, each story is a little different. The reason for this is that it was anticipating the Eucharist and the final banquet in the kingdom (14,13-21). In Matthew, Jesus gets off of a boat and when he arrives he feels pity for them and cures the sick. He only feels pity for the people in Mark and does not heal any of them. However, they are very similar except for that

reason. In Matthew Jesus does the same thing as he did in Mark, He looks up to heaven, bless it, and breaks the loaves. Mark and Matthew are more similar than the other two gospels. Mark and Matthew are discussing the same meaning, that the actions of Jesus are corresponding to the Last Supper and the Eucharist. Both have

the disciples there, have Jesus break the bread and give the bread to the disciples. This is a perfect example of the Last Supper and Eucharist all in one story. This is preparing us for the end of Jesus’ mission and Him giving Himself up for our sins.

Matthew is consistently silent about Jesus dividing the fish among the people. By concentrating on the bread, He draws attention to the Eucharistic overtones of Jesus’ actions.

In Luke, he discusses how Jesus took them to a town called Bethsaida. This is not in any of the other gospels. As it mentioned in Matthew, “He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured.” However, it is still the same in every gospel, “then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.” This is the same action taking place in all four gospels, the words do change a little, and there is the same meaning each time.

In the gospel of John it starts off the same as Matthew, Jesus getting off a boat. John writes about how “a large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.” Luke wrote about the same exact thing in his gospel. John is different on the roles of Phillip and Andrew, the proximity of the Passover, and

the allusion to Elisha (6,1-15). The story in John symbolizes the food that is really available through Jesus. It connotes a new exodus and has Eucharistc overtones (6, 1-15). John pictures Jesus as the new Moses and the prophet. John states, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is tho come into the world (6, 14).”

In the Old Testament there are many connections to the Feeding of the Five Thousand. In 2 Kings 4:42-43, is the Multiplications