Mark 6:30-44

5 Loaves, 2 Fishes - Jesus Feeds 5,000 People

31 And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)

32 They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

Five Thousand Fed

33 The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them.

34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

35 When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, "This place is desolate and it is already quite late;

36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

37 But He answered them, "You give them something to eat!" And they said to Him, "Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?"

38 And He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And when they found out, they said, "Five, and two fish."

39 And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass.

40 They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.

41 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all.

42 They all ate and were satisfied,

43 and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish.

44 There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.

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This is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change the way that we think, and the way that we live.

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Commentary by Bob Pardue

The Miracle - Jesus Feeds Five Thousand People

The feeding of 5,000 (men not including women and children) is one of the most baffling miracles in the Bible. A Sunday school teacher enlightened me to the fact that many miracles in the Bible are challenged with theory by scientists and archaeologists.

This one is impossible to explain away. Hundreds of pounds of food from 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes? Impossible? Remember, what's impossible to us is just another way God takes the opportunity to let us know who He is. A simple feat for Him.

People as Sheep

Jesus referred to the crowd as sheep. A flock which does not have a shepherd to guide it becomes dazed and confused causing the sheep to be in harm's way from predators and the elements of nature.

Like sheep, the crowd also needed to be guided and protected. Jesus organized them in smaller groups, took care of their physical needs by feeding them and, taught them thus providing for their spiritual needs. Although we cannot perform miracles as Christ did, we have a similar goal. Our mission is to ...

Go, Serve, Share

As Christians, we have this same calling. A former pastor gave a simple statement about missions. It was ...

• GO - Go to where people are.
• SERVE - Take care of their physical needs such as food, shelter, etc. - A hungry person who needs food to eat may not be interested in hearing what we have to say about salvation.
• SHARE - Once the first two steps are taken, then we can share what we know about Christ and what He has done for us.

Isn't that a wonderful way to reach out to others?

Love in Christ

- Bob

Mark 6:7-13 - Jesus Gives Instructions to the Twelve Disciples - Sending Out the 12