Abundant Leftovers: Mark 6:38-44
“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.” Mark 6:38-44
This scene is hard to imagine. The total number of people was staggering. Matthew 14:21 says, “There were about five thousand men who are, aside from women and children. The total crowd may have been upwards of fifteen thousand. That requires a lot of fish and chips!
Think about it, with groups of fifty to one hundred each, that meant there were over 150 groups. The two fish and five loaves were inadequate for even one group. It may have met the needs of Jesus and His disciples, but feeding fifteen thousand people with two fish and five loaves was humanly impossible.
The amazing thing about the story was everyone ate and was satisfied. When the collected the leftovers, they had twelve baskets full. That was one basket for each disciple. The two fish and five loaves would have barely filled the bottom of one basket.
There are a few stories of God multiplying food in the Bible. It happened under Moses, Elijah and Elisha, but this was huge. For the people, this put Jesus in the category of the three people mentioned above. This miracle was Jesus saying; “I am the God of Moses, Elijah and Elisha.”
This is an example of Ephesians 3:20-21; “20) Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21) to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” The twelve full baskets were abundantly beyond the need.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
“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.” Mark 6:38-44
This scene is hard to imagine. The total number of people was staggering. Matthew 14:21 says, “There were about five thousand men who are, aside from women and children. The total crowd may have been upwards of fifteen thousand. That requires a lot of fish and chips!
Think about it, with groups of fifty to one hundred each, that meant there were over 150 groups. The two fish and five loaves were inadequate for even one group. It may have met the needs of Jesus and His disciples, but feeding fifteen thousand people with two fish and five loaves was humanly impossible.
The amazing thing about the story was everyone ate and was satisfied. When the collected the leftovers, they had twelve baskets full. That was one basket for each disciple. The two fish and five loaves would have barely filled the bottom of one basket.
There are a few stories of God multiplying food in the Bible. It happened under Moses, Elijah and Elisha, but this was huge. For the people, this put Jesus in the category of the three people mentioned above. This miracle was Jesus saying; “I am the God of Moses, Elijah and Elisha.”
This is an example of Ephesians 3:20-21; “20) Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21) to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” The twelve full baskets were abundantly beyond the need.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
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