Feeding the multitude

bread and fish. Early third-century painting from the Catacomb of Callixtus, Rome. The Feeding of the 5,000 is also known as the "miracle of the five loaves and two fish"; the Gospel of John reports that Jesus used five loaves and two fish supplied by a boy to feed a multitude. According to the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been killed, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Luke specifies that the place was near Bethsaida. The crowds followed Jesus on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food." Jesus directed the people to sit down in groups on the grass. In the Gospel of Mark, the crowds sat in groups of 50 and 100, and in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus's instructions were to seat the crowd in groups of 50, implying that there were 100 such groups. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, Jesus gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve baskets full of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. In the Gospel of John, the multitude was attracted to Jesus because of the healing works he performed, and the feeding of the multitude was taken as a further sign that Jesus was the Messiah. in Tabgha is the site where many Christians believe the feeding of the five thousand to have taken place. == The feeding of the 4,000 ==

This story, which appears only in Mark and Matthew, is also known as the miracle of the seven loaves of bread and few little fishes because the Gospel of Matthew refers to seven loaves and a few small fish used by Jesus to feed a multitude. According to the Gospels, a large crowd had gathered and was following Jesus. Jesus called his disciples to him and said: His disciples answered: Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn gave to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were leftover. The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan (or Magdala). == Analysis ==

Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer notes the differences between some of the details of the accounts as a means of emphasizing that there were two distinct miracles: for example, the baskets used for collecting the food that remained were twelve ('hand baskets') in Mark 6:43 but seven ('large baskets') in Mark 8:8. Cornelius a Lapide stated that a or 'large basket' was double the size of a . An indication of the size of a is that the apostle Paul was let out of a building through a gap in the Damascus city wall in one in order to avert a plot to kill him (Acts 9:25). is to "come into the world" (John 6:14). ==Interpretation==

German bishop Justus Knecht draws some moral lessons from the miracle, stating that it shows: • The importance of saying grace at meals, because before Jesus multiplied and distributed the bread, he "raised His eyes to heaven and prayed", • The importance of not being wasteful with food, because Jesus tells them, "Gather up the fragments, lest they be lost", • The goodness of Jesus, because he feeds those who seek him ("Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things [which are necessary for the life of the body] will be added unto you"), and, • The annual multiplication of food, since the multiplication of loaves shows how every year God increases the seed sown by farmers (i.e., for every 10 grains of wheat sown in the ground, 300–400 grains are harvested). Knecht and many other commentators also draw parallels between the miracle and the Eucharist. Pope John XXIII used Andrew's words, "what is that among so many?" to inform the hope underlying his decision in 1959 to convene the Second Vatican Council despite the spiritual poverty he observed in the church at that time: == See also ==