Matthew 14:13-21 covers the story of the miracle of Jesus feeding five thousand people with just five loaves of bread and two fish. This is one of Jesus’s famous miracles in the bible. Can you imagine being one of the five thousand people there and witnessing multiple fish and bread just appearing out of nowhere in front of your eyes? This miracle would have made it clear to all that were present that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.

If you look into the details of this miracle then we can see some interesting stuff unfold and we get also get an insight into the type of person that Jesus was. This miracle happened right after the beheading of John the Baptist. Jesus was saddened by hearing the news and had moved by boat to a solitary place to mourn. Matthew 14:13, “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.” In spite of being in sorrow when Jesus saw the large group of people come to him, he healed their sick. Matthew 14:14 “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

The disciples approached Jesus and told him that the crowd was hungry and should be sent away to get food. Matthew 14:15-17  “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 replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.” This is where Jesus stepped in and decided to feed the hungry crowd and performed the miracle of multiplying the loaves of bread and fish until all who ate were satisfied.

Matthew 14:18-21 details the miracle. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. 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 basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

The amazing part of this entire miracle is that Jesus made sure that everyone ate till they were satisfied meaning he didn’t just feed them to keep their hunger away, he completely satisfied their physical hunger. The bonus detail that is not talked about a whole lot when this story is mentioned is the fact that there were twelve baskets left over and the end of all of this. One for each of Jesus’s twelve disciples. Jesus never forgot about his disciples and their own hunger during this time and they each had their own basket left over to eat for themselves.

This story shows us the compassionate nature of Jesus and his desire to fulfill our basic needs like hunger.  All this happened even though Jesus was struggling with the personal loss of losing his cousin John the Baptist. This story clearly shows us who Jesus really is and how he takes care of those who seek him. All five thousand people who were present that day went home satisfied, well-fed and healthy believing that Jesus Christ is the son of God. There is no way anyone left that place thinking otherwise after what had happened and what they had witnessed.  If Jesus went out of his way to take care of hungry people then can you imagine what he can do for you when you allow him to take care of your spiritual and emotional needs?

Jesus says in John 6:35  “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” This verse pretty much sums up everything you need to know about Jesus. Jesus used bread to feed five thousand hungry people when they were hungry. He also says that he wants to be the bread of your life. If you accept him into your life then you will never be hungry or thirsty for all eternity. Once you let him into your heart and make him your savior then you will be completely satisfied just like the crowd that left that day when Jesus performed one of his greatest miracles.