Five Loaves, Two Fish

This morning I am reading from Luke 9:1-6,10-17 NIV:

[1] When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, [2] and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. [3] He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. [4] Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. [5] If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” [6] So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere. 

[10] When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, [11] but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. 

[12] Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” 

[13] He replied, “You give them something to eat.” 

They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” [14] (About five thousand men were there.)

But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” [15] The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. [16] Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. [17] They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.”

There is much to think about in these verses, the 6 mile walk from Capernaum to Bethsaida, the crowd of 5000 finding out and following him, the healings and teaching on the Kingdom, the feeding of 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish, not even enough food for the apostles and Jesus, the significance of the bread and fish, the correlation between that and the command Jesus had given them to set out with nothing and spread the Gospel of the Kingdom…etc.

This morning I have been focused on the significance of the 5 loaves and 2 fish. Rarely are things as simple as thy read, especially in scripture.  The Lord uses many signs, that often have deeper meaning. There are several ideas around the symbolism, and such and some of it seems to resonate with me today.  That this as basic sustenance is clear.  The loaves, likely cheap barley loaves, and 2 dried fish, represent a very small amount of food, barely enough for 1 or two people ( I know I could probably eat 2 and 2 at any single meal). Some scholars believe that the 5 loaves were symbolic of the 5 books of the Torah, and we could point to Jesus’ response in Matthew 4:4 NIV: “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

In my opinion, besides the real food, and multiplication of it, this symbolism seems to fit into the common theme of bread.  Later Jesus took the bread, broke it  and said it was His Body, and He is the very Word of God made flesh (John 1:1-4, 14). He is the literal bread of life! 

I could keep on working that theme of bread from heaven, etc. for He did that day what He did for the Israelites in the desert, although in this case the Manna was barley loaves in baskets.  

As for the fish, there are a few different ideas.  As I read through the different opinions, it seemed to me that these might very well represent, besides real sustenance, the coming age of the Church.  The early Chirsitan’s used the sign of the fish as a way of indicating who they were to other believers, and clearly the fish was significant. The Greek word for "fish," Ichthys (ΙΧΘΥΣ), is made up of the first letters of the words "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior" (Ιησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ). 

Continuing on, apparently, Joshua son of Nun, means Joshua son of the fish, and Joshua was the leader of the people when they crossed over into the Promised Land, and that story clearly has some Messianic themes.

All of this is interesting to me, and at the end, the more important thing is the representation of the Father, in this miracle.  He sees our needs, He provides for our needs, and sometimes does so through miraculous ways.  He can take the little we have and provide for the multitudes!  When things seem impossible, He likes to prove our “impossible” wrong.  

In closing, a quote from Mark 10:27 NIV:  “Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Amen and Amen!