Is This Jesus’ Most Important Miracle?
Topics to Dig Into
In my last
post I presented the story of the Feeding of the 5,000 that I mashed
together from all four Gospel accounts. The familiar tale is included in almost
every child’s story Bible. It’s non-violent, has a happy ending, includes a
child, features a calm, benevolent Jesus and doesn’t challenge the world order.
Does that mean it’s simply a pleasant story?
by a total of thirteen events) hints otherwise. In addition, it is the only
miracle and one of only two events occurring outside of Holy Week.
Does the only miracle recorded in all 4 Gospels hold extra significance? (tweet this)
Keep pondering and commenting about it. I’ll share
my thoughts in the next post.
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What happens just before and after the story?
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Is it just a miracle or is there a lesson to be
learned?
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Did Jesus select specific people to use?
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What is Jesus’ purpose behind each instruction?
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What’s revealed by Jesus’ actions and non-actions?
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Is the order of events significant?
details from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
that afternoon or evening the disciples came to him and said “…Send the crowds
away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy food and find
lodging for themselves.”
bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew
what he was going to do.
replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed
them!
Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary – you feed them.”
what?” they asked.
much bread do you have?” Jesus asked. “Go and find out.”
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five
barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?
them here,” [Jesus] said. “Tell [the people] to sit down on the green, grassy
slope in groups of about fifty each.” So they sat down in groups of fifty or a
Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven and gave
thanks to God. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread
to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the
fish for everyone to share. (The men alone, not including the women and
children, numbered 5,000.)
they all ate as much as they wanted. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples,
“Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” So they picked up the
pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten
from the five barley loaves.
the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the
Prophet we have been expecting!” When Jesus saw that they were ready to force
him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.
Mash-up of Matthew 14:15-21, Mark 6:35-44, Luke
9:12-17, John 6:5-15 (NLT)
2 Comments
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Spend a few minutes to plant a quick Seed. Or stay longer and plant a whole garden.
No, it is not the only miracle in all 4 gospels. The bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is also recorded in all 4 gospels.
You are absolutely right. And of course, the Resurrection is the most important event in Christianity.