Parents will get this—the disciples had been away doing the work of God and have now returned to Jesus and are reporting what they had been able to do of what He gave them. Jesus intends to give them a pause,
And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.1
Meanwhile, the crowds wanted more:
Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.2
While Jesus intends for the disciples to have a break, the masses want more. That parent comparison thing. After teaching for some time, the weary disciples remind Jesus He needs to send the crowd away to go feed themselves. Jesus has something else in mind:
“They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” [the disciples] said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.”
Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied.
And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.3
‘They don’t need to go away’ ‘you give them’ ‘we only have’ are all statements of truth but the disciples are to learn about the sufficiency of the LORD. Abundant sufficiency. “Bring them here to me” is God entering into the circumstance. Jesus quiets the crowd, thanks God for providing and then gives to His disciples to give to the masses. Abundantly? More than 5,000 eat with leftovers remaining. But this isn’t the full lesson Jesus is teaching. Satisfied but not enough. This moment ends, the crowd disperses, Jesus and the twelve head back to Capernaum. And the crowds again seeks more.
So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 4
The crowds sought Jesus because they ate their fill, they were satisfied with full bellies, but Jesus was intent upon making the point to the disciples that what was needed was something eternally satisfying, something enduring. Then Jesus unveils the greater point of the feeding of the 5,000:
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.5
There is more to the LORD than full bellies—there is fulfillment of the deepest needs of man for restoration in the relationship God created us for—but not satisfied with food anymore than the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil fulfilled our desire to know. It is in that heart-set as spoken by Jesus, “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me” that we find lasting, fulfilling, eternally sustaining Life. Jesus, our Bread of Life, eternally satisfying.
