Knowing The Word in Luke 9:10-17, Jesus Feeds the 5000

Bethsaida means “house of the hunt.” It was east of Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee and the home town of Peter, Andrew, and Philip. Jesus gives his disciples a respite, but the crowds follow him anyway. Jesus is not irritated by them and does exactly what he told his disciples to do—he preached and healed. As the day grew long, the disciples worry about feeding and housing all these people. Jesus tells them to find food. There is confusion on how to proceed. They try to come up with a plan but are not hopeful. The following feeding of the five thousand (men) is the one miracle, apart from the resurrection, that appears in all four Gospels. The women and children were not counted. It is not that they do not count, but there are probably mostly men in the group. Moving around the Sea with children was not a good idea. The people did not get a token of food from Jesus but a full meal. After the meal, each disciple got a basket full of leftovers.

10 On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. 11 When the crowds learned it, they followed him and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. 12 Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” 13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 And they did so, and had them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Prayer: Blessed are you, O Lord God, King of the Universe, for you give us food to sustain our lives and make our hearts glad; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Book of Common Prayer