Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

BY Beverly Berrus

Scripture Reading: Matthew 10:1-4, Mark 6:7-56

Jesus was the most perfect person ever to walk the earth. Often, we relate it to what He said and did. Rarely do we relate His perfection to His emotional state. But Jesus was perfectly emotional, never overreacting or underreacting in any situation. 

When we read about the life of Jesus in the Gospels, we see His heart of compassion. Jesus and His disciples were tired and hungry (Mark 6:30–32). They were looking forward to rest and recovery when the crowds gathered. What did Jesus feel? Compassion. 

He didn’t see them as obstacles in the way of self-care. He didn’t see leeches who needed to go away. The most perfect human laid eyes on the crowd and saw lost sheep without a shepherd. In His compassion, He deals with their spiritual need by teaching them and then deals with their physical need (Mark 6:34). 

Can’t we relate to the disciples’ reactions to the people? “Come on Jesus, we’re tired, it’s late. We’ve been on a mission trip. Let’s send them away. Hold up, you want us to feed them? Do you know what that would cost us?” I get tired just making a meal for our young church plant. Yet in His tiredness, Jesus takes five little loaves of bread and two fish, blesses them, and satisfies over five thousand people (v.42). His compassionate and costly hospitality is a beautiful example for us. Can people around us taste the hospitality of Christ in our actions?

This narrative also highlights the compassion of God throughout Israel’s history. Jesus is the better Moses all of us have been waiting for. A mediator between God and sinful man, who feeds the people the “manna” of His Word and delivers them from the wilderness of sin and death. Jesus is the better David, the compassionate Good Shepherd who lays down His own life for the sheep (Psalm 23, John 10:11).

And this is how Jesus regards you and me today. He isn’t repelled by our sins and weaknesses. They’re why He came. We were sheep without a shepherd, and He had compassion on us. Are you tempted to think of Him as distant or begrudging? His perfect heart is perfectly compassionate and excited to demonstrate lavish love toward you. Don’t be afraid to approach or need Him. He came so that we might one day be perfectly and finally satisfied forever. 

Written by Beverly Berrus