Home > Jesus is God in Mark's Gospel
The feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle of Jesus (aside from the Resurrection) that is recorded in all four Canonical Gospels. Matthew explicitly notes there were 5,000 men "besides women and children." Luke identifies the location specifically as Bethsaida. John Identifies the boy who provided the five barley loaves and two fish and notes the time was near Passover. This is distinct from the Feeding of the 4,000 which is only mentioned by Mark and Matthew.
Mark 6:30–44 - The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 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. Now many saw them going and recognised 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. And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
“desolate place” - To the Jewish mind, providing bread in the wilderness was the definitive mark of God’s provision through Moses. Jesus is signaling that He is the "Prophet like Moses" promised in Deuteronomy 18:15. Just as Yahweh rained down manna from heaven to sustain Israel in the wilderness, Jesus creates bread from nothing. The multiplication of matter is a "Creatio ex Nihilo" (creation out of nothing) event, a power reserved strictly for the Creator.
“Twelve baskets” - The 12 kophinoi at the feeding of the 5,000 likely belonged to the 12 apostles. It was standard for a Jewish traveller to carry his own provision basket. To a Roman or a Greek in the 1st century, seeing a man with a kophinos was a visual "tell" that he was Jewish. The fact that exactly 12 were filled—one for each man—points to a level of detail that fits perfectly with a group of 12 disciples following Jesus. This is an example of many undesigned coincidences showign the historicity of the biblical text.
"like sheep without a shepherd." - There are deep "Old Testament Echoes" that identify Jesus as the God of the Exodus. Jesus had compassion for these shepherdless sheep.
This directly invokes:
Numbers 27:17 - who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.”
Ezekiel 34:11–24 - “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?
“Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.
Yahweh promises to personally come and shepherd His people. Just as Yahweh provided manna in the "desert place" (erēmos topos) for the Israelites, Jesus provides bread in the "desert place" for the 5,000. The Eucharistic Formula:
"took," "blessed," "broke," and "gave"- these reveal Jesus as the Host of the Messianic Banquet.