Many years ago, a dear friend and second-Mother asked me an intriguing question. That question comes to my mind multiple times each year even to this moment. Paraphrased, the question would be something like:
"If you could hold a dinner party to talk with any ten people, living or dead, other than the obviously invited guests of Jesus and the disciples, who would you invite and why?"
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Dinner Guest #6: The Boy With the Loaves And Fish
The Introduction
Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. So Jesus, after raising His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?” But He was saying this only to test him, for He Himself knew what He intended to do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not enough for them, for each to receive just a little!” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are these for so many people?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline to eat.” Now there was plenty of grass in the place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were reclining; likewise also of the fish, as much as they wanted.
(John 6:4-11)
The History
This event is also recounted in Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:33.44, and Luke 9:12-17.
Other than Jesus' crucifixion, death, and resurrection, it is one of a handful of events written about in all four gospels, and the only other miracle recorded in all four.
Interestingly, there are two separate events of miraculous feedings of thousands of people. This was the first event and took place in Galilee with over five thousand men fed. The second event would take place later inside the Decapolis west of the Sea of Galilee where over four thousand men were fed. Both accounts omit the numbers of women and children also present.
At this point in time, Jesus was teaching among the villages of the northern Israel region of Galilee and into His second year of His ministry. Events prior to this included Jesus' calming the storm, His casting out the demonic legion from a man in the Decapolis, His rejection in his hometown of Nazareth, His sending the Twelve out to proclaim the kingdom of God with power to heal and cast out demons, and John the Baptizer's execution.
Matthew records it was after Jesus heard about John's execution that He and the Twelve withdrew to a secluded place near Bethsaida, roughly eight miles away from Capernaum. Jesus sought solitude after receiving the news, but the people "in the city" heard about Jesus' movement and followed Him. Seeing the people and having compassion on them, Jesus tended to them first and healing many.
John 6 informs us that Passover was coming soon. Passover/Unleavened Bread was one of the three high feasts of Israel of which God commanded the men to return to Jerusalem annually (if at all possible). It is very likely that there were many men already making the God-mandated pilgrimage from distant lands to Jerusalem at this time.
A convergence of major Roman highways met at and passed through Damascus to the north. One of those was the well known King's Highway east of the Jordan River. Another highway continued south through Caesarea Phillippi, through Bethsaida, along the western coast of the Sea of Galilee, and southward for a distance before turning west and connecting with the region's other well known highway that ran along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. This famous highway was known as the Via Maris (Latin) or derek ha'yam (Hebrew) meaning "Way of the Sea". With this highway coming down from Damascus and passing through or near Bethsaida, there was likely an uncommonly large number of people gathered from the Passover/Unleavened Bread pilgrimage.
Bethsaida was a fishing village with a population estimated at only a few hundred people at that time. But traveling to larger towns like Capernaum, Chorazin, or even a more distant Gennesaret with populations of a thousand more more would have required several hours of walking, and Mark indicates it was already late. It is possible that a group of many thousands of people seeking to buy food would have quickly depleted food stores of Bethsaida.
After the disciples asked Jesus to send the people away to buy food, most likely to nearby Bethsaida, Jesus responded by telling them to feed the crowd. You can imagine their amazement at such a request. Their reply was that two-hundred denarii would not be enough to feed such a crowd. A denarius would have been equivalent to a single day's wage of a common laborer.
But then this young boy's fare is brought to the forefront.
Even though all four gospel authors recorded the event, John was the only one to list the source of the loaves and fish: a boy.
The Person
Jesus loves children and used children as examples of what His followers should be like and what His kingdom would be like. He indicated that whoever receives a child in His name receives Him. He then offered a dire warning for any person who caused a child who believes in Him to stumble and sin that it would be better for that person to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea. (Matthew 18:5-6, Mark, 9:42, Luke 17:2)
Few specific children and youths are mentioned, but the authors mention them for reasons. A few specific youth that are mentioned in scripture are Jairus' twelve year old daughter who Jesus raised from the dead (Mark 5:22-43, Luke 8 41-56) and Naaman's wife's Hebrew serving girl (2 Kings 5:1-14) who spoke of how the prophet Elisha could heal Naaman's leprosy, and the young man who fled naked from Gethsemane at Jesus' arrest when the guard grabbed the sheet he'd wrapped himself in (Mark 14:51-52) who many believe was John Mark himself.
In this case of the loaves and fish, Matthew, Mark, and Luke didn't feel the need to mention this boy at all, but John did. But even then he didn't identify him by name. If John did not specify the provision was from this lone boy, it could have been reasonably assumed that the loaves and fish had been gathered from a number of adults.
The Greek word use for "boy" here is paidarion, and it is only used in one other passage. (Matthew 11:16). It means "little boy; a lad".
But this is all the information we have about him:
. He was a boy.
. He was there.
. He had bread.
. He had fish.
. Done.
Certainly, five loaves and two fish would have been enough for a meal or two for a young boy. But by giving them up, he was filled and satisfied as was every other person there.
The Conversation
Five thousand men, an untold number of women, and an untold number of children, and I can't help but wonder how the crowd was so absent of food. Things I'd like to hear about from him would be:
+ How old was he at the time? Where were his parents?
+ Was he known by Jesus and/or the disciples that he would be near enough to them to be found with food while apparently nobody else nearby had any?
+ Was he really the only one, or one of the few, to have food or were others hesitant to bring theirs out because of the crowd lacking?
+ Was he special to John to have been mentioned while the other authors didn't?
+ Since John wrote his gospel so many years after the other three had been written, was he someone that John's original audience would have known?
+ What was his response to having been asked to surrender his food?
+ What was his response to seeing his food blessed and multiplied in order for thousands of people to be blessed by it?
+ Was the bread and fish of extraordinary quality? (As the wine had been at the wedding in Cana when Jesus turned the water into wine.)
+ What impact did that lesson and his participation in Jesus' miracle have on his life?
The Why
We hear a lot of wonderful recollections and experiences from the perspective of adults. I'd love to hear the perspective of such an event from the experience and viewpoint of a child or youth.
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