Home • Bible Studies • The Feeding of the Five Thousand & the Sufficiency of Christ: A Study of John 6
The Result
By Jake Hanson
IV. The Result (vv. 12-13)
12When they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” 13So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
Overflowing Blessings
It’s very interesting to note that the result of this feeding is that the people were “filled” (refuting the notion that this is simply a miracle of the people sharing), and what is gathered up is actually more than what they started with. Jesus began with five loaves and two fish, but now had twelve baskets full of scraps.
Key Question: What is the significance of this information? What does it tell us about Jesus?
There are many things that this teaches us about Jesus. But one thing it teaches is that Jesus is powerful and able. Jesus had tested Philip, by asking him what was to be done about the crowd. Jesus was asking him, in essence, if he believed that Jesus was able to supply for the needs of the people. Did Philip believe that Jesus was able to fulfill the needs of the disciples? No. But should he have? And should we? The unequivocal answer is yes! Jesus is able, and we can trust Him, fully and completely.
The second thing this shows is the abundance of the Lord’s blessings. 1 Timothy tells us that the Lord’s grace is “more than abundant.” Ephesians 1 talks about the “richness” the “wealth” of the grace and mercy of the Lord. Exodus 34 and Psalm 103 speak of the Lord “abounding in lovingkindness.” In short, the Lord is no miser in His grace and love. He is rich in blessing.
This is not to say that if we need a car, the Lord is going to give us a Corvette instead of a simple Honda. We don’t want to get confused with the notions of those who say that “if we are good, and if we believe, then the Lord will make us rich and give us health.” We are not promised such things. But we are promised blessings which are beyond our greatest expectations and even our hopes as we trust in Him. Indeed, it is “Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
Twelve Baskets Full
Another important bit of information here is that there were twelve baskets left over. Twelve of course is an important number in Scripture. There were twelve Disciples of Jesus, which purposely matches the fact that there were twelve tribes of Israel. This is why it was so pressingly important for the Disciples to replace Judas in Acts 1. And depending, I suppose on how you look at it, Paul then is either, 1) the legitimate replacement of Judas, since Matthias had been chosen by the casting of lots—a less than Spirit-filled decision, or 2) Paul then is the thirteenth Apostle, representing the Lord’s call to the Gentiles, as Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles.
That is just a bit of interesting background, but why is it important here? The Lord is demonstrating His care and provision for His people (specifically the Jewish people here), represented by the twelve baskets. The Gospels of Matthew and Mark include two feedings of large crowds: this one, and then the feeding of 4,000 with seven loaves with seven baskets left over. Seven is the number of completeness in Scripture. And this has often been interpreted as representing the Lord’s provision, not just for His people, the Jews, but for the nations as well.
But let’s move on to how the people interpreted this miracle, and then we will look at how Jesus explains the significance of this miracle.