Home • Bible Studies • The Feeding of the Five Thousand & the Sufficiency of Christ: A Study of John 6
The Solution
By Jake Hanson
III. The Solution (vv. 10-11)
The problem has been described, and now we read about Jesus’ solution in verses 10-11.
10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.
So Jesus organizes the people into groups of hundreds and fifties which resembled garden plots (Mark 6:40, the original Greek word translated ‘groups’ is literally ‘garden plots’ providing a vivid picture of the event).
Then the text tells us that Jesus gave thanks for the meager provisions. What is interesting is what a typical Jewish prayer may have looked like during such an event. Jesus would have prayed something like, “Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who bringeth forth bread from the earth.”
No actual words are recorded, and so this is speculative at best. But notice that Jesus is shifting the typical thanks from the work of the “King of the Universe” who brings forth bread from the earth, to Himself who brings forth bread from bread, multiplying it thousands of times over.
Just think about your church. Perhaps it holds 200-300 people. What a task it is to feed all those people, even if you have planned it for days in advance. But Jesus was to feed over ten times that, instantaneously. This is nothing short of a supernatural miracle.
Finally, we are told that the people ate “as much as they wanted.” Some interpreters who are skeptical of miracles have taught that the ‘real’ miracle of this event was that the people took small morsels which was as much as they wanted, and the application then is that the people were satisfied just to share together in unity. This might sound pleasant, but it is in reality impossible. Splitting up five loaves of bread among over 5,000 people would not be sufficient. And as we will see in a little bit, it does not fit the facts of the leftovers. And finally, the point of the passage—especially in John 6—runs absolutely counter to this notion.
Jesus was distributing to the crowds His rich blessings in abundance. And this reinforces the point that Jesus will be making later in the chapter.
But let’s take a look at the result of this miraculous feeding.