Miracle of the bread and the fish The feeding of 5000 people

April 12th is the day of “Bread Anniversary” in Japan. I read that on this day in 1842, bread was baked for the first time in Japan. The following words are articles about Jesus doing miracles with bread. This was written by John, a disciple of Jesus who witnessed this miracle.

1 Then Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Galilee. 2 A flock of people followed Jesus. That is because he saw the sign that Jesus was doing to the sick. 3 Jesus climbed the mountain and sat there with his disciples. 4 Now, Passover, a Jewish festival, was imminent. 5 Jesus raised his eyes and saw a flock of people coming to him, and said to Philip. “Where should I buy bread from and feed these people?” 6 However, Jesus tried Philip and said: Because Jesus knew what he was trying to do. 7 Philip answered Jesus. “Even if each niece takes little by little, 200 denarii bread is not enough,” 8 Andrew, brother of Simon Peter, one of his disciples, told Jesus. 9 “Here the boy has five barley loaves and two small fish, but for so many people, what would that be?” 10 Jesus said. “Sit people.” There was a lot of grass in the place. The men sat there. The number was about 5,000. 11 So Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, and divided it into the people who were sitting. Also, small fish were divided in the same way as they wanted. 12 And when they ate enough, he said to his disciples. “Collect the surplus pieces of bread so that you don’t waste any of them.” 13 They tried to collect them. Then, people ate the slices of bread that came out of the five barley breads, and the twelve baskets were filled with the surplus. 14 When they saw the sign of Jesus, they said, “Truly, this is the prophet who should come to the world.”(Gospel John 6: 1-14)

There were two types of people around Jesus. First is the crowd. The crowd was always thinking about getting their needs met anyway. Especially because they saw the sign that Jesus healed the sick (verse 2). This is not a bad thing. Some of them may have followed with a feeling of being a rubbernecker. In any case, I think it’s good to be near Jesus. However, their motive was to receive it.

Another type of people are disciples. Disciples are those who are taught by their master, Jesus, who model Jesus, think like Jesus, live like Jesus, and work like Jesus.

The crowd gathered where Jesus went. Because there was healing and the needs were met. Jesus was and still is the one who can meet the needs of people in modern ages. Because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13: 8)

Disciples are different from the crowd. Of course, they also asked Jesus for their needs, but they were more on the side of trying to meet the needs of the people. It supported the work of Jesus. They worked with Jesus.

Now, a lot of people have gathered in the mountains (verse 5). It was about 20,000 (5,000 men, 5,000 women, 10,000 children). The time was getting late, so the disciples suggested to Jesus. “This is a remote place, and the time is late. Dissolve the crowd so that they can go to the village and buy their own food. ” (Matthew 14:15)

But Jesus said to his disciples. ” They don’t have to go. Give them what they eat. ” (Matthew 14:16) The large number were there, so disciples would have overwhelmed them. There is no doubt that they felt it was impossible.

The disciples were instructed by Jesus, but there were two who spoke. First is Philip. He said. “Even if they take little by little, 200 denarius bread is not enough ” (verse 7) 1 denarius is the wage of a worker for one day. Assuming that the daily wage is roughly 10,000 yen, 200 denarii can be said to be about 2 million yen. It seems that there were about 20,000 people. Therefore, it is 100 yen per person. One bread in Japan. In short, Philip calculated, “Even if we give only one piece of bread, it costs 2 million yen for this number of people.” It was Philip’s idea that it was impossible to think about it, and the conclusion was drawn. This is Philip’s response.

On the other hand, there was a disciple who responded differently. This is Andrew. He said. ” Here the boy has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what would that be for so many people? ” (Verse 9) For 20,000 people he might have thought that “5 breads and 2 fish” wouldn’t be possible, but there is a difference from Philip. For the time being, he brought to Jesus what he has and what he found.

Jesus made people sit down. Then he took the bread, thanked, and then divided them into the sitting people. When Jesus offered gratitude and prayer, a miracle happened and bread increased. He did the same for small fish (verse 11). The number of fish increased and increased, and everyone was able to eat as much as they wanted. There was so much bread (verse 13).

<Church of Miracles of Bread and Fish> A church on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in Tabgha, Israel. It was built in the 5th century to commemorate the miracle that Jesus filled 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. The current church was completed in 1984 and has been rebuilt with the same floor plan as the Byzantine church of the 5th century.

What we are taught here, and what is important, is to give what we have and what we are given (gifts, time, energy, faith, money, etc.) to God. .. Don’t wait for 10 or 100 breads and 10 or 100 fish.

It will be difficult to experience God’s miracles with the attitude of giving to God if the gifts are refined, if we have more time, if we have more faith, and if we have more money. No matter what it might be, even if it seems less, something begins to happen when we give it to God.

I believe that God will pave the way for us by doing our best to the extent that we are open now. In many cases, nothing is created from nothing. Of course, God is the one who can create something out of nothing. This world was born from nothing. But in many cases, I think the Lord will mostly work with what he has. Even if we don’t have 100 breads, be careful not to think that if we have one, it’s zero. Let’s pray that the Lord will add more using 1.

For 20,000 people, “five breads and two fish” were few and would have seemed completely useless. But Jesus used them to meet the needs of many (verse 11). Let’s take the perspective that there is this, there is also this, not that there is no this. How we look at what we are given and how we use, it can make a decisive difference.

It is important to give Jesus what is in our hands, what we own, and what we are given, without wondering what this might be useful for. .. This is Andrew style. Don’t be too realistic like Philip and let our faith go out of us. Instead, even though our faith looks small, like Andrew, “Here are five loaves and two fish. I have my gifts, time, energy, faith, and money. Lord, these Please use it to bless and meet the needs of many people and bring out the glory of God. ” And let’s expect a miracle.

Miracle of the bread and the fish The feeding of 5000 people

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