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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 14:15 - 14:21
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_14:15-21
15When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, "This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." 16 But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!" 17They said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." 18 And He said, "Bring them to Me." 19Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, 20and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. 21There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.
Mat_14:15 "When it was evening" See Mat_14:23. Matthew presents this chapter as one day in the life of Jesus (cf. Mat_14:23). It is assumed that the Jews of Jesus' day had an early evening and a late evening. The early one would occur at 3 p.m. in the afternoon when the offering of the evening sacrifice occurred in the Temple. The later one would be sometime just after sunset.
▣ "this place is desolate" This idiom meant that there was no large town or village close by, not that it was an uninhabited desert region.
Mat_14:16 Jesus apparently told the disciples to provide for these people (cf. Mar_6:37). "You give them something to eat" is emphatic in the Greek text. They were stunned. This was a training opportunity for them, as was the storm (cf. Mat_14:32).
Mat_14:17 "We have here only five loaves and two fish" This was one boy's lunch (cf. Joh_6:9). Commentators who are nervous about miracles (William Barclay and other logical positivists) try to say that what happened was that this young boy shared his lunch and others who had brought their lunches shared them, which provided enough food for everybody. This is an obvious example of one's presuppositions misinterpreting the biblical author's obvious meaning. Where did the twelve full baskets that were left over come from if this was simply a sharing of lunches? Also notice that Jesus supernaturally multiplied the bread; but did not waste any of it because the disciples picked up the small pieces to eat later. This multiplication of food was the exact temptation of the evil one in Mat_4:1-4, to get Jesus to feed the needy humanity. One of the reasons why Jesus may have wanted to get alone to pray was this previous temptation. The people wanted to make Him the "bread king" (cf. Joh_6:15).
Mat_14:18 "Bring them to Me" Jesus was doing this not only to feed the crowd, but to teach the disciples and to build their faith. This was the true purpose of many of His miracles. Compassion for the needy and the desire to build the faith of His disciples were the twin motivations of the miracles.
This feeding would also have had Jewish Messianic implications. The Jews expected the Messiah to perform acts like Moses. This new manna may have been one such act (cf. John 6).
Mat_14:19 "ordering the people to sit down on the grass" Literally this says "to recline on the grass." This was the normal eating posture in Palestine. They were in groups of hundreds and fifties (cf. Mar_6:39-40). The presence of this lush, green grass meant that it was probably in the spring time.
▣ "looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food" The normal position of prayer for the Jews was with the eyes and hands lifted up to heaven. It was unusual for them to kneel to pray. Our modern practice of bowing our heads and closing our eyes comes from the parable of the Pharisee and the sinner. If we are going to bow our head and close our eyes, to be truly biblical we should also beat our breasts (cf. Luk_18:9-14)!
Mat_14:20 "twelve full baskets" See Special Topic below.
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Mat_14:21 "There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children" This being a somewhat isolated place, there were probably not too many women or children present unless they were sick and had been brought to be healed. The full number may have been somewhere around six or seven thousand but this is uncertain.
Since the Gospel of Matthew is directed to Jewish readers, this may have addressed the cultural issue of men eating separately from women and children (cf. NASB Study Bible, footnote, p. 1389).