On the Menu: Meat and Bread
Jesus is the Bread of Life
John 6:35
“And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
John 6:51
“I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
John 14:13-21
13 HWhen Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed Him on foot from the towns.
14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.
15 As evening approached, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
18 “Bring them here to me,” He said.
19 And He directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
Matthew 15:29-39
29 "Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a mountainside and sat down.
30 Great crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and He healed them.
31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
32 Jesus called his disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”
34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
35 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.
36 Then He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when He had given thanks, He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people.
37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
38 The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children.
39 After Jesus had sent the crowd away, He got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.”
John 21:1-14 Jesus Feeds the Disciples
1 “Afterward Jesus appeared again to His disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way:
2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.
3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.
8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.
9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”
11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.
12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.
13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.
14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.”
The Milk and the Meat of the Word
It is interesting to me that there is a belief that milk and meat ought not be eaten together. Perhaps it is not so far fetched to say, then, that milk is for the beginner, and meat is for the mature believer in the word of God.
The disciples walked with Jesus for three and a half years, and some of them witnessed almost every miracle first hand. A few witnessed every miracle, and were with Him in agreement as lives were changed, healed, saved, or raised from the dead.
Even so, at the darkest hour of their time together, the miracles were forgotten, and even the Miracle Worker was separated from them. It was in this moment that Jesus prayed that faith would remain, regardless of the circumstances.
When He comes again, He will be looking for this same faith. How do we remain faithful in the darkest hours of our generations?
1 Peter 2:1-2
1 “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”
Hebrews 5:13-14
13 “For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Jesus Loves those who are Growing in Faith
Three times, Jesus manifested His glory by sharing bread and meat with those who followed Him, by the thousands.
Now, we find Jesus speaking with Peter, asking him three times, to feed His Sheep.
Peter was part of two of the miracles, as Jesus passed out the bread and fish to His disciples, so, Peter says, yes, I love You -- the brotherly kind of love, translated from the original Greek language.
The third time, Jesus asks Peter again, and Peter answers with the "agape" love -- the love that loves even when it is hard to love those who have harmed, hurt, offended, walked away, or abused us. This kind of love that has no conditions attached to it.
In the third miracle -- Jesus Himself makes the bread and the fish meal for them, even though they had all left Him, except for John and Mary, who remained at the foot of the cross as Jesus was dying for all of them.
Let's look at what Jesus says to Peter about the call that was still on his life:
John 21:15-17
15 "When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love You.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love You.”
Jesus said, “Take care of My sheep.”
17 The third time He said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
Love Like God Loves -- Walk in Love
Unconditional love is only possible with the indwelling Holy Spirit, Who enables us to love as God loves us. Jesus commands us to walk in love.
Forgive quickly. Repent quickly. Honor one another above ourselves.
Love must be genuine.
May the God of Peace give you the ability to love, even in your darkest hour, just as Jesus did, Who on the cross said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."
And if you must feed your enemies, as Jesus taught, then do so knowing that He prepares the Table, even in the midst of your enemies, as David declares in Psalm 23, with the meat and the bread which gives life.
Be at Peace.
