Jesus Asks a Question: “How many loaves of bread do you have?”

Jesus Asks a Question: “How many loaves of bread do you have?“

“Have I been with all of you for so long a time and you still do not know who I am? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. So how can you say then, ‘Show us the Father?’ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me?” (Jesus asking three straight questions of His disciples in John 14:9-10).  

Messiah Jesus was a Master of asking questions: some were open-ended, others were very pointed; some were out of curiosity, others were challenging; some seemed rhetorical, others seemed painfully obvious; some were to reveal Himself, others were to guide the other into self-understanding; some were intentionally provocative, others were to kick-start a conversation; some questions were asked to explore a topic to deepen understanding and stretch toward the truth; some were leading questions that He designed to suggest a particular answer, and others were questions in response to questions asked of Him; some were hypotheticals to stimulate the imagination, other questions were used  by Him as stepping stones to think logically from one point to the next. Jesus used questions to dignify the listener, letting that person know that He is taking that person seriously and listening carefully. Many of His questions were acts of friendship and used to pursue a more profound intimacy with someone. Jesus asked very few yes-no questions, and since time was usually irrelevant for Him when He was with people, He rarely asked a “when” question. Several biblical scholars have studied the gospels with Christ’s questions in mind, and they have literally counted a total of 307 questions in His various conversations. It seems that a worthy spiritual exercise when considering the many questions of Jesus is that we should take them personally, as if He was asking us that question right now.

The Question. “How many loaves of bread do you have?” (Matthew 15:34).

Context. “Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up into the hills and sat down. 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 all. The people were amazed (“thaumazo”) when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel… (Matthew 15:29-31).

“Thaumazo”; a strong Greek word that means… marveled at, astonished by; amazed at; filled with wonder to the point of being bewildered; being awestruck in admiration. There were forty-four passages in the gospels in which people were greatly amazed by Jesus, astonished to the point of awed by Him. Included in the group of people who were filled with wonder at Christ, “thaumazo’d” by Him: the shepherds, Mary and Joesph, the disciples, the Pharisees, various crowds during His ministry, and even Pilate himself was astonished by Jesus and marveled at Him. People were amazed by everything from the angelic baby announcement, to various prophecies in Jesus’ young life, to the calming of the storm and the withering of the fig tree;  from His miraculous exorcisms and healings to His teachings that always were on point and what were needed at the time.

“Jesus called to His disciples and said, “I am deeply moved with compassion (‘splagchnizomai’) 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.” (Matthew 15:32).

splagchnizomai  (splawnk – NITZ – oh – mi). Don’t let that strange Greek word put you off. It turns out to be one of the most meaningful ideas in the gospels, and it describes Jesus to a T. Most Bible versions translate this word to mean “moved with compassion.” But somehow that translation doesn’t quite do it justice. One might even say it doesn’t go deep enough. The literal meaning of this word is “to have one’s bowels yearn,” which makes sense since the root word for it is “intestines.” Since the innermost organs were considered at that time to be the seat of human emotions, and since love is the emotion being implied, splagchnzomai could be understood as an experience in which true compassion has its beginnings from down deep in the gut. This word points to an intense emotional experience that is felt in the pit of one’s stomach. This profound compassion is not superficial by any means, not casual, not distant. This compassion is immediate and so deeply felt that it demands action. This compassion is so visceral that it must find an outlet, a target, in doing something physical and helpful.

The Sensitive Gut. As we deepen our union with Christ, as we live into His reality and character, we also live into His compassion, into being deeply moved to our very innards. As theologian Jeff McSwain once said, “If we truly are ‘in Christ,’ then just as we’ve been given the mind of Christ, we’ve also been given the ‘gut’ of Christ.” Every Christian, being a little Christ, will live into the possession of the sensitive gut of Jesus.

“And the disciples said to Jesus, ‘Where are we to get bread sufficient to feed so great a crowd in this isolated, deserted place?’ And Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves of bread do you have?’ They replied, seven loaves and a few small fish.” (Matt. 15:33-34).

Forgetful. Many have called the feeding of the 4,000 a forgotten miracle. It is often overshadowed by Jesus’ earlier feeding of the 5,000 (plus the women and children). All four Gospels record the 5,000, but only  Matthew and Mark 8:1-9 mention the equally miraculous feeding of the 4,000. But isn’t it interesting to note that these two multitudes of people were vastly different crowds. It is commonly understood that, because of their locations, the crowd of 5,000 were mostly Jews, and the crowd of 4,000 were mostly Gentiles. The Gospel writers can be forgiven for overlooking this particular miracle, because it appeared that the disciples did the same thing with the 5,000. Jesus had just fed the 5,000, with the disciples in attendance helping out in the distribution, and they come a mere few months later to another large crowd, and they have forgotten that Jesus had just demonstrated to them what can done about feeding this crowd as well! I’m sure Jesus wondered at times about the short-term memory of His disciples, as He certainly is concerned with our very own amnesia.

Good Enough! Jesus was just beginning His ministry with the Gentiles, and, because of His God-given ability to heal and teach, He was drawing quite a crowd. A huge throng of 4,000 people, just counting the men, had been following Jesus for three days. He was deeply concerned, His heart was broken, about the hunger they must be experiencing. He gazed at the crowd and His heart went out to them. So Jesus determined then and there to do something about that. As He did with the earlier 5,000, He asked the disciples to scrounge around and see what they could find for the people to eat. They were only able to come up with seven small loaves of bread and a handful of tiny fish. “Good enough,” thinks Jesus, and He had everyone sit down on the ground.

A Fundamental Truth. Insufficiency is all God needs to get to work. He brings sufficiency to the table every time He is given insufficiency to work with. Jesus is in the business of multiplying our meager sacrifices. We can only give Him a little, which is all He needs to provide a lot. When we give Him a handful of loaves, He is able to feed the multitudes. When we come to Him in weakness, His strength kicks into gear. His power is unleashed through our inadequacy. The more insufficient our resources, the more sufficient He becomes. So we needn’t be sheepish or insecure when God asks us how many loaves we have, since we know that He will take our inadequacies and multiply their usefulness through His complete adequacy. That’s why it is vital we take Christ’s question here personally.

Hints of Communion. Jesus then provides a dramatic preview of the Eucharist sacrament. He took the bread and broke it; He gave thanks to God (the Greek word used here is actually “eucharisto”) for the food, undoubtedly offering to the Father the traditional Jewish prayer before a meal, “Blessed art thou, Lord God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth”; He then distributed the bread to all those gathered together; the multitude partook of the broken bread. Somehow, the bread in Jesus’ hands just kept appearing. He’d break a little loaf, and more would appear. He kept multiplying fresh bread to the gathered thousands until all had eaten and were satisfied. Jesus then had the disciples gather all the remnants, all the leftover bread and fish, and put it all in baskets… seven huge baskets in all! In gathering the leftovers, Jesus was following Judaic law which forbids the destruction of food, but that’s not all He was doing.

Seven is the Biblical symbol for perfection, completion, fullness, fulfillment, wholeness, finished. God decided in His wisdom to create the universe in seven days, and the number 7 has been kept busy ever since. Many theologians consider seven to be a holy number because of its weighty presence in Scripture. A case can be made that seven (7) is God’s favorite number. Between the Hebrew Bible (OT), and the Gospels (NT), the number seven is mentioned in well over 700 passages. So the mention of seven baskets surely suggests that the people were perfectly satisfied, that God’s will was fulfilled, that this miracle was brought to completion.

Divine Extravagance. All those leftovers also point to a character quality of the Lord… He loves to give more than enough. God is over the top when it comes to the overflowing grace and superabundant blessings offered in Christ. God is not economical when it comes to grace and truth. His generosity surpasses all forms of measurement. God is not stingy with His blessings. He has an endless supply of grace and joy and forgiveness. He generously provides more blessings than we need. He seems to almost waste precious blessings and spiritual riches.

“For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with love; God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us; We can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!” (Romans 5:5, various versions).

Pour Forth – “ekkechytai” = to pour out in abundance; a lavish outpouring to the point of super abundance; a pouring out that began at some point earlier and continues to the present time; a continuous pouring out that floods the heart and is immeasurable; an ongoing soaking stream that is never withdrawn. The Holy Spirit doesn’t come in dribs and drabs. The Holy Spirit isn’t dribbled, drop by drop, but instead is poured till overflowing. God is not stingy with the Holy Spirit, He is extravagant. In fact, whenever we see the Holy Spirit being applied, He is poured:

• “...till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high.” (Isaiah 32:15);
• “Exalted to the right hand of God He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.‘ (Acts 2:33);
• “They were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.” (Acts 10:45);
• “God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” (Romans 5:5);
• “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 3:5-6);
• “Then, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophecy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants – men and women alike.” (Joel 2:28-29).

Object Lessons. The miraculous feedings of the multitudes were as practical as can be. Jesus saw hunger, and He provided food. The stomachs of the people were growling, and Jesus satisfied their hunger. But these miracles also served as powerful object lessons. Jesus saw these miracles as teaching points, almost like classroom demonstrations, and He seized on those wilderness feedings to reveal something about himself as Messiah, not only about His love-based extravagance. He also fulfilled the messianic questions asked in Psalm 78:19-20, “Can God furnish the food for a table in the wilderness? Can He give bread to His people?  But Jesus is teaching something else… He is the spiritual Bread of Life. He is teaching in these multiplications of bread that, just as He miraculously provided bread to the physically hungry, He is providing Himself as spiritual bread for the spiritually hungry. He explicitly declared in John 6 that He alone is the living Bread that has come down from heaven… “Eat this Bread, Jesus said, and you will live forever.”

Manna in the Wilderness. As Jesus brought bread to the people in the middle of nowhere, He undoubtedly brought to mind the story about bread in the context of manna. Much later in Revelation 2:17, He even compared Himself to that food provided in the desert, calling Himself the Hidden Manna. The similarities are many: He came down from heaven, just like manna. He is to be eaten, just like manna. And He, like manna, was a gift from the hand of God. Manna was eaten in order to be sustained physically. Jesus is Bread that is eaten to be sustained spiritually. Manna is a bread of mystery that appeared every morning, the word manna meaning “What is it?” Jesus is another bread of mystery to many who misunderstood and rejected Him. Wilderness manna was openly revealed for all to see every day. Likewise, Jesus was walking and teaching and healing for all to see, out in the open. All who wanted manna had free and easy access. All who sought Jesus could easily find Him. All who ate manna had their hunger satisfied. All who partake of Jesus have their spiritual hunger satisfied, forever. Jesus gives the soul true nourishment, and only those with faith can truly receive it. “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Ps. 34:8).

Eucharist. When Jesus talked about offering hidden manna in Rev. 2:17, He was no doubt offering Himself as the Bread from heaven, His own body and blood. Unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood, we don’t have His life in us. In John 6, Jesus seemed to be foreshadowing His Last Supper. He is referring to the Eucharist in both John 6 and Rev. 2:17. The manna comes down from heaven in the sacramental Communion in which Jesus is, in a sense, hiding. Christ is spiritually hidden in the physical bread and wine. His Holy Spirit is intimately interconnected within the bread and wine. The elements are fused with the Spirit. The Hidden Manna is offered to believers as the living Bread to be spiritually consumed and digested in the innermost being. The mystical Presence, the Real Presence, within the Hidden Manna. The Eucharist is spiritual food available to all who believe in the Living Bread. To receive the power of God and the life of Christ, His flesh and blood must be accepted as spiritual nourishment hidden in the physical elements. Jesus Christ, the Hidden Manna, for the life of the world.