10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, ?Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.? 13 He replied, ?You give them something to eat.? They answered, ?We have only five loaves of bread and two fish?unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.? 14 (About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, ?Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.? 15 The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over..
1. Kingdom is something Jesus talked about with everyone, including crowds of what appears to be total strangers.
2. Kingdom is here probably to be connected to healing — showing that kingdom is fulfillment of all those grand and glorious hopes in the Old Testament.
3. The feeding miracle is connected, at some level, with manna and provision by God. The evocations from this can be manifold.
4. Feeding the 5000 (males) shows that the kingdom is a meal, is a feast, and is feast to which all sorts are invited.
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