Five Loaves and Two Fish · Fish the Right

The came back and gathered around , and they told him everything: all they had done, and all they had taught.

“Come away into a deserted place and rest a little while,” he told them. Many people kept coming and going, and they didn’t even have time to eat.

They went off in the boat to a deserted place, by themselves. Luke says Jesus took them and went off alone with them to a deserted area belonging to a city called . John’s Gospel says that after this, Jesus went across to the other side of the Sea of , which is also called the .

In Matthew, the of had buried his body and gone to tell Jesus. When Jesus heard it, he left in a boat and went to a deserted place, away from other people.

But people saw Jesus and the apostles going, and many recognized him. They ran there on foot from all the cities, got there before them, and gathered around him. Matthew and Luke say the crowds heard about it and followed him. In John, a great crowd followed him because they had seen the he did for those who were sick.

When Jesus came out and saw the great crowd, his heart went out to them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He began to teach them many things. Matthew says he healed their sick. Luke says he welcomed them, spoke to them about God’s Kingdom, and cured those who needed healing.

John says Jesus went up the mountain and sat there with his disciples. It was almost time for the , the feast of the Jews.

Late in the day Jesus’ disciples came to him. “This place is deserted,” they said, “and it’s already late. Send the crowds away, so they can go off into the countryside and villages around here and buy themselves bread. They have nothing to eat.”

In Luke, the day was getting late when the twelve came to him. “Send the crowd away,” they said, “so they can go off to the surrounding villages and farms, find somewhere to sleep, and get food. We’re out here in a deserted place.”

But Jesus answered, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

“You want us to go off and buy two hundred worth of bread,” they asked him, “and give them something to eat?” A denarius was about a day’s pay for a laborer.

“How many loaves do you have?” he said. “Go and look.”

When they had found out, they told him, “Five, and two fish.” In Luke they said, “We have nothing more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go off and buy food for all these people.”

In Matthew, Jesus said, “Bring them here to me.”

In John, when Jesus looked up, he saw a great crowd on its way to him, and he said to , “Where are we going to buy bread, so these people can eat?” He said this to test Philip, because he already knew what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread isn’t enough to give every one of them a little.”

One of his disciples, , the brother of , said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these among so many?”

Then Jesus gave orders that everyone should sit down in groups on the green grass. They sat down in rows, by hundreds and by fifties.

In Luke, there were about five thousand men, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” They did so, and got everyone seated.

In John, Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was a lot of grass in that place, so the men sat down, about five thousand of them.

Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. Looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves, and he gave them to his disciples. The disciples set them before the crowds. He also divided the two fish among them all.

John says Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks. He handed them out to the disciples, and the disciples handed them out to those who were sitting down. He did the same with the fish, as much as they wanted.

They all ate until they were full. John says Jesus then told his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is lost.”

They gathered up the pieces that were left over and filled twelve baskets. Mark says there were pieces of the fish in them too. John says the pieces were from the five barley loaves, left over by the people who had eaten.

Mark says five thousand men ate the loaves. Matthew says about five thousand men ate, in addition to women and children.

Right away Jesus made his disciples get in the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he himself sent the crowds away. Mark says they were to go to Bethsaida.

When he had said goodbye to them, he went up the mountain to pray by himself.

In John, when the people saw the sign Jesus had done, they said, “This is truly the who comes into the world.”

Jesus could tell that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, so once again he went off to the mountain by himself.

Evening came. The boat was out in the middle of the sea, and Jesus was there alone on the land. Matthew says the boat was struggling in the waves, because the wind was against it.

In John, when evening came, the disciples went down to the sea. They got into the boat and were on their way over the sea to . It was dark now, and Jesus had not come to them. A great wind was blowing, and the sea was rough.

Jesus saw that they were having a hard time rowing, with the wind blowing against them. About the fourth watch of the night, the last part of the night before dawn, he came to them, walking on the sea. In Mark, he would have passed them by.

John says they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, which is three or four miles. Then they saw Jesus walking on the sea, coming near the boat, and they were afraid.

When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they thought he was a ghost. “It’s a ghost!” they cried out, because they were afraid. They had all seen him, and they were shaken.

But at once Jesus spoke to them. “Cheer up! It is I! Don’t be afraid.”

In Matthew, Peter answered, “Lord, if it’s you, order me to come to you over the water.”

“Come!” Jesus said. Peter stepped down from the boat and walked on the water to get to Jesus.

But when he saw that the wind was strong, he was afraid, and as he started to sink, he shouted, “Lord, save me!”

Jesus stretched out his hand at once and took hold of him. “You of little faith,” he said to him, “why did you doubt?”

Once they were up in the boat, the wind stopped. Those in the boat came and worshiped him. “You are truly the Son of God!” they said.

In Mark, Jesus got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped. They were greatly amazed and full of wonder, because they hadn’t understood about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

In John, they were willing then to take him into the boat. And right away the boat reached the land where they were going.

When they had crossed over, they came to land at and tied the boat to the shore.

When they got out of the boat, the people recognized Jesus right away. They ran around that whole region and began carrying sick people on their mats to wherever they heard he was. Matthew says that when the people of that place recognized him, they spread the news all over the area and brought him everyone who was sick.

Wherever he went, into villages or cities or out in the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him to let them just touch the fringe of his clothing. And everyone who touched him was made well.