Loaves and Fish

All four Gospels (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9, and John 6) tell the story of Jesus and the loaves of bread and fish.

One day Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ received terrible news. His friend John the Baptist, the prophet who proclaimed him the Messiah, had been beheaded by Herod. Jesus' disciples had just returned from a mission. After recounted to Him their journeys, He led them in a boat voyage across the Sea of Galilee to rest and pray in solitude with Him.

When people learned that Jesus was near, they rushed to Him, bringing their ill loved ones in the hopes of a miracle. Jesus was merciful, teaching them of The Word and healing the sick. Looking at the crowd of thousands, Jesus asked his disciple Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" (John 6:5)

Philip did not have enough faith and knew not what to do, but Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, brought a young boy who had 5 small loaves of bread and 2 fish. Jesus took the loaves of bread, looked up and gave thanks to God, and passed them to his disciples. He then did the same with the fish. Somehow, as they passed the food through the crowd, they all ate as much as they desired without the food running out.

When everyone was finished eating, they still had enough food left over to fill 12 baskets. The crowd was convinced by this miracle that Jesus was the Messiah for whom they had waited.

So many people had to directly witness the miracles of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in order to believe that He was the Messiah. We see evidence of these miracles every day, in almost everything that we do, and yet so many falter and forget The Word at moments when we are at our weakest. It is at those times that we need the reminder of The Word, perhaps from each other, perhaps from the writing on these pages of Salvation Sermons. No matter what the source, we hope to end up together on the path to the Kingdom of God.