When it became late in the day, the people grew hungry but there was no food, apart from a few loaves and fishes. Jesus, therefore, miraculously converted the bread into a sufficient amount to feed the whole multitude. We are told that this literal feeding of the people with bread represents being fed the word of God but, while ordinary bread will sustain life for a short time, the word of God as the true bread of life will sustain us for ever. This illustrates the remarkable way in which the miracles performed by Jesus were enacted parables foreshadowing the outworking of God’s purpose. It is instructive, therefore, to consider the sequel to this feeding of the multitude which represents Jesus feeding the Jews with the word of God.
After the apostles packed the remaining bread into their knapsacks they were sent by Jesus into the sea, representing them going forth among the nations to feed them the word of God. Meanwhile Jesus himself ascended a mountain to pray, representing his ascension into heaven to be a mediator at the right hand of God, praying for his disciples. In due course the apostles, toiling through the night, were caught in a severe storm, representing the disciples among the nations during the night-time of the world’s history, with the nations as “the sea and the waves roaring” in wars and tumult. Eventually Jesus will return and subdue the nations, bringing peace and tranquility, so that the sea will be “a sea of glass like unto crystal” Revelation 4:6.Waiting for response for Revelation 4:6 All peoples will be put under his feet, represented by his walking on the water, when he will quell the storm and save his disciples from all their distresses. And he will also, as he did for them on the Sea of Galilee, bring them immediately to their desired haven, which is the paradise of the kingdom of God. John 6:21.Waiting for response for John 6:21
This event was prophesied Psalm 107:27-30Waiting for response for Psalm 107:27-30
Verses 2-14
Waiting for response for Matthew 14:2-14John the Baptist was executed as a result of his condemning Herod for unlawfully taking his brother’s wife, and Jesus, moved by the report of his death, sought solitude in the desert. He did not have it long, for multitudes followed him seeking cures for their sicknesses. Instead of insisting on his own needs, Jesus “was moved with compassion for them, and he healed their sick”.