Introduction
The true food is the Word of God that comes from the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. He is the bread of life, and we need to feed on this bread (John 6:51). The Lord feeds us abundantly through His Word; He gives us clean food (bread and fish) and heals our souls; His Word is the clean food and true food for our bodies and souls. His Word can feed many. In the Bible, we see how He multiplied the bread and fish for the disciples, who then shared it with the people. As true disciples of the Lord, we too need to feed directly on His Word so we can distribute this clean, unleavened food to those we encounter.
During His time on Earth, the Lord Jesus confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees, condemning the traditions of men. Therefore, we must be vigilant against the numerous false teachings that exist today and remain close to the Word of God. We should seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance to help us open our ears and eyes to the truth.
In this blog article, we draw a parallel between the miraculous feeding of 4,000 people with fish and bread, as described in Matthew 15:29-39, and the parable of leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees found in Matthew 16:5-12.
Bread and Fish, Clean Food by the Law of God
In Matthew 15:29-39, we see how the Lord Jesus shows His mercy and compassion to a large multitude of poor and suffering people by healing and feeding them.
Matthew 15:32 Then Jesus having called His disciples, said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with Me already three days and have nothing to eat; and I am not willing to send them away not eating, lest they faint on the way.
Comments Matthew 15:32. “I am not willing to send them away not eating ...” This passage clearly shows the compassion and mercy the Lord has for people. The Lord’s mercy is always there for those who follow Him (including us). He was unwilling to send the people away until they had something to eat.
33 And the disciples say to Him, From where to us so many loaves in a desert place, as to feed so great a multitude?
34 And Jesus says to them, How many loaves do you have? And they said, Seven, and a few small fishes.
Comments Matthew 15:34. One might ask why the Lord needed the loaves and the fish. The fact that the Lord used bread and fish in different amounts each time He performed the multiplication of food miracles does not have any hidden or deep meaning. This miracle was simply a miracle of the multiplication of food, and the Lord needed food to multiply it. Bread and fish were common foods and clean by the law of God; that is why the Lord multiplied these elements to be food to feed the multitudes. The amount of bread and fish does not matter to the Lord in order to multiply the food. The food multiplication miracles were done for the disciples and the chosen ones among the people to show them that the Lord Jesus is the Lord over life on earth as well, and to strengthen their faith. These miracles will become the talk among them and will lift up their faith in times of trouble when the Lord Jesus will not be physically with them.
35 And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;
36 having taken the seven loaves and the fishes and having given thanks, He broke, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.
Comments Matthew 15:34-36. Here, in this place, the Lord multiplied the bread and the fish and fed the multitude of people in the same way as He did in Matthew 14 (see Comments Matthew 14:19). The small pieces of bread and fish the Lord Jesus broke became whole new loaves and whole new fishes in His hands. Then the Lord Jesus placed them in the baskets in front of Him, and the disciples took the baskets filled with food and distributed the food to the people who were sitting down on the ground.
“And having given thanks.” The Lord Jesus is God of all things. All things were created through Him, but still, the Lord Jesus gives thanks to the Father for giving all things to humans and for Himself to be on earth. The Lord has shown His disciples that He always gives thanks to the Father, who is the Creator of all things. Our God is God of Three in One: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit.
37 And all ate and were satisfied; and they took up that being over and above of the broken pieces, seven baskets full.
Comments Matthew 15:37. “Were satisfied.” Satisfied or filled is eating until you cannot eat anymore (see Comments Matthew 14:20).
“Seven baskets full.” Here, we have simply seven baskets of leftover food. There is no hidden meaning for the number seven here or twelve in Chapter 14. People use these numbers to make a doctrine. However, these baskets are simply leftover food. The Lord gave enough food for all who were there, and the leftover food just shows the abundance of food that the Lord multiplied.
38 And those eating were four thousand men, besides women and children.
Comments Matthew 15:38. The meaning here is in the verse itself. But we should try to make a mental picture of the large amount of people that the Lord ministered to during these three days. We should think about how hard it was for the Lord and the disciples to go around four thousand plus people, pray, heal, and teach them. The Lord and the disciples probably had no sleep, no time to eat, and no rest.
39 And having dismissed the multitudes, He entered into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.
Comments Matthew 15:39. The Lord Jesus did not just say goodbye to the people. The Lord reminded them to remember what they had seen and heard in these few days, and to cherish the time they had spent with the Lord.
“... and came to the region of Magadan (or Magdala).” This verse shows that the Lord kept going, and that is the purpose for which the Lord came to earth. He will keep going to places where people have not traveled to give everybody the light. That is the purpose for Him to come to earth, to give the light and show the way to all humans.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees
In Matthew 16:5-12, the Lord Jesus tells the disciples the parable of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Matthew 16:5 And the disciples having come to the other side, they forgot to take bread. 6 And Jesus said to them, Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 7 And they debated among themselves, saying, Because we took no bread. 8 But Jesus, perceiving it, said, Little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand, nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 10 Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? 11 How do you not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? Moreover, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Comments Matthew 16:5-11. There is no hidden meaning in the disciples’ answer. The disciples did not think further about the words the Lord Jesus spoke; they were just thinking about them, forgetting to bring bread. The disciples were simple people, with simple minds, but pure hearts.
12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Comments Matthew 16:12. Here, the Lord is teaching us to be aware of traditions; as life goes on, the tradition-based lifestyle teaching it becomes not at the same level as the teaching of old times (according to the teaching received by the prophets). Do not mingle the teaching of humans with the teaching of the Word of Life. If you mingle the old teaching (received by the prophets), the first leaf that comes out in your faith is not opened but curled, and your understanding will not grow.
Conclusion
The Lord Jesus fed multitudes, and each time He did so, He used bread and fish, as they were considered clean food under the Old Testament law. When we hold the Bible in our hands, we are holding clean food like bread and fish, which we must eat daily so we can truly serve the Lord by spreading His Word unaltered to those we meet. Moreover, the Lord Jesus tells us that He is the living bread that came down from heaven to provide us with clean food, referring to His Word (see John 6:51). Conversely, when the Lord Jesus speaks of the traditions and teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees, He compares them to leavened bread, warning us not to mix human teachings with the teachings of the Word of Life. If we mix the teachings He gives in the Word of God with those of humans, the first leaf of our faith will not unfold nicely but will curl, hindering our understanding from growing. Therefore, as followers of the Lord Jesus, we must be baptized in water and seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We should pray and meditate regularly on the Word of God, guided by the Holy Spirit, who is the true Teacher of God’s Word and can provide us with true unleavened food from His Word.
Meditation Tasks
- We encourage all readers to meditate on the Word of God daily by praying and asking guidance from the Holy Spirit. Please also consider reading our blog article titled, “Who Can Explain the Things of God?”
- We must strive to become fully trained in the Word of God so we can effectively guide others onto the right path. For more on this topic, please refer to our blog article titled, “Who Is Fully Trained Will Be Like His Teacher.”