After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”
Comment: We are not sure how long this story follows after the detailed talk about His Divinity that Jesus gave in Jerusalem. People had seen Jesus’ healing power and thousands were interested, as it reads, not so much in what He said as in His ability to heal. Thousands were following Him presumably coming for or bringing others for healing. But seeing them coming up onto the mountain after Him Jesus realized that feeding them would be a problem. One young fellow having thought ahead had enough for a decent meal for himself. It reads as if the others came unprepared or possibly it had been a long journey and they had eaten all that they had brought. If we take an average day’s wage these days as AUD100, Philip estimated the cost of feeding everyone to be about AUD 20,000. The story reads as if none or not many had any food. ‘Set up the place for a meal’ Jesus says.
Prayer: Help me not to worry about the future, but to think ahead.
As I read it! 