Feeding the 5000 - A Picture of the Local Church

Mat. 14:14-21, Mark 6:32-44, John 6:5-13, Luke 9:10-17

In this well-known event in the Bible we see Jesus perform an amazing miracle but there is more here.
I love to read the gospels paying particular attention to what Jesus was teaching to the disciples. I believe that everything He did before them was to teach them something that they would need after He had returned to Heaven.

This passage is no different.
We begin with watching a crowd of people coming to hear Jesus speak and to watch Him heal the sick. The people were enthralled with Jesus and stayed later than was practical (at least for the disciples anyway).
Jesus used this as a teaching opportunity for the disciples. Remember these same disciples would be used in building and establishing the foundations of the Church that was to come.

Look at  Jn. 6:5-6
'When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.' Jn 6:5-6

Jesus already had a plan for these people. The Church has always been the plan on His heart.
I hear you ask 'how has this anything to do with the Church?' 

 The people have come to hear Jesus. They have come to find healing and rest. They have stayed beyond the normal time and now the disciples have to act. However, the disciples have no idea what to do with all these tired, hungry people. They wanted to send them away to find food and rest for themselves. But it was not Jesus' plan for the people to fend for themselves.

In Mark 6:37 Jesus says “You give them something to eat.” This is a strange thing for Jesus to say when He knew that the disciples had nothing to give. But therein lies the lesson - in and of themselves, the disciples had nothing to give to weary, hungry people. They were empty of physical or spiritual food and rest for the people.

Jesus then took the loaves and fishes that the young boy brought and proceeded to teach.
Mk 6:39-41
And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all.

What I see here is Jesus showing a pattern of local churches. The people are broken up and seated in manageable groups. I imagine these groups were made up of friends who came to see Jesus together, and people from the same families/towns/communities. When these groups went home after this amazing event, it is likely that a lot of people from the same family/village had been grouped together that day. I wonder did they continue to meet as a group of believers from then on? 

Jesus then does a miracle of providing ample food for everyone and He gives it to the disciples to distribute.
What are local churches if not smaller groups of believers within an area gathering together hear from and to receive blessing from the Lord?
He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; Surely this is a picture of the local church leaders, to whom the Lord continually gives fresh bread to distribute to the church.

Mk.6:42 says 'They all ate and were satisfied'. Everyone was filled. In this setting the people were manageable for the disciples.What began as overwhelming for the disciples ended up being a successful provision for the crowds.
The lesson the disciples learned was that when they had huge crowds of people who were spiritually hungry they needed to group them together and turn to the Lord for provision. This is exactly what they did all over the known world after the death and resurrection of Jesus and the scattering of the believers. Local churches were set up wherever the disciples went. Titus 1:5 'For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you'

The lesson is still the same today. There needs to be local churches dependent upon Jesus for provision. Jesus is the provider for the church. He is the only One who distributes the provision in a way that leaves everyone satisfied. He is the Shepherd of the people (Mk.6:34) and He knows what each one needs. Even the distributors (local church leaders/pastors) are provided for when Jesus is the source. v.42 and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish.

The local church is God's heart. I am sure of it. We all belong to the worldwide Church but it is important to belong to a single, local gathering of believers where the provision of the Lord can be distributed to satisfy all who hunger.
Heb. 10:24-25 'let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.'
 Being part of the local church is such a blessing and I am glad that it is God's heart for me :)