Click here to read Matthew 16:5-12
Mark 16:9 “…do you not remember? …” Jesus broke 5 loaves of bread and with it fed 5000 men - the disciples collected 12 baskets full of broken pieces thereafter. Another time he broke 7 loaves of bread and with it fed 4000 men and the disciples collected 7 baskets. Logically or arithmetically speaking if 5 loaves fed 5000, 7 loaves should be enough bread for 7000 (or to feed 4000, 4 loaves should do). Similarly, if 5 loaves produced 12 extra baskets of broken bread, 7 loaves should be enough bread to gather 16.8 extra baskets. However the principles of God are different from the principles of arithmetic. So how do we understand this logic then?
Now the disciples were witnesses to both these miracles but they were really slow in picking up an important lesson Jesus wanted them to learn through this. One day when Jesus and his disciples had just crossed over to one side of the Sea of Galilee, the disciples realized that they had brought no bread with them. This story is illustrated twice in the gospels – in Matthew 16:5-12 and in Mark 8:14-21. After the disciples realized that they had not brought any bread with them, Jesus said to them “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” (Mathew 16:6). When the disciples heard this, they thought Jesus was saying this because they did not bring any bread along with them. “They said to one another, “It is because we have brought no bread.””(Matthew 16:7)
Jesus became aware of this and says to them “You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you gathered? How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” (Matthew 16:8-11) Mark accounts it this way: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven” Then He said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:17-21)
Now if we recall the two miracles, i.e. the feeding of the five thousand, and the feeding of the four thousand, there are many things that may come to one’s mind. However of all things that happened, Jesus asks them if they remember the following statistics:
| People | Loaves | Baskets |
| 5000 | 5 | 12 |
| 4000 | 7 | 7 |
Now, if I were to add one more figure under the “People” column, say 3000, will you be able to formulate a mathematical equation to come up with the right digits to fill in under “Loaves” and “Baskets”? Why was it that Jesus considered it very important that the disciples remember the number of baskets and number of loaves and the number of people? And what does any of that have to do with faith? “You of little faith…” Doesn’t that have to do with your memory? Jesus should have rebuked them saying, “You of little memory…” And what do loaves and baskets have to do with the yeast of Pharisees and Sadducees?
Let me answer those questions for you. What God can do for you and through you and in you do not depend on how much you have or how little you have. It does not depend on how big you are or how small you are. Rather, it depends on your faith in God. Jesus fed 5000 with 5 loaves, with 12 baskets remaining, to prove that God’s power does not depend on how little you have. However on another occasion, when he had to feed 4000, he used 7 loaves and had only 7 baskets remaining. He did this to prove that God’s power does not depend on how much you have. Just because they had more loaves and less people to eat it, it did not mean they could gather more baskets. What God can do for you depends on whether you give him what you have and not on the size of what you have. In both the miracles, Jesus asks them this question: What do you have? On one occasion they had 5 loaves, on another they had 7 loaves. Whatever they had, they gave it to Jesus and he worked a miracle. Are you feeling inferior because you only have 5 loaves and the people around you have 7? Give your 5 to Jesus. He fed a larger crowd with 5 than with 7. They gathered more baskets with 5 than with 7. Do you have a feeling of self-righteousness and pride because you have 7 loaves and others have 5? Do not be fooled – He fed a larger crowd with 5 and they gathered more baskets with 5.
That is why Jesus rebukes them for their little faith. When the disciples realized they had no bread, Jesus said, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They thought Jesus said that because they had no bread. Jesus replies, “You of little faith…do you not remember…” In effect, Jesus was saying that His power does not depend on what you do have or what you don’t have. It depends on whether you have faith or not. The disciples then realized that he wasn’t talking about bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. What was common to both these groups of people? They believed the way to please God was to obey laws and traditions. They considered themselves higher than others because they adhered to strict laws of Judaism and to the laws of Moses. Jesus says beware… Beware of thinking believing that what God can do for you depends on your works. The power of God depends on faith and not on works. “Immeasurable power for those who believe…” (Ephesians 1:19) So how do we understand the mathematics of loaves and baskets? – By faith. Here ends today’s article.
On a separate note, I would like to leave the reader a question to ponder upon.
Paul says,
· Galatians 2:16 – “…We know that a person is justified not by the works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.
· Romans 3:28 – “For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law”
· Romans 5: 1 – “Therefore since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”
· Romans 4:2,3,9b – “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed (had faith in) God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” “…Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.”
James says,
· James 2:14 - “What good is it, my brothers, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?”
· James 2:24 – “…a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
· James 2:26 – “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.”
· James 2:21 – “Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the alter?”
Based on the above verses, are Paul and James teaching two contradicting versions of the gospel? Please leave your thoughts, comments and questions below.
