Five loaves and two fish

 Five loaves and two fish

 

Mark 6:41-44『And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided him among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.』

Jesus heals a demon-possessed man, raises the dead daughter of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, frees a woman who had suffered from an issue of hemorrhage for twelve years, calms the wind, and heals people with withered hands, paralytics, and lepers. Many people came to see Jesus. So Jesus continued teaching the people without even having time to eat, and it was evening.

When the disciples came to Jesus and asked if they should give them something to eat as the day was getting late, Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.” However, one of the disciples (Philip) said, “He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat.” And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? The reason Jesus said this was to test them. In John 6:6, “And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.”

Jesus was the one who received the power of God who created heaven and earth, but Philip looks at Jesus through human eyes. He wondered how he could feed so many people with two hundred pennyworth. The disciples believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but we can see that this belief does not become one with them.

The incident of the five loaves and two fish was “an incident sufficient for those who came to recognize Jesus as the Son of God who received the power of God.” The people thought that this man was clearly the Son of God. However, if our thoughts end with "this was a superficial incident that showed the disciples' weak faith and the power of God through Jesus to those who came to Jesus," we do not know the spiritual meaning contained within it.

In Mark 6:38, “He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. 』But in John 6:9 it says 『There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 』He says.

Here, we must know what the child, five barley loaves, and two fish mean. The child symbolizes a person who is trapped by the law and does not know the gospel of heaven. The five barley loaves that the child has represent the laws of the Pentateuch. This means that because people like children are trapped by the law, they are sinners worthy of death before God. The two fish represent Christ himself. The first man, Adam, who came into the world with a body of sin, and the last man, Jesus, who will die a redemptive death on the cross according to the law.

The five barley loaves and two fish symbolize the transition from “the child called the law to the child who is the subject of the gospel.” This means discovering Christ in the law. When a childlike person discovers Christ, it becomes the gospel. Through the situation in the law where the sinner is freed from sin through the death of the atoning Lamb, "the sinner discovers Christ in the law" means discovering the seed of promise (Christ), the descendant of the woman who will come in the future. Ultimately, through the sacrifice of Jesus who died on the cross, sinners were freed from sin and participated in the resurrection of Christ. This is the fruition of the seed of promise. Unless the seed dies, no fruit is borne, but if the seed dies (death on the cross), it bears the fruit of life (resurrection).

The five loaves and two fish received from a child come down as blessings from heaven through Jesus. These words contain the words, “Instead of the bread that temporarily saves the mortal body, Jesus will give the bread of eternal life (resurrection).” In Matthew 4:3-4, “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.』 The stones represent the articles of the law. In the law, the Israelites search for the provisions of the law as if they were the words of life.

Satan is telling Jesus, “You must obey God based on the law.” However, Jesus says, “We will not live by bread (the word according to the law) alone, but by the word (gospel) that comes from the mouth of God.” Even today, there are those who speak of Christ's active and passive obedience. The words of the law ultimately teach us that sinners must die. However, if you find Christ in it, it becomes the word of the gospel. The gospel is none other than the resurrection of Christ through the death of the cross.

The message of the five loaves and two fish received from the child is, “Through Jesus, the blessings of heaven (resurrection of life) will come to the saints.” In Mark 6:43-44, “And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.” And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.』The man who ate the loaves symbolizes “those who participate in the resurrection of life and become sons of God.” The number 1000 symbolizes the kingdom of God. When we say the millennium, this means the complete kingdom of God. However, the number five means the state of not completely achieving the kingdom of God. This means that many people heard the gospel, believed that Jesus was the Son of God, and followed Him, but their faith was not perfect.

The Bible also says that the remaining pieces of bread and fish were gathered into twelve baskets. The Bible tells us that the gospel must continue to be spread through the twelve disciples. There are twelve disciples, but symbolically, it can be said that all saints in Christ are disciples of Jesus. Therefore, believers must bear much fruit by preaching the present death of the cross and the present resurrection.

In Acts 4:1-4, 『And as they spoke unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now evening. Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed(Epistusan ἐπίστευσαν); and the number of the men was about five thousand.』Epistusan is a belief that one believes. Faith must be a belief in Christ.

There are two types of faith.

The first is what one believes. When people see “Jesus performing miracles, such as curing the sick and raising the dead,” they believe that he is the Son of God. And when people witnessed Peter lifting up a lame man who was begging at the beautiful gate of the temple, they believed what Peter said. What Peter is saying is that he believes that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. This kind of faith is called one's own faith. This is not a faith that completely leads to righteousness.

Second, “believe in” is faith that comes from heaven (baptism with the Holy Spirit). In Galatians 3:22-23, “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ (πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ) might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.』Before faith came from heaven, it was all the faith of those who were confined under the law. Then, the faith that comes from heaven is “Pisteos Jesus Christ.” It is the faith of Jesus Christ.

The faith of Jesus Christ is the belief that when Jesus did his work on the cross, “If I die on the cross, the Father will resurrect me.” This resurrection is not the concept of a dead body coming back to life, but a new body (soul: clothes of Christ) being born into eternal life. So, if believers enter into the faith of Christ in the same way, they become the faith that dies on the cross with Jesus and is resurrected with Christ. So, with that faith, the believer has already died with Jesus in the flesh and has been resurrected with Christ in the spirit. Since this faith is achieved through the power of the Holy Spirit (Holy Spirit baptism), it is a faith recognized by God. So this faith is not under the law, but becomes a faith in the gospel. Many pastors today say, “You will be saved as long as you believe Jesus,” but you should carefully test whether your faith is in Christ.