Why did Jesus feed 5000 people?
C hrist feeding the multitude (Coptic icon) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 14:13-21 "They took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children" ( vv. 20b-21 ). The miracle Matthew describes in today's passage, the feeding of the five thousand ( 14:13-21 ), is the only miracle found in each of the four gospels. It is a wonderful event in which Jesus actually provides food for as many as fifteen or twenty thousand (most of the five thousand men present would have had women and children from their families with them). From a human perspective it is remarkable that there was an occasion for this miracle to take place at all. Christ is actually trying to get away from the great crowds that He is attracting, presumably to rest and devote Himself to prayer (see vv. 22-23 ). Hearing that Herod Antipas is beginning to take notice of His ministry motivates Jesus to go to a desolate place