In Proverbs 31 the Holy Bible speaks of a virtuous wife. God in Proverbs said that such a wife makes sure provision for her family’s physical needs. And, in doing so, she is praised and blessed:

King James Version, Proverbs 31:14-15 and 27-28:

¹⁴ She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar. ¹⁵ She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, ... ²⁷ She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. ²⁸ Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

 

She is blessed, she is praised by her family, and her family is blessed. I want us to consider this in light of New Testament records about Jesus’ feeding of the multitude with just five loaves of barley bread and two small salted fish. The record of this miracle is found in all four gospels; we’ll look at several records to get the whole picture, beginning with the Gospel as told by the Apostle Matthew:

Matthew 14:13-15: ^{13 When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. 14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.}

 

Jesus was beginning his ministry. He had just called the twelve and was teaching his disciples, going about the country healing the sick and teaching God’s Word. Jesus was so successful that people were coming from all over to listen, and be healed. Mark recorded that Jesus was so busy ministering that he didn’t even have time or space to sit down and eat undisturbed:

Mark 6:30-36: ³⁰ And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. ³¹ And he said unto them, "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while": for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. ³² And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. ³³ And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him. ³⁴ And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: ³⁶ Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

 

So, Jesus and his disciples had gone off into a desert, a place apart from any villages, towns or cities. But he was already famous. He was recognized, and soon he was followed to this desert place by thousands of men, women and children, who came so that they could hear him preach and teach, and to be healed from all manner of diseases and infirmities. Jesus had compassion towards their needs, so he taught them God’s Word. Have a need? Meet it with the Word of God!

Soon, it was "after hours." In other words, it was getting well past time for the multitude to leave if they had any real hope of getting to a nearby village in time to buy food to eat. There were about 12,000 men, women and children who were getting hungry, but didn’t want to leave. So, the disciples came to Jesus with what they thought was the only sensible solution – send them all away. Jesus had another idea, replacing their "five senses" solution and teaching them a spiritual solution:

Matthew 14:16-17: ¹⁶ But Jesus said unto them, "They need not depart; give ye them to eat." ¹⁷ And they say unto him, "We have here but five loaves, and two fishes."

 

Where did the disciples get the five loaves of bread and the two fishes? They had not brought these provisions. Christ instructed the disciples to go into the crowd and see what food would be donated:

Mark 6:37-38: ³⁷ He [Jesus] 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?" ³⁸ He saith unto them, "How many loaves have ye? go and see." And when they knew, they say, "Five, and two fishes."

 

Now, exactly who had brought and was willing to donate these five barley loaves and two salted fishes?

John 6:8-9: ⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him [Jesus], ⁹ "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?"

 

Who among you thinks "a lad," which E.W. Bullinger says means "a little boy," thought to prepare himself with such food while he and his family followed Jesus into the Bethsaida desert? Most likely not the lad. The little boy’s mother, who had the forethought to well provision her family for this extended outing, surely had prepared this food, gave it to the lad, and probably had even told him to offer it to the disciples as they passed through the crowd asking for food to feed the multitude.

Proverbs 31:28 states that such a woman will be "blessed" and "praised." In this record we see the extent of how God can and will bless a virtuous woman’s family and, through such a woman, can bless thousands and thousands of others:

Matthew 14:18-21 ¹⁸ He [Jesus] said, "Bring them hither to me." ¹⁹ And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. ²⁰ And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. ²¹ And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

 

There are many reasons why this miracle occurred, perhaps more than we will ever know.  In addition to the obvious one -- to meet the physical needs of the multitude for food -- there are the spiritual ones.  First, to teach the disciples to rely not only upon their five senses knowledge but also, and more importantly, upon God as their sufficiency.  Second, to prove that "of a truth" that Jesus was the Christ, the savior, the prophet that was foretold to be sent by God to save His people:

Luke 6:13-14: ¹³ Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. ¹⁴ Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, "This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world."

Third, simply to bless God's chosen people.  Twelve thousand or so people were fed their fill, with 12 baskets full of food left over. Imagine how blessed this multitude was to be so fed. Fourth, to bless and give praises to specific people -- the lad and his mother and father.  Imagine how proud this little boy was to be a grand part of such an unimaginable miracle! Imagine how proud, blessed and praised his parents were!

Realize just how much the disciples learned through this supernatural experience – that with God’s blessings all things are possible! Realize that this miracle firmly established in everyone’s mind that Jesus was indeed a prophet of God!  These are lessons for us to learn from this miracle. 

And remember, all this revelation occurred because God chose to use the little boy of one virtuous woman to bless thousands. God used this lad to feed and teach thousands and thousands of persons on one desert mountain by the sea of Galilee, nearly two thousand years ago. Imagine what God can do in your life today! For truly, with God all things are possible who chose to believe in God and His Son, Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Appendix:

30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. ³¹ And he said unto them, "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while": for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. ³² And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. ³³ And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him. ³⁴ And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, "This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: ³⁶ Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat." ³⁷ 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?" ³⁸ He saith unto them, "How many loaves have ye? go and see." And when they knew, they say, "Five, and two fishes." ³⁹ And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. ⁴⁰ And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. ⁴¹ 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 he among them all. ⁴² And they did all eat, and were filled. ⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. ⁴⁴ And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

 

10 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. ¹¹ And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. ¹² And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place." ¹³ But he said unto them, "Give ye them to eat." And they said, "We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people." ¹⁴ For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, "Make them sit down by fifties in a company." ¹⁵ And they did so, and made them all sit down. ¹⁶ Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. ¹⁷ And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.