John 6:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

NIV: So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

NASB: So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with pieces from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

CSB: So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.

NLT: So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

Jesus does more than just miraculously feed upwards of five thousand people (John 6:10; Matthew 14:21) with the contents of a boy's small meal (John 6:9). He turns that small offering into so much food that the disciples fill twelve baskets with the leftovers. This was after the disciples all but gave up on feeding such a large throng of people (Mark 6:36; John 6:7–9). The task seemed too large and the resources available seemed too small.

The disciples' essential problem wasn't that they considered money or resources. Rather, they were approaching the situation backwards. Rather than trying to scrape up something worthy of God, then offering it, Jesus taught them to simply bring whatever they had and let Him work from there. When there is a need, our first response needs to be trusting God to provide for it. Our efforts are still meaningful, but God's will controls the outcome. We're meant to rely on His power. Likewise, what we think of as "too little"—whether it's our skills, our talents, or our resources—can become "more than enough" when we give it entirely to Jesus.

Jesus' miracles are what drew the crowd to Him in the first place (John 6:2). This miracle would have reminded the crowd of the Old Testament prophet Elisha, who also miraculously multiplied loaves of barley bread (2 Kings 4:42–44). Jesus' miracle feeds some fifty times as many people, with even less to start with. This, combined with other Old Testament prophecies (Deuteronomy 18:15), is likely what led the audience to declare that Jesus was this long-awaited prophet (John 6:14).

John 6:1–15 describes the fourth of the gospel's seven ''signs'' of Christ's divinity. This is the only miracle recorded in all four of the gospel accounts. When the crowd complains of hunger, the disciples each react in unique ways. Starting with only a tiny meal of bread and fish, Jesus miraculously divides the food, filling everyone, and leaving more left over than they had to begin with. The people are astounded and immediately react by proclaiming Jesus as ''the Prophet'' who has been promised. Jesus, however, is not yet ready to be publicly announced. He also knows the true motivations of this crowd and will attempt to explain the real importance of the miracle to them the following day.

In chapter 6, Jesus feeds thousands of people who had been following Him. He does this by miraculously dividing the contents of a small meal, leaving more left over than He had to begin with. At first, the crowd is amazed and they enthusiastically praise Jesus. After sending the disciples across the Sea of Galilee and rescuing them from a storm by walking on the water, Jesus once again addresses the crowd. This time, He emphasizes the spiritual lesson behind His prior miracle. In response, most of those who had been praising Jesus turn away in disappointment.

John chapter 6 occurs some months after the events of chapter 5, bringing the narrative to about one year prior to Jesus' crucifixion. As with the rest of the gospel of John, the purpose is not to repeat information from the other three Gospels, but to focus on Jesus' status as God incarnate. This chapter continues to expand the list of Jesus' miraculous signs and the witnesses to His divine nature. Here, Jesus also gives the first of seven ''I am'' statements found in this gospel. Chapter 7 will once again skip ahead to a major public step in Jesus' path to the cross.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.