Matthew only gives one sentence to the miracle itself. What God normally does through a long process of blessing the grain in the earth and causing it to yield fruit, he now does instantly, making the loaves and fish produce bread and fish. The disciples also must take part in Jesus’ miracle, distributing the food, picturing the calling of Christ’s apostles, who distribute to others what they have first received from him.
The passage parallels the words of the Lord’s Supper in Matthew 26:26. Along with the later silence regarding the fish, this shows that the distribution of the bread, showing Jesus’ power to meet even the most basic physical needs, also foreshadows the Lord’s Supper, both in the present and in the coming kingdom (Matthew 26:29). Our blessings in Christ are spiritual and material: food for the hungry and sustenance for the poor (Acts 2:42–47; see also Matthew 5:6, Matthew 6:11).
The evangelist Matthew provides a detailed description of the preparation, yet only devotes a single sentence to the miracle itself—an event that transcends all human explanation. What God normally accomplishes through a long process, when he blesses the grain in the earth and causes it to yield fruit, he now does in an instant, as he makes the loaves and fish produce bread and fish. The disciples are also drawn to participate in Jesus’ miracle and must distribute the food—a true picture of the calling of the apostles of Jesus Christ, who administer to others what they have first received from him.1
The language of the passage closely parallels the institution of the Lord’s Supper in Matthew 26:26. From this (and also from the subsequent silence regarding the fish) we learn that this miracle of the distribution of the bread—in which Jesus reveals his power to meet even the most basic physical needs of the people—is also a picture of the Lord’s Supper, both in the present church and in the coming kingdom (Matthew 26:29). This reveals that the blessings we experience in Christ are not only spiritual but also material: food for the hungry and sustenance for the poor (Acts 2:42–47; see also Matthew 5:6, Matthew 6:11).2
19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.