Jesus Christ: He is the Bread of Life (Luke 9)

Scripture reading – Luke 9

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* Please note that words and phrases in brackets are the author’s amplification.

Luke 9

The Apostles’ Commission (Luke 9:1-2)

You will notice that Luke 9 parallels events we considered in Mark 6 and Matthew 10. In Luke 9:1-2, we find the LORD calling and sending “His twelve disciples” and giving them “power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases” (Luke 9:1). We read that “He sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:2).

The Apostles’ Support (Luke 9:3-6)

Jesus charged them, saying, “Take nothing for your journey.” As the LORD’s ministers, the disciples were to depend on the households they entered for sustenance (Luke 9:3-4; Matthew 10:9-11). If a family or city did not receive their ministry or support them, the disciples were instructed, “When ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them” (Luke 9:5). Then the disciples went out as they were commanded, and “went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where” (Luke 9:6).

King Herod’s Fear of Jesus’ Ministry (Luke 9:7-9)

Luke records King Herod’s growing anxiety upon hearing of Jesus’ miracles and rising popularity, an anxiety compounded by his troubled conscience over John the Baptist’s beheading — an event recorded in fuller detail by Mark and Matthew (Luke 9:7-9; Mark 6:14-29; Matthew 14:1-12).

The Apostles’ Return and Their Report (Luke 9:10-12)

In an earlier devotional, we considered the apostles’ report when they returned to Jesus. After they “told Him all that they had done…He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida” (Luke 9:10), the people followed Jesus, and “He received them” (Luke 9:11).

The LORD of the Impossible (Luke 9:13-17)

The Feeding of the Five Thousand is a favorite Bible story among children. Because it is so familiar, we may overlook its subtle spiritual lessons. All four Gospels record this miracle, giving us a complete picture of that day (Luke 9:12-17; Mark 6:35-44; Matthew 14:15-21; John 6:5-14). 

Jesus, having received the people, preached and “healed them that had need of healing” (Luke 9:11). As the afternoon approached, the disciples urged Jesus to send the people 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” (Luke 9:12).

Jesus, however, would not send them away hungry. According to John 6:5-6, Jesus asked Philip, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” (John 6:5). What is interesting about that question is the verse that followed: “This He said to prove him [Philip]: for He himself knew what He would do” (John 6:6). In essence, Jesus asked Philip the question to test his faith, even though He already knew what He was about to do.

How did Philip’s faith fare? Seeing the challenge through faithless eyes, he declared that not even “two hundred pennyworth of bread” (i.e., 200 days’ wages) would be enough to feed so many, even if “every one of them may take a little” (John 6:7).

Jesus then turned to the other disciples and commanded them, “Give ye them to eat” (Luke 9:13). Like Philip, they assessed the need —”they were about five thousand men” (Luke 9:14) — against their limited resources and said, “We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people” (Luke 9:13).

John identifies the source of that meal: a lad’s “five barley loaves, and two small fishes,” brought to Jesus’ attention by Andrew (John 6:8-9). Probably packed by the boy’s mother, it was a hearty meal for a child, but not for five thousand men. Yet undaunted by their faithlessness, Jesus “said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company” (Luke 9:14).

Sitting down as they were told, Jesus “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” (Luke 9:16). Not only did all the people eat, but they “were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets” (Luke 9:17).

Closing thoughts –

How did the disciples respond to a miracle of the impossible? Mark wrote in his gospel that they “considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened” (Mark 6:52). In other words, those closest to Jesus missed the point of the miracle. They failed to recognize Christ’s divine power at work in “the miracle of the loaves” (Mark 6:52) and did not appreciate that He could satisfy the hunger of both body and soul.

The next day, after the storm on the Sea of Galilee (John 6:15-21), Jesus taught the people, saying, “For the bread of God is he [Christ speaking of Himself] which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world” (John 6:33). When the people said, “Lord, evermore give us this bread” (John 6:34), Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

Jesus Christ is sovereign over nature and “the bread of life” (John 6:35). He taught the people that He is more than the “bread giver”; He is the giver of eternal life!

Questions to ponder –

1. As the day began to wear away, what did the disciples urge Jesus to do? (Luke 9:12) 
2. What did Jesus intend to do for the people? (Luke 9:13)
3. Why did Jesus question Philip? (John 6:5-6)
4. How did Jesus involve the disciples in the miracle of feeding the five thousand? (Luke 9:16)