How many loaves and fishes did Jesus use to feed the 4000?
In this second miracle, seven loaves are used and seven baskets are collected. The number seven is symbolic of completeness (i.e. not just Jews but Gentiles too) and the number seven is reminiscent of the seven days of creation when God created all humanity.
Jesus asked them, “bring those five loaves and two fish to me.” “To me.” “Bring them to me.” When they did, Jesus prayed, lifted up the five loaves and two fish to God, then the humanly impossible became divinely possible. Five loaves and two fish fed thousands, with twelve baskets of leftover to boot.
In the gospel, there are three instances in which Jesus performed miracles with fish. All seem to have occurred on the Sea of Galilee. The first occurred in the calling of Peter to be a disciple (Luke 5:1-11).
and he divided the two fish among them all." Matt 14:19 - "Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds."
One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, “There's a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.
The 'feeding of the five thousand' is the only miracle performed by Jesus which is recorded in all four gospels: Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:12-17, and John 6:1-14. And although there are minor differences in the telling from gospel to gospel, they are all broadly similar on the detail.
As the best teacher and exceptional knower of the human heart, Jesus knew how to best deal with the fisherman from Galilee. The overflowing net made a deep impression on Peter. "For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken..." (Luke 5:9).
(1-3) Peter and six other disciples return to fishing. After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.
The number 153 has some unique arithmetic properties. It is a triangular number: it is the sum of the integers from 1 to 17. Almost every modern biblical commentary on the symbolism of 153 mentions this fact.
- Changing water into wine at Cana John 2:1-11.
- Healing of the official's son John 4: 46-54.
- Healing the paralytic at Bethesda in John 5:1-15.
- Feeding the 5000 in John 6:5-14.
- Jesus walking on water in John 6:16-24.
- Healing the man blind from birth in John 9:1-7.
- The raising of Lazarus in John 11:1-45.
What does the fish symbol stand for?
The Ichthys symbol (or "Jesus fish") is a sign typically used to proclaim an affiliation with or affinity for Christianity. The fish was originally adopted by early Christians as a secret symbol, but the many variations known today first appeared in the 1980s.
The book of Jonah describes the rebellious prophet's rescue from drowning in the storm-swept sea when God sent a fish to swallow him. Beyond the historical account, the great fish also stands as a picture of God's deliverance and mercy. The account clearly shows that the fish was Jonah's means of salvation.

Tilapia is rumored to be the fish that was caught by St. Peter in the Sea of Galilee and fed to the masses of Tabgha, an ancient town on the north-west coast of the sea, by Jesus. This is one of the reasons why the fish is also known as “St. Peter's fish” and is separated from meat according to Lenten standards.
'” Jesus ate fish from the Sea of Galilee. The bones of freshwater fish, such as carp and St. Peter's fish (tilapia) have been identified in local archaeological excavations.
Since then, the "great fish" in Jonah 2 has been most often interpreted as a whale. In English some translations use the word "whale" for Matthew 12:40, while others use "sea creature" or "big fish".
Jesus Uses Other People to Bless Others
Another lesson that we can learn from Jesus' Feeding of the five thousand is that Jesus uses other people to bless other people. An example of this is when Jesus asked his disciples to find food and found a boy who had five loaves of bread and two fish.
Matt. 14. [17] And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. [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.
'The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes' tells the story of Jesus performing one of his miracles, as he feeds 5000 of his followers with only a few loaves and fishes. The story of Jesus feeding the 5000 is one of the few biblical stories to appear in all four Gospels.
The disciples can't purchase enough food for everyone. But a small boy is found who has five barley loaves and two fish. From this meager amount Jesus is able to not only feed the crowd, but also to fill twelve wicker baskets with the leftovers. This miracle is known as the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes.
He had the longest lifespan of all those given in the Bible, dying at the age of 969. According to the Book of Genesis, Methuselah was the son of Enoch, the father of Lamech, and the grandfather of Noah. Elsewhere in the Bible, Methuselah is mentioned in genealogies in 1 Chronicles and the Gospel of Luke.
Why did Jesus feed the thousands?
Not unlike Jesus' healing miracles, his feeding of the crowd shows his compassion of human beings and their needs. Jesus cared for the people in their ordinary hunger and demonstrated loving hospitality.
There is much debate over why the fish was chosen as a Christian symbol, but fish do feature prominently in the Gospels. Fishing is a common analogy; several of the Apostles are fishermen who become “fishers of men” and Jesus is able to feed five thousand with “five small loaves and two fish.”
The ichthys symbol is also a reference to "the Holy Eucharist, with which the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes had such intimate connection both in point of time and significance." Depicted in the Catacombs of Saint Sebastian and of the Catacomb of Priscilla, the symbol is also mentioned in the ...
Yep, why did Jesus choose fishermen instead of shepherds. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. Shepherds aren't out catching new sheep. That would make them cattle thieves.
The Gospel of John (chapter 21:1–14) includes the narrative of the miraculous catch of 153 fish as the third appearance of Jesus after his resurrection. The precision of the number of fish in this narrative has long been considered peculiar, and many scholars have argued that 153 has some deeper significance.