The Petros Journals- The Account of Fish and Bread

Greetings Everyone, 

Tonight's glimpse from The Petros Journals comes from earlier on in The Gospels; The Fish and Bread. This is a beautiful story that is shared in all four gospels. One of the amazing factors about this story is that it actually happened more than once. But, who am I to talk Theology at a time like this, LOL.

Feel free to share your feedback, Enjoy the day...

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It was late one afternoon after we had been out ministering to the many people that have begun to follow us. Jesus wanted us all to head off to a quiet place and rest for a time. We had just taken off from the shoreline, and while we thought we had gotten away without anyone noticing, many people recognized us.  At first, it seemed as if we were going to be okay, but then the people started running ahead of us. While we were sailing in the boat, they were running as fast as they could to get to the other side before us.  To be honest, we were really looking forward to some down time. Nonetheless, the people continued to come. It wasn’t surprising to me, Jesus had become very popular, and people were following him everywhere.

There was nothing we could really do to avoid those that had come to love His teaching.

As Jesus stepped off the boat, he saw the crowd, and just started teaching them.  His compassion for the people really got the best of him quite often. I never really understood why, but Jesus really did seem to care about those that followed him.  Often times they ridiculed him and the things he taught. Other times, they just laughed.

It was never really easy for us to understand the love he had for everyone that came to him during our three years together. He would often refer to them as if they were sheep without a shepherd.  Some of the others, along with myself, were always trying to get the people to leave us alone. We weren't trying to be selfish by any means, truthfully, we thought we were looking out for his best interest.

Later that afternoon, a few of the other disciples and I came to Jesus and suggested that we send the people home. I mean it was getting late, and none of us had eaten.  I imagined that those that were listening to Jesus’ teaching were getting pretty hungry. I know I was. I thought it was a great suggestion, I suggested it because it would have given us the quiet time we all felt we, and He, needed, and the people would get their own nutrition. To my surprise, Jesus told us to feed them. Without thinking, I responded, “With what?”

Today I laugh about that, but when we were experiencing it, I was really curious as to how we were going to feed all these people. Honestly, there were more than 5,000 men present that day. Moreover, this did not include the women and children, so as you can imagine, we were oblivious to anything Jesus could have done.

Shockingly, Jesus sent us out into the crowds of people to search for food. At first, I was appalled. “Why would we be asking those that are following our teacher for food. Shouldn’t we be the ones taking care of them?” It just didn’t make any sense to me at the time. Regardless of how I or the others felt, Jesus still sent us out.  

After what seemed like hours, we finally found someone who was willing to offer their supply to help support the cause, so to speak. A small boy offered five loaves of bread and two fish. This little boy gave everything he’d brought with him to help us feed those that were with us.

He gave not out of selfish desire, but out of love for someone he’d also come to look up to as a teacher. I didn’t want to take it from him, but he insisted. I knew that five loaves of bread and two fishes wouldn’t feed everyone, so why on earth would we take what little this young boy had known this?

When we took the young boy's offering and presented it to Jesus; my brother Andrew, our friend Philip and I were still hesitant to believe that anything could be done with the offering. What happened next was unbelievable; Jesus looked up to the heavens and blessed the food that had been offered. As I watched on, it seemed as if the heavens themselves had begun to part the cloudy sky above.

As the clouds began to break apart, if even for that moment, a single ray of sunlight broke through and landed upon the loaves as Jesus lifted them above his head. As he began to break the loaves of bread, a graceful smile came upon his face. He then started to hand out the food to those that had followed us to the other side of the shoreline. It was simply a miracle. The beauty of this moment has forever engraved itself into the forefront of my mind.

What I saw as he passed the bread to us, was more than amazing, it left me speechless. We were able to provide as much food as everyone needed and the people were blessed. I was blessed. Once, the bread had been handed out, Jesus did the same with the fish. The blessing had done the same thing as it had done before.

Everyone was able to eat to their heart's content. I couldn’t believe it, people were stuffed, and they were all happy to have been fed. We all ate for a while and then Jesus continued to teach. As my brother, Phillip and I went around to collect whatever may have been left, we heard many great words of encouragement for our teacher. They were mystified at what Jesus had just done, and none of us could explain it. Once everything was said and done, to our surprise; there were twelve baskets left over.

I couldn’t believe it. My brother and I were so amazed at what we had just witnessed we couldn’t wait to share it with everyone we saw. Jesus had just done the impossible, thousands of people were hungry, and because of his compassion on them, we witnessed one of the most compelling events that would ever be recorded in history. We used this story many times to reach out to those we were sent to witness too. It was a miracle, indeed, and it was a memorable one.

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Blessings in Christ and Thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room."

"Times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." 45.3.20

M.J. Elliott