Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was a great
deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five
thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had
given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so
also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied,
he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so
that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up, and from
the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had
eaten, they filled twelve baskets. This story about the loaves
and the fishes and the five thousand people who sat together to
eat them is the only miracle story that appears in all four
synoptic gospels: Reading one gospel after another, it’s
difficult to see much difference at all; the accounts are
remarkably similar. If four different writers have included the
story about Jesus providing food for the crowd that gathered
around him, we can assume that the story had significance for
the early Christian community. That acco