With the coming of the Lord in the meridian of time, the feasts of thanksgiving and supplication continued, yet without the shedding of blood, except at Easter, when the paschal lamb, like the earlier blood offerings of the temple, remained a similitude of the great atoning sacrifice. The Lord’s Supper and the agape (love, charity) were meals of real food, shared whenever the Saints came together for a meeting; and when the Lord visited them after the resurrection, he routinely shared a real meal with them, in which he provided the food, looking forward to the time when they would all share in the new wine of the world to come.
The Lord gave lunch to the people in the first place simply because they were hungry, they needed it, and he “was moved with compassion” (Matthew 14:14 [Matt. 8:3], 15:32). He both fed them and taught them, but the knowledge was worth far more than the food—he told them not to labor for that (John 6:27 [John 5:12]). When he miraculously produced the lunch, they wanted to accept him as their prophet and king (John 6:14-15 [John 5:10-11]), even as the Nephites, who when they had eaten and were filled all burst out in one joyful chorus of praise and thanksgiving (3 Nephi 20:9 [3 Ne. 9:6]). Why the excitement? Hadn’t they ever eaten dinner before? That had nothing to do with it; what thrilled them was seeing clearly and unmistakably the hand of the giver, and knowing for themselves exactly where it all comes from and that it can never fail. Now if we ask, Who at these love-feasts got the biggest share or ate the most? we at once betray the poverty and absurdity of our own precious work-ethic. Such questions would be nothing short of blasphemous to all present, as if one were to interrupt the ordinances and stop the feast by announcing: “Hold it no free lunch?”
The free lunch looms large in the Sermon on the Mount. First the Lord’s Prayer. “Give us this day our daily bread”
Feeding the Five Thousand
After John’s death Jesus withdraws to a solitary place, but the crowds follow on foot; moved with compassion he teaches and heals them, and at evening feeds the whole multitude, five thousand men beside women and children, from five barley loaves and two small fishes, with twelve baskets left over. The only miracle told in all four Gospels, it moves the people to acclaim him “that prophet that should come into the world.”
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Note. The one miracle attested by all four Gospels. It is also one of the least altered passages in the Joseph Smith Translation: the four columns read very nearly as the King James, with only small clarifications marked.
? How to read this edition
The reading is the Joseph Smith Translation, in the text of the Covenant Christian Edition, carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
13When Jesus heard of it that John was beheaded, he departed from there by ship into a solitary place, apart; and when the people had heard thereof of him, they followed him on foot out of the cities. 14And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
15And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a solitary place, and the time is now past. Send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves provisions. 16But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart. Give them to eat. 17And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves and two fishes. 18He said, Bring them here to me. 19And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and he took the five loaves and the two fishes and, looking up to Heaven, he blessed, and broke, and gave the loaves to his the disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20And they did all eat and were filled. And they took up of the fragments that remained, twelve baskets full. 21And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
30Now the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus and told him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. 31And he said unto them, You, come yourselves, apart into a solitary place, and rest awhile; for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure, not so much as to eat.
32And they departed into a solitary place by ship, privately, 33and the people saw them departing; and many knew him Jesus, and ran on foot there out of all cities, and outran them, and came together unto him. 34And Jesus, when he came out, saw many people and was moved with compassion towards them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
35And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him and said, This is a solitary place, and now the time for departure has come. 36Send them away, that they may go into the country round about and into the villages, and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. 37And he answered and said unto them, You give them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennies worth of bread and give them to eat? 38He said unto them, How many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. 39And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
40And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties. 41And when he had taken the five loaves and two fishes, he looked up to Heaven and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them the multitude. And the two fishes divided he among them all. 42And they did all eat and were filled. 43And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments and of the fishes. 44And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.
10And the apostles, when they were returned, told him returned, told Jesus all that they had done. And he took them and went aside privately into a solitary place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11And the people, when they knew it, followed him. And he received them and spoke unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them who had need of healing. 12And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge and get provisions, for we are here in a solitary place. 13But he said unto them, Give them to eat. And they said, We have but five loaves and two fishes, and except we should go and buy food, we can provide no more food for all this multitude 14(for they were in number about five thousand men). And he said to Jesus said unto his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. 15And they did so and made them all sit down. 16Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to Heaven he blessed them, and broke, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17And they did eat and were all filled. And there were taken up of fragments which remained to them, twelve baskets.
1After these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2And a great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 3And Jesus went up into a mountain and there he sat with his disciples. 4And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him, he said unto Philip, Where shall we buy bread that these may eat? 6And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7Philip answered him, Two hundred pennies worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, says unto him, 9There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many? 10And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were seated, and likewise of the fishes, as much as they desired. 12When they had eaten and were satisfied, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing should be lost. 13Therefore, they gathered them together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. 14Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is truly that prophet that should come into the world.
The Free Lunch: Acknowledging the Hand of the Giver
Nibley reads the feeding the way the people did, not as a magic trick to satisfy hunger but as a sign that lays the giver bare: here, unmistakably, is where it all comes from, and it can never fail. He sets the loaves beside the manna, the daily bread we are told to pray for.
“Well, perhaps, in a sense, but some more than others?”
No, equally, namely 100 percent. Back to Benjamin: “In the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, created you, and has kept and preserved you . . . from day to day, by lending you breath, . . . even supporting you from one moment to another. . . . And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?” (Mosiah 2:23 [Mos. 1:9], 20-21, 24). We are all beggars equally—100 percent is as far as you can go.
That reminds us of another thing—it is all miraculous, totally beyond our power of comprehension. Before the loaves and fishes there was the manna. The manna was a gift from heaven, yet some shrewd and far-sighted Israelites tried to show their appreciation by going into business. And the manna rotted before the day was over (Exodus 16:15-21 [Exod. 10:5-6]). They were not allowed to hoard it. It was not negotiable. It was a gift of God. The miracle of the loaves and fishes was also the miracle of our daily bread, for which the Lord has told us to pray to him. It was just as miraculous, following King Benjamin, as the loaves and fishes. In it we acknowledge the hand of the giver whenever we give thanks; whenever we give the blessing, we acknowledge the hand of the giver. But we still have the attitude of the old Danish man in Sanpete, whom Brother Jensen used to tell about: “That’s a fine carrot patch you and the Lord have there, Brother Peterson.” “Yes, and you should have seen what it looked like when the Lord was doing it alone.”
As long as we turn our minds to the things of this world, which means just that, and think that we can manage things pretty well for ourselves, we are doomed—not only to frustration but to destruction. So say the prophets, and now every newspaper and magazine tells us that they are right. It’s a poor time to dedicate ourselves to that philosophy.
Ellipses mark omissions within Nibley’s own text.
Twelve Loaves of the Presence; the Manna Restored
For Barker the twelve baskets are no accident: in the temple, twelve loaves of the bread of the Presence were set out each Sabbath as “most holy” food, and the manna hidden away in Josiah’s day was to be restored in the time of the Messiah, both standing behind the bread Jesus multiplies.
When he spoke to the Pharisees, Jesus reminded them of temple teaching: the Kingdom was not something that would happen as a historical event in the future. It was always in their midst. ‘Behold the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you’.25 St John in his vision saw the Kingdom as the heavenly city, replacing the corrupt city of his own time. He described it as a huge golden cube, measured by angels. What he saw was a huge holy of holies, the Kingdom, and in it he saw the throne.
In the outer part of the temple was the golden table for bread, wine and incense.27 The table is mentioned in the tabernacle at Sinai and in Solomon’s temple,29 but nowhere in the Old Testament is there any detail about what the table and its offerings represented. Twelve huge loaves were set out with frankincense, and the Greek text says there was salt.30 The high priests [and by the time of Jesus, the other priests too] had to put fresh loaves into the temple each Sabbath, and then eat the ones they brought out. This was described as their ‘most holy’ food, which means it imparted holiness, and it was also an eternal covenant.31 The bread of the presence - ‘shewbread’ in some older Bibles - did not mean ‘set out in the presence’. It meant that the bread was, in some way, a presence. But whose presence did the high priests consume to nourish their holiness? The meaning of the temple furnishings and rituals was known only to the high priests, but some of them, such as Josephus, revealed enough to enable us to detect allusions elsewhere.
We should like to know more about that golden table for bread, wine and incense, especially as the bread and wine were associated with Melchizedek, the ancient priest-king. He had offered bread and wine to Abraham. When the Hebrew scriptures were compiled during the time of the second temple, the scribes had to use whatever had survived the destruction in 597 BCE, supplemented by memory. So much had been lost, although the Dead Sea scrolls enable us to fill in some of the missing details.
Since the community that used the scrolls was flourishing in the time of Jesus, someone was preserving memories of the original temple.
The manna disappeared… All, they said, would be restored in the time of the Messiah.
Quoted from a scanned printing: spacing errors from the scan have been corrected, and the wording is unchanged.