Luke chapter 9

vs 11

Although Jesus may have wanted time alone, his main purpose in coming was to teach about the Kingdom of God. So he did that when the people came. There would always be time for Jesus to teach the disciples privately - they could go up a mountain or something for that. But he was merciful and loving, so when people came and wanted to hear, he didn't turn them away.

vs 12

Bethsaida's tourist bureau wasn't happy with the Twelve's discription of their town. But you assume that the crowd was big enough that a little village would get gutted trying to feed them all.

vs 13

What did Jesus want them to do? Did he give this command only for them to say "We can't?" If they had said "Ok, we've only got a few loaves and a couple of fish, but we'll share" would God have still done the miracle? Or did he want them to say "We can't, but you can, because you're Jesus, so get to work"?

vs 14

This is just so many people. I mean, feeding 50 people would be a big enough miracle with that little food, but this is incredible. I guess getting them to sit in groups was part of being able to see how many there was. It might also be about as big as a meal can get before you stop having a sense of fellowship.

vs 15

Did they even know what was going on? What did the disciples say to get the people to sit down? Grub's up?

vs 16

Just think about the amount of work there would be involved in this. It's not a ten minute job. This verse probably describes hours of serving. I mean, think of the biggest wedding reception you've ever been to, and how long it took to get all the meals out to all the people. How many serving staff was there, probably 12? I've never been to a reception of 5000 people (or more!), but I imagine it would take a long, long time.

vs 17

Even the cleanup would take a while. This verse also tells us that it was a multiplication miracle, rather than just being a supression of hunger miracle.

vs 18

So "in private" is a subjective term, because the disciples were with him.

vs 19

No one says the Christ, interestingly. If others did say it, then I guess Peter's confession wouldn't be so striking. So does that mean this is how it happened, or this is how it was recorded for greatest effect? I mean, in an age where people were desparate for a savior, are you telling me that no one really considered that Jesus was the Messiah?I personally find that hard to believe. It is possible, though, that the disciples gave that answer - because they wanted to be separate from the rest of the people, so they left their own answer for themselves.

vs 20

And there it is, Peter's answer which we all say "Aha!" to. It's still a big call, because Jesus hasn't really said it himself. He might turn around and say "No, I'm not the Christ, I'm just a prophet!" and then they'd all be embarrassed. So Peter is really nailing his colours to the mast here.