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Why do you think the Feeding of the Five Thousand is the only miracle of Jesus that appears in all four Gospels? Explain your thoughts.
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I believe it appears in all four Gospels because God desires to emphasize a critical lesson or concept. As any master teacher would, He repeats important stories and words again and again in order to help us both understand and remember. I also believe the repetition reveals the impact this event had on each of the authors of the four gospels. They all considered it important enough to include in their individual accounts of Jesus’ ministry. The miracle is a foundational lesson revealing God’s concern for our needs and his ability to meet them even beyond what is necessary. He is a compassionate and generous God.
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The feeding of the five thousand identifies Jesus as the “Bread of Life” by providing the people’s physical needs as well as He will be the spiritual sustenance for those who believe. The feeding of five thousand also takes care of the compassion need as well as showing the shepherd taking care of his flock.
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The Feeding of the Five Thousand shows Jesus’ compassion for human need. As Mark’s Gospel states, they were like sheep without a shepherd. The religious leaders should have been shepherding the flock of people of Israel. Jesus is our Good Shepherd. This miracle also reminded the Jews of the miracle of Moses providing manna in the wilderness. There were prophecies that the Messianic prophet would be one like unto Moses. This miracle was witnessed by a very large crowd of people, and every person got to partake of the food. Jesus was showing the people Who is was, the Messiah. It is mentioned in all four Gospels because it was witnessed by such a large crowd.
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I think it is mentioned in all four Gospels because it was done and witnessed on such a large scale. It impacted thousands of people and the disciples were all there and participating in the miracle.
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The display of this miracle in all four Gospels might be attributed to God’s love and power. It shows that God is the One who provides for everyone through Jesus.