When you read about Jesus feeding the 5,000 and then the 4,000, it’s easy to think, “Wait, haven’t I already heard this story? But wasn’t it 5,000 and not 4000?
The answer is yes and no, because there are indeed two different events.
They’re similar, yes — hungry crowds, a few loaves and some fish, and Jesus multiplying them into a feast.
Yet the differences are where the richness lies.
The feeding of the 5,000 happened in Galilee, among a mostly Jewish crowd.
Jesus started with five loaves and two fish, and twelve baskets of leftovers are gathered.
That number twelve feels deliberate — it echoes the twelve tribes of Israel, and reflects the central role of Christ’s twelve disciples.
It’s as if Jesus is saying, “I’m here for my people. I’m the bread you’ve been waiting for. I am the long awaited Messiah’
Then comes the feeding of the 4,000, the lesser known of the two miracles, in the Decapolis, a Gentile region.
This time though there were only seven loaves, and seven baskets left over.
Seven carries the sense, within the Jewish tradition, of completeness, wholeness.
Here, Jesus is showing that his compassion isn’t limited to Israel.
The Gentiles are included too, because the kingdom feast is for everyone.
So, side by side, these stories tell us something profound: Jesus begins with the covenant people, but his mission stretches out to embrace all accept Him as the long awaited Jewish Messiah.
It’s a movement from the particular to the universal. Meaning, God’s promises are rooted in history, yet they open out to all nations.
And here’s where Advent comes in.
Advent is all about waiting — Israel waiting for the Messiah, and we wait for Christ’s return.
The feeding of the 5,000 reminds us that God keeps his promises to his people.
The feeding of the 4,000 reminds us that those promises spill over into the whole world.
Advent holds both: remembering the faithfulness of God in the past, and anticipating the day when all nations will be gathered at the great banquet.
And I love that both miracles are about abundance. Scarcity turns into more-than-enough.
That’s Advent in a nutshell: we live in the tension of hunger and hope, but we’re given glimpses of God’s overflowing provision.
The loaves and fish are like a foretaste of the feast to come.
So when we light Advent candles and sing about waiting, we’re not just recalling history.
We’re actually participating in the bigger story — the one where Jesus feeds both Israel and all who believe in Him,
and where the final Advent will be a table wide enough for everyone.
