Luke 9:14 “For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.”
So with five thousand men present there were surely some children and women present as well. But, there may not have been many. The journey to this area was long and it was a deserted place. So many of the families may have remained home. In any case, just the five thousand was a huge crowd to say the least.
In groups of fifty there were 100 groups scattered around the area once they were seated. That figure serves to put into perspective just how many people we are talking about here. The miracle about to be performed would be no more or less remarkable if there were 500 or 500,000. But, the number does remind us of the feeding of the congregation of Israel in the wilderness with manna.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your leading. Father we do not often understand every thing You bring into our lives. Sometimes we don’t understand the ways in which You lead us. But, we also know from experience, faith, and truth that we can indeed trust all that we receive from Your hand. Thank You for being faithful always. When things that we have relied upon fall away, we are the more reminded that we should be relying only upon You. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.