Church of the Multiplication

Church of the Multiplication
Fishes & Loaves

Jesus Feeds the Multitudes

Mark 6:30-44 Feeding Five Thousand

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said, "this is a deserted place and it is already very late. Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat." He said to them in reply, "Give them some food yourselves." But they said to him, "Are we to buy two hundred days' wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?" He asked them, "How many loaves do you have? go and see." And when they had found out they said, "Five loaves and two fish." So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass. The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties. Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; he also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the fish. Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.

The History & Archaeology of the Site

A new church has been built to the same specifications as the one built here in 450 AD. It was built in such a way that the altar was above the "Mensa Christi", the rock from which Jesus fed the crowds. The mosaic of the fishes and the loaves is one of the most famous in the world and is over fifteen hundred years old. I must include a comment about the truly beautiful Bougainvillea plants that were blooming at this site and many other areas in Galilee.

Photographs