“Taking
The five loaves
And the two fish,
Jesus looked up to heaven.
He blessed
And broke
The loaves.
He gave them
To his disciples
To set
Before the people.
He divided
The two fish
Among them all.”
καὶ λαβὼν τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εὐλόγησεν καὶ κατέκλασεν τοὺς ἄρτους καὶ ἐδίδου τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἵνα παρατιθῶσιν αὐτοῖς, καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας ἐμέρισεν πᾶσιν.
This is the only blessing miracle that is recorded in all four gospels, Matthew, chapter 14:19, Luke, chapter 9:16, and John, chapter 6:12, plus here. The blessing of the bread and the fish is exactly the same in the synoptic gospels, but merely summarized in John. This feeding of a large group of people harkens back to the Exodus story, chapter 16:1-36, about the manna and the quails in the wilderness. Yet the blessing itself has almost a foretaste of the Eucharistic Last Supper of Jesus, when he blessed and broke the bread. Mark said that Jesus took (καὶ λαβὼν) the 5 loaves (τοὺς πέντε ἄρτους) and the 2 fish (καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας). He looked up to heaven (ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν). He blessed them (εὐλόγησεν). Then he broke up the loaves of bread into pieces (καὶ κατέκλασεν τοὺς ἄρτους). He gave the loaves of bread to his disciples (καὶ ἐδίδου τοῖς μαθηταῖς). They, in turn, set the broken pieces of bread or served them to the crowd (ἵνα παρατιθῶσιν αὐτοῖς). Jesus also divided or shared the 2 fish among them all (καὶ τοὺς δύο ἰχθύας ἐμέρισεν πᾶσιν). This almost sounds like a large later distribution of Holy Communion.