A. 1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
B. 3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. 5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
C. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
D. 10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down.
E. Now there was much grass in the place.
D’. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
C’. 11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
B’. 12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
A’. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
Note: what is the special significance of “much grass”?
Could ‘much grass’ be emphasizing the time of year?
Ian Leask suggests in his book on John, says “It is thought that the previous year had been a sabbatical year when the land would lie fallow and the ground upon which they sat would have not been grazed. This would have meant a shortage of food during the sabbatical year so the provision of food on this occasion would have been acceptable.” I have not tried to confirm fallow year but does sound interesting.
The chiastic structure of the miracles in the book of John progresses from belief to unbelief at the center. The point of the book of John is set forth in the chasm in John 1:1-18. John says in John 1: 11-12; : He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” The central point of the central miracles (John 6:1-15, and John 6:15-20) is his own did not receive Him. The point of the grass is emptiness. Grass in the Bible is only good to be cut down and wither in noonday. Jesus came to His own, and His own did not receive Him (as pictured in John 61-59), but to those who did receive him (as pictured in John 6: 60-71) He gave the right to become children of God.