Crowds, Bread and Fame: John 6.1-15 and History Revisited

Abstract

From the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century it was common to regard the unique conclusion to the Johannine account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand (6.15) as one of the most important episodes in Jesus’ public career. This view has all but disappeared from current Jesus research. This article revisits, challenges and ultimately reframes this thesis with the help of some recent developments in historical method in Jesus studies. The argument is this: even if the exact scenario in Jn 6.14-15 is not historical, the episode captures an important political dimension to Jesus’ activities that probably is historical and can illuminate other events in his life as well. Historians were right to highlight Jn 6.14-15, if perhaps for the wrong reasons.