Jesus, Destroyer of Economies

Today we'll be talking about one of the miracles of Jesus - the Feeding of the Five Thousand. You probably already have at least a passing familiarity with this one. It's very well known, and even appears in most children's Bible storybooks. It's also the only miracle recounted in all four gospels - Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:32-44, Luke 9:10-17, and John 6:1-13. If you don't have a clue what it's all about, go read it (it's readily available online) and come on back. We're about to have a discussion.

Here's the question: what would Jesus' food duplication have done to the local economy? Do you suppose that local farmers, bakers, and fishermen were very happy to hear about this fellow passing out apparently unlimited free food from very small original amounts? Bear in mind that at the time, they would have had no way of knowing whether He was going to be doing this in a regular - or even ongoing - basis, or if He would be "expanding operations". What do you suppose Jesus would have responded to them?

Enough rambling. Here's a picture of some money.