As someone who is a teensy bit too active on Instagram (Okay, fine, “active” could be a euphemism for “addicted”), I follow accounts that offer tips on how to grow one’s platform. The gurus behind these accounts give their followers the inside scoop on cracking the nebulous algorithm, the ideal frequency for one’s posts, trending hashtags to use, and the best reel length to grab the viewer’s attention.

Thanks to my goldfish-like attention span and my abysmal technical skills, I haven’t efficiently tapped into the information these social media wizards provide. But I’m certain that none of these “grow your platform” accounts advise followers to go smaller or to shrink the size of the audience. I don’t recall any reels where the influencer points to those air bullet points that read, “Go small or go home” or something similar. Neither have I heard them advocate for rehashing old posts or reusing old content.

That kind of advice wouldn’t make sense if you were trying to expand your reach or platform.

But 2000 years ago, Jesus turned things on their head and performed the same miracle of feeding the multitude twice in a row. He takes bread and fish, prays over it, and feeds a huge crowd that had gathered to hear Him speak—and then He repeats the miracle. In Matthew 14, the first instance, Jesus feeds 5000 men (besides women and children), and, just one chapter later in Matthew 15  we read that Jesus feeds 4000 men (besides women and children).

Why??? Why do the same thing all over again? And, more importantly, why do the same thing in a less “impressive” way with a fewer people the second time? At least the writers, Matthew and Mark who recorded these two incidents, could have started with the miracle of 4000 being fed and then built up to 5000.

But Jesus wasn’t interested in creating an impression or growing a following or building a platform. He didn’t care about playing to an audience.

He cared about the individuals in the audience. He was interested in filling their physical and spiritual hunger.

If you’ve grown up in church, you’ve heard the feeding of the five thousand story back at Sunday School where you were likely taught to share like the little boy in the story. But the feeding of the four thousand? Preachers and teachers tend to breeze past that incident.

But, I love that Jesus repeats His actions rather than doing something brand-new and “innovative.” I love that He performs the miracle for a smaller crowd after He performs it for a large crowd. I love how He upends cultural expectations and norms with His actions.

The feeding of the 5000 took place near Bethsaida, a Jewish region. The feeding of the 4000 took place in the region of Gerasenes, a Gentile area. By repeating His miracle, Jesus was revealing His love and compassion to both Jews and Gentiles. He was showing them—and us—that He is the Bread of Life to anyone who comes to Him hungry.

When you try to expand your reach on social media through advertising, you have the option of setting filters for your target audience. You can include specifics about age, gender, race, occupation, religious affiliations, and hobbies so your posts only reach the folks who will most likely follow your page.

But Jesus pours out His love unconditionally and indiscriminately. He says to His disciples, “I have compassion on the crowd…” His love is filter-free because there is no agenda to it. He loves because He is love. God doesn’t have a target audience. He so loved “the world” that He gave us Jesus (John 3:16).

In both instances of feeding the five thousand and the four thousand, Jesus breaks bread. In both instances, He uses the imagery of the bread to reveal that His body was broken so we can be made whole.

Today, may we be encouraged by the less spoken-about, seemingly repetitive story. May we see the “crowd” with compassion the same way Jesus saw the 4000—as individuals who are hungry, as people who need the Bread of Life.

When the world tells us that we should “go big or go home,” may we stop to see the individual and go smaller, if that is what is required. May it not be platforms but people who define our actions. May we not become so enamored with creating an “impactful” narrative that we miss out on engaging with individual needs.

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