The Essence had even worked it out and "knew" that there would be five thousand people at this messianic banquet. Sounds familiar? Can you think of any "meal" involving Jesus and five thousand people? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John record the story of the multiplication of loaves and fish. Matthew gives the number.
MT 14:21 "The number of men who ate was about five thousand, not counting the women and children."
Comment: Now the apostles did not sell tickets to this event, and they did not count people as they entered through gates. That there were probably fewer than five thousand men in all of Palestine at the time of Jesus -- even if one threw in the Roman soldiers -- has led people to believe that the "five thousand" number is an estimate which symbolically indicates that for Christians Jesus was the messiah (in the sense of "savior") and he did have a meal with his followers, (what would eventually become the communion meal) the "messianic" banquet.