One day, Jesus was walking with his disciples across the Sea of Galilee. Many people followed them, for they had seen Jesus heal the sick and perform great miracles. As they climbed a mountain, Jesus sat down with his disciples to rest. He knew that people would soon be hungry, and that’s when He saw the great crowd coming to them.
Jesus asked one of his disciples, Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people can eat?” Philip was surprised and said, “Even for two hundred denarii we could not buy enough bread for everyone to get only a small piece!” That was a lot of money, and there were so many people—about five thousand men, and women and children to boot!
But another disciple, Andrew, found a little boy in the crowd. This boy had five barley loaves and two fish with him. Andrew said, “Here is a boy with five loaves and two fish, but what are they among so many people?” It didn’t seem to be enough. But Jesus had a plan.
Jesus asked the people to sit down in the grass. Then He took the boy’s loaves, thanked God, and began to divide the bread. He did the same with the fish. And when He gave the food to the disciples, they distributed it to the people.
Something amazing happened: everyone ate and was fed – all five thousand men, plus women and children! And when everyone had eaten, Jesus said to his disciples: “Gather up the remaining pieces, so that nothing goes to waste.” The disciples gathered the remains of bread and filled twelve baskets full of what was left.
People were amazed at this great miracle. They whispered to each other, “This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world.” They saw that Jesus was something very special, sent by God to show them how much God loves and cares for them.
Message of history
God can do great things with the little we have if we pass it on to Him with trust. Jesus cares for our needs and shows us that God’s care is infinite.
Bible passage
The story of Jesus feeding the 5000 in John 6:1-14 (Schlachter 2000) reads:
“Then Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee near Tiberias. And a great crowd followed him, because they saw his signs on the sick. And Jesus went up to the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. But the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and saw that a great crowd was coming to him, and he said to Philip, “Where do we buy bread so that they can eat?” But he said this to test him; because he himself knew what he wanted to do. Philip answered him, “For 200 denarii of bread, it is not enough for them that each of them gets even a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fishes; But what is that for so many? But Jesus said, “Let the people lie down.” But there was a lot of grass in the place. The men camped there, about 5,000 in number. And Jesus took the loaves, thanked them, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were resting; likewise also of the fish, as much as they wanted. But when they were satisfied, he said to his disciples, “Gather the rest of the fragments, so that nothing will perish.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with chunks of the five barley breads that were left over from those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that Jesus had performed, they said, “This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world.”
