The story of how Jesus used a little boy’s lunch to feed a massive crowd is found in all four gospels, the books of the Bible that tell the story of Jesus’ life.
The miracle took place in a remote region far from where food was readily available. Apparently, the large crowd consisting of 5,000 men plus women and children were so excited to hear Jesus teach and to see him perform miracles that few planned ahead.
When they became hungry, there was no food available in the area. It is probably safe to assume some brought food, but with so many hungry people those who had food were unwilling to share it.
When Jesus asked his disciples where they could buy bread to feed the crowd, Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them.” (John 6:5, NLT) Scripture says, Jesus asked the question to teach his followers a lesson because he knew what he was going to do. Peter informed Jesus that the only food available was a little boy’s lunch of five barley loaves (probably like thin pancakes) and two little fish. Then he stated the obvious, “…but what are they for so many.” (vs. 9)
Despite the fact that the food was no more than a happy meal, Jesus took the child’s lunch and fed thousands. The miracle began with a child who was willing to give Jesus his lunch. The point of the story is not how little the child had, but how God used it to feed so many.
Authors Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon wrote about this story in their fine book, The Art of Neighboring. They made this observation, “When you give away what you have, Jesus will give you more to give. Even if what you have isn’t enough to solve the whole problem, just do what you can in the moment — give it anyway. Trust that God will fill you up with enough to supply the need that’s right in front of you, and assume he will do it again for the next need as well. If you don’t give, you don’t get a chance to see God do a miracle.”
In a nutshell, we are to focus on what God has given us, not on what we lack. It is only when we use what we already have that we see how God can multiply our limited resources and use them in amazing ways.
Tim Richards grew up in Fairdealing and previously served as associate pastor of Pilgrim’s Rest Church. He currently serves as a pastor on the staff of Concord Church in South County St. Louis.