67 Jesus Feeds a Large Crowd [John 6:1–15]
The Bible passage: [John 6:1–15]
The Story:
Jesus had crossed the Sea of Galilee. A huge crowd was following Him because of all the sick people that He had healed. Jesus went up on the side of a mountain and sat down there with His disciples.
The Jewish Passover festival was near.
When Jesus looked up and saw a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, “Where will we buy enough bread for these people to eat?”
He asked Philip this to test him, for He knew what He was about to do.
Philip answered, “Two hundred days’ wages wouldn’t buy enough bread for each of them to have a little.”
One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish - but there are so many people.”
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, so they all sat down. There were about 5,000 men in the crowd.
Jesus took the loaves, and after thanking God, He had the bread passed to all of those who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish. Each person got as much as they wanted.
When everyone was full, Jesus told His disciples, “Collect the leftovers so nothing will be wasted.”
They collected the leftovers and filled 12 baskets with the pieces of bread that were left.
When the people saw the miracle He had performed, they said, “This really is the Prophet who was predicted to come into the world!”
Jesus knew they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, so He retreated to the mountain by Himself.
The Lessons:
- This was a very large crowd. There were five thousand men, plus women and children.
- The disciples could imagine a small miracle from Jesus. What he did exceeded anything they could even imagine. [Ephesians 3:20] tells us that God can go “above and beyond all that we ask or think”.
- The people referred to Jesus as “The Prophet.” This comes from a prediction by Moses [Deuteronomy 18:15].
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