July 14, 2015 – John 6:8-10

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “have the people sit down.”  Now there was much grass in the place, So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.  John 6:8-10 Can you count to 5000?  It is easy to count to 10, harder to count to 100, but 5000? Think about how many hamburgers it would take to feed 5000 men.  How high would a stack of hamburgers have to be in order to feed 5000.  No wonder the disciples asked Jesus – what would 5 loaves and 2 fishes help to feed 5000 men?  What was Jesus thinking?Jesus took the loaves and He thanked God.  He then gave the men as much as they could eat.  When they finished, he told the disciples to gather the leftovers.  Can you guess how much was left over?  Not one basket, or two baskets of leftovers, but 12 baskets of left overs.  What did the people say after they finished their picnic of bread and fish?  “This is the prophet, or Jesus, who has come.”Jesus feeds us every day when we read His Word.  He feeds us when we pray to Jesus.  He feeds us when we love each other.   When we are hungry, we want more than food.  We want love.  Jesus loves you and He loves me.  Jesus wants to feed us with peace and joy.  Next time you are hungry, thank Him for the food you receive.  Hug your Mom and Dad and say thank you.  They can teach you about Jesus and His great love because He feeds them, too.Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” John 6:11-14