You give them something to eat

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹³ Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Questions to discuss

Jesus keeps stretching the disciples as he calls them to new faith adventures.

·         What are some of the challenging elements in the story above?

·         How would you have felt if you had been one of the disciples there that day?

·         At what point do you think the loaves and fish were multiplied? In the hand of Jesus? In the hands of the disciples? Other?

·         How has Jesus called you to take the little you have and distribute it?

·         Have you seen Jesus multiply the “loaves and fish” you have placed in His hands? What are the loaves and fish in your life?

·         Pray for one another that Jesus would bless and multiply what we place in His hands.