Exceptional

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

John 6:8-11

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

Jesus went across Lake Galilee (or, Lake Tiberias). Many people followed him because they saw the miracles he did to heal the sick. Jesus went up on a hill and there sat down with his followers. It was almost the time for the Jewish Passover Feast.

Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him. He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for all these people to eat?” (Jesus asked Philip this question to test him. Jesus already knew what he planned to do.)

Philip answered, “Someone would have to work almost a year to buy enough bread for each person here to have only a little piece.”

Another follower there was Andrew. He was Simon Peter’s brother. Andrew said, “Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish. But that is not enough for so many people.”

Jesus said, “Tell the people to sit down.” This was a very grassy place. There were about 5,000 men who sat down there. Then Jesus took the loaves of bread. He thanked God for the bread and gave it to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish. He gave them as much as they wanted.

They all had enough to eat. When they had finished, Jesus said to his followers, “Gather the pieces of fish and bread that were not eaten. Don’t waste anything.” So they gathered up the pieces that were left. They filled 12 large baskets with the pieces that were left of the five barley loaves.

The people saw this miracle that Jesus did. They said, “He must truly be the Prophet who is coming into the world.”