Miracles of Jesus

Lesson #7: Feeding of the Five Thousand (John 6:1-14)

 This is most likely one of the most well-known miracles that Jesus preformed. It has been used in both Sunday School lessons as well as sermons for centuries. In our lesson we are going to look at a spiritual application that we can apply to ourselves by looking at the lad who provided Jesus with the food as well as the miracle itself.

The Miracle:

 A very large crowd has gathered where Jesus and his disciples were trying to rest because of the previous miracles he had performed. It was also close to the time of Passover which would lead into Jesus great discourse on being the bread of life in the following chapters.

When Jesus saw that there were so many people and nothing to eat, he told the disciples to have them sit down in ranks. There happened to be a lad there who had 5 loaves and two fishes. But the disciples asked Jesus, what were they among so many? According to the text the men numbered 5000 so if the women and children were counted then there could have been well over 5000 people who need food.

Jesus took the fish and bread and blessed it and then handed out to the disciples who were to hand it our to the people. When everyone had eaten, they gathered up 12 baskets of food left over. These were not small baskets either. So in this great miracle Jesus used the food offered by one little lad to accomplish a great miracle.

What can we learn from this miracle and the lad who provided the food?

 1)  His name was not given; therefore, it could have been anyone (verse 9).

• One of the key things for us to do in this passage is to put our name in place of the word lad. Then we can ask ourselves what we have to give.

2)  Note that Jesus knew exactly what he would do (verse 6).

• If you are not sure of what to do with something that you have, you can rest assured that Jesus knows exactly what to do with it. Just give it to him and let him handle it.

3)  Jesus never wastes anything (verse 12)

• Jesus instructed the disciples to gather up the fragments that were left over and there were 12 baskets full.
• Anything that we give to Jesus will never be wasted that we can know for sure.

Miracles of Jesus

Lesson #7: Feeding of the Five Thousand (John 6:1-14)

1)  Why had all of the people come to where Jesus and his disciples were?

2)  How many loaves and fishes did Jesus use in this miracle?

3)  How many people were fed during this miracle?

4)  How many baskets of fragments were left over after everyone had eaten?

5)  What can we learn from the lad that provided the food for this miracle?