John 6:1-9 NASB After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). [2] A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. [3] Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. [4] Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. [5] Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” [6] This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. [7] Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” [8] One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, [9] “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?”
Matthew 14:17-21 NASB They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” [18] And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” [19] Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, [20] and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. [21] There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.
The Scriptures from John 6 and Matthew 14 tell the same story about Jesus feeding the 5000, but they each tell it in a slightly different way, and there’s something in both that I want you to see that I believe will bless you. I want us to particularly look at the little boy who offered up the five loaves and two fish. When Jesus asked Philip the question, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat,” the other disciples engaged in a conversation, concluding that this was an impossible situation, and therefore, the best thing to do would be to send the people away, back to their homes. At some point during this conversation, Andrew tells Jesus about the little boy with the five loaves and two fish. I don’t believe the disciples were moving among the crowd, which, counting the wives and children, was probably around 15 to 20,000 people, looking for enough food to share. Instead, I believe the little boy was sitting or standing close enough to overhear what was being discussed, and I believe he tugged on Andrew’s garment, offering his five loaves and two fish. Now, this is one lad’s sack lunch, and the words used here actually referred to five cracker-type pieces of bread and two very small fish. I believe that this little boy thought that if he could just get what little he had into the hands of Jesus then Jesus could do something with it. Now, the adults in the room, the disciples of Jesus, were only discussing from a logical perspective that the situation was impossible, but with childlike faith, that little boy believed that Jesus could use his seemingly inadequate offering to do the supernatural. Then, the enemy often tells us that we aren’t anointed enough, talented enough, or simply adequate because of our weaknesses or past failures for Jesus to really use us. We sometimes forget that Jesus specializes in demonstrating his power through the weak and needy. If you would just offer to him what little you have, as inadequate as you may feel, He will demonstrate in and through you His miraculous life. Get your eyes off your lack and smallness, and in childlike faith like this little boy, give it all to Jesus. When Jesus took the food, he blessed it, and then after he broke the bread, the blessing that he had already imparted to it was released miraculously to not only be enough to feed all the people but to have 12 basketfuls left over. The breaking here simply speaks of a surrendered life in the hands of Jesus. If you’re Christian, then you have already been blessed with the supernatural life of Christ by the Holy Spirit living inside of you. If you will just surrender all that you are, as much as you know how, and as weak and frail as you may feel, to Jesus, then you will discover his miraculous life within released through you living and doing the supernatural. You don’t have to have it all together; HE DOES!! Just give them the mess you are and experience the miracle that He is.