The verse anchor
"And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples… and likewise of the fishes as much as they would."
John 6:11 · King James Bible
The story
A great crowd of people had followed Jesus to a green hillside near the Sea of Galilee. There were more than five thousand men — plus women and children besides. They wanted to hear him teach. They stayed all day.
As evening came, Jesus said to his disciple Philip, "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" (Jesus already knew what he was going to do — but he wanted Philip to think.)
Philip said, "Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little." (Two hundred pennies was almost a whole year's wages. Even that would not be enough.)
Then Andrew, another of the disciples, spoke up. "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?"
Only a boy's lunch. Five little loaves. Two small fish. Enough for a child. Not enough for a crowd.
Jesus said, "Make the men sit down." There was much grass in the place. The men sat down, in ranks by hundreds and by fifties.
Jesus took the loaves. He looked up to heaven and gave thanks. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples, and they gave them to the people. And he did the same with the fish.
The disciples walked among the crowd, passing out bread and fish. And nothing ran out. Everyone ate. Everyone was filled.
When they were all finished, Jesus said, "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." His disciples gathered them, and filled twelve baskets with the leftovers from the boy's little lunch.
The people said, "This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world."
One thing we learn
The boy's lunch was very small. In Jesus's hands, it became more than enough for five thousand people, and there were twelve baskets left over. Give what you have. Even if it seems small, put it into his hands.
Memory verse
"And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples… and likewise of the fishes as much as they would."
John 6:11 · KJV
Say it three times before bed. In seven days you will know it forever.
A prayer
Lord Jesus, I do not have much.
But what I have, I give to you.
Bless it, break it, and share it.
Amen.
Beneath the story · for grown-ups
To read this whole passage in the King James Bible with your child, or to walk further with the household: