Lesson 12 Jesus Feeds the 5,000

Jesus Feeds the 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15) Main Point: All things are possible with God.

PowerPoint Slides is © Henry Martin. Free use for ministry purposes. Not to be used for publication or profit.

Key Verse: Mark 10:27b All things are possible with God

Props: 5 loaves of bread; 2 fish; 12 baskets (Optional: bread for each child; The Gospel of John DVD) Teaching Ideas: Have enough bread to give each child a piece. Show a clip from The Gospel of John DVD of Jesus Feeding the 5,000 Teaching Idea for Younger Children: Sing this cute song to the tune of “Happy Birthday” One boy had two fish (hold up 2 fingers) And five loaves of bread (hold up 5 fingers) He shared them with Jesus (hold hand out; palms up) Lots of people were fed (wiggle fingers to show lots of people)

PowerPoint:

Say This: Because John the Baptist was preaching truth and righteousness, some people who were living in sin became very angry. King Herod ordered that John be killed (Mark 6:14-29). This made Jesus and His disciples very sad. Jesus took His disciples by boat to a quiet place so that they could rest and have something to eat Mark 6:30-31).

The people followed Jesus wherever He went. The crowds heard that Jesus and the disciples had left, so they went by foot to the place where they were headed. They wanted to hear Jesus teach, but most of all they wanted to see more miracles, more signs, and more wonders.

PowerPoint:

© www.biblelessons4kidz.com May be reproduced for personal, ministry, non-profit, or non-commercial uses only. 1 Say This: Jesus was not looking for big crowds but for faithful followers. Many people were there only to see what great thing Jesus will do. A true disciple follows Jesus even if there is no “show”.

PowerPoint:

Say This: After the crowd had been listening for a long while, a man came to Jesus and said, "It’s time to eat. We don't have anything," he said. Jesus asked Philip, “Where should we buy bread for these people to eat?” (John 16:5).

PowerPoint:

Say This: Since Philip was from the area (John 1:44) this could come across as a simple question of where the shops are located. But Jesus asked Philip this question to test him. (Note to teacher: All throughout the Bible, we see how God asks man questions.) Philip is asked “where" and can think only in terms of "how." This is a very difficult test because Jesus refers to "buying" bread.

A correct answer might have been something like, "Lord, You know." Philip could also have remembered another miracle that Jesus had done when He turned water into wine. He could have said, “You, Lord, are able to provide." But Philip chose not to trust God. He said, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for everyone to have one bite!” (John 6:7)

PowerPoint:

© www.biblelessons4kidz.com May be reproduced for personal, ministry, non-profit, or non-commercial uses only. 2 Say This: Jesus was showing them that there is no way they can solve the problem on their own. There was no store close enough to buy this much food. And even if there was, it would have taken 8 months of wages just to give each person one bite! (The average American salary is about $40,000 per year. It would cost nearly $27,000 to feed this many people just one bite!)

What God is looking for is faith and trust from His children that He will be loyal to care for His people.

At this point, another disciple, Andrew, spoke up and said, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish.”

PowerPoint:

Ask: What do they have? (Just a little boy’s lunch)

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Say This: Children were of little value in that culture. They weren’t even counted with the 5,000.

God was going to use someone that no one else valued to perform the miracle. (God is attracted to our weakness; our weakness makes us completely dependent upon Him!)

The disciples told Jesus, “We can only find two fish and five loaves of bread."

Ask the children: Do you LIKE to share your food? How about when you’re really hungry? What do you think the boy thought when the disciples took his food to Jesus?

© www.biblelessons4kidz.com May be reproduced for personal, ministry, non-profit, or non-commercial uses only. 3 Say This: Jesus told the disciples to bring the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish to Him. Jesus then told the disciples to have the people sit down.

Jesus gave thanks for the food.

Application: We should always thank God for our food. Food is a gift from God.

PowerPoint:

Say This: Jesus broke the bread and gave it to His disciples to give it to the all the people. The disciples were probably overwhelmed as they went back to Jesus time and time again to get what they needed to feed the multitude. Can you imagine trying to feed that many people?

Ask: At what point do you think the disciples realized that Jesus was performing a miracle?

God is never stingy in His gifts. They are always bountiful. Everyone received as much as they wanted (John 6:11), they were all full (6:12), and twelve baskets full of food was left over (6:13).

PowerPoint:

Say This: Jesus told His disciples to gather what was left. Isn’t it amazing that after everyone ate until they were full, there were 12 baskets full of food left over? Jesus told the disciples not to let anything be wasted.

Say This: Each of the 12 disciples, who must have agonized over the shortage of food and the size of the crowd they were commanded to feed, walked away with a basket full of excess food. They came to this place sad and hungry – ready to be away from the people. But God had other ideas. He came to fill their emptiness with Himself! As they gave what they did not have, God gave to them even more!

God supplies all our needs and more.

Application: Nothing is too small for God to use it, even a little boy’s lunch. The disciples did not see how the child's lunch could be of help, but just such weakness is characteristic of the way God provides.

Note to Teacher (source unknown): He produces sons from barren women (Gen 18:11) and even from a virgin (Mt 1:18); He chooses what is foolish, weak, lowly, despised and even nonexistent (1 Cor. 1:27-28). He is the God of the impossible (Mk 10:27).

Beware of limited thinking when we have the greatness of God at our disposal. Jesus commands us to do more than we are (humanly) able, because He enables us to do what He commands. The disciples were inclined to shirk their responsibility to feed all of these people because the task was “impossible.” Jesus did not let them off the hook, but rather laid the responsibility for feeding the 5,000 at their feet. What the disciples were not able to do on their own, they accomplished by the power of Jesus Christ. And not only were they able to feed this crowd so that all are filled, they even ended up with a surplus.

And not only that, God ministers through our weakness! He does not select only “strong” people so that He can use THEIR strengths; He often chooses weak people so that He can demonstrate His power through their weakness (see 1 Corinthians 1:18–2:5; 2 Corinthians 4:7–5:10; also chapters 8, 10, 12).

Those whom God uses to minister to the needs of this crowd are also those who gain the most from serving others. We have to be very careful here, because we’re certainly not advocating that we “give in order to get.” But it is interesting to note that this young boy ends up with “all he could eat,” which is probably more than he had in the first place. And the disciples, who thought they had nothing to serve, each ended up with a full basket. As we give ourselves in the service of others, God cares abundantly for our own needs.

God delights in doing the unexpected, so that His wisdom, power and grace are displayed through His handling of “impossible” situations. When we face difficulties, we should be careful not to limit the ways we expect God to minister through us.

God does not call the equipped; He equips the called! -Stephen D. Glass