Jesus Feeds the 5,000
Five loaves, two fish, and a crowd
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- A verse number shows the Bible’s exact words.
- An underlined word shows what it means.
Story
What happened?
Tap a verse number, like , to read the Bible’s exact words.
Who’s who and what came beforePeople, places, and the story so far. Open it anytime.
Scene Card
Cast
- Jesus: The one the Gospels present as the promised Messiah and the Son of God. Crowds are following him.
- Philip: One of Jesus's disciples. He came from Bethsaida, a town near the lake (1:44).
- Andrew: Another disciple. He is Simon Peter's brother.
- A boy: Someone in the crowd. He has a small amount of food.
- The crowd: A very large group of people who came to see Jesus.
Setting
- A grassy hillside on the far side of the Sea of Galilee, a large lake in northern Israel. John also calls it the Sea of Tiberias.
When
- Springtime, a little before the Passover feast, about 2,000 years ago.
Before the Story
Jesus had been healing sick people. John calls these miracles "signs" (6:2). A sign points to something bigger than itself.
Huge crowds followed him. They wanted to see more.
Passover was coming soon. At Passover, Jewish families remember how God set Israel free from Egypt. God also fed them in the desert with bread from heaven (Exodus 16:4).
Here's what you know that almost nobody in this story knows: Jesus already knew what he was going to do (6:6).
Map of the Story
| Scene | Verses | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Across the lake | 6:1-4 | A crowd follows Jesus up a hillside |
| 2. Philip's test | 6:5-7 | Jesus asks where to buy bread |
| 3. A boy's lunch | 6:8-9 | Andrew finds five loaves and two fish |
| 4. Everyone eats | 6:10-11 | Jesus gives thanks and feeds the crowd |
| 5. Twelve baskets | 6:12-13 | The leftovers fill twelve baskets |
| 6. Alone on the mountain | 6:14-15 | The crowd wants to make Jesus king. He leaves |
Plain Retelling
Scene 1 of 6Across the Lake
Jesus crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
A large crowd followed him. They had seen him heal sick people. They wanted to see more signs.
Jesus went up on the mountain. It was a grassy hillside. He sat down there with his disciples.
It was almost time for Passover. That is the feast when Jewish families remember how God rescued Israel from Egypt. After that rescue, God fed Israel in the desert. In the mornings there was bread on the ground (Exodus 16:4, 16:15).
One likely reason John tells us the time of year: this story is about bread too.
Scene 2 of 6Philip's Test
Jesus looked up. He saw a huge crowd coming toward him.
Jesus turned to Philip. The Bible doesn't say why Jesus asked Philip. But remember: Philip came from Bethsaida. Luke says this happened near that town (John 1:44, Luke 9:10).
Jesus asked, "Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?" (6:5).
John tells us why Jesus asked. "He was asking this to test him, for He knew what He was about to do" (6:6). Jesus was not confused or worried. He already had a plan.
Philip did the math. There were so many people. He said that 200 denarii would not buy enough bread for each person to get even a small piece.
A denarius was about one day's pay for a worker. So 200 denarii was more than half a year's pay. And it still would not be enough. Philip's answer showed the problem was too big to solve with money.
Scene 3 of 6A Boy's Lunch
Then another disciple spoke up. It was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
Andrew said, "Here is a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. But what difference will these make among so many?" (6:9).
Barley bread was cheap. Poor people ate it. So this was a poor person's meal. It was a small amount of food.
Andrew found something. But like Philip, Andrew said it was not nearly enough. Five loaves and two fish, and thousands of hungry people. Both disciples saw the same problem.
Scene 4 of 6Everyone Eats
Jesus said, "Have the people sit down" (6:10).
There was plenty of grass on that hill. The men sat down. There were about 5,000 of them. John counts only the men. Matthew says women and children were there too (Matthew 14:21). So the crowd was even bigger.
Jesus took the loaves. He gave thanks to God. Then he handed out the bread to the people sitting on the grass. He did the same with the fish.
Everyone got as much as they wanted. Not a small piece. As much as they wanted.
Scene 5 of 6Twelve Baskets
When everyone was full, Jesus spoke to his disciples.
He said, "Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted" (6:12).
So the disciples collected the leftovers. They filled twelve baskets. Jesus did not want any of the food to be wasted.
John says the pieces came from the five barley loaves. The disciples started with five small loaves. They ended with twelve full baskets. There was more at the end than at the start. Remember, Philip had said there was not enough money for each person to get even a small piece. Now there were baskets of bread left over.
Scene 6 of 6Alone on the Mountain
The people saw the sign Jesus had done. They began to say, "Truly this is the Prophet who is to come into the world" (6:14).
Long before, Moses had promised that God would send a prophet like him (Deuteronomy 18:15). In Moses's time, God fed Israel with bread in the desert. One likely reason the crowd said this: they saw Jesus feed people with bread too.
Then Jesus realized something. The crowd was about to grab him and make him king by force.
So Jesus left. He went up on the mountain again, by himself.
The Bible doesn't say exactly what kind of king they wanted. But remember what Jesus told the crowd the next day. He said they were looking for him because they ate the loaves and were full (6:26). Jesus had come to give them much more than one meal.
The next day, the crowd found Jesus again, across the lake (6:24-25). He told them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger" (6:35). The bread on the hillside was a sign. It pointed to Jesus himself.
Meaning
What does it mean?
Read It
What Does This Mean?
| The text says | It means |
|---|---|
| "The signs He was performing" (6:2) | John calls Jesus's miracles signs. They point to who Jesus is. |
| "He was asking this to test him" (6:6) | Jesus was not asking for help. One likely reason he asked: to help Philip see that the need was too big for people to fix. |
| "What difference will these make among so many?" (6:9) | Andrew pointed out the food there was, but he did not think it would help. |
| "Gave thanks" (6:11) | Jesus thanked God for the food before he shared it. He thanked God for a small meal, before there was enough. |
| "As much as they wanted" (6:11) | Nobody got a tiny piece. Everyone ate until they were full. |
| "So that nothing will be wasted" (6:12) | Jesus did not want any of the food to go to waste. Every broken piece mattered. |
| "The Prophet who is to come" (6:14) | The prophet like Moses that God promised (Deuteronomy 18:15). |
Back Then
A denarius was a Roman silver coin. It was the daily pay of a Roman soldier (Easton's Bible Dictionary, "Penny"). In one of Jesus's stories, a farm owner pays each worker "a denarius for the day" (Matthew 20:2). Two hundred denarii was about 200 days of work.
Barley bread was food for poor people. Barley was fed to horses, and common people made bread from it (Easton's Bible Dictionary, "Barley"). It was cheaper than wheat. Revelation 6:6 describes a vision of a time of famine. In that vision, a denarius buys one quart of wheat, or three quarts of barley.
Barley was harvested around Passover. That is the same time of year as this story (Easton's Bible Dictionary, "Barley").
Tiberias was a city on the lake. Herod Antipas named it after the Roman emperor Tiberius (Easton's Bible Dictionary, "Tiberias"). One likely reason the lake had a second name: people named it after this city.
This miracle is in all four Gospels. Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, and Luke 9:10-17 tell it too. Other than Jesus rising from the dead, it is the only miracle all four Gospels tell.
Something like this happened once before. The prophet Elisha fed 100 men with twenty barley loaves, and there was food left over (2 Kings 4:42-44).
Literal Reader Alert
Were there exactly 5,000 people? No. John says "about five thousand" (6:10). And he counts only the men. Matthew adds that women and children were also there (Matthew 14:21). So the whole crowd was much bigger than 5,000. John and Matthew are not disagreeing. Matthew tells us who was left out of the count.
Why did Jesus "test" Philip if he already knew? A test here is not a trick. Jesus was not trying to make Philip fail. He was helping Philip see how big the need was. Then Philip could see what Jesus would do about it.
Why did Jesus run away from being king? He did not run from being king. The Gospels call him the promised king. He left because the crowd wanted to force him to be their kind of king. Later, Jesus told Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).
Why do the Gospels tell it a little differently? Only John names Philip and Andrew and mentions the boy. Only John says the loaves were barley. Each writer remembered and told it in their own words. The main events are the same.
How People Feel
| Who | Feeling | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Philip | Overwhelmed | Even half a year's pay would not buy enough bread (6:7) |
| Andrew | Doubtful | Five loaves and two fish seemed far too little (6:9) |
| Jesus | Calm | He already knew what he was about to do (6:6) |
| The crowd | Full and amazed | Everyone ate as much as they wanted (6:11, 6:14) |
| The crowd | Excited | They thought Jesus should be their king (6:15) |
For you
What does it mean for me?
Your Turn
What do you bring to Jesus today? Tap one.
Not nearly enough
Andrew said the same thing. Jesus took what little there was and gave thanks. It was more than enough.
A problem too big
Philip did the math and it did not work. Jesus already knew what he would do.
I'm worried about money
Jesus cared that people were hungry. You can tell him about real needs, like food and money. Please also tell a trusted adult.
I'm thankful today
Jesus gave thanks before anyone ate. Thanking God is a good way to start.
You Might Have Heard
"When the boy shared his lunch, everyone else shared their food too. The real miracle was sharing."
What's true: Sharing is good. God does use small things people bring.
What the story is mainly about: What Jesus did. John does not say the boy offered his food, or that anyone else shared. John says Jesus "took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted" (6:11). The leftovers came from "the five barley loaves" (6:13). The people saw it as "the sign that Jesus had performed" (6:14). This story is not mainly a lesson about sharing. It shows God providing food, as he did in the desert.
Where Jesus is: At the center, holding the bread. He is the host. The next day he said he is the bread himself (6:35).
Good News
Philip and Andrew both said, "It's not enough." They were right. What they had was not enough. And Jesus fed everyone anyway.
You don't have to bring enough. You don't have to be enough. Jesus takes what is small and gives thanks for it.
Jesus took bread and gave thanks on this hillside. He did it again on the night before he died, when he gave his disciples the Lord's Supper. "He took the bread, gave thanks and broke it" (Luke 22:19). In Greek, Luke uses the same word for "gave thanks" that John uses in 6:11. Many Christians hear this hillside meal as a sign pointing ahead to that Supper. In the Lord's Supper, Jesus still feeds hungry people with himself.
Luther taught that Jesus's words about eating in John 6 are not about the Lord's Supper itself. He said they are about trusting Jesus. Luther taught that in John 6, "eating" Jesus is a comparison for believing in him. Faith is a gift, too. The Holy Spirit gives it.
Jesus is the bread of life, and he gives himself to you freely.
Big Idea
In Jesus, God takes what is not enough and feeds a hungry crowd. He still feeds us with himself, the bread of life.
If this story brings up big feelings, talk with someone you trust, like a parent, pastor, or counselor.
For leaders and parentsLuther, church readings, and notes for teaching.
From Luther
In the Small Catechism, Luther explains the prayer "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). He wrote that God gives daily bread even without our prayer, to all people, even the wicked. We pray this so God will help us know it. We also pray so that we will receive our daily bread with thanksgiving (Small Catechism, Fourth Petition). Jesus gave thanks before anyone ate. So can we.
In Church
Many churches follow the Revised Common Lectionary. A lectionary is a shared list of Bible readings for each Sunday. This lectionary reads John 6:1-21 in late July of Year B. That Sunday is called Lectionary 17. It also reads the story of Elisha feeding 100 men (2 Kings 4:42-44). In Luther's day, this story was the Gospel reading for the fourth Sunday in Lent.
We quote Luther for what he got right about grace. He also wrote terrible things about Jewish people. Read our note on that.
Memorize
How do I keep it?
One line from this story to learn by heart. Practice a little now. It will come back later so it sticks.
I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger
How did that feel?