Five Small Barley Loaves

The story of the miraculous feeding of a crowd of 5000 men, plus women and children, is in all four of the Gospels, so it must have been a significant event for those who were there. Jesus had just had a tough week, but instead of trying to hide and get rest for Himself, He had compassion on the crowd who followed Him. ‘He welcomed them and spoke to them about the Kingdom of God and healed those who needed healing.’ (Luke 9:11).

None of the gospels record what He actually taught, but I wonder if He told parables similar to those when He spoke about the Kingdom of God being like a pearl of great price or being like a treasure found in a field that the person who found it sold all he had to buy the field. Or perhaps He simply spoke about how that Kingdom of God was near.

What about the boy who provided the starting point for the miracle of feeding this great crowd? Did his spirit come alive as he listened to Jesus speak about the Kingdom of God? Is that why he knew he had to offer the little that he had, just five small barley loaves and two small fish. He could have faced ridicule for bringing so little to such a great need.

Sometimes we can worry that we only have a little to give of our time, our resources, or our abilities. We think that someone else could do it better, bigger, or quicker than us. But the young boy was so impacted by Jesus that he knew all he had to do was to give what he had, and then leave it to Jesus to bring the multiplication.

‘Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish’ (John 6:11)