John 6:9 "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?"
A great multitude of people had followed Jesus because they had seen the
miracles which He performed. As Jesus looked upon the multitude, He asked
Philip, "Where will we get enough bread for these people to eat?"
Jesus knew exactly what He was going to do, but He said this to prove Philip.
Philip answered Jesus, "If we had a year's supply of bread, we could not
feed all these people." Then Andrew came to Jesus and said, "There is
a lad here with five loaves of bread and two small fishes." Ah, if only
Andrew had just stopped there and placed trust in the answer that Jesus would
give, but instead he added to that statement, "But what are they among so
many?" Jesus said to His disciples, "Make the men sit
down."
There are times in our lives the Lord allows situations to occur so we will see
His glory and majesty in dealing with life's circumstances. As with Philip, we
are asked to try to figure out what to do and how to do it. "Where will
this supply come from?" We feel we are not adequate or we do not
have adequate supply to fill a particular need. There is an old Gospel song
that says, "Little is much when God is in it."
I now switch scenes from the disciples to this lad who had five loaves of bread
and two small fishes. Most people would apologize and say something like,
"This is all I have, but you can have it." No, I believe this
little boy came to Jesus and said, "You can have everything I have. I give
it to you." He didn't apologize because that was all he had; rather, he
gave it all to the Lord. Yes, little is much when God is in it.
Jesus received the bread and fishes from the boy and lifted up His eyes to
heaven. John says Jesus gave thanks to the Father. I have to believe that not
only did He give thanks for the bread and fish, but He also gave thanks for
this little boy who gave everything he had to Jesus. That had to be a breath of
fresh air to our Lord to see this boy willing to give it all.
I go back to Andrew's statement. "There is a lad here, which hath
five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so
many?" The focus in our lesson today is not the amount that is held in our
hands; rather, we are to focus on the hands into which we give that which we
have. Notice, the little boy gave five loaves and two small fishes. The multitude
was fed, not just to stave the hunger, but they ate til they were full. When
all had eaten, the fragments were gathered and there were twelve baskets full.
Yes, little is much when God is in it.