Children’s Sermon

John 6:1-21

Bread and Fish

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John 6:1-21

Bread and Fish

By Dell Smith Klein

One week-end, Kyle and Kelly’s grandfather took them fishing on the lake near their home. Each twin caught a small fish. Later that morning, they took the boat back to the dock, and carried their catch up to the house. Grandfather said there would be enough for everyone.

While their grandmother prepared their lunch, the twins watched. First, she cooked the fish and then she broke them into pieces and added eggs, flour, salt and pepper. Out of the mixture, she made some small flat cakes and fried them in a skillet. When the food was cooked, she served the little fish pancakes with bread and butter, and a salad.

While they ate, their grandfather told a story from the Holy Bible. People came a long way from home to hear Jesus teach. When it was almost time to eat, Jesus asked Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?” (vs. 6). Philip said it would take a lot of money to buy food for everyone. But Jesus already knew that. He just wanted to see how his followers would handle the problem.

Andrew said, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish” (vs. 9). Andrew didn’t think that was enough food for everyone, though.

That day, five thousand people had listened to Jesus. Do you think two fish and five loaves of bread would be enough to feed all those people? (Allow children to answer.) No, that wouldn’t be enough. Let’s see what Jesus did. Jesus told his followers to have everyone sit down in a nice grassy spot. He took the bread and blessed it and then he did the same with the fish. Jesus asked his followers to pass out the fish and the bread.

After everyone had finished eating, Jesus said, “Gather up the broken pieces which are left over, that nothing be lost” (vs. 12). Jesus’ followers gathered up twelve baskets of leftover bread.

Everyone there knew that a miracle had taken place. They knew that five bread loaves and two fish couldn’t feed so many, and yet five thousand people ate that day. They even had food left over.

Kyle and Kelly listened to the story their grandfather told and wondered how Jesus did that miracle. Even Grandmother, who made two small fish feed four people couldn’t have stretched the food to feed five thousand! The Holy Bible doesn’t tell us how Jesus fed so many people, but it helps us to remember that Jesus is the son of God. He can do many things that ordinary people can’t do.

PRAYER:

God, we thank you for food whether it is a little or a lot. Thank you for your Holy Bible that tells us about Jesus’ miracles. Help us to always think of others, and share what we have. Amen.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible