Two Fish and 5 Loaves

John 6

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages[a] to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are leftover. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

.….

I’ve heard the story countless of times, about of boy who brought 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. Albert Tate gave me a different view of the story. A peak between the lines, so to speak.

Yep, the boy was probably the only one who brought food while following Jesus around. And he did not even take credit for the story. The story could have been entitled “The Boy Who Brought 2 Fish and 5 Loaves of Bread and Helped Jesus Save Five Thousands”…or something to that effect. No, the boy was not mentioned other than he brought the goodies. More importantly so, the boy simply offered his 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread.

Just like the boy in the story, I am not required by God to solve the world crisis. All I have to do is follow Jesus around. And when I see a problem, the first thing to do is to bring to God what He gave me in the first place: my own 2 fish and 5 loaves. After I’ve given him what I have, the second thing to do is to take step back and let God do his wonders. Most of the time, I would forget to step back. I tend to dictate God how He should solve the problems I see. I forget that God is not a genie. But once I learn to take step back, it is when God would do his wonders. When the boy gave his fish and bread, he took a step back. And that’s when Jesus was able to feed the five thousand people in the story.

God said, Isaiah 55:8-9

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

So I began to think of my 2 fish and 5 loaves. My being a wife, my being a mom, my being a trophy of God’s grace, my being a homemaker, and my being a blogger. God can do so much in these areas in my life. What about you, what are your 2 fish and 5 loaves?

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