"Another of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’" John 6:8, 9
A basketball in my hands is worth about $20. A basketball in the hands of Lebron James is worth about $31.5million.
It depends on whose hands it’s in.
A volleyball in my hands is worth about $6. A volleyball in the hands of Karch Kiraly is worth about $3 million.
It depends on whose hands it’s in.
A tennis racket in my hands is worth about $20. A tennis racket in the hands of Caroline “Sunshine” Wozniacki is worth more than $2 million.
It depends on whose hands it’s in.
A baseball in my hands is worth about $6. A baseball in the hands of Derek Jeter is worth about $22 million.
It depends on whose hands it’s in.
Two fish and five loaves in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches. Two fish and five loaves in Jesus’ hands will feed thousands.
It depends on whose hands they’re in.
GUESS WHO’S COMING FOR DINNER?
The winter rains had made the grassy slopes that surround the Sea of Galilee unusually green. An exciting event was taking place: the disciples were returning from a preaching tour that took them all through Galilee. They were coming to tell Jesus all about the experiences they had had while traveling. But a sad event had just taken place as well: King Herod had John the Baptist beheaded. So Jesus decided to take His disciples on a retreat.
They got into a boat and headed north on the Sea of Galilee toward Bethsaida, which was only about four miles away. However, the crowds followed them.
Jesus spent most of the day teaching and healing the people and their sick loved ones on the mountainside. The disciples came to Jesus later in the day and said, “Master, we need to send these people away to go buy food for themselves. Here we are in this remote place. We don’t have food for all these people.”
Jesus answered the disciples, but not in the way you might expect someone to answer when you have just told them there are 10,000 people who need food. “You give them something to eat!” Philip responded, “Master, eight months worth of wages wouldn’t buy enough food for this crowd!” If we were to try to feed them in our day, we couldn’t get away with less than $5 per person, or about $50,000—far more than eight months’ salary for most people today.
Andrew took matters into his own hands and started looking for food. I’m not sure what he expected to find. But he came back to Jesus and reported, “We have five barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go in this crowd?”
What was Jesus up to? Verse 6 tells us that Jesus said what He did to test Philip. Do you think He might have gone through this little “game” with Philip to impress on the disciples’ minds that whatever they thought they could do was not enough? That the problem was bigger than their abilities? And do you think that He allows us to work through all of our “man made” solutions, only to come to the point where we discover that the problem is bigger than we are?
You know the ending of the story: Jesus held the bread and fish in His hands, looked up towards heaven and gave thanks, and broke it. His disciples then fed more than 10,000 people!
While in the hands of Jesus, the food multiplied.
CHILDREN, COME UNTO ME
Andrew got the barley loaves and fish from a boy. The Greek reads, “little boy.” I find it interesting that when Andrew went looking for food, he most likely did not find this little boy’s lunch and say, “Oh, this should be enough for this crowd,” and stopped looking for food. I would imagine he looked long and hard through that crowd, and that little boy was the only one he could find who was prepared to be with Jesus for the long haul. Jesus could have easily made manna fall down from heaven like he did for the Israelites long ago. But, instead, he chose to use the gift of a little boy to perform a miracle.
Why is this important?
This story teaches us many things. One is that Jesus values our wholistic needs; our physical needs are a spiritual matter. But an often overlooked lesson is that Jesus values not only children but the ministry of children.
You may have heard it said that God works through men and women to meet the needs of their fellow man, which is true. However, what we don’t always say, and what I believe this story is telling us, is that God works through the lives of little boys and little girls as well as to minister to their fellow man.
God wants to use children to help Him spread the message of His love and His soon return. God wants to use children to help ease the physical suffering of our friends and neighbors.
God wants to use children to give hope to a world that can be scary sometimes.
Yes, parents, teachers, pastors, and other adults must guide and direct children. They need us. They need us to share with them the wisdom that life experiences bring. Some things they just can’t learn until they’ve lived for awhile. And there are some things that they aren’t ready for. It’s probably not a good idea that they go drive a truck for ADRA in South Africa, or fly a helicopter to drop-ship supplies to the needy in El Salvador!
But we need them as well.
WHAT WE NEED FROM CHILDREN
We need their energy. Sometimes I think that youth is wasted on the young!
We need their simplicity. We allow our lives to get so complicated with such unimportant things.
We need their teachability. We fake knowing it all sometimes because for some strange reason we think we’re supposed to know it all.
We need their gifts and talents. In 1992, a grade school boy, about 10 or 11 years old, went to spend the summer with his grandmother in Alaska. She wanted to attend a class for Prophecy Seminar instructors, but she did not want to go alone. So she took the boy with her.
The Prophecy Seminar teacher adamantly refused to allow anyone to attend who did not sign a promise to hold a prophecy seminar. The child tried to get out of it, but between the adamant teacher and the grandmother who wanted his company, he was forced to sign.
He attended the whole session and became very interested in Bible study as a result. Over the next school year, he continued to study. The next spring (he was now 11 or 12) his grandmother wrote and reminded him of his promise to hold a seminar. She added that she was sending him the leftover material from her seminar.
Being conscientious, he proceeded to plan. He made a list of everyone he knew that he could invite. His mother added some names making a total of 30 who were invited. To his great sorrow, only 9 people showed up the first night. He had yet to learn that evangelists would give their eye teeth to get almost a 30 percent response to advertising!
He held meetings for 28 nights. During the day he visited the attendees. His mother drove him around but stayed in the car while he went inside. He would ask, “Are you enjoying the meetings? Do you understand what you are hearing? Do you have any questions?” After dealing with all that, he prayed and continued to the next place.
He started out very shy and bashful, but as the meetings progressed, he gained confidence and no longer felt insecure about his ability to talk to people.
"We must free children from our limitations on their talents and abilities. We must humbly release our children to the perfect will of God. "
Five adults were baptized at the end of the meetings. The young preacher told Dorothy Watts who interviewed him, “I used to not think very much about Jesus, but now I understand how special and powerful He is.”
While in the hands of Jesus, miracles take place! The weak become strong, the shy become bold, the hopeless receive hope.
God has given different gifts and abilities to different people. Not everyone can preach—even adults. But we must ask ourselves the question, “What can I do in my life to help people know Jesus?” And be prepared for the miraculous!
WHAT CHILDREN NEED FROM US
Evelyn Christensen, a Christian author and speaker, was touring Japan several years ago when a reporter interviewed her in Tokyo. Mirroring his country’s then male-dominated society, during the course of the interview he became agitated and suddenly blurted out, “How does your husband handle you being the teacher and speaker.” Pointing to her husband, Chris, she answered, “He’s sitting right over there. Why don’t you ask him for yourself?”
The following is his answer. While it answers the reporter’s question, it also speaks to us today regarding our children:
“I believe the Christian husband is the spiritual head of his household, God having entrusted him with his wife and children’s physical and spiritual care. The Bible says that those to whom something has been entrusted are stewards, responsible for that thing. Thus, the husband and father is the steward of the wife and children whom God has entrusted to him. That also makes him the steward of his wife’s and children’s gifts and talents from God. So he is responsible not only to free them to use their talents from God, he also must encourage and assist them to do so. Also, as the steward of these family members, he will give an account to God as to whether he has hindered or helped them in the use of their Godgiven talents.” Years ago, he said, he humbly released in prayer his wife and children and all that he is to the perfect will of God.
Parents, teachers, pastors, and other adults, we must allow God to use children for His purposes. We must free children from our limitations on their talents and abilities. We must humbly release our children to the perfect will of God.
I realize letting go is not easy. I am thankful, though, for parents who released me to the perfect will of God in order to attend boarding academy at age 14, never to live at home full-time again. I remember coming home on home leaves and watching my mother cry as she sent me back to academy at the end of the week. But, she said, she was finally at peace when I turned to her and said, “Mom, it’s OK. This is where the Lord wants me to be.” Ironically, she is 75 and now lives with my husband and me. God has blessed us with special time during this season of her life.
Have you let your children go? Maybe not physically to leave home, but spiritually to be the children God would have them be?
HANDING THEM OVER
Two fish and five loaves in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches. Two fish and five loaves in Jesus’ hands will feed thousands.
It depends on whose hands they’re in.
I encourage you to place your life and the lives of your children in the hands of Jesus.
And while in the hands of Jesus, we will see miracles happen!
Bonita Joyner Shields is an editor of youth Bible study guides in the General Conference Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Department.
