The Story

Read about the Lord feeding the five thousand in Mark 6:32-44 and Luke 9:10-17.

Ideas for discussion

1. How did the Lord feel when He saw the crowd of people waiting for Him? (He was “moved with compassion” for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.)
2. What did the Lord do to help them? (He taught people Divine truths as He walked among them, healing and teaching them.) He gave them spiritual food for their minds.
3. How did the Lord provide food for their bodies? (He performed a miracle so that the disciples were able to feed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fishes.) All of the people were fed, and there were twelve baskets of food leftover.
4. Imagine that you saw the Lord do this miracle. How might you respond?  
5. The Lord also gives us food for our minds to help us grow strong spiritually. We can find this food in His Word. When we pray, "Give us our daily bread," we are asking for this spiritual food—the true ideas from the Word and good feelings that make us want to use them in our daily lives.
6. The Lord gives us food for our bodies, too. He is the One who sends the sun and rain to grow our food, and He created the plants and animals to provide us with food, clothing, and shelter. The Lord gives us everything we need for our natural life.
7. The Lord wants everyone to have natural and spiritual nourishment. Just as natural food feeds our bodies and keeps them healthy, spiritual food feeds our minds, giving us the truths that can help us follow the Lord. Attending worship services and setting aside time to read the Word at home can help us make time to turn to the Lord with receptive minds—eager to hear the teachings of His Word.
8. In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask for our “daily bread partly in recognition that the spiritual nourishment that we receive from the Lord is not our own or from us—it is the Lord’s love and wisdom with us.

Read more about this miracle:

• “Feeding of the Five Thousand” by Arne Bau-Madsen (ages 4-6)
  On His journeys the Lord was often accompanied by great crowds of people. These people were so amazed and impressed with the Lord’s miracles and teachings that sometimes they just forgot everything else and followed the Lord, without bringing anything to eat.
• “The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes” (ages 7-14)
  The disciples may have wondered whether any would be any food left for them. Yet, after they had fed multitude, there was more food than before.
• “Approaching the Lord in Worship” by David R. Simons (ages 15 and up)
  The Lord can flow into our minds and hearts, only so far as we approach Him. The first thing of all worship, then, is to approach the Lord and look to Him so that He can fill our minds with His truth and our hearts with His love.
• “Eat and Be Satisfied” by Fred Chapin (ages 15 and up)
  Many times, we face situations that we feel inadequate to deal with. Thankfully, the Word assures us that the Lord can take what appears small and weak and give maximum results. One place where we can see this is in the story of the Lord’s feeding five-thousand people with just five loaves of bread and two small fish.

Projects and activities for various ages:

• Bread and Fish Mobile (ages 3-7)
  Color and cut out the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes, then assemble them into a mobile.
• Food in the Word Matching Cards (ages 4-10)
  Match the picture cards of food mentioned in the Word to appropriate quotation cards.
• The Lord Feeding the Multitude Diorama (ages 8-14)
  Color the background scene, the figure of the Lord, and the boy carrying a basket of bread and fish. Cut out the figures of the Lord and the boy, and then assemble the diorama.
• Feeding the Multitude of 5000 by Jacqueline S. Bostock
  The Lord is with people eating bread and fish.
• Feeding the Five Thousand Coloring Page by Josephine Ellis
  A boy brings a basket of bread and fish to the Lord.
• Feeding the Five Thousand (ages 5-8)
  The project shows a small amount of food multiplied so that all could eat.
• Spiritual Feast (ages 7-14)
  Share the kind of food that might have been served in New Testament times, then share quotations from the Word. Discuss the importance of having spiritual food for our minds as well as natural food for our bodies.
• Feeding the Five Thousand Bread Recipe
  Bake 5 small loaves of bread to enjoy as you reflect on the miracle of feeding the five thousand.
• The Lord’s Teachings Are Spiritual Food (ages 7-14)
  This project illustrates the idea that the Lord’s spiritual teachings are food for all people.
• Feeding the Four Thousand Coloring Page by Robert R. Glenn
  The disciples feed a multitude of people with seven loaves and fishes. This illustration has calligraphy with a portion of Matthew 15.
• Prayers for Teens: Bread of Heaven
  Four prayers including “Lord, we know that You will never fail us, and that when You feed Your people there is always more than enough. Help us to feel Your loving presence….”

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