The Boy Whose Small Lunch Fed Over 10,000 People — Ian Paisley

Reading the Feeding of the Five Thousand in John's Gospel

Pick up the authorized version of Holy Scripture in the English language and turn to John's Gospel after the chapter six. The sixth chapter of John's Gospel. And we're going to read the first fourteen verses of this chapter.

The Gospel according to John, chapter six, verse one. We all read together in the morning, taking your time from me. After these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles that he did of them that were at his ease. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company come unto him, he said unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do.

Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said unto him, There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes.

But what are these among so many? And Jesus said, Make the man sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the man sat down and numbered about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were sat down, and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world. Ending our lesson at verse fourteen, that God will stamp with his own divine approval this reading from his blessed, incorruptible, and infallible book.

The Bible as a Book for Children

Open your Bibles at the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to John. Boys and girls, I want to address my remarks to you. I don't say the older people should go to sleep, but I'm addressing my remarks to you today.

And I'd like to say to you that the Bible is your book. The Bible is essentially the children's book. It is a lesson book for all the children of all generations in the world. And you do not know what you're losing if you're not reading the Bible.

It's a most enjoyable book and it records the greatest stories that have ever been penned. In it, the Lord Jesus Christ speaks personally to you. And all his teaching is all important to you. Now the first four books of the New Testament are called the Gospels.

They are short life stories of our Lord Jesus Christ. You need to read them and you need to read them again and again before you will get their meaning and their message to you. But part of all the Gospels have a section on the miracles of Christ.

The miracles of Christ are the record of the supernatural acts. The acts of wonder and amazement which the Lord did when he was upon this earth. Of course, they are very few compared to all the acts that he did.

John's Record of Christ's Many Works

But in John's Gospel, at the last verse of the Gospel, John 21, verse 25, we read these words. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they could be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.

So this is a very special choosing of the Lord's miracles that are picked out in the Gospels. Some of the miracles of Christ are recorded in Matthew's Gospel. Some of them are recorded in Mark's Gospel.

Some of them are recorded in Luke's Gospel. And some of them are recorded in John's Gospel. But the interesting thing is this, that only one parable, one miracle is recorded in all the four Gospels. Only one.

Sometimes these miracles are recorded in two of the Gospels. Or maybe in three of the Gospels. But never in them all with one exception. And there is one miracle, the miracle that we have read today, commonly known as the feeding of the five thousand.

Of course there were far more people than five thousand fed. That was only the men. Well I'm sure that there was as many women. Knowing the curiosity of women, there'd be far more women following in the crowd than that.

And when you have the women, you have the children. So there was possibly ten to fifteen thousand fed. I said to a preacher last night, I was going to talk about this subject. And I said, I want to give you a very good heading for it.

He says, what are you going to call it? I said, well I would call it, if I wanted to get home to the boys and girls, the big people as well, I would call it five barley scones and two sardines. And that will bring home to you who was fed and how they were fed.

I see some people smiling, the penny has dropped. And it is true that we should look at these things and just study the amazing thing that the Lord Jesus Christ did in this occasion. But one other interesting thing is this.

John's Unique Mention of the Lad

Only John's gospel tells us about the source of these five barley loaves and two small fishes. Matthew doesn't tell you about a lad being in the congregation. Mark doesn't tell you about any lad being in the congregation.

Luke doesn't tell you about any lad being in the congregation. But John does. And if you look with me at the sixth chapter, you will find what Andrew said. Verse nine, there is a lad here which has five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many?

The Lad Who Followed Christ

I want to pose seven questions to you about this lad. Who was he? The answer is he was a lad. Christ is the great magnet. He draws boys and girls and men and women to himself. This lad was caught up in the momentum of the outpouring of curiosity and amusement concerning Christ in that day.

And great multitudes followed Christ to see him, to hear him. To see the blind having their eyes opened, the deaf having their ears opened, the dumb having their tongues loosed, and the sick and the lepers and the palsied people made completely whole.

This young lad was one who joined in the vast multitude that followed to see and hear Jesus. Now I want to ask every child here, every boy and every girl to make a note of this. Where in the Bible do you find the first person called a lad in the Bible?

That's a question I want you to bring me an answer to by next Lord's Day. And I will give you something for bringing the right answer. So if you don't know it and you have difficulty, you just get to mammy and daddy and keep digging them all week until you get the answer.

You have my full permission so to do. The lad, the first time a lad is mentioned in the Bible. The amazing thing in the scripture, the lad is not mentioned relative to his age. Because there's a man in the scripture and he was a married man and he had a family but he's still called a lad.

Now of course maybe that was also a contemporary title because in our language a lad has other meanings from you. But I will leave that to your imagination. What I want to say to you today is he was a lad.

The Lad in the Right Place

Where was he? There is a lad here. He was there at the center of what was taking place. He was in the right place at the right time. How God wonderfully guides children to himself. You see others of his companions didn't join him.

But this lad was intent whether his companions were going or not. He was going to be there. He was going to follow diligently all that Jesus did. He was not going to miss anything. How was he? He was determined.

The Lad's Determination and Preparedness

He was determined to stay all day. So he had his lunch packed and he brought it with him. He was not going to be an absentee and go away to find lunch elsewhere. He would bring that lunch with him. So whatever time the blessing came he would not miss it.

The Small Lunch of Five Loaves and Two Fishes

Fourth question. What had he? He had five barley loaves and two small fishes. Barley in the Bible was the cheapest of all food. And barley loaves were only eaten by the very poor. So this boy came from a poor home.

I don't know who made up this lunch. Whether it was the tender hands of a loving mother or not. But he got five barley loaves and two small fishes. But you know God did a miracle before the Lord Jesus worked the miracle to feed the crowd.

Because any other boy going out and getting into the crowd. I am sure about midday he would have had no lunch left. I know if I had been there I would have been taking a wee munch on again during this time.

But the miracle was he still kept his lunch. After all day and all the excitement and all the tiredness of the day. This young boy had the lunch untouched. He had his five barley scones and his two sardines never touched at the end of the day.

Wasn't that amazing? Any other lad would have eaten what he had brought. Scoffed it down quickly but he didn't do it. It says concerning Christ and this he said to prove him for he himself knew what he would do.

The Lad's Willing Surrender to Christ

In verse 6 when Christ was talking to Philip. How did this young lad act? He presented his lunch to the disciples. Now we don't know at what time he did that. But the disciples certainly knew that there was a lad here with five loaves and two fishes.

I would like to think that that young lad said to the apostle. Look the Lord Jesus has been speaking to us all day. And I would like to give him my lunch. I have seen that he has not eaten anything all day.

And I would like to have given him his lunch, my lunch. I like to think that that was how the disciples knew that there was a lad here and he had saved his lunch. He surrendered his lunch to the Lord Jesus.

He willingly gave all to the Savior. He hadn't devoured it. He hadn't eaten it. He had preserved it. And now he offered it to Christ. And Christ took all that that lad had. And he made it the basis for feeding the hungry.

That was pressing upon him and upon which he had so much compassion. The last question I would ask, how did he leave? Can you imagine that young boy going away? My, he had some story to tell at home. To tell the mother or father that made up his lunch.

The Overflowing Results of Christ's Miracle

You know what happened to my lunch? The Lord Jesus got it. And there were thousands and thousands of men and women all hungry all day. And they all ate a part of my lunch. He said they will never believe it.

But I'll tell it because it's a story I saw portrayed before my eyes. And then he said they got twelve baskets. But you know one thing? There was no fish left. They were all lovers of fish. Because if you read the baskets, the only fragments in the baskets were bread.

There was no fish. It mustn't have been Friday when this great event took place. Read it carefully. Everything, boys and girls, about the Bible should be read over and over again. And you'll find things there that you never knew before.

Christ Makes the Small Great

There's a lad here, but what are these among so many? But what the lad had was very small, but it became very great when it was touched by the hand of Christ. I trust that every boy and girl in our congregation will be touched by the hand of Christ.

And I would invite them to read the Gospels. And keep reading the Gospels, because the Gospels present the only one that can save you, the only one that can satisfy you, and the only one that can give you the promise of the life that now is, and the life that is hereafter.

May God bless this proof to our hearts for Jesus' sake.