Barley loaves and small fish

Barley loaves and small fish

“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” (John 6:9).

The feeding of the five thousand teaches us some simple but essential lessons about discipleship and faith. Towards the end of chapter 1 of the Gospel of John we read about the Lord calling Philip to follow Him. Later, in John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand, we see the Lord developing Philip’s discipleship. He does this with a testing problem, where could they buy enough to feed so many people. Notice that the Lord uses the word “we”. He includes Himself in the problem. Philip gave his honest assessment which, summed up, meant, “Lord, we can’t do it.” Then Andrew got involved and introduced someone: “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” The bread was just barley loaves, the common food of the poor, and the fish were small. Andrew was saying, “We have something, but the problem is overwhelming.” Philip and Andrew looked at the largeness of the problem and the smallness of the resources. They looked in the wrong direction. I know I have often had the same experience. But then there was the lad who brought the five barley loaves and the two small fish.

When my eldest granddaughter was very young, I took her with me to buy some wood. When we got back home, I got ready to unload the heavy timber. She said to me, “I’ll help you, grandad”, and she got hold of one end of a large piece of wood. There was no way she could carry the load, but as I took the weight, she held tightly at the other end! Children, as the Lord

79 Jesus points out, teach us so much about faith. The Lord does not expect us to solve problems: He wants us to bring them to Him. Philip and Andrew had witnessed the Lord turn water into wine, and it says the disciples believed in Him (John 2:11). But in chapter 6, as they saw the crowds, their faith deserted them and they said, “Lord, this can’t be done.” I doubt the boy had ever seen a miracle, but he came to Jesus with his childlike faith, tiny resources and a heart that said, “Lord, you can do this.”

The Lord still tests us. He comes close to us and asks, “What shall we do?” He looks for that joyous and victorious faith that looks to Him and places our weakness in His hands to demonstrate His power and blessing.

The Lord took the barley loaves and gave thanks to the Father for them. Our faith always rejoices the Lord’s heart.