Article February 2, 1981 Issue

Feeding the multitude

Carolyn Haywood

The sixth chapter of John tells how Christ Jesus fed a multitude of people. They had seen him heal many sick people and had followed him to a hillside.

It may have been getting late in the day when Jesus turned to Philip, one of his disciples, and asked, "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" Jesus said this to see if Philip really believed that food could be provided for the people through the power of God. Philip answered that it would take a fair amount of money to give each person even a little bread. At that point another of the disciples, named Andrew, told Jesus there was a boy present who had "five barley loaves, and two small fishes" and then added, "But what are they among so many?"^{John 6:5,9.} These five loaves may have been like our pancakes or rolls, rather than like the loaves of bread we buy today. The fish might have been like sardines.

Suppose you had been that boy on the grassy hillside with five rolls and two small fishes, food that perhaps your mother had handed you that morning. Now, here is this man Andrew—perhaps even Jesus himself—asking you to give him your lunch.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Testimony of Healing

At a time when the Asian flu was being widely...