Jesus Feeds the 5000 Bible story for kids

Here is a secret about a little town you already know. Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.

In the old language, Bethlehem means... house of bread.

Hold on to that. We will need it.

Jesus went from place to place with his friends, the disciples. And everywhere he went, crowds came to see him.

And oh, he was busy. So many people were coming and going that his friends didn't even have time to eat.

So Jesus said to them, "You come apart into a deserted place, and rest awhile."

Come away, he meant. Somewhere quiet, where you can rest.

So they got into a boat, just them, and went across the big lake, the Sea of Galilee.

But the people saw them go. And they ran there on foot, from all the towns around. And the Bible says they got there first!

So much for a quiet place.

But when Jesus saw all those people, the Bible says, he had compassion on them. That means his heart went out to them. He taught them many things, and he made their sick people well.

There was a hill there. Jesus went up it, and sat down with his friends. The Bible says it was nearly time for the Passover feast. So it was springtime.

Then Jesus looked up. And still they came. More and more people, a great, great crowd, coming up the hill toward him.

And Jesus turned to one of his friends, a man named Philip. He asked him, "Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?"

Now, the Bible lets us in on something here. Jesus already knew what he was going to do. He was letting Philip think about it first.

So Philip did the sums. Maybe he looked out at all those people and counted on his fingers. And he said that even with more money than a worker earns in half a year, there still wouldn't be enough for everybody to have even a little bite.

Which was true. That's a lot of people, and not a lot of bread.

Then another friend spoke up. His name was Andrew, and he was Simon Peter's brother.

And Andrew said, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these among so many?"

A boy. In all that crowd.

Five barley loaves. Little round, flat ones, probably, the plain everyday kind. And two small fish. Maybe dried, salty little fish from the lake. Maybe it was his lunch. The Bible doesn't tell us.

Do you remember Elisha, with twenty barley loaves for a hundred men? This was five. For a whole hillside.

What are these among so many?

But Jesus said, as another Gospel tells it, "Bring them here to me."

And so the five little loaves and the two small fish came to Jesus. Maybe the boy held them out himself. I wonder how that felt.

Then Jesus said, "Have the people sit down."

The Bible says there was much grass in that place. Soft green grass. And everyone sat down on it, in groups, a hundred here and fifty there. The old word for those groups means something like garden beds. Imagine it. Patches of people all over the green hill, like rows of flowers.

How many? About five thousand men, the Bible says. Besides the women. And besides the children. So there were children on that hill, too. Maybe some just your size.

Then Jesus took the loaves. He looked up to heaven. And he gave thanks.

Then he broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and his friends gave it to the people. And the fish, too.

Out it went. And out. And out. Row after row, all across the grass, his friends carrying it to everyone.

And everybody ate. Not a crumb each. As much as they wanted. The Bible doesn't tell us how Jesus did it. It just tells us that he did, and that they all ate, and were filled.

And I think his tired friends finally got their supper, too.

When everyone was full, Jesus said to his friends, "Gather up the broken pieces which are left over, that nothing be lost."

So they went around the hill with baskets, picking up the pieces. One basket full. Then another. And another.

Twelve baskets. Twelve full baskets, left over from five little barley loaves.

And when the people saw what Jesus had done, they said, "This is truly the prophet who comes into the world."

And the baby born in the house of bread... had just fed a whole hillside.

That evening, Jesus sent his friends ahead in the boat, across the lake. And he went up the mountain by himself, to pray. And what happened out on the lake after that is a story for another night.

And God was with him. God was with her. God is with you, too.

Tuck in tight, little one. May the same God who took one boy's five little loaves, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks... give you a heart full of thank-yous, tonight and every night.