Lesson 21 - Elementary
Memory Verse
“He hath filled the hungry with good things” (Luke 1:53).
Notes
The People Followed Jesus
When Jesus healed a sick person or raised someone from the dead it was told everywhere; and it made the people want to see Him do those great things, and the sick people wanted Him to heal them; so wherever Jesus went He was sure to have a crowd around Him.
Sometimes Jesus went up into the mountains to rest, but the people would hunt for Him until they found Him, even up there. Sometimes Jesus took His disciples up into the mountains to be alone with them and to teach them many things He wanted them to learn while He was with them, for He knew He would be going back to be with God in Heaven. But the people always seemed to come to the place where Jesus was.
It seemed that people never could forget the kind look on His face and the kind words He spoke. But He also told them when they did wrong things. He would not have been a good friend if He had not.
Jesus Blessed a Small Boy’s Lunch
One day when Jesus was up in a mountain talking with His disciples, He saw a great crowd of people there. Perhaps it was a long way that they had come and it would be far for them to go and get food, and the people wanted to stay there and see and hear Jesus.
Jesus asked one of His disciples what could be done to feed all those people, and one of His disciples said it could not be done. Then another of the disciples said that there was a boy who had five barley loaves and two small fishes, but that that would not feed all those people. Jesus knew what He would do, but perhaps He wanted to see what the disciples would do. They would probably have sent the people away hungry, but Jesus was too kind to do that.
He took the bread and the fishes that the small boy had. (We wonder how the little boy felt when his lunch was taken.) Jesus did not forget to thank God for the food. Then He began to give bread and fish to the people, and there was plenty to feed five thousand people. After they had eaten all they wanted, there were twelve baskets full of bread.
Jesus Could Do Everything
Jesus had done a wonderful thing, and only Jesus could have done it. There is nothing that Jesus cannot do; and He can and does just as wonderful things today as He did when He was here on earth. If we obey Him, and trust Him, and love Him, He will do just as great things for us today as He did for the people when He was on earth with them. We cannot see Him, but He is very near to those who love Him.
Questions
- What did Jesus do before He fed the people? [JHN:6:11].
- What lesson do we learn from this? [EPH:5:20]; [1TS:5:18].
- Did the people have enough to eat? [JHN:6:12].
- How much was left after they had eaten? [JHN:6:13].
- How did the disciples help to feed the people? [JHN:6:11]