January Devotional

INTRODUCTION:
All four gospels have a story of a feeding of a multitude, but the story in John is a little different...  It includes a young boy central to the story.  If you place yourself in the story of the young boy, what do you see/hear/smell/taste?  What are your observations?  How do you feel?

SCRIPTURE READING:

John 6:1-15 The Message (MSG)

Bread and Fish for All

 ^1-4After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias). A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews.  ^5-6When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy bread to feed these people?" He said this to stretch Philip's faith. He already knew what he was going to do.
 ⁷Philip answered, "Two hundred silver pieces wouldn't be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece."
 ^8-9One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, "There's a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that's a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this."
 ^10-11Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.
 ^12-13When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted." They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.
 ^14-15The people realized that God was at work among them in what Jesus had just done. They said, "This is the Prophet for sure, God's Prophet right here in Galilee!" Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself.

 FURTHER DISCUSSION:

• What are your earliest memories of generosity or giving?  How did you feel?