The Lad that Had

John 6: 9 (New King James Version, NKJV).

“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

Was this a little boy’s lunch or a food vendor in the right place at the right time? Scholars differ on why the boy was there.  I am not a scholar, but a student of the Bible, but I know He was there because this was set up by our Lord. Jesus is famous for doing the impossible; things which are not possible with men but are possible with God. To emphasize just how big a miracle this was Jesus gets testimony from His disciples. “Phillip, is there a market in the area that we can order food from to feed these folk?” Phillip, with a look of astonishment on his face and a bit of excitement in his voice said, “Are you kidding Jesus? Even if there was a market close by, there are thousands of people here; a year’s wages could not buy enough food to feed them! We don’t have the money to feed all these people!” Jesus asked them if they had any food at all and Andrew, Peter’s brother, saw the kid. “Here is a lad with some food. Two little fish and five barley loaves, but they will not go far in feeding this group.” This was an impossible task given to them by Christ. They wanted to please Him but this would be literally impossible.

Now it is easy for you and me to say to them, “Why do you doubt Christ? Don’t you believe He can do anything?” If you and I had of been there and Jesus said it to us, we would have said the same thing. We know what happened, after it happened. The Apostle Paul wrote that hope which is seen is not hope at all (Romans 8:24). Our belief is only affirmed when we see it confirmed. That which we believe that God can do is proven to us after He does it. Faith is made up of hope and belief that we will have that which we do not yet see. It would not be until Jesus began multiplying the fish and the bread that the disciples would experience His power. Had they only seen the lad that had differently. Jesus wanted bread, the lad had it. Andrew said it is not enough, Jesus said, “Bring it to Me.”

How many times have we hoped for a miracle only to miss what Jesus is doing? We have to get down the road a little in order to look back and see how Jesus had a plan the whole time; we just did not see it at the moment. You may be the lad with the fish, or you may be one of the people needing food, or you may be a disciple. Jesus had a purpose and a plan for each. He has a plan for you and me too. Learn to see things as Jesus does; a little is a lot if we bring it to Him! Nothing is impossible with God. Keep the faith; there is a lad in the crowd somewhere!