Jesus Feeds More than 5,000 People(Mt. 14:13-21; Mk. 6:30-44; Lk. 9:10-17)

6 ¹Later, Jesus went across Lake Galilee (or, Lake Tiberias). ²Many people followed Jesus. They followed him because they saw the ways Jesus showed his power by healing the sick people. ³Jesus went up on the side of the hill. He sat there with his followers. ⁴It was almost the time for the Jewish Passover* festival. ⁵Jesus looked up and saw many people coming toward him. Jesus said to Philip, "Where can we buy [enough] bread for all these people to eat?" ⁶(Jesus asked Philip this question to test him. Jesus already knew what he planned to do.) ⁷Philip answered, "We would all have to work a month to buy enough bread for each person here to have only a little piece!" ⁸Another follower there was Andrew. Andrew was Simon Peter's brother. Andrew said, ⁹"Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish. But that is not enough for so many people." ¹⁰Jesus said, "Tell the people to sit down." This was a very grassy place. There were about 5,000 men that sat down there. ¹¹Then Jesus held the loaves of bread. Jesus thanked God for the bread and gave it to the people that were sitting down. He did the same with the fish. Jesus gave the people as much as they wanted. ¹²All the people had enough to eat. When they finished, Jesus said to his followers, "Gather the pieces of fish and bread that were not eaten. Don't waste anything." ¹³So the followers gathered up the pieces that were left. The people had started eating with only five loaves of barley bread. But the followers filled twelve large baskets with the pieces of food that were left. ¹⁴The people saw this miracle* that Jesus did. The people said, "He must truly be the Prophet* that is coming into the world." ¹⁵Jesus knew that the people wanted him to become king. The people planned to come get Jesus and make him their king. So Jesus left and went into the hills alone.

Jesus Walks on the Water(Mt. 14:22-27; Mk. 6:45-52)

¹⁶That evening Jesus' followers went down to the lake (Lake Galilee). ¹⁷It was dark now and Jesus had not yet come back to them. The followers got into a boat and started going across the lake to Capernaum. ¹⁸The wind was blowing very hard. The waves on the lake were becoming bigger. ¹⁹They rowed the boat about three or four miles. Then they saw Jesus. He was walking on the water. He was coming to the boat. The followers were afraid. ²⁰But Jesus said to them, "Don't be afraid. It's me." ²¹After Jesus said this, the followers were happy to take Jesus into the boat. Then the boat came to land at the place where they wanted to go.

The People Seek Jesus

²²The next day came. Some people had stayed on the other side of the lake. These people knew that Jesus did not go with his followers in the boat. The people knew that Jesus' followers had left in the boat alone. And they knew that it was the only boat that was there. ²³But then some boats from Tiberias came. The boats landed near the place where the people had eaten [the day before]. This was where they had eaten the bread after the Lord (Jesus) gave thanks. ²⁴The people saw that Jesus and his followers were not there now. So the people got into the boats and went to Capernaum. They wanted to find Jesus.

Passover An important Jewish holy day. The Jews ate a special meal on this day every year to remember that God freed them from slavery in Egypt in the time of Moses. miracle(s) Miracles are amazing works done by God's power. Prophet They probably meant the prophet that God told Moses he would send (Deut. 18:15-19).