The miracle Jesus performed with a kid’s meal is the only one that it recorded in all four Gospels. They each tell a few different details, but John is the only one who makes a note of the source of the food: a little boy’s lunch.

The disciples were exhausted and needed rest. Jesus suggested they depart by ship to a private place. However, the crowds followed Jesus and His group to the other side of Galilee. John says they were following because of His miracles.

When Jesus saw the large multitude, He turned to Philip and asked, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” To be completely fair, the next verse says that Jesus asked him what to do to test him because He already knew what He was going to do. Philip doesn’t really answer Jesus’ question. Instead his answer was, in effect, “Why talk about where, because we don’t have the how to buy anything. Then Andrew chimed in and let Jesus know that there was a little boy who had a small snack with him (5 barley loaves and two small fish) but then added “how far will they go among so many?”

They were both making a big mistake. They were only looking at their own resources. Max Lucado wonders if Jesus was hoping that they’d say, “We don’t have much food, Jesus. But as long as you’re here, we’re okay.” Sometimes we’re guilty of the same mistake. We look at a problem and we think we can’t get through it, because we’re only looking at our own resources. We’re forgetting the Lord just as surely as Philip and Andrew did.

When Andrew pointed out the boy with the food that was the solution Jesus had in mind. Jesus had the crowd sit down. Then He blessed the food and began passing it out. It is noteworthy that John wrote everyone had “as much as they wanted.” Jesus took the little lunch and transformed it into something great. He wants to do the same thing in our lives; turn our “little” into something “great.”

When everybody was full, Jesus told His disciples to gather the leftovers. When they did, they filled 12 baskets. Jesus totally met the need of every person there. He fed them and he filled them. They couldn’t hold anymore. They were satisfied. And there was more than enough to get the job done. The lesson is that only Jesus can satisfy the longing of our soul. People look for satisfaction in all kinds of places, but satisfaction can only be found in Jesus.