There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

John 6:9

The words of this verse are spoken by the Apostle Peter, who tells his Master that he has found a child who has five barley loaves and two small fishes. The context here is that a crowd of over 5,000 people are camped in a field on their way to Jerusalem and they have no food. Why not? How could they make such a journey without proper planning? What we learn from earlier in the chapter is that they had been following Jesus. Instead of just following their usual road to Jerusalem, they went with Jesus the leisurely way. And now they are hungry.

The problem is the Lord and His disciples have no food either. So what to do? Peter brings this little child up to Jesus, and through him we find our solution.

Who was this boy? Was he a son of one of the disciples? Was he just one of the multitude that Peter discovered while trying to see how much food the crowd had (to share)?

Perhaps he was just a good-hearted child, who realized the need and wanted to offer what he had to the Lord.

And what did he have to offer? Five barley loaves. In case you were wondering, a barley loaf was the cheapest kind of bread you could buy; it was the bread of the poor. Furthermore, he had two small fishes. But of course, everyone fished and everyone ate fish in that region so having two small fishes (perhaps no bigger together than the palm of the little boy’s hand) was hardly a great accomplishment.

He didn’t have much, in other words, but he had a sacrificial heart!
He didn’t have much to sacrifice, but little is much when God is in it!

And from that boy’s small offering, Jesus worked a miracle which fed 5,000 men plus their women and children. All because one little boy had one little offering to make to his King.