John 6:8-10 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are these things for so many?” 10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.
The story takes a big turn in verse 8 when Andrew steps forward with a solution. He must be commended for his idea, but it seems hardly sufficient for several reasons. One is that this was the sack lunch for a boy. Tow, John is the only evangelist to note the type of bread as barley loaves, which was the bread of the poor. And three, the two fish were likely small dried fish that could provide good protein but not fill a person up. John may be giving all this detail to highlight the significance of what is about to take place.
We get further insight into Andrew, who was first mentioned in 1:40 and introduced there as the brother of Simon Peter, like here in verse 8. Andrew seemed to be famous partially because of his connection to the more famous Peter. Andrew appears in John’s Gospel as someone with initiative, creative thinking, and faith. He was a follower of John the Baptist and then became a follower of Jesus when he met Jesus upon John’s introduction. He took the initiative to tell his brother, Simon, about Jesus being the Messiah. We do not know what was in Andrew’s mind here in chapter 6, but he must have thought Jesus could do something about the situation. Andrew’s idea is mixed with a question that shows his faith was limited and still needed to grow.
Jesus appears to be satisfied with Andrew’s idea and answers his question with instructions for the large crowd of five thousand men (andres), which might represent families, making the crowd likely many times bigger.. Andrew passed the test that was intended for Philip, but the test was really for all the disciples who were gathered around Jesus, sitting on the hillside. Sometimes a lesson needs to be experienced to be learned. The disciples could listen all day to Jesus and not grow in their faith. Experiencing a miracle of this proportion made a huge impact on them, as evidenced by this story being included in all four Gospels and obviously significant in early Christian oral tradition.
A possible background to this story can be found in 2 Kings 4:42–44, where Elisha does a miracle to help feed a hundred men. Through the miracle in Galilee, Jesus shows he is even greater than Elisha. He has the answer to the questions we struggle with, especially when we see no solution. We can listen closely to his directions, which may test our faith, and we can act in faith, knowing the miracle is coming.
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