Have you ever said, “I’m starving!” We all say that from time to time when we’re really hungry. But we aren’t really starving to death. What is the longest amount of time you’ve gone without food? Have you ever skipped breakfast, lunch, and dinner? If you did, you still wouldn’t be starving, but you sure would be hungry.

One day, there were lots of hungry people gathered around Jesus. Jesus tried to get away from the crowd for a few hours so he and his disciples could rest and grab a bite to eat. They took a boat to the other side of the lake to get a break. But the people just followed them on land, so when Jesus and the twelve landed onshore, they were surrounded. But Jesus—being so compassionate—wanted to care for the people. He did so by teaching them and providing food for them.

Regarding the food, however, there was a minor problem. Well, major problem! There wasn’t any. Or, there wasn’t much. As the sun was setting, Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “Give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37). They looked for leftovers. There weren’t any. Then, they questioned Jesus, “That makes no sense. We can’t feed all these people. It would cost us thousands of dollars.” There were five thousand men there, plus lots of women and children. It would be like feeding a crowd in a huge basketball stadium. Jesus had an idea. He asked his disciples, “How many loaves do you have?” (6:38). They had none, but as they asked around, Andrew found a boy who was willing to share his five loaves and two fish. “What good are these two fish burgers?” someone might have asked. “Such a small amount of food can’t possibly feed this huge crowd.” Jesus had another idea. He took the bread and fish, said a prayer, and then something amazing happened. As the disciples started to feed the people, the five loaves and two fish turned into ten, then the ten into thousands. There was so much food that everyone ate and was totally stuffed. There were even twelve baskets of bread left—twelve, like the number of apostles and the tribes of Israel. The people were amazed and thought, “Maybe Jesus is the prophet and king we have been waiting for” (see John 6:14, 15). Maybe he is that and more!