unit 3: miracles of jesus nt3.5 jesus feeds five thousand · wow! jesus fed 5 thousand people with...

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NT3.5 Jesus Feeds Five Thousand © Beverly Wilson 2015

Unit 3: Miracles of Jesus NT3.5 Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

Scripture: Matthew 14: 15-21; Mark 6: 35-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:5-14

Lesson Goal: Jesus was a very powerful teacher. He proved to everyone that he was really God by healing

the sick and forgiving people of their sins. In this lesson we will see how Jesus used a boy's lunch to feed a hungry crowd.

Introduction: This is the fifth lesson in Unit 3:The Miracles of Jesus. The life and ministry of Jesus is told to us in the first four books of the New Testament. This Bible story is found in book of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Jesus was a very powerful teacher. He proved to everyone that he was really God by healing the sick and forgiving people of their sins. In this lesson we will see how Jesus used a boy's lunch to feed a hungry crowd. The Gospels are the first four books in the New Testament. The gospels tell about the life and ministry of Jesus. The word "gospel" means the good news about Jesus. Let's say the names of the gospels together. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Attention Getter: Let's think--what foods do you eat for lunch? Perhaps you eat a sandwich with some fruit and some pretzels. And maybe even a chocolate cookie or two. Lunch is good especially when you are hungry, right? Did you know that there are many children in the world today that do not get to eat lunch? They are very poor and have many needs. Their families do not have any food either. Often they may only eat food that is left in the garbage or along the side of the road. These are pictures of children from India...Somalia, and Haiti. They were born in places that do not have enough water to grow food. So often they are hungry. Other places that have hungry children are where there have been terrible storms, earthquakes, or disasters. Then food is hard to find. In this lesson Jesus showed great compassion for those who were following Him. He provided for their needs by miraculously giving them food. This miracle proved that He had the power of God and it helped people believe that He was truly the Son of God.

Opening Prayer: Let's pray. "Father, there are so many people in the world today that have such great needs. Help us to show Your love for us by helping them. Thank you for coming to be the Bread of Life for us. We believe that you are the Son of God and that you died on the cross to pay the punishment for our sins. Thank you for saving us. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen."

Memory Verse: Our memory verse is John 6:35 Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."

Lesson Video: https://youtu.be/taSIARC205I Great crowds of people always came to hear Jesus teach. Every day they would come to listen to Jesus. There were so many people and interruptions that Jesus didn’t even have time to eat. “Come, let us go to a quiet place and rest awhile,” Jesus said. So very quietly they left the crowds of people and hurried to a nearby lake and climbed into a boat. The boat sailed smoothly along over the waves as the wind filled its sails. How peaceful it was on the lake. The disciples were happy to be alone with Jesus. They looked forward to resting together on the other side of the lake. But the crowd had seen Jesus and His disciples leave the village. They watched carefully to see which direction the boat went and then said excitedly to each other, “Let’s follow them!” The people decided to walk around the lake to see the boat arrive. Soon there were thousands of men, women, and children all crowding to see Jesus. When Jesus and the disciples finally reached the other side of the lake it was anything but quiet. Thousands of people pushed in to

https://youtu.be/taSIARC205I

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catch a glimpse of Him. They had many questions to be answered, and sick friends to be healed. They hoped Jesus would help them. Although Jesus was very tired he did not tell the people to go home. Instead he loved them very much. He looked at the thousands of men, women, and children with great compassion and love. Jesus loved the people so much that He saw them as a sheep without a shepherd. Jesus answered their questions lovingly. Tenderly He healed the sick. (Begin audio) A great crowd of people followed Jesus because they've seen Him heal many sick people. One day it was getting late and the people were getting hungry. "Disciples, look at this great crowd of people. Where can we buy bread for all these people to eat? "Jesus, eight month's pay would not buy enough for everyone here to have just one bite of bread. (Crowd noises) (shouting to crowd) Does anyone have any food with them?" "I do, sir. I brought some food with me. It's not much, just five small loaves of barley bread and two small fish, but you may have it." "Little boy, thank you. Come with us and we will show Jesus what you have." (Crowd noises) "Jesus, here is a boy with five small loaves of barley bread. He also has two small fish. But, how far will that go in such a large crowd? There are more than 5000 people here. What should we do?" "Tell all of the people sit down." (Crowd noises, disciples telling people to sit) "Thank You, Father in heaven, for giving to us these loaves of barley bread. Thank You also for these fish. Let all of the people here eat and be nourished from the food that You have provided. Let them see Your glory." Then Jesus' disciples gave the food to the crowd. The five loaves and two fish fed everyone! (Sounds of passing food and encouraging people to eat) "Has everyone had enough to eat? Yes, Jesus, every single person in this huge crowd has had enough to eat. Then take some baskets and collect the leftovers. Let nothing be wasted." So Jesus' disciples picked up all the food that was left. "Look, Jesus, we have collected twelve baskets full of leftover pieces of bread and fish." "I am the Bread of Life. Anyone who comes to me will never go hungry, and anyone who believes in me will never be thirsty." The crowd was amazed at this miracle and thought that Jesus was a prophet sent by God." The little boy learned that even the smallest gift given to Jesus can bring great results. Wow! Jesus fed 5 thousand people with just 5 little loaves and 2 fish! That was amazing! This was a miracle—something only God could do! Jesus showed great compassion for people. The boy who gave his lunch to Jesus had no idea what Jesus was going to do with his gift. In the same way we do not know what Jesus might do with the kind things we do for others. Jesus can take the "little things we do for others" and multiply them to become a great blessing to others. God wants us to show compassion, too. That means He wants us to think about what other people really need and do something surprising like He did with one boy's lunch. I am going to show you some pictures of people who need some help. Let's think about each person and then tell something you could do that would show compassion.

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Here is a older lady. Think.... how could you show compassion to her. Well you might help her across the street. Or maybe carry some packages for her. This is a little boy with a teddy bear. What could you do to show compassion to him? Hmmm It looks like is ready for bed. Could you read him a bedtime story? If the story was about Jesus that would be especially good, wouldn't it. This girl uses crutches. What could you do for her? Maybe you could help by carrying her books or perhaps opening a door for her. That would be compassionate, wouldn't it? Here is a mom with a new baby. What things might she need? Babies need bottles and diapers--so maybe you could help get those things for her. Holding the baby for a little while might be good too. This is a girl who just started in a new school. What could you do for her? Just being a friend and talking to her would be good wouldn't it? Perhaps you could show her around the building and point out the cafeteria, computer room, and gym. That would be a friendly thing to do! This boy likes to play tennis. What could you do to be kind to him? Tennis needs two players so perhaps you could offer to be his partner for a game. That would be kind. Here is the last picture. It is a man with his dog. What could you do to be kind and friendly to him? Maybe you ask him about his dog. All of these are ways we can be kind and compassionate to others. God can take our little acts of kindness and use them to show others how we love Him. Remember in the story when Jesus told the disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces of food that are left over so that nothing will be wasted.” and the disciples gathered up 12 basketsful. The people began to talk excitedly among themselves. Some believed that Jesus was the prophet God promised to send into the world. They wanted to make Him king. They just wanted to make him king so He would give them food to eat by working miracles. The people did not realize it but Jesus had come to earth for a far greater purpose. He came to satisfy their spiritual hunger to know God and to have their sins forgiven. Jesus is the one whom God said would come. He is the Messiah. The next day many of them waited on Jesus to feed them again. Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to them, “Today you are hungry again and want more bread. You try so hard to get bread that only lasts a little while.” The true bread of God is Jesus who comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world. Sadly many people that day did not believe in Jesus as the “living bread.” They turned their backs and no longer followed Jesus. They did not understand why Jesus had come to earth. Jesus promises that if we believe in Him we will never be spiritually hungry again. What does that mean? It means that if we believe in Jesus as our Savior that we will go to heaven and live forever with him. Jesus will give us eternal life. Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins? Do you believe that He rose again from the dead? Have you ask him to forgive you of your sins? Jesus loves you and wants you to have the gift of eternal life. You can ask Him right now to be your Savior. Remember Jesus is the Bread of Life!

Review Questions: Fish and Bread Tic Tack Toe Divide your students into two teams. Cut out strips of paper for the lines of tic-tac-toe or use yarn. Tape the strips of paper or yarn to a white board so everyone can see the game board. Give one team "fish" pieces and the other team "bread" ices. When a team correctly answers a question they can place their marker in a square. The team that gets three in a row across, diagonally or vertically is the winner. 1. Why were Jesus and His disciples so tired? (They had spent a lot of time ministering to others and probably

hadn't eaten or slept well.)

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2. Where were Jesus and His disciples going when they were met by thousands of people? (They wanted to be alone to rest away from the crowds.)

3. Why did the disciples tell Jesus to send the crowds away? (Jesus had been teaching a long time and everyone was tired and hungry.)

4. When Jesus saw the great crowds of people on the lake waiting for Him, how did he react? (He had great compassion on them. He began teaching them and healing the sick.)

5. What did Jesus tell the disciples to do about the hungry crowd? (He told them, "You give them something to eat.")

6. How do you think the disciples felt when Jesus told them to feed all those people? (Overwhelmed with the impossible task.)

7. How much money would it have taken to feed all those people? (About 8 month's wages.) 8. How did Jesus tell His disciples to meet the needs of the people? (Go and see how much food was among

the people.) 9. Who was the only one who offered to share his food? (A little boy who had 5 loaves and 2 fish.) 10. What did Jesus do before He broke the loaves into smaller pieces? (He thanked God the Father for the food.) 11. Why is it important to let Jesus use you to meet the needs of others? ( You get to be used by the Lord to

bless others!) 12. Did people get enough to eat, or only enough to tide them over until they could get home? (They were all

filled.) 13. How much leftovers were there? (12 basketsful) 14. How could five loaves of bread and two fish feed so many people? (Jesus is God's Son and He performed a

miracle.) 15. How many people did Jesus feed with the little boy's lunch? (All of them--5,000 men plus the women and the

children.) 16. Why didn't Jesus simply make food appear by His power? (He wanted the disciples and the little boy to be

part of the miracle, to share in the joy of meeting the needs of so many.) 17. What are some ways you can be used by God to be a blessing to others? 18. What did Jesus call Himself the next day? (He called Himself the Living Bread.) 19. What does Jesus compare to eating the "Living Bread"? (He compared the Living Bread to Himself and if we

believe in Him we will never be hungry. We will have eternal life.) 20. What did the crowd want Jesus to do the next day? (They wanted him to make more food for them to eat.) 21. What happened when Jesus did not do this? (Many turned away because they did not believe in Him. They

just wanted bread to eat.) 22. What phrase does Jesus use to compare Himself to bread in this lesson? (I am the Bread of Life.)

Bible Memory Verse Activity: Twelve Basket Bean Bag Toss (Grades K-5) In John 6:35 Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." Have students look up Memory verse in scripture and read together several times. Set out twelve baskets of various shapes and sizes. Number them. Challenge the children to correctly say the memory verse. When they repeat the verse correctly they may have an opportunity to toss a bean bag into a basket. Give the children the number of Gold Fish snack crackers per the number of the basket in which they toss their bean bag . Winner is the child who has the most gold fish snack crackers!

Group Learning Game: Share a Lunch Sack (Grades K-3) Say: "In our lesson today a little boy shared his lunch with Jesus and the crowd. We are going to make a lunch and share it with others too." Give each child a small brown paper lunch bag. Have each child decorate their lunch bag with hearts, ribbons, and so forth. Write on the hearts "It's fun to share." In each sack put 2 cheese fish crackers and 5 soda crackers. Let each child give their sack to someone special. Spread a blanket on the floor. Place the bread rolls, or gummy fish or fish crackers and napkins in the paper lunch bags. Have students tear the bread rolls in pieces and give child a piece of bread to eat. Offer small bites of tuna to those child who wish to taste it.

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Optional: Have children look through magazines and cut out pictures of different people (young, old, happy, sad, etc.) Each child choose a picture of one person and puts the picture in their bag. When they go to share their lunch bag with someone they are to take out the pictures and share with each other how they would help that person.

Group Learning Activity: Story Webbing Diagram (Grades 3-5) On a large sheet of drawing paper or on chart paper, draw a web diagram as shown in the sketch. In the center of the diagram print "A Boy's Lunch" in a circle. From the circle draw "spokes of wheel." Have children name the people in the story. (Jesus, Andrew; disciples; little boy). Draw a circle around each name and connect it to the center circle. Have the children tell words or phrases that describe the person's actions in the Bible story. Print their responses connecting them to the appropriate name. Say: "What was Jesus doing at the beginning of our story today? What are some things Jesus said? What are some things He did?" (Write answers in phrases circles.) What did Jesus' disciples do? What are some things they said? What did the boy in the story do? How did he help?

Group Learning Activity: Food Basket Relay (Grades K-5) Divide children into 2 teams and give each team a basket to run with for the relay. Each team member will take turns running to the food line and grab one item and run with the basket back to their team for the next team member to run to the food line and grab one item, and continue until all the items have been collected and team sits down when completed. You can use canned goods for this activity and a laundry basket. Optional: Have real and fake foods/fruits/veggies hidden in a designated area. Also have some letters or words for children to find and put in their baskets for when they return to the classroom. Divide the children into groups or teams and give each team a little basket to gather what they find. Make sure to have a list of all the items that were hidden so they can be checked off when the teams return to the room. If there are items that have NOT been found, then send the teams back to HUNT for more! Ask children questions about today's lesson after the game.

Group Learning Game: Christian Service Project --Making Bible Balloons (Grades K-5) Preparation: Contact a local community center or shelter to make arrangements to deliver and distribute the Bible balloons to residents. Balloons may be given to a local hospital or nursing home. Provide index cards, pencils, markers, hole punch, thin ribbon and inflated balloons for each child. Give children index cards to writ his name on one side of the card and copy the memory verse on the other side. Children may draw colorful borders on cards. Punch a hole in a corner of the card. Thread ribbon through the hole in the card and tie the card to the end of the balloon leaving the ends of the ribbon as streamers. Children could also use markers to decorate brown paper lunch bag and then place juice boxes, granola bars and fruit snacks in bags. Other items such as pencils, stickers, erasers, etc could also go in the bag. These snack bags could be also be given to tutoring centers, soup kitchens, etc.

Learning Activity: Bread from Many Lands (Grades 3-5) Bring pictures of bread from other countries. Discuss the importance of bread and water to everyone's diet and how they sustain life. Examples of bread you might show or bring and discuss are Latin Americans with tortillas, Arabs with pita bread, Italians with rustic bread, French with baguettes. Discuss the importance of the Bread of Life for believers. Be sure students understand the symbolism of Jesus being the Living Bread. Print the chart of different types of bread for each student. Have students identify the various types of bread.

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Learning Activity: How Many is 5,000? (Grades 3-5) Purpose: To help students understand the concept of how many people Jesus fed on the day of the Miracle of Feeding Five Thousand. Materials: Boxes of Oyster Crackers. Cover a large table or lay down a plastic cloth on the floor of your room. Have your students count out oyster crackers and put in piles of 50 until your class reaches 5,000. Gather the crackers and put them into twelve baskets or lunch bags. This is a fun project and great learning experience. Throughout the activity emphasize what a big miracle Jesus performed. The bags of oyster crackers can be taken home to feed the birds!

Snack Learning Activity: Fry Bread or Make Fish Face Sandwiches Fry Bread: Children mix together two cups whole wheat flour, a half teaspoon salt, two tablespoons vegetable oil and a half cup water. Add a little more water if needed to hold dough together. Children take turns kneading dough until it is smooth. Divide into 12 equal pieces. Children roll out pieces into thin circles. Heat nonstick frying pan or electric griddle and cook for a minute or so on each side. Brush with melted butter. Safety: Keep griddle out of reach of children and only the teacher is to fry the bread. Fish Face Sandwiches: Give each child a paper plate and two slices of bread and a plastic knife. Children are to cut bread to make two fish shapes. Children are to spread tuna salad between the bread slices and place an olive slice on top to make a fish eye. Craft Learning Activity: Fabulous Paper Plate Fish (Grades K-5) Students will make paper plate fish. Give one paper plate to each child. Cut a wedge out of the paper plate. the wedge will be the fish's tail. The hole will be the fish's mouth. Glue (or use tape or a stapler) the tail to the paper plate opposite the hole made when the wedge was cut. Glue a googly eye on the fish or simply draw an eye on the fish. Color in the fish, drawing scales, lips, etc. You can use construction paper for fins. For an extra tough make a tiny fish from a circle of construction paper. Hang the fish from the large fish's mouth using a short pieces of string. Have students write the memory verse or a prayer on the fish. Hang by a ribbon or add a magnet to attach the fish to the refrigerator at home.

Craft Learning Activity: Bread of Life Coin Box (Grades K-5) Materials: Brown card stock paper, or brown foam sheets, small rectangular can (International Coffee can), glue or hot glue, blank business-sized cards; printed copies of the bread pattern. Print out the bread pattern on card stock. If your using card stock paper the words are printed for you. If you're using foam sheets, you'll have to write down the words. Cut out the 'bread slices'. Glue or hot glue onto both sides of the coffee can. Press the 'bread slices' onto the glue. Allow to dry. Write Bible memory verses or your prayers onto blank business cards and keep them in the Bread of Life Box. If you're using it for a bank, cut a slit into the plastic lid to drop your coins through.

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Craft Learning Activity: Dinner for 5,000 Materials: Paper plate; stapler, brown or any other color construction paper; crayons, and scissors. Direction: Cut paper plate in half. Color both halves of paper plate to look like a basket. Staple halves of paper plate together as shown in the example. Draw five loaves of brown construction paper and cut them out. Draw two fish on any color construction paper and cut them out. Decorate the loaves and fish any way you wish. Put the dinner in the basket.

Craft Learning Activity: String of Stuffed Fish Children can draw and cut out 4-6 fish and hole punch around the edges for children to stuff their fish with tissues or old newspapers. Use yarn around the edges to make their fish. After 2 or 3 fish have been put together, the children can tie the fish together on a "string" of Yarn. Write words about today's lesson on the fish for children to remember and to be encouraged to share their lesson with others. Materials: large sheets of drawing paper, tempera or poster paint, stapler or yarn, pictures of fish, fishing line to hang fish. Procedure: Give each child two pieces of large drawing paper. Align the two sheets with several staples. Using pictures of fish as a guide, the students are to draw an outline of a fish, including the body, the fins, and the tails. Check the students to work to make sure the body of the fish has a large enough outline to stuff. Cut the fish outline out on the outside line. Hole punch the fish outline along the outside edge or staple the edges together leaving a hole large enough to insert crinkled paper or tissue to stuff. Paint the outside of the fish with bright colors. When fish are dry, use fishing line to hang the fish.

Life Application Challenge: Compassion Challenge Preparation: Show students a sample envelop you have made. Decorate the envelope and print the following ideas on separate index cards: "Give a hug to someone having a bad day." "Share food with someone who is hungry." "Clean up a mess you didn't make." "Be a friend to someone who seems lonely." "Spend time playing with or reading to a younger child." Put the index cards in your envelope. Have a volunteer pick a card out of the envelope. Ask: "How could you do this action this week?" We are going to make envelopes like this to remind us of ways to be compassionate this week. Every morning you are to pick a card out of the envelope. Read the card aloud to your family so that everyone know how to show compassion during the day. At the end of the day make sure everyone in your family gets a chance to share how he or she completed the compassion challenge.

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Jesus Feeds 5,000

John 6:35 I am the bread of life. He who come to me will never go hungry,

and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

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Jesus Feeds Five Thousand Skit

Cast: Jesus; Boy; Phillip; Peter Andrew Other disciples Crowd Props: 5 loaves & 2 fish; Sack for lunch; Baskets Jesus: Phillip, look at all these people. They have been listening to Me all day. It is the end of the day and they are hungry. There’s no food here. Peter: Let’s tell them to go to some of the nearby towns and farms to buy food and find a place to say. There’s nothing for them out here! Jesus: We should be the ones to give them their supper. Phillip, how much would it cost to feel all these people?

(Jesus gestures toward the crowd.) (Phillip looks out over the crowd and does some quick calculations. He shakes his head in despair.) Phillip: Jesus, there’s no way. It would cost two hundred dollars for everyone to have just a little bit. We don’t have two hundred dollars, and if we did, there is no one here to buy food from. Andrew: One boy brought his supper with him. He has five pieces of bread and two little fish. But that won’t go very far, will it? (Andrew leads the boy, carrying his sack-lunch, to Jesus. The boy smiles at Jesus.) Jesus: That’s fine! Guys, get the people to sit down on the grass over there. (Jesus motions to the side). Here, son, let’s share with everybody, shall we? (The boy hesitates, then gives his lunch to Jesus. The disciples look at Jesus like he’s gone crazy.) Jesus: Let’s pray. Father, thank you that you are able to provide for all our needs. Amen. (Jesus starts to hand out the food). Phillip: Don’t give everybody so much! You’ll run out before you get started. (Jesus passes out the food to everyone. Everybody eats until they have enough.) Peter: Andrew, I don’t believe it. That supper was supposed to feed one little boy and it was enough to feed five thousand families. Jesus: We can’t leave this place in a mess. Let’s get some baskets and pick up the leftovers.

(The disciples go around picking up leftovers.) Jesus: How much was left over? Phillip: (Amazed) Twelve bushel baskets!! Peter: People will talk about this for a long time.

unit 3: miracles of jesus nt3.5 jesus feeds five thousand · wow! jesus fed 5 thousand people with...

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