Lesson 17 Feeding the Thousands (Matthew 14:15-21; Luke 9:12-17)

John, Jesus' cousin was beheaded. When Jesus heard this news, He went away privately by boat to be alone with His disciples. But the crowds found out where He was going and followed Him. Jesus saw the huge crowd and He had compassion for them. Jesus continued to teach them and healed their sick. When it started to get dark, the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Send the people away to the villages and farms to get food. There is nothing to eat here in the middle of nowhere." Jesus told them, "You feed them." The disciples replied, "All we have is a boy with five loaves and two fish! Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?" There were 5000 men there besides the women and children.