Reel Luke
Jesus Feeds Thousands
Luke 9:10–17
Helpful Stuff to Know
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- In the other gospel accounts, we learn that just before this story, Herod (the local ruler) had beheaded Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist.
Be Sure Not to Miss
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- When Jesus slipped away quietly in verse 10, maybe he wanted to pray and mourn for his cousin.
- The disciples were really good at telling Jesus what they thought he should do.
- No one knows exactly how many people were there that day. Someone counted a huge number of men, and there were probably also women and children. It would have been an enormous crowd.
- Jesus was the one who multiplied the food, but the disciples were the ones who gave the food to the people. Jesus had his friends help him do his good work.
- There were just enough leftovers to feed each of the 12 disciples.
Be Careful About
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- Don't turn this actual story into a metaphor. This story doesn't teach or promise that if you give something to Jesus, he will multiply it into much more. This story teaches that God has the power to perform miracles (because he is God) and that he cares about people's actual needs (because he created and loves them.)
1. Read Luke 9:10–17
Here's a few different ways you can read and recap the story with your group.
- Read it through one time with people just listening to you. Then read it through a second time with people following along in their own Bibles.
- Ask a few people to act out the story while you read it.
- Ask one or two people to retell the story after hearing it.
- Ask two people to retell the story in the first person, as though they were actually there. One person can do the play-by-play (tell the details of what happened), and the other can offer color commentary (add details about how they felt, what surprised them, what confused them, etc.). First-person retelling can make the story feel more real. It's also a blast.
2. Reel Questions (set the scene)
- Where did this story happen? What do you think it looked like? Smelled like? Sounded like?
- Make a list of all the people in the story (including "crowd" if there is one), and give a one-word description of each e.g. impatient, desperate, funny, selfish, awkward, etc.
- List everything that Jesus did and said in the story. What was your favorite scene or statement?
3. Story-Specific Questions
- The story says that Jesus taught the crowd and healed many people, but doesn't include any details about those things. Why do you think those details weren't included?
- Why do you think the disciples told Jesus to send the people away?
- How do you think the disciples felt about being part of what happened that day as they handed out food to all those thousands of people?
4. Wrap-Up Question
- Why do you think this story is included in the Bible? What do you think God wants us to learn from it?
