Andrew offered what he had found while admitting it seemed useless. He had located a lad with a small meal, but next to a crowd of about five thousand men (John 6:10) it looked like nothing. His question expects the answer "not enough." Gill paraphrases the thought: "everyone cannot possibly have a taste." Matthew Henry says Andrew, like Philip, did not stop to consider the power of Christ they had already seen, though Andrew honestly told Christ what they had at hand. The question shows a disciple who could see the small supply but not yet what Jesus could do with it.

Jesus did not answer with words about how much was enough. He said, "Make the men sit down," and about five thousand sat on the grass (John 6:10). He "took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed" them, and likewise the fishes, "as much as they would" (John 6:11). When they were filled, the disciples gathered "twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves" (John 6:12-13). The little Andrew doubted became more than enough.

The Greek word for "lad" is paidarion, a little boy or young lad. Gill notes that barley bread was "bread of the coarsest sort, and what the meaner sort of people ate," a sign of how humble this meal was. The "small fishes" are opsaria, small fish.

Only John mentions the lad and the barley. Matthew, Mark, and Luke record that the disciples had five loaves and two fishes (Matthew 14:17; Mark 6:38; Luke 9:13).

This question shows how Jesus works with small things placed in His hands. Andrew was right that five loaves and two fish were not enough for so many. He was wrong to think that settled the matter. Jesus gave thanks for the little there was, and it fed everyone with food left over.

The abundance matters in John's story. The next day Jesus told the crowd not to labor for food that perishes (John 6:27), and then said, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35). The loaves pointed beyond themselves to the One who gives life.