What does John 6:8 mean?

Jesus has posed a challenge to His disciples: how to feed five thousand men, along with women and children (Matthew 14:21). Jesus knows how He will respond but tests His followers to illustrate a valuable lesson (John 6:6). After trying to ignore the problem (Mark 6:36), the disciples offer several solutions. Philip, probably with heavy cynicism, notes that even buying a small snack for everyone would cost the equivalent of eight month's wages for a common laborer (John 6:7).

Andrew, on the other hand, approaches the situation with optimism, at the very least. Andrew is frequently seen bringing people to meet Jesus, as he did with his brother Simon Peter (John 1:40–42). Here, Andrew approaches Christ with a young boy who seems to have offered his meal. It's possible Andrew had begun to ask for food donations from the crowd. In any event, the focus of Andrew's solution is human effort, and the fact that the available resources seem pitifully small for the task at hand.

As Jesus will show, however, the proper approach to solving our problems begins with trust in God and a complete submission to His will (John 6:10–11).