Luke 9:16

‘And he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and broke, and gave to the disciples to set before the great crowd.'

Then Jesus, as though He was sat at the head of the table, took the bread and the fish, and looking up to Heaven blessed them and broke them and gave them to the disciples indicating that they distribute them to the crowds.

This was an indication to all that this provision came from the Father, to Whom they should be grateful. It was an action of supreme confidence and authority. The Creator was making provision for His own. The looking up to Heaven went beyond the normal giving of thanks (compare John 17:1; Mark 7:34). Jesus was indicating His source of supply and His dependence on His Father. By ‘blessing them' Luke probably mean that He said over them a blessing. It was normal at such times to say something like, ‘Blessed are you, Oh Father, Lord of Heaven and earth ----' followed by a prayer He then proceeded to hand bread and fish to the disciples, and to their astonishment it kept on coming. And this continued until all were satisfied. We may probably assume that other disciples helped with the distribution.

This whole process would later be seen, although not at the time, as an act of self-revelation of His Messiahship, for Luke later gives other examples of the same action with bread when Jesus is revealing Himself to disciples (Luke 24:30; Luke 24:35; Luke 24:42 - note here both the bread and the fish, compare John 21:13). As with many other of His actions Jesus had in mind the future understanding of His disciples.

(We should note that Luke has carefully avoided using forms of words specifically identifying it with the Lord's supper).