The Lord Christ wanted the disciples
to share him in the question
So, He said to them:
"I do not want to send them away hungry"
Then His disciples said to Him: “Where could we get enough bread
in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”
They meant that there weren't anybody sells
bread and they didn't have money
to buy any loaves while being in the wilderness
Such a matter shows us that the disciples
didn't trust the Lord Christ completely at that time,
in spite of experiencing the power
of Christ in other miracles.
The Lord Christ started to take them deeper
to today's question which is
“How many loaves do you have?”
The question is "How many do you have?"
It's a very direct question
If I asked you; How many do you have?
You'd answer; concerning what? Money!
Stock! Foodstuffs! What do you mean exactly?