One thing is true about religious groups. Even if we don’t always eat the same foods, we all like to eat. Muslims may fast during Ramadan, but once the sun goes down, it’s time to eat. Since I’ve been to a number of Iftar dinners I can attest that once the sun goes down the food and the fellowship is plentiful. Jews celebrate Passover with meals and again the food is plentiful. While the food used in the Lord’s Supper might be minuscule, Christians have been known to host meals with plenty of food.
When we read the gospels, it’s clear that Jesus enjoyed eating with people. In fact, some of his critics suggest that he was a glutton. They also criticized him for eating with the wrong kinds of people. When we gather at the Lord’s Table, we remember Jesus’ eating habits, including the people he shared meals with. Sometimes Jesus was the guest, but at other times he was the host. This morning we hear a story about the day Jesus hosted a rather large gathering, whom he fed with just a few loaves of bread and two fish. But, Matthew tells us that he acted out of compassion.
According to Matthew’s version of the story of the feeding of the 5000, the event took place right after Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been beheaded on the orders of Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee (Mt. 14:1-12). When Jesus heard this news, he got into a boat and headed off to a deserted place so he could pray. His plan didn’t quite work out because when he got out of the boat a crowd quickly gathered around him. Jesus responded to their needs by healing everyone who came to him for help. Then, when Jesus saw that the crowd was hungry, he told his disciples to feed them.
According to Tradition, Jesus had retreated to a spot near the town of Tabgha, just north of the Sea of Galilee. If you go there today, you’ll find a reconstructed stone church that dates back to the fifth century. Much of the church is relatively new, but an ancient mosaic lies in front of the altar reminding us that this is the traditional spot where Jesus fed the five thousand. The mosaic is brown and white and “depicts two fish flanking a wicker basket filled with a few loaves.” [Martin, Jesus, p. 256]. Whether or not this is the exact spot where Jesus fed the multitude, the shrine reminds us that Jesus made an impact on the lives of everyone he encountered.
The story of the feeding of the 5000 has its roots in the Exodus story. After Moses led the people out of Egypt, God provided bread from heaven to sustain them as they journeyed through the wilderness. Alan Culpepper suggests that this story, which begins in Sinai reaches its “revelatory pinnacle in the Last Supper, that would be celebrated ever after by the church and that points ahead to the great messianic banquet at the end of time (Isa 25:6)” [Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew 2:11].
Biblical stories that include the provision of manna and the feeding of the 5000 are simply snippets of a larger story of God’s engagement with Creation. So, when we come to the Table to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we don’t just remember the Last Supper or even the cross, we remember the larger story that begins with creation and ends with the gathering of the saints before the throne of God. The good news is that we get to participate in this still-unfolding story of God’s relationship with creation.
This particular story is remarkable because it’s the only miracle story that appears in all four Gospels. Even if they tell the story differently, the point of these stories is that God provides bread from heaven. This bread is the same daily bread we pray for in the Lord’s Prayer.
As we ponder this story of the feeding of the 5000 we might want to contrast it with the story that precedes it. Remember that Jesus headed into the wilderness after John was beheaded as part of Herod’s birthday celebration. Theologian Anna Case Williams points out that “Jesus is the host at this meal. Perhaps we are meant to see the contrast between the simple and life-giving meal and the luxury of Herod’s court and with his death-dealing banquet (14:6-11)” [Matthew: Belief, p. 194]. One meal brings life to hungry people, and the other meal brings death to one of God’s people. Which meal should we embrace?
Even though Jesus retreated to a quiet place, the people went looking for him. They were hungry, and Jesus had compassion on them. While Matthew doesn’t say that Jesus engaged in teaching, I can’t imagine he didn’t take this opportunity to share his vision of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever took place that day, as evening drew near, the disciples got nervous. They wanted Jesus to send the crowd away to nearby villages so they might get something to eat. Jesus had a different idea. He told his disciples to feed the people themselves. They told Jesus, there are a lot of people here and we only have five loaves of bread and two fish. So, how are we going to feed the crowd?
Jesus would not be deterred. So, he had the disciples bring the bread and fish to him. He asked the crowd to be seated and then, using words and actions that reflect what we see take place in the Last Supper, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples to distribute. These four verbs that appear in Jesus’ blessing of the meal—took, blessed, broke, and gave—also appear in the words of institution that we find in Matthew 26.
When everyone had been served and was full, the disciples gathered up twelve baskets of leftovers. How this happened, Matthew leaves to our imagination. But, Matthew does tell us that 5000 men plus an uncounted number of women and children ate that day.
If we take the instructions given in this story, a step further, we will hear Jesus calling on us to distribute the bread of life to the hungry of this world. That hunger might be physical because there are a lot of hungry people in our world, and Jesus has compassion on them. So, if we are followers of Jesus, we should also have compassion on those who are hungry and thirsty. There are numerous ways that this congregation can participate in feeding the hungry of our community and world. There are others whom we encounter in life, who experience spiritual hunger, and we’ve been entrusted by Jesus to share the bread of life and the cup of salvation with them as well.
As we ponder the message of this story, I appreciate this word from Father James Martin. In his book about Jesus he writes that the bread and fish, as well as the bread and wine of communion, are simple elements that teach us something important: [Jesus] “ uses food to show us how the world should be: everyone filled and satisfied” [Jesus, pp. 265-266].
Sometimes we may feel that we don’t have anything left to give. I’ve felt that way. But this story, whether we read it in Matthew or in one of the other Gospels, reminds us that God’s grace and compassion are sufficient. We live in an economy of that proclaims that the resources we need to live are scarce and need to be hoarded, but Jesus tells us that the resources we need are abundant and so we should share those resources with those who are in need. We just have to look at what God is doing in our midst.
When Moses led the people across the desert, they weren’t quite sure if they would make it to the other side. It may have taken longer than they expected, but God was with them, providing them with the bread of heaven that sustained them on their journey. So, in the midst of perceived scarcity, there was abundance.
As we ponder the message of this passage, I share this word from theologian Grace Ji-Sun Kim:
We have a tendency to live with a mindset of fear and scarcity; we fear that we do not have enough to feed the poor or care for the sick. This passage gives us hope, whether we are individuals or small and struggling congregations: we have the means to do more than we think we can for God’s suffering people. Jesus offers a vision of the abundant life, the kingdom of sharing God’s resources here and now. The passage urges us to bring any small gifts that we have—money, talent, and time—to dedicate them to Jesus, because he will multiply what we have as we give it to others. [Preaching God’s Transforming Justice, Year A, p. 344].
Jesus says to us: “you feed them?” When we respond by saying that all we have, are a couple loaves of bread and a few fish, is it possible that Jesus is telling us that what we have to offer is sufficient, so gather the people and feed them? The good news is that we serve a God of abundance and not a god of scarcity.
Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Pulpit Supply
First Presbyterian Church (USA)
Troy, Michigan
Pentecost 10A
August 6, 2023
| Image Attribution: Icon of Christ Feeding the Multitude, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57436 [retrieved August 5, 2023]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_feeding_the_multitude.jpg. |
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