On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. 11
When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. 12
Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” 13
But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14
For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”15
And they did so, and had them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the
crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
The feeding of the 5,000 is one of the most well-known accounts in the life of Jesus.There is something foundational to the kingdom going on here, especially given
the fact that it occupies the attention of all four gospel writers, something that no other miracle other than the resurrection, does. Matthew and Mark records that this occurs right after Jesus finds out that John the Baptist has been executed. This must
have been a very deep and grievous time for the Lord, he had lost probably the only man who had grasped, at least to some degree, what Jesus was doing in the world. This had to saddened the Savior.
Matthew and Mark both comment that when Jesus saw the crowds coming to him, despite his own loss and fatigue, the Lord Jesus was moved with compassion for the crowd
because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Almost no other miracle that Jesus performed involved the disciples as did this one. They did nothing when Jesus healed the sick, or when he raised Jarius’ daughter, they did nothing other than marvel. They
were not required to act a certain way when Jesus showed his power over creation. But here, their involvement is very deliberate on the Lord’s part. Mark tells us that Jesus begins the whole thing by telling the disciples that THEY should give the crowd something
to eat. In John we find Phillip scrambling trying to figure out how in the world the disciples are going to come up with enough money to buy food for all these people. And Luke, in verse 13 says the same. They of course are baffled, we can’t give them anything
to eat, we can’t provide for all of these people we don’t have that kind of money! And in effect Jesus says, “Oh yes you can and yes you will…have them all sit down.” It is a beautiful picture. Jesus takes the food, blesses it, gives it to His disciples, the
church, who then feed the multitude. Sustenance, nourishment, life is found, by Christ’s appointment, in and through the church.
As the day was ending the disciples thought it was time to send these folks away so that they could get something to eat but Jesus had other plans. To miss one meal
wouldn’t have killed anyone. And even if, as some have supposed, they hadn’t eaten for the entire day, that too, is no catastrophic circumstance. In other words, Jesus is not feeding starving people.
All four gospels make a big to-do with regard to the amount of food that was left over after all the people were stuffed. It was not just a little bit of bread, but
it was a provision that preached a sense of complete fullness. This is the Christ, the One in whom we find life, but not just an “enough to get by” kind of life, but an abundant life, a life of great and grand prosperity!
Jesus didn’t tell the disciples, if you hunger and thirst for righteousness, then you will barely have enough to get by. He says that if you hunger and thirst for
righteousness, you will be FILLED. The deepest hungers of life are met only in Jesus and they are met in abundance, in fact in superabundance!
There is also a bit of a contrast that is going on in that John tells us that these loaves were barley loaves, which were a poor man’s bread. And even the bread and
fish would have been, no matter how you might look at it, a very plain meal, this is plain food, this is “common folk”, food. Just like the manna in the wilderness that everyone ate, the food itself is not that impressive. How it came to them, both
in the wilderness and in this miracle, THAT is impressive.
One pastor, considering the miracle, asked: If Jesus was to feed them all this way, miraculously, then why not steak and lobster? This is not food of the banquet,
he could have given them that, but he did not, he miraculously gave them a huge amount of plain food. And even then, Jesus takes what was already there, he doesn’t make the bread and fish, ex-nihilo, out of nothing, as He could have, rather He takes
bread and fish that the disciples found, and multiplies that.
The Lord takes what we have and does with it what we cannot. He blesses what we have and then takes it and does something with it that is amazing! Although this was
ordinary food, common food, the Lord took it and then told them to do a very odd thing. He told them to recline. This is the way that people in that day ate in the fellowship of their homes. It is the way they ate at a banquet. This is the posture of family
intimacy, the posture of celebration and great feasting, even the feasting that you expect in a great to-do or one of special significance.
Think of the Passover meal that the disciples ate with Jesus before His death, they were there with Him reclining at the table. So, the food is ordinary and common,
BUT the command as they prepare to eat is that which suggests a banquet and great celebration. Even if the food did not suggest it, the invitation to the formal dining area suggests a banquet, a feast, a table loaded to the full. The bread and fish were not
the point, rather the life that the Provider of the bread and fish gives, that is the point. And it is pointing them to something much greater, if they have eyes to see.
And that is precisely what we are to see and experience in the Lord’s Supper. We eat common food, but we see past the common food to WHAT is provided for us, and
WHO provides it! But this, like the feeding of the 5,000, as glorious as it is, is not the end, but serves to remind us, to prepare us and to excite us for the full banquet that is set for us in the world to come.
In some ways this miracle sets a philosophy of life for us as Christians. For example: If you were to paint or to draw a picture that depicts peace and joy, what would
you paint? You can’t paint the soul, you can’t paint, “love” or “peace”. But, close your eyes and picture a table, your table and around that table are those people that you love, all of them, and they are laughing and are happy. The table itself is filled
with food, with all kinds of the best things that you like to eat. In fact, all the food can’t even make it to the table, the desserts are kept aside because they need a table of their own! And then there is the main course and you have picked it out special
for this meal, for this occasion. You might not have spent so much for just an evening meal, but for this feast, the best. You pray and give thanks to the Lord for His abundant provision and then you celebrate. You are filled with joy as you see your family,
your children, your loved ones and you listen to the conversation, the stories… the laughter, the joy, and you simply think, it just doesn’t get any better than this.
Brothers and sisters, it is no accident that feasts play this role in our lives. It is no accident that so often they sum up and give expression to the joy, contentment
and the blessing that are ours.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter…we feast with those we love. Weddings come and what do we do? We feast, we celebrate with good food and those we love. All the happy
occasions of life find this to be the case. And not just here, but everywhere in the world, and not just in modern times, it has always been this way. Why? Because this is the way God has made the world…and all these small celebrations, all these feasting
times are pointing us somewhere!
You see, you can look at the family meal as a cultural thing, you can strip it of any real significance, say that it is no big deal, but you will be the less for doing
so. In the tapestry of life as God has made it, even the family meal, the little feast holds great joy and spiritual significance and is to picture very important realities. Why is it that we, before we eat, take food, pray for God to bless, break it, and
give it to those at that table? Are we not in a small sense, paying our homage, giving honor to the philosophy of life that is ours as Christians?
But most importantly don’t ever let the Eucharist pass you by without a feasting heart.
Rather, in the simple ordinary elements, see before your eyes of faith, a table, an enormous table, filled to the edges. And the smells…oh the smells…and notice that
everyone at this table is more joyful than you have ever seen anyone be…And…then, you hear a commotion and you look and everyone stands to their feet… and you feel the chill of joy like you never once experienced in this life, run down your spine…and there
He is…the Lord of the Feast…He comes to the head of the table, and you can make visible the holes in his hands, and He says, “My brothers, my sisters, well done…this, this is all for you.”
Can you see how the Feeding of the 5,000 is a picture of the Christian’s philosophy of life? Can you see how we are called to experience the depth of its meaning
at the Table of the Lord? Our Savior has given us and continues to give us, “life”, and although it at times might look like an ‘ordinary life’, to the contrary, it is a life of super-abundance! Feast, rejoice and be glad!!!
Prayer: Father, fill my heart with thanksgiving for all your gifts, but most of all, may the Lord Jesus Christ fill my mind and heart this day! Thank you for meeting
me in the ordinary and causing me to see the extraordinary love that you have lavished upon me. Help me to set the Great day and the Great feast before my mind as I live in anticipation of the fullness of Jesus Christ, waiting to hear those words from your
lips, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, welcome home!’ Through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Hymn: Lo He Comes with Clouds Descending
