The loaves and the fishes

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?" Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world."

When Jesus realized they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

- John 6:1-15

In today's passage, we are given the fourth miracle or "sign" in the gospel of John. In this important miracle of the loaves and fishes, we are once again given a "type" - an image or an event from the Old Testament which is "translated" or transformed in the life of Jesus, giving us a new picture and understanding of who Jesus is. John's gospel will tend to emphasize the spiritual reality behind any reported event, beyond the words in the parables and teachings of Jesus, even more emphatically than do the other gospels. But in all reading of the gospels, we must keep in mind that we are not merely reading a historical textbook. We are also reading something that gives us many dimensions of meaning and of allegory in the same way the parables of Jesus work. We are to have insight, we are to understand this literature as a type of poetic writing, that serves to feed us all that Christ is, in a multitude of ways, just as Christ fed the multitude in our story. As we believe Jesus was incarnate, the story of the life of this Incarnation teaches us on many levels beyond a reporting of the facts of the life, all at the same time. Scripture lives to us in many dimensions at once.

The story of the feeding of the multitude appears in all four gospels, so it is significant to all New Testament literature. My study bible says that the theme of Christ as the Giver of Life is continued throughout this chapter. A note reads: "Jesus, who gives himself 'for the life of the world' is depicted as the Bread of Life which is received through faith and sacrament."

In this story we have the fulfillment of a "type" of the story of Exodus. The Sea of Galilee is really a large lake (7 miles wide and 13 miles long). My study bible points out that Jesus and the disciples crossing this lake reminds us of Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. The feeding of the 5,000 on the mountaintop reminds us of the manna that fed the Israelites in the wilderness. The Passover coincided with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which not only commemorated the Exodus from Egypt, but also the first food from grain eaten in the Promised Land after the crossing of the Jordan.

As a way of going from the surface to the potential therein - in the same sense in which Jesus "drew out" the vision of the woman at the well in Samaria regarding "living water" or Nicodemus' understanding of what it means to be "born again" - Jesus questions Philip about the purchase of bread, and Andrew cannot see the potential in the loaves and fishes. The power of the identity of Christ creates dimension beyond surface appearance, an infinite potential which we need faith to understand or perceive. Two hundred denarii corresponds to about 200 days' wages for a laborer. My study bible notes that barley was used by poorer people. It cost less than wheat and was ready for harvest in the springtime at Passover - again a correspondence to the "first grain."

Jesus first gives thanks for the bread. The verb to give "thanks" in Greek is "eucharisto" (ευχαριστω), from which clearly comes our word for Eucharist. The process we observe in the story is that Jesus first gives thanks, then the gifts are distributed first to the disciples and then they in turn give it to the people, and all partake. As with the manna in the wilderness, nothing is wasted or lost. In contrast to the manna, twelve baskets are left over - as my study bible points out, one basket for each disciple is leftover. Clearly this bread in its abundance will continue to be distributed, and we are intended to read it this way.

The Galileans see Jesus as Messiah, but mistake him for the Prophet of Deut. 18:1-19, whom they expect to be a political liberator to free them from the Romans, as Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. But again, we must understand the "type" as transfigured in Jesus. He is altogether a different kind of liberator within the many dimensions of spiritual reality he brings to the world. As he created food for the multitude from the loaves and fishes, so Jesus will transcend merely an earthly understanding of liberation and take us to a level with Him beyond our immediate circumstances. I think it's also important to note that the multitude has followed looking for healing, because of Jesus' fame as a healer. In this gospel, Jesus' work and teaching always draws us deeper into His reality - into his identity as Son. He takes us with him into these dimensions of spiritual life, expanding our own sonship in relationship with him. We are fed with the bread of life, and life in us becomes abundant in an unending and irrepressible number of ways. Jesus does not want to be king; this is a mistake in the ways to see him and his role for all of us. In further reading in the chapter, Jesus will continue expanding on the "bread of life."

So, when we take the bread of the Eucharist, how are we to see this "Bread of Life?" How are we to understand and expect to be filled with "life in abundance?" How are we to know what it is to be touched by this potential, this living force of energy and grace and mercy? How do we come to accept to "hear and to see" this spiritual reality Jesus points us toward and offers us as he beckons to follow? I would like to point out that this door is open to us all the time, at each moment, whether we are at prayer or worship or partaking of the Eucharist. This "type" transcends time to repeat itself and offer us new vision of spiritual reality and especially of our part in it - our participation in this life and relationship to Christ. How do you take in the gift and open your eyes to it today, at this moment?