He said to them, "You give them something to eat"

Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bad nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him.

 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.  When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty."  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

- Luke 9:1-17

 In yesterday's reading, Jesus had returned to Capernaum from the country of the Gadarenes, where He had healed a man possessed by a "legion" of demons.  On reaching Capernaum, as He was surrounded by the crowds, Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue approached Jesus for help.  His twelve year old daughter was dying.  As Jesus went through the crowd toward the house of Jairus, a woman approached Him from behind.  She had a blood flow or haemorrhage for twelve years; she'd spent all she had on doctors who had failed to make her well.  Instead, she simply got worse.  She touched the hem of His garment and was immediately well.  Jesus stopped in the crowd and asked, "Who touched Me?"  The disciples insisted that in such a crowd it was impossible to tell Him -- but He said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me."   The woman came forward trembling, and explained what happened.  Jesus told her in front of the crowd, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace."  Someone then came to Him in the crowd from the house of Jairus, telling them not to come because his daughter was already dead.  Jesus said, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well." He took only His closest circle of disciples to the girl, and her father and mother.  Jesus said, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping."  Those who mourned in the house ridiculed Him.  Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately.  And He commanded that she be given something to eat.  And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.

 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  My study bible says, "After being with His disciples for a considerable period, Jesus sends them out on their first mission, giving them power and authority to perform exorcisms and healings as well as to preach the dawn of the kingdom."  I think it's interesting that in yesterday's reading, we had a splendid example of this power in the healing of the woman with the bloodflow; that simply through faith she touched His hem, and she was healed.  Now we see His power "go out" in new ways, through the apostles, and we can read about how this first mission is commissioned by Him in the working of that power and what it is used for. 

And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bad nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.  So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.  Here in these instructions, we get a sense of a requirement for that power to work appropriately through us:  especially is stressed in all of these instructions a great deal of humility.  They are not to take anything for the journey (clearly relying on the power and love of God) -- they will not make ostentatious travelers.  To stay in the first house in which they are welcome is another form of humility -- they are not to "trade up" if offered better lodgings but to stay in the home of whoever it is who first welcomes them.  When they are not received, there is no strong outward expression of material power, but a testimony:  shaking the dust off their feet in rebuke.  This is a powerful mission of peace; it is not a worldly army that is sent out in the name of this Kingdom.  Their actions on this mission are preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him.    Herod is the one who has beheaded John -- Herod Antipas,  ruler of Galilee under Rome.  Here as the first mission of the Kingdom is sent out with Christ's power, the rulers of great worldly power, in the name of Rome, become curious about Him.  Pilate will send Jesus to Herod at His trial in Jerusalem.

And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  Now, my study bible points out, these disciples are called apostles "(meaning 'those officially sent on a mission'), their proper title after Jesus' Resurrection."

But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.  When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat."   Jesus welcomes those who come to Him, who truly want what He has to offer.  Once again, in the instructions to the disciples, Jesus teaches them to rely on what is present, just as in His instructions when they were sent out on their first mission.

And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty."  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.  With God's help and instruction, with God's power, what we have is enough, enough to grow this Kingdom His Way.  My study bible says, "All are satisfied when Jesus feeds them.  No one need go away hungry.  This feeding of the 5,000 is a messianic sign."  There are yet twelve baskets left over:  one for each of the apostles who will go out to continue this work of the Kingdom, a reflection of the Eucharist.

There are many things we can read out of today's reading, but most of all we get a sense of the Kingdom's power, Jesus' power; how it works, how it is "sent out" to be at work in the world, how it cannot be contained and cannot be limited, how it doesn't work according to our very human and worldly limitations and expectations.  It's borne (in yesterday's reading) through even the hem of His garment, and in today's reading it's borne out into the world through His apostles.  It works through and in this world to build up this Kingdom.  It's not something we can narrow down and determine step by step and pin down exactly how it works -- this is not for us to know, nor to limit through our own understanding.  But it works here and now, in and through us, in our world, in even our imperfection.  This is the great mystery and paradox of this Kingdom, that God is with us.  The Orthodox have a prayer to the Holy Spirit, used to begin every liturgy; in it, the Holy Spirit is called "Spirit of truth who are everywhere present and filling all things."  As Jesus Christ was God with us, so the Spirit is God with us.  St. Paul has said that in response to a repeated prayer to be healed of an infirmity, he was told, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).  In this great statement about God's power, we are told of our greatest paradox:  that right here and right now, God's power is with us, working in us and through us, right here in our imperfect world, our troubled lives, and with our own inadequacies, as we would see them.  You can't sell God short.  Our understanding of what works for this Kingdom is not God's understanding.  We can but pray and live in prayerful relationship to God, giving ourselves and our lives to this Presence and trusting in this power that works with us and through us, even as we are so far from what we might think is perfection.  Can you accept His grace?