They all ate and were filled

 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 bag 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 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 returned from the country of the Gadarenes, and the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.  And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue.  And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying.  But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.  Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment.  And immediately her flow of blood stopped.  And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?"  When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me."  Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.  And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace."  While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead.  Do not trouble the Teacher."  But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well."  When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.  Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.  But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Little girl, arise."  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.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag 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.   In yesterday's reading, we noted how the Kingdom expands -- specifically how the "people of God" include those who are healed by Christ:  the woman with the twelve years blood flow who was excluded from community for ceremonial uncleanness, and Jairus' daughter who was dying.  In today's reading, Jesus sends out the twelve.  They are to preach and to heal.  They are gifted with His power extended to them:  they have power and authority over all demons, and they are given the capacity to cure diseases.  We note their limitation in clothing, expense, and "largesse" of any kind.  This is a mission made in humility, in imitation of the Master.  They are reliant upon God.  To stay in the first house that welcomes them in is to remain humble, not to "trade up" for better accommodations.  The power to heal and authority over demons is invested in them; their power to condemn is simply testimony at those who will not receive them, shaking the "very dust" from their feet to do so.  These "disciples" ("learners") are also "apostles" ("those sent on a mission") by being sent by Christ to bear the good news and to heal.

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.  My study bible points out that this is the same Herod to whom Pilate will send Jesus at His trial (23:7).  He is the son of Herod the Great who slew the innocent infants of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16).  Mark 6:14-28 gives us the story of how John the Baptist died while imprisoned by this Herod.  Throughout the Gospels, Herod the tetrarch (also known as Herod Antipas) shows a type of childish fascination with these holy men, both Christ and John the Baptist. 

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 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.  My study bible notes Theophylact as seeing a liturgical parallel to the feeding of the five thousand.  It says, "Here Christ first healed and spoke of the gospel, and then fed the multitude with the miraculous bread by the hands of His disciples.   In the Church, a person is first healed through baptism; then at the Liturgy, the gospel is preached an the bread of life and the cup are received from the hands of the ordained clergy."   The feeding of the thousands in the wilderness is represented in all four Gospels.  The twelve baskets of left over fragments taken up by the disciples are clearly linked to the twelve apostles who have just returned from their first mission, and the whole history of the "people of God" represented in the twelve tribes of Israel.

Yesterday, we commented on the number twelve, in that Jairus' daughter was twelve years old, and the woman healed by Christ (through her touch in the crowd).  This is a number that implies the "people of God," as in the twelve tribes of Israel.   The twelve apostles are appointed first to go to all the Jews.  Later on this will be extended to gather all the "people of God" from all the world and all the nations.  The twelve baskets of leftover fragments of the bread blessed by Christ teach us about what it is the Twelve are "sent out" to do.  We also get hints of the encounter with "the world" or "the worldly" that is to come in that Herod Antipas has taken notice of Christ, and is curious about Him.  He is the image of "worldly power" or state power which, in the Gospels at least, are so often entirely opposed to this Kingdom which Christ tells us about.  Although we know where this story is "heading," in so many ways, it has to make us think about the Church in the world today.  I'm speaking of the universal Church, which passes beyond the barriers we understand of denomination, and is infused with the mystical reality of the Body of Christ.  I just heard a very moving sermon by the Catholicos of the Armenian Church, who preached that our faith as Christians isn't a "concept."  It's a way of living in Christ, a life centered in Jesus Christ.  The message was that in that faith, we are all united.  We are one.  In the feeding of the five thousand, we have the image of the universal Church.  Christ is the Uniter, the Reconciler.  It is He who feeds us all in the banquet of the Kingdom.   But our food is Him.  He is what we need.  He is the One upon whom we rely.  Before everything else, He is what unifies our lives, both as the whole of the Body of Christ and living in His Kingdom to bear and bring into the world, and as individual believers, who also need an inner unity, an integrity which reconciles us in all ways, and gives us that cross-centered, Christ-centered life marked by constant renewal, and hence, growth.  But in the image of this feeding, we understand that with Christ, we "have enough."  We "are enough."  There are so many pressures to think about what we "should" be, and what the world seems to call on us to be.  In this context in which today's reading gives us glimpses of the royal court of Herod Antipas, we also recall Jesus' words defending John the Baptist:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live  in luxury are in kings' courts.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet"  (Luke 7:26, NKJV).   And in today's reading, Jesus instructs the disciples, as they are sent out, to preach as humble apostles.  It is all "good enough."  The wilderness, and being "sent out" in humility and without retinue or vast resources, teaches us about reliance upon God, about this Kingdom of God that Jesus preaches.  It gives us a sense of who we are in faith, in the true faith of Christ.  This isn't faith in all the worldly things we think we have to collect in order to be acceptable, it's not a faith in the palaces of kings or rulers like Herod, who couldn't understand the holiness of Christ and John.  A Christ-centered life teaches us what's real and true, what's necessary, and where our reliance must be.  We unified by this knowledge, within ourselves, and in His universal Church which has no bounds at all.