Feeding the Five Thousand

Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’ They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

Now Herod the ruler heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen. Herod said, ‘John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?’ And he tried to see him.

On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured.

The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.’ 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.’ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, ‘Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.’ They did so and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

- Luke 9:1-17

Blogging the daily readings, I never plan in advance what I'm going to write. I read the readings in the morning (which I receive via email - see "Daily Lectionary" link at left), and I post them on a blank blog post screen. I read what commentary is at hand, in reference books or online to get some facts straight that scholarship can provide. Then I read them through thoroughly and carefully and see what ideas come to me. I have a degree in English, and so I tend to approach the text the same way I did the literary texts in my college years, sensing what meanings are there for me. It's always a surprise what I find, and always worrying that I may have exhausted any ideas I have on these readings long before the present one, especially as stories repeat themselves in different gospels. Today was similar; and also, similarly, after I begun reading there were so many ideas in this passage that struck me. To include them all would make the passage much longer than I wish for - so I'll have to save something, hopefully, for the future.

First of all, it's always been striking to me about this particular passage that Jesus instructs his apostles - here sent out on the first apostolic mission - not to take any care for physical provisions: no extra clothes, no extra money, no planning in advance of where to stay. This is a journey where all dependence is on God, and clearly a journey of faith. The journey itself is made in an extension of Jesus' spiritual power: he has invested his disciples with his spiritual power - to preach, to heal disease and to cast out demons (all of which can be seen as forms of healing). They are to stay in whichever home is first offered, and if there is no room offerred and no one wishes to listen in a town, they are merely to shake the dust off their feet and move on. I think this is quite an example for us today, in the sense that we should remember that people are free to listen or not, and we should remain detached in the same sense. This blog is not a form of strict biblical scholarship produced according to doctrine of one church or another (and I have no degree in any theological field), and all are free to read or not, and I like that. But I am free to persist as long as there seems to be something to write. But back to the apostles, Christ is extending himself through them, and he is beginning to share the work of the kingdom - giving us the example of how spirit works as delegator. This spiritual power is shared and spread through relationship and community. The world wide web may serve also as our virtual interlinking of communities, and all are free to "listen" (read) or not.

Herod Antipas hears of all the goings on and wishes to meet Jesus. He wonders who Jesus is; he's very curious about him. This is the same Herod - a ruler of Galilee under Rome - who will be present at Jesus' trial; he will meet Jesus when Pilate sends Jesus to him. The kingdom is in its birth; it is becoming publicly known as an entity with which public figures will have to contend.

In Jesus' feeding of the five thousand, we find a continuation of the understanding of metaphor to the church. The apostles are sent out, bearing spiritual power and the message of the kingdom, just as the churches do today. The feeding of the hungry is a metaphor for spiritual power to feed us in ways in which we hunger and thirst, that the world alone can't necessarily provide for us. Jesus divides up the bread out of his own power (a mastery over nature) as they are in the wilderness - there is the same lack of dependence on material provision, the thoughts in these passages are for the work for the kingdom alone. He has the group of 5,000 divide themselves up into 100 groups of fifty each: an appropriate metaphor for churches. The leftover baskets of broken pieces are twelve - as are the apostles just returned from their first mission.

The breaking of the bread, with Jesus giving thanks and looking to heaven as he does so, is clearly a metaphor for what happens in the Eucharistic service - and also for the feeding by manna in the wilderness, so it is also a clear sign of Messiahship to the crowds. The two fish we must remember are already a metaphor, as Jesus told his fishermen that they'd become fishers of men. The fish would become an early symbol of Christianity via its classical Greek form - transliterating into English we'd spell it IXThYS (pronounced "eekh-THEES"). It worked as an acronym, with each letter standing for a word in the phrase: Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior (Iesus Xristos Theou Yios Sotir).

Finally, I'm reminded of the beautiful words in the Eurcharistic Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which the priest is to say as he breaks the bread for communion:

The Lamb of God is broken and distributed;

broken but not divided,

Forever eaten yet never consumed,

but sanctifying those who partake.

Just as Jesus' spiritual power is distributed to the disciples, to the churches, to us today, and we are fed with spiritual food, so it is the nature of this eucharistic life and this gift. I wonder in what ways we can see this nature of spirit and spiritual power at work in our own lives, and a eucharistic spirit apply to our lives in the world today. I don't think its nature has changed, but we must also be alive to it in ways it works in our own lives, even (and perhaps especially) when we feel ourselves to be in a wilderness of any kind.