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When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." He said, "Bring them here to Me." Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
- Matthew 14:13-21
In yesterday's reading, we read that at this point in Jesus' ministry, Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him." For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. Because John had said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her." And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter." And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it be given to her. So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. The death of John the Baptist signified yet another turning point in Jesus' growing ministry, and Jesus has just been rejected by His own at Nazareth. Perhaps, as so often seems to be the case, Jesus withdraws for prayer and dialogue with the Father.
But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. We could perhaps interpret the presence of the multitudes as a kind of answer from the Father for Jesus' ministry: the multitudes come to Him, they have need of Him, and He in response has compassion for them. The whole world, in this great multitude, may be His answer.
When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." Jesus is the refuge of the world, and He remains considerate of the fact that these have followed Him and have need of Him and what He offers. They are His family, and He treats them thus. He teaches His disciples to do this work He wills.
And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." He said, "Bring them here to Me." Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. My study bible says, "The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, reported by all four evangelists, shows Jesus feeding His people as God fed the Israelites in the desert. The Church Fathers see in this an image of the Eucharist, an idea also expressed in John 6, the discourse on the Bread of Life. . . . Moved with compassion is used in very similar situations (see 20:34; Mark 1:41; 6:34; Luke 7:13) to show the Messiah's power and authority extending to those who suffer." Of verse 19, in which Jesus blesses the loaves and fish, it tells us: "Jesus is teaching us not to eat until we first give thanks to God. The terminology reminds us of the Last Supper (see Luke 22:15-20) and leads to the Eucharistic interpretation of this miracle. The participation of the disciples in distributing the loaves and the fish is important. In the Church Jesus feeds His flock at the Eucharist through His servants, the priests."
One thing we note about Jesus' compassion, it spread (in today's reading) through His disciples to others, and in this way He teaches the disciples about acts of compassion. He commands that the loaves and fishes be brought to Him, and it is He who does the increasing and the blessing. All things flow through Him and are distributed via His disciples. If we look at our own lives, I think we do well to remember this. Let us also consider in this light the beheading of John the Baptist and the rejection of His hometown of Nazareth. It would seem that this would be a blow to His ministry, a setback, a kind of decrease -- and in a personal sense, a kind of sadness in a very human way. Jesus withdraws to the deserted place for prayer and renewal and direction from the Father. But the multitudes who come to Him signify an answer, a new turning point, a direction in ministry. There are so many who come to Him and who have need of what He is offering, and the key thing we remember here isn't so much the miracle itself but the nature of God in Jesus' compassion. Earlier, in another expression of His compassion, we read that the multitude was "weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd." They come to Him for Who He is, and He responds. In our own lives, we may find ourselves in a kind of a box of limitation, with setbacks, or terrible news that stuns us with great sadness. The world may throw many obstacles in our way. I think it's important to remember today's reading in those circumstances, because it teaches us several things. It teaches us about being out in a deserted place, and without, following perhaps the only thing that may seem to give us hope, in which we place our confidence. That the multiplication of whatever is on hand comes from Him is essential to understand. We offer whatever our circumstances are to Christ, no matter how meager or insufficient they may seem, and we put them as an offering in the hands of Christ. If we wish to be like Him, and do His work, we too must remember what comes from Him, His compassion, His courage, and His reliance on His Father for guidance and direction, and an answer in this multitude that comes to Him. Whatever we have on hand, we can offer it, and we can await an answer in prayer. God's power is love and it is also something that multiplies where we see no chance of such abundance. This isn't formulaic, and it isn't wishing for some specific thing we desire. It is, rather, going to God, leaving things in Christ's hands, and awaiting the way forward. This is the way out of the box the world presents us with, it is a way of blessings, it is a way of the most seemingly unlikely thing being the way we are shown. God's answer may not be conventional, but it will always draw us to both compassion and a kind of creativity that isn't limited by worldly understanding or the conventional. It will see us past the obstacles -- even those of great sadness (like the rejection at Nazareth or the death of John the Baptist) which may seem to stand in the way or to oppress our own capacity for clear vision. Whatever meager resources we have, even all the stories of our own lives, we turn to Christ and make that our offering. We await His way to enter into His ministry and be like Him. It is, like the Eucharist, not our own power on which we rely, but the work of the Spirit to help us see the way forward in our own lives. It is God's infinite creativity on which we rely, God's love, mercy and compassion which teaches us about ourselves and the way we may go forward in light of any obstacle. That would also include every hurtful rejection. But it takes our willingness to place things in His hands, to offer ourselves in the kind of humility that would suggest, to be given the inspiration of His Way.
