They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat

 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 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 to 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 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.  But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. Theophylact comments that when Jesus heard it refers not to John's death, but to Herod's comment that Jesus was John raised from the dead (see yesterday's reading, above).  It is one more response to Jesus' ministry, this time of "state" power that feels threatened by Christ.  In the Gospels, we are given several instances in which Jesus withdraws from confrontation with authority (both religious and state) until it is "His hour" for His public entrance into Jerusalem, which will begin what we know as Holy Week (see John 7:6-9).  In yesterday's reading, the account of John's death is a parenthetical inclusion, that gives us an understanding of why Herod fears Christ.

 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.  That Jesus is moved with compassion is a frequent occurrence in the Gospels (20:34; Mark 1:41, 6:34; Luke 7:13).  My study bible comments that it shows that Jesus' power and authority are extended to those who suffer.

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.  Among other things we understand from today's reading, Jesus teaches us that we should not eat without first giving thanks to God.  The language of the text points to the Last Supper (26:26), and so one understanding of this miracle, which comes at a crucial point in Jesus' ministry, is as a eucharistic image.  As the disciples distribute the bread to the multitudes, my study bible says, so also Christ feeds the Eucharist to His flock through the hands of His bishops and presbyters. 

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 mentions a patristic spiritual interpretation of this miracle, which teaches that the five loaves indicate the five books of the Law (Genesis through Deuteronomy, also known as the Torah), which are broken open in Christ and thereby feed the universe.  The two fish represent the Gospel Book and the Epistle Book, the teaching of the fishermen.  The gathering of the leftovers by the apostles shows that the teachings which the faithful are not able to grasp are nevertheless held in the consciousness of the Church.

In the Gospels, we witness a strange phenomenon in holy power.  As Christ's ministry becomes more circumscribed, as both the actors of state power and religious authority become hostile, and Jesus withdraws, so the power that is at work within Him expands under the circumstances.  Here, this central miracle with its Eucharistic overtones which feeds the multitudes takes place at a time when He has withdrawn after hearing about Herod's suspicion and fear that He is John the Baptist returned.  It is a grand metaphor for the spiritual life that as we in some way seem more diminished in the world, our own spiritual lives may become expanded and enhanced.  This is not only true of those who practice humility, but it is also true of the tradition of monasteries going back to the earliest monks of the desert -- who, in imitation of Christ, withdrew to the "deserted places" in commitment to spiritual struggle.  There, life is given up to constant prayer.  In a paradoxical ways, the limitations of the world may serve to open us up to greater spiritual strength, understanding, and holiness.  Through such work of holy power, Christ's withdrawal in fact feeds a multitude.  There are countless instances throughout the history of the Church in which individual saints have withdrawn from society to be transformed by God, and in one way or another, that transformation feeds the world.  When we are in some way seemingly diminished or limited by life -- particularly by what is "worldly" -- we must always consider the opportunity for spiritual expansion.  A withdrawal to focus on the things of God and of our souls, for prayer or a prayerful life, is a chance to find something precious that doesn't live or is not found through an active social life.  When one way seems cut off, God provides God's way for us to find God and to share God with others, and in so doing, to find ourselves in true spiritual sight and understanding.  In the Eastern tradition of Christianity, there is a focus on hesychia, which means, essentially, stillness.  It is a kind of prayer focus which has at its center an understanding that God is found not only in words, but in silence, stillness, and in that silence, God's peace.  It is a way of emptying in order to be filled, a paradigm imaged in the mercy seat in the Old Testament, and Christ's tomb of the New, filled with God's mysterious presence transforming what we know to give us Resurrection.  In that pool of stillness is the depth of what may be brought into the world and shared; in some sense, the person becoming living prayer.  Let us consider what we suppose are our own limitations, when doors are seemingly shut, pathways closed, people cut off from us, -- when we are in a deserted place -- and that it is there we may find what is much, much greater than what we know.