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 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 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

Yesterday we read that when Jesus returned from across the Sea of Galilee, the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.  And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was 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.  Jesus calls His twelve disciples ("learners" in the Greek) and invests in them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  They are "sent out" (the literal meaning of "apostle") to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  We note with what humility they are to go on this mission and characterize their conduct:  they take no extra provisions nor clothing, they stay and remain in the first place that will receive them.  Their rebuke to those who do not receive them is simply to shake the dust from their feet as testimony against them.  This is their first apostolic mission.  It is the works they do, the power and authority given to them, which will speak for the Kingdom. 

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.   This is the first mention we're given in Luke's Gospel of state power taking notice of Jesus and His ministry.  Herod is tetrarch of Galilee.  It is significant that Herod hears of Him just as the first apostolic mission takes place.  At Jesus' trial, Pilate will send Him to Herod (23:7), when Pilate finds that Jesus is a Galilean.  The beheading of John the Baptist can be read at Mark 6:14-28.

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.  The Gospel gives us the events as they unfold in His ministry:  the apostles return from their mission, and Christ takes them aside privately to a deserted place.  But this is the region in which His ministry is already well-known, the the crowds follow Him.  Jesus' graciously receives those who want what He has to offer:  first He speaks to them about the kingdom of God, and then heals those in 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." My study bible suggests that this commission (You give them something to eat) is a type and preparation for the apostolic ministry the disciples will perform after Christ's Resurrection.  They will feed the world with the word of God and with the Eucharist.

And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."   St. John Chrysostom, in His commentary on the Gospel, notes that Christ is the same Creator "of both the earth and the sea, who in the beginning brought fruit from the earth and life out of the water."

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.  About five thousand men is a way of counting from the period;  there were more women and children as well.  My study bible again quotes St. John Chrysostom.  Christ looked up to heaven "not as receiving power from elsewhere, but as honoring the Father who begot Him."  That Christ blessed and broke the bread serves as example for us "not to touch any meal until we have given thanks to Him who gives us food."  Christ's blessing gives as well a eucharistic image; it directs us to pursue spiritual food greater than that which is earthly (see John 6:26-27). 

There is a clear parallel between feeding and being given the bread of the Kingdom:  the spiritual food and drink of Christ's authority and power in the gospel of the Kingdom and the healing and casting out of demons.  In the meantime, we have the interest of Herod, son of Herod the Great who destroyed the children of Bethlehem as he sought to destroy Christ (ironically, the very reason that Jesus is a Galilean -- see Matthew 2:16-28).  Notice the difference in what power and authority means between the examples of Christ and of Herod.  As Christ sends out His apostles, it is that very authority and power that "speaks out" as substance within the very works they do.  Their conduct is not to draw attention to itself.  It bears no marks in itself of authority or power.  Their conduct, on the contrary, is one of great humility.  They are not to "trade up" for better lodgings after they preach and heal and cast out demons.  Their rebuke to the places that do not receive them is simply to "shake off the very dust" from their feet as a testimony against them -- when they go out of the city.  Herod, on the contrary, is notorious enough in his use of power that the Gospel makes no mention of the story of Herodias and her daughter (found in Mark 6:14-28, which it is obviously assumed that readers will already know about).  Herod has committed the grave sin of having John the Baptist beheaded, such is his rule and use of his power and authority.  In a subtle sense, the juxtaposition of the state power of the time and of Christ's power and authority gives us a great sense of the temptations and corruption of our world, as compared to the ways in which Christ uses His authority.  Moreover, the authority and power which Christ gives to His apostles is also remarkable:  it is to cast out demons and to heal, and especially to preach the Kingdom.  One can sense a clash, a war at work here between two very different sources of power and authority, two different types of rule, two forces at odds with one another.  The oppressive and enslaving and unjust power of the "prince of this world" is exemplified in Herod's unruly, chaotic, power-hungry court.  Our Liberator, Redeemer, and Deliverer is embodied in Christ and in the ways in which power and authority are used by Him.  Compare the grandeur and haughtiness of Herod's court with the conduct that Jesus teaches His apostles to use as they are sent out on their first mission.  The difference is staggering.  It reminds us of the truth of His teaching, that "by their fruits you will know them"  (Matthew 7:15-20).  And so the truth of this teaching remains for each of our own lives.  And there is precisely the point:  the culmination of today's reading is in the very sharing of the bread of this Kingdom with the multitudes.  The obvious parallels to the Eucharist make that clear.  When we pray the prayer Jesus has taught us (Luke 11:1-4), we pray for our "supersubstantial bread" given to us day by day.  "Supersubstantial" is the literal meaning of the word that is translated as daily in Luke 11:3.  Therefore in this foreshadowing of the Eucharist, Jesus raising His eyes to heaven and blessing the food before it is distributed gives us an important message about how we, too, need this "extra-essential" bread day by day, so that we also share in the power and authority of Christ in whatever way is available to us.   On some subtle level which we may not necessarily always discern, it is always about choosing which Kingdom we wish to serve, whose power and authority, what conduct is truly becoming to whom (or Whose) we truly are.   Just as identity may be derived from what is stamped on a passport, so the Gospels give us a picture of the reality that what we choose to ally with becomes identity for us.  Compare the notion of what we take in, what we choose to consume, to take to heart, to become a part of and to make a part of ourselves.  It's all about what we choose in our heart, not about any predetermined aspect of our lives and behaviors that comes only from worldly sources -- unless that is how we live our lives.  Let us consider the power and grace in the mercy of Christ, the good gifts He gives us, to make us "good trees" who bear "good fruit."