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

 

Loaves and fish, Byzantine style mosaic, c. 450.  Church of the Multiplication, Tabgha, Sea of Galilee

 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 after healing a demoniac on the other side of 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 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.  The twelve disciples are now called to become apostles.  The word for disciple means "learner."  An apostle is "one sent out."  Note that Jesus gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He shares His own power with these disciples for their first apostolic mission to preach the kingdom of God and heal the sick.  As those who are preaching the kingdom and bearing it with them, they are taught to do so in humility, but also as those who witness and testify.

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 remarks that this is the same Herod (Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee) to whom Pilate will send Jesus during His trial (Luke 23:7).  He is the son of Herod the Great, who slew the innocent infants in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16).  The story of the beheading of St. John the Baptist can be found in 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.  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."   My study bible cites the commentary of Theophylact, who sees a liturgical parallel with this story of the feeding of five thousand.  So central is this story, that it is the only miracle found in all four Gospels.  Theophylact notes that Christ first healed and spoke the gospel of the kingdom of God, 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, and the bread of life and the cup are received from the hands of the ordained clergy. 

 

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.  Christ commands the disciples, "You give the something to eat."  My study bible says that this is a commission of 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.  Regarding the five loaves and two fish, my study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who says 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."

 

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.  St. John Chrysostom comments that 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 loaves, writes St. Chrysostom, teaches us "not to touch any meal until we have given thanks to Him who gives us food."  My study bible notes that this blessing also presents a clear eucharistic image, and directs us to pursue spiritual food greater than that which is earthly (see John 6:26-27).  

Today's Gospel reading invites us to consider the question:  With what do we feed ourselves?  How are we fed?  Does life consist of the word of God with the things we take into our lives, the ways that we view the world, all that we eat, and breathe, and sleep?  While the Gospel gives us a full day in the life of Christ in the depiction of the return of the apostles, and the subsequent feeding of the five thousand, what we see is a Man for whom the kingdom of God is always present.  And for the disciples, who are now apostles, their lives will be forever marked by this bearing of the kingdom of God into the world.  At no time will their lives be simply about getting through life day to day, but rather about eating, breathing, and sleeping the gospel of the kingdom of God, and bearing that into the world.  The feeding of the five thousand, so central to the Gospels and to the tradition of worship and the Eucharist, teaches us about sacrament.  In Jesus' looking up to heaven, and the blessing and breaking of the loaves, He teaches us about a sacramental life.  All things are turned over to God for God's use and blessing.  This isn't simply about the origins of the Eucharist, but in a sense it is  about a way of life.  That is, a way of life of bearing the Kingdom into the world, and offering our world back to God, so that our lives are filled with this purpose and meaning.  In that way of being in our lives, everything can be filled with meaning and purpose, infused with the ministry of the Kingdom.  Just as Jesus starts here with five loaves and two fish, there is nothing too small or insignificant for this sacramental life.  The breath we take can be accompanied with a short prayer, such as "Lord have mercy."  Our moments can be permeated with such prayer, our lives given over and dedicated back to God.  This is our place in the world as humankind in the viewpoint of the Bible.  We negotiate this world and do so properly by returning our gifts and blessings back to God, in a kind of priesthood of humanity, and in living a sacramental life.  Everything we have is a gift from God, and we simply need to ask for blessing -- as does Christ -- to live such a life in God's purpose.  We can do the same with all of our possessions.  We can ask God to fill our relationships and bless them.  We can consecrate anything for the bearing of the Kingdom in the world.  It is our prayer and faith that mediates, our practices learned from our traditions that are designed to do so, and even our very worship that consecrates the elements of life -- our food -- as that which truly, deeply nurtures for the life of the Kingdom as we live life on earth.  Let us reconcile the two, as we're meant to do, by living lives that infuse and bear the Kingdom in this world, devoting each small thing to purpose by "remembering God."   The words in Greek and Hebrew for "breath" and "Spirit" are the same; let us remember with our breath to breathe in the word of life.