You give them something to eat

 

 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.  And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."  For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.  So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.  

 

But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities.  They arrived before them and came together to Him.  And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.  So He began to teach them many things.  

 

When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.  Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat."  But He answered and said to them, "You give them something  to eat."  And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?"  But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have?  Go and see."  And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."  Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.  And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.  So they ate and were filled.  And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.  Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

 

Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go  before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.  And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.  

 

- Mark 6:30-46 

 

Yesterday we read that King Herod heard of Jesus, for His name had become well known.  And he said, "John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him."  Others said, "It is Elijah."  And others said, "It is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets."  But when Herod heard, he said, "This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!"  For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her.  Because John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."  Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him.  And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.  Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee.  And when Herodias' daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you."  He also swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom."  So she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?"  And she said, "The head of John the Baptist!"  Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter."  And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her.  Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought.  And he went and beheaded him in prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.  When his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb.

 

  Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.  And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."  For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.  So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.  Continuing on from yesterday's reading, our first verse today resumes "present time" in the narrative, whereas the story of the beheading of St. John the Baptist was given as a kind of "flashback" so that we understand Herod Antipas' fear of Jesus, that He is John returned from the dead.  My study Bible comments on this passage that Christ gives rest to His disciples to show those engaged in preaching and teaching that they must not labor continuously, but must also take rest.  So important is His time spent with them, that they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.  

 

 But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities.  They arrived before them and came together to Him.  And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.  So He began to teach them many things.   Although Jesus quite deliberately set out with the disciples for a deserted place so that they could rest together, the multitudes will not leave them alone, and follow Him even on foot.  Here, Jesus' compassion plays a part, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.  And what do lost sheep without a shepherd need?  Learning and teaching; so He began to teach them many things. This is discipleship.

 

 When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.  Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat."  But He answered and said to them, "You give them something  to eat."  And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?"  But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have?  Go and see."  And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."  Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.  And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.  So they ate and were filled.  And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.  Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.  This miracle is reported by all four evangelists; it shows Jesus feeding a great multitude of His people as He fed the Israelites in the desert (Exodus 16).  My study Bible reports that the Church Fathers see in this feeding miracle an image of the Eucharist.  This sense is made quite clear in St. John's Gospel (see John 6).  Here, Jesus shows that we should never eat without first giving thanks to God.  According to my study Bible, the terminology (He blessed and broke the loaves) points to the Last Supper (Matthew 26:26), leading to a eucharistic interpretation of this miracle.  Just as the disciples distribute the bread to the people, my study Bible notes, so also Christ feeds the Eucharist to His flock through the hands of His bishops and presbyters.  There is a spiritual interpretation to this miracle which my study Bible cites. In that interpretation, the five loaves indicate the five books of the law (Genesis through Deuteronomy), which are broken open in Christ and so therefore feed the universe, all of creation.  The two fish represent the Gospel Book and the Epistle Book, the teaching of the fishermen.  The gathering of the leftovers by the apostles (twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish) shows that the teachings which the faithful cannot grasp are nonetheless held in the consciousness of the Church.  

 

 Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go  before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.  And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.  This feeding miracle, and its prefiguring of the Eucharist, forms another type of turning point in Christ's ministry.  Note that He departed to the mountain to pray by Himself, after sending the disciples on their way once more across the sea.

 

 Today's reading asks us to open up to questions about consumption.  That is, to think about what we feed ourselves.  What really nourishes us?  With what do we want to be nourished?  We live in an overwhelmingly consumerist-oriented society, at least in a modern, developed world.  We consume entertainments, food, and other things.  But the question of what we seek to consume, and what we seek in order to nurture and feed ourselves for good spiritual health becomes a kind of discernment we might not always think about as clearly as we should.  Clearly the people who follow Christ in the beginning of today's reading perceive in themselves some great need for what they seek from Him.  It's likely that they pursue Him because of the miraculous healings that He is by now so famous for.  But what Jesus will offer to nurture people is what they truly need for their best welfare.  Moreover this welfare involves body, soul, heart, mind, and spirit.  So, although perhaps the people chase after Jesus from all points in order to pursue Him for His famous healings (including the casting out of unclean spirits), Jesus' way of giving them what they need -- of truly nurturing them -- is to teach them.  For the problem He perceives is that they are like sheep not having a shepherd.  Christ's compassion is to provide the people who seek Him with what they truly need.  But then later, another, different need arises.  They have spent the day listening to Him, and they are in a deserted place.  They will need something to eat, so the disciples approach Jesus to send the people away so they find food.  But He has another plan; He wants the disciples to give the people something to eat.  The disciples ask about purchasing two hundred denarii worth of bread (a denarius was about one day's wage for a laborer), which still would not be enough for this large crowd.  Perhaps this is all the ministry could afford.  But Jesus tells the disciples, "You give them something to eat."  It would seem that this is another way of giving people what they need:  the disciples will learn what is possible for them, while Christ will expand the nature of His ministry to include preparation for the Eucharist to come.  A holy meal, indeed, based on faith and the miraculous power of Christ to multiply the little we have to start with -- a kind of display in real time of the nature of the Kingdom as illustrated in the parable of the mustard seed, an active manifestation of the principle named in that same reading, "For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."  With what little they have, Christ's holy power multiplies what's there to feed the crowds who've stayed with Him as He taught them late into the day.  The Shepherd gives the sheep what they need, and in so doing, the beginnings of the chief sacrament of Christ's Church are begun.  In that sacrament, it is Christ Himself who becomes our food.  Later, after Christ has sent the disciples back across the sea, He departed to the mountain alone to pray.  For even our Lord has need of food which we do not know.  Let us follow His example!

 

 

 

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

 

 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, say 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 provision; 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, say 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.   We note Luke's emphasis for this first missionary or apostolic journey by the disciples.  They are to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.   And in their personal conduct they are to be modest and humble, reflecting a deep dependence upon God.  They're not to "trade up" for better lodgings, but honor those who welcome them -- and shake off the very dust from their feet as testimony against those who do not.

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 Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, who is the same Herod to whom Pilate will send Jesus during His trial (23:7).  He is the son of Herod the Great, who slew the innocent infants in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16).  Of the beheading of John the Baptist, one may read the account 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 provision; 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.  My study bible cites Theophylact's commentary, in which he sees a liturgical parallel to the feeding of the five thousand.  Christ received them and spoke of the gospel and healed, and then He fed the multitude with the miraculous bread by the hands of His disciples.  People are healed by baptism, and received into the Church; then in the Liturgy the gospel is preached and the bread of life and the cup are received from the hands  the ordained clergy. My study bible remarks also on the command from Christ, "You give them something to eat."  This commission, it says, is a type and preparation for the eventual apostolic ministry which the disciples will perform after Christ's Resurrection.  They will feed the world with the word of God an with the Eucharist.  Concerning the five loaves and two fish, my study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who tells us 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."  St. John Chrysostom also says 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 bread teaches us "not to touch any meal until we have given thanks to Him who gives us food."  My study bible calls this blessing a clear eucharistic image, directing us to pursue spiritual food greater than that which is earthly (see John 6:26-27). 

Possibly the most important thing we can take from today's reading is to ask ourselves where our spiritual nourishment comes from.  The whole focus on feeding is not simply a sign of God's abundance and grace for God's creatures, but of the real gift of spiritual nourishment -- and that nourishment is Christ Himself, as evidenced in the Eucharist.  What we need to think about, then, really, is what kind of nourishment we need from our spiritual life -- from Christ.  Do we need truth?  Do we need love?  Do we need a transcendent, enlarged view of life and of the world?  Do we need to understand the spiritual depth of God's life present and with us in the world -- or behind all things which we can't see? Do we need to know about God's love and concern, which is shown so clearly in Christ as Son Incarnate in our world to come to us and to feed us in so many ways?  What about the holy power of the blessing He gives to the bread?  Do we need our lives to be blessed in such a way that they proceed to grant us spiritual fruit using the earthly materials we have at hand?  If we ask for God's blessing on our own lives and endeavors, does that mean that we also seek God's ends and goals, and seek to grow in understanding that service to God which our lives can be a part of?   What does nourishment really mean?  Our world is filled with goods and services we can all strain after and work hard to attain.  But at the end of the day, with what is it that we need to be fed to make it meaningful, productive, filled with a higher and better purpose that invigorates our souls?  Does wealth really and truly make people happy in and of itself?  Or do we all have a basic and powerful need for something else?  God's nourishment feeds every part, and enlivens the food we eat with what reaches down deep into the soul, which vitamins and minerals can't do.  Let's consider the grace we need -- and the particular places that grace will ask us to "look up" to as learn to recognize real blessings.