“You feed them.” Jesus, to his disciples, at the feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew 14:13-21.
“Jesus fed 5,000 people with two fishes and a loaf of bread. That’s not a miracle. That’s tapas.” Comedian Mark Nelson’s joke, 6th in the top 10 at the Edinburgh Festival in 2015.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus has just heard of the terrible death of his cousin John the Baptist, who had done so much to prepare the way for him, and he withdraws to a deserted place to be on his own. However, the crowds follow him and, even in his grief and loss, Jesus has compassion for them and heals those who are sick. By evening, the disciples come to him to say that the crowds should be sent away as it’s late and there is nowhere to buy food. Jesus tells them that they should give them something to eat but there are only five loaves and two fish available. However, Jesus uses what he is given and, as he will do later at the last supper, he takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to the disciples who share the food with the crowd. Everyone has their fill, not just the 5,000 men noted but the women and children also them who are not counted – God’s generosity is actually greater than it may initially seem and there are even twelve full baskets left over.
This life-enhancing provision contrasts sharply with the deathly platter on which the head of John the Baptist was served up at the king’s birthday celebration – Herod wants to diminish and kill but God provides plenteously and more than is actually needed. The baskets are often taken to indicate the twelve tribes of Israel and the origins from which Jesus came with the twelve disciples each having a basket, suggesting their future roles in carrying on Jesus’ ministry. Amidst what Matthew may symbolise is the poignancy of Jesus continuing what John had helped him to prepare for, despite his loss and perhaps in tribute to John.
Food was a real issue in the time of Jesus with the poor often finding it in short supply or affected by circumstances including the weather, as indicated by the petition in the Lord’s Prayer to ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ Today, the same still applies and, in the ongoing time of drought and heatwave in the UK and elsewhere, this year’s grain yields are much lower than usual which may affect bread and cereal production. Potatoes, sprouts and parsnips are also being impacted, which may diminish later crops at a time when many farmers are already having to use their winter silage now as there is so little grass for their animals to eat. And it’s not only food production: here, the spring is still running low due to so little rain and we are having to use bottled water for drinking and water from the stream for other purposes – and now the river is becoming very low with little rain still forecast.
“You feed them.” Jesus challenged his disciples then to do what they could to provide for those around and what they had to hand may have seemed completely inadequate but became more than sufficient when God’s grace was sought. Perhaps the drought and heatwaves are showing us in new ways that water and food is precious and, in these changing times, they need to be shared with greater care than may previously have been the case. That applies to the food manufacturers and water companies with their policies and controversial practices too! Jesus healed the sick and also fed the crowds who came to him, giving food for the soul as well as the body. The challenge remains as we remember how Jesus met the needs of those around him and that his followers are also charged to provide for and share with those around them today.
“You feed them.”
How ?