2 Kings 2:42-44
Psalm 145:10-19
Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21
The Feeding of the Five Thousand is perhaps the most talked about miracle in Scripture. It is the only miracle of Jesus that is recorded in all four Gospels — giving the preacher ample opportunity to preach on it. Considering that three of the gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the Synoptic Gospels) – are related to each other in literary terms, this may not seem too important. But the fact one of the distinctive characteristics of John’s Gospel is that the author deliberately leaves out most material from the Synoptic accounts, means that the author thought this miracle important enough to repeat yet again.
Thematically, the Feeding of the Five Thousand is important for establishing a link between the ministry of Jesus and the Old Testament prophetic tradition. The authors of the Gospels were very keen to make the connection between the lives and ministries of great prophets of old, like Moses, Elijah, and Elisha and the One that they believed was the promised Messiah of Israel – the culmination of the Law and the Prophets. This connection is seen in our reading from 2 Kings 4, where the prophet Elisha, during a widespread famine, feeds a hundred people with 20 loaves of barley bread, and afterward there is some leftover. We also see an interchange between Elisha and his servant, who protests the impossibility of feeding so many with so few loaves: “How can I set this before a hundred people?”
Similarly we see Jesus instructing his disciples to feed a large number of people – some 5000 men and with fewer resources, only five barley loaves and two fishes. And like Elijah and his servant, the disciples of Jesus protest beforehand, “Six months wages would not be enough bread for each of them to get a little.” Yet after the feeding, there is enough left over to feed twelve baskets. (Do note that Jesus feeds more people than does Elisha, but then Jesus is the Messiah).
But there is another reason this miracle is among the most talked about in Scripture, and that is because, with the exception of the virgin birth and the resurrection, it is perhaps the most difficult of the recorded miracles for those with critical minds to believe in. Even critical minded people can accept the healing stories of Jesus. After all, they understand that faith has a powerful effect on both spiritual and physical well-being. But multiplying loaves and fish?– This seems more incredible, more difficult to explain away, and so many theories have arisen to explain how it was done.
The most notable explanation is the suggestion that when the boy who had the loaves and fish shared them with others his example inspired others to bring out what they had brought with them and share as well. I’m not going to try to explain how or explain away how Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fish. (I happen to believe in the miracle-stories, so it doesn’t really create a dilemma for me.) What I’d rather spend my time doing is focusing on the lesson that this miracle story is intended to convey – the real miracle of the story if you will. It is a most ordinary miracle, one that all of us can perform; yet one with extraordinary results, leading to other miracles. It is the miracle of compassion.
Think of the story about Elisha for a minute. Here we see a man coming to bring the prophet an offering during a famine. The Talmud informs us that the region of Baal-Shalishah was produced the earliest crops in all of Israel. And so here we see this man, bringing barley bread to Elisha, made from the first ripe grain of the season in all of Israel. It was a faith offering brought to a prophet of God in the hopes that God would, in return, shower his blessings upon the Land.
And Elisha, after receiving the offering, says to his servant "Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’" Give it to the hungry ones here with me; feed them, for they need it. But what response does he get in return? He is told it is not possible, there is not enough to go around.
In the four Gospel stories about the feeding of the 5000 we hear something similar. Jesus is teaching on a hillside, and when evening approaches the disciples become concerned. They fear the crowd will go hungry, and their solution is to ask Jesus to send them away so that they will not have to worry about them. But Jesus says to them: “You feed them.” How often would we implore the Lord to send people away from our midst, so that we no longer have to worry about them; people in need, people who are hungry, people who are outcasts, people who do not fit in. “Send them away!” we say. “We don’t want to deal with them; we don’t want to worry about them. It’s not that we don’t want what’s best for them; it’s just that we don’t have the resources to see to their needs. It’s not our gift, Lord.
So Jesus asks Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” Philip replies quite predictably: "Six months wages would not buy enough bread to for each one to have a single bite." Another disciple, Andrew, finds a boy among the crowd with 5 loaves and two fish. “But what are they among so many people?” he asks.
Far too often this is our response to the call of God. Jesus says to his disciples (to us), “You feed them.” Often our response is to point out our lack of resources. “Lord, we are too weak... our parish is too small... our resources are insufficient... How can we help with what little we have? We don't even know how we will we make do ourselves. How can we feed so many? We have so little and the need is so great.”
Well, I have news for you: We will never have enough resources. We will never have the right sets of gifts, the optimum number of people, enough money to do what needs to be done, or sufficient means to meet the needs that exist in the world. Our human efforts and human resources will always fall short of the calling of God. WHY? Because God's call always transcends our resources and abilities, whatever they may be, no matter how "rich" or "poor" we are in human terms. God calls us to go beyond ourselves -- because ministry is not what we do for God, but what God does through us.
And that, my friends, is the miracle of compassion -- the miracle that takes place in the heart of God's people, which is nothing short of exhibiting and manifesting the heart of Jesus towards those who need it most. And when we respond to the call of God we cannot help but be empowered – we become the very instruments that God is able to use to bring relief to the suffering, provision to the poor, encouragement to the oppressed, consolation to the bereaved, hospitality to the outcast. It is at this point that we open ourselves up to see the power of God at work in us and through us.
You see, in the final analysis, the feeding of the five thousand is not primarily about pulling rabbits out of hat; it is not a miracle retold in Scripture to demonstrate the wonder working power of Jesus. Rather, it is a lesson to show us that when we open ourselves up to compassion of Christ and to his call – there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can thwart the will of God or diminish the love of God from being manifest to others in and through our lives.
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