How to feed five-thousand
In a recent reading of Jesus feeding the five thousand I was struck by an angle that has been ruminating inside me for some time. For many, accepting this as a true miracle that suspends human understanding and the rhythms of nature is critical to faith. I want to honor that perspective while offering a fresh angle that could expand this beyond simply a Jesus wow-factor to capturing his impact on the masses. What I offer may feel far less fantastical but for me it has proven impactful and inspiring in a way that invites me to be the miracle of Christ on earth.
First, my re-telling of the story.
A crowd of the curious gathered around an itinerant teacher far from town. In a culture bonded by re-storytelling of ancestors and the god they served, traveling masters always drew folks from the daily labor of chores and routine. The masters traveled with a built-in crowd comprised of an enclave of young men who left family for this one and the curious. The master chose them and they chose to give up their familial obligations to follow him. It was a profound betrayal of family loyalty coupled with the hope and messianic expectation: Might this one be the rescuer of my family and people? The locals gathered fascinated about what sign might accompany this rabbi. Signs and wonders were an ancient tradition among their ancestors. Power over serpents, beasts, bread, stones and water were familiar in their primitive, near-East desert climate. Visiting rabbis were a mix of entertainment, news from other villages, reinvigorating messianic hope and community gatherings. No one would want to miss out. Parents traveled with children along with elderly, poor and poorer still and religious leaders. I imagine a similar allure of a county fair drawing the surrounding community for a respite from everyday routines.
In this place, days and work and travel were encapsulated by the sunlit hours before families huddled around lanterns and small fires before sleep and the next day. Few traveled far from their hometown and would certainly carry provisions for the day’s travel, stay and later return. In a culture defined by hospitality the rabbi and his enclave could expect to be fed and hosted by their audience. It was a symbiotic communion of feeding and being fed.
The news of the traveling rabbi, Joshua, whose name pronunciation sounded more like “Yeshua” to western ears had been stirring excitement, especially the signs and wonders that accompanied his teaching. Everyone had the messianic wonder in mind, optimists along with skeptics and cynics. Joshua had been traveling along the Galilean coast by boat. Someone, perhaps a young shepherd or fisherman noticed where the rabbi landed. Oh the joy to spread the news of where the rabbi was! The good news spread as one recipient became the privileged and honored messenger to the next.
“Yes, you are the rescuer of your family and people.”
Rabbi Joshua’s teaching this day pales in comparison to the sign that accompanied his stay. It was late in the day and the crowd appeared ill-prepared. The master turned to the young men following him and instructed them to perform the sign, “You give them something to eat.” They were confounded for they certainly did not have the food or resources to buy the food needed to host the hungry gathered around. Joshua asked them to assess what they did have which amounted to five loaves of bread and two fish. There was no doubt about its inadequacy. An interesting detail is given of the crowd being divided into groups of 50 and 100. This was not a modern-day crowd-mixer, friend-maker event. People would likely have been seated with family and neighbors; the individuals seated in the groups were well known to one another. Joshua blessed the meal and began to pass around the meager provisions. The gospel author is noticeably silent about what happened when a small piece of fish and bread would enter a circle. Did more loaves appear from thin air or the fish re-constitute as pieces were torn from them? Or perhaps, the crowd began to contribute from the stores they had brought from under cloaks and hidden from sight. Joshua took from his disciples the little they could supply and by offering this token to the crowd, the crowd produced a miracle. What was the miracle? The manner in which the food appeared? Or the abundant leftovers? In a community living from hand to mouth the author ends the account with the culminating details: There were twelve basketfuls of broken fish and bread, and five thousand were fed. This is the critical point, a clue to the story’s meaning. In Joshua’s Jewish tradition multiple meanings can be discovered. Some might interpret this to mean that we, the crowd, are ill-prepared to feed ourselves. When we find Jesus he will feed everyone with leftovers for those people or days still to come. Others may explain Jesus as the spiritual bread we are supposed to eat in a symbolic way to sustain and reveal true life. Both are meaningful, but perhaps, he is challenging people’s unwillingness to feed others due to a scarcity mindset. Lack of resources physical and intangible bend the human heart inward. On that coastline Joshua re-ordered the assumptions and self-serving structure of the human heart toward one’s neighbor. This is where I find the greatest inspiration and awe of Joshua, the messianic hope. We are invited to care for our circle and discover how mutual generosity reveals a secret, hidden abundance. Joshua hands to me the blessed bread and fish and says, “Yes, you are the rescuer of your family and people.”
This is one of the stories that all four gospel biographers recount with identical detail. Almost a cut and paste insertion in Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9, and John 6. If you haven’t done so already, go back and re-read these! Notice what is included and excluded. With all the noticeable differences of the four authors it is easy to miss the significance of inclusions like this that are virtually identical. Every author uniquely recounted the events surrounding Jesus – John perhaps most of all. This story was so simple and powerful that no editorializing was needed. And in typical fashion, with the advantage of his biographical account long after the others, John drops an added detail: Jesus already knew what he was going to do. The event began with the Great Teacher and once again ended with the disciples, this time learning how to feed five-thousand people.
This miracle lands in some very personal ways for me: I anxiously wrestle that I am not enough, will not have enough, be loved enough, or have my needs met; yet there were twelve basketfuls leftover, and five-thousand people were fed. Those in my circle have in abundance what I need.
I worry that I will be alone in my suffering and lack; yet I sit in a group capable of the miraculous with what is presently hidden from view.
I ache for a rescuer who will fix my life and relieve unpleasant circumstances; yet Joshua the Jewish rabbi hands me the blessed bread and fish and says, “Yes, you are the rescuer of your family and people.”
This is how to feed five-thousand.