When it was evening, the disciples approached Jesus and said: “This is a deserted place, and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said: “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.”…Taking the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven, Jesus said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. Matthew 14: 13-21
In today’s Frist Reading from Isaiah, the prophet attributes to God the following words addressed to people: “Listen, listen to me and you will have good things to eat and rich food to enjoy. Pay attention, come to me, listen, and your soul will live.” (Isaiah 55:3) The rich food to which Isaiah refers is, of course, spiritual nourishment such as wisdom, an ability to discern and an ability to understand the sacred texts. There is a similar message in today’s gospel-reading. In summary, Matthew’s account of Jesus’ miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish points out to us that, when we generously share with the needy the little we have, we will become instruments of both spiritual and physical nourishment for those to whom our compassion is directed.
It is evident that Matthew understood this miracle of Jesus feeding the large crowd as a precursor to the Eucharist which Jesus instituted at the Last Supper with his disciples the night before he was brutally tortured and crucified. Matthew deliberately used in his description of what Jesus did with the five loaves given to him by the disciples the words he used as be distributed the bread to those around him at the Last supper: Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples for distribution to the crowd whom they had organised into manageable groups.
Jesus’ disciples had been sufficiently sensitive to realise that the crowd that had gathered to listen at length to Jesus in such a deserted place must have been hungry and thirsty. However, sending them off to local villages to buy or beg for what they needed was impractical. The shopkeepers and residents would not have been prepared to deal with large crowds. Consequently, Jesus challenged the disciples who had recognised the needs of those in the crowd. Jesus had provided them with spiritual nourishment and followed up with challenging his disciples to do something to cater for their physical needs. “Give them something to eat yourselves” is a challenge directed as much to us modern-day disciples as it was to those who had come to Jesus late that afternoon in that deserted place. At the end of every Eucharist in which we participate, we are farewelled with an injunction: “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord” (in action) or “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” Let us not forget that gospel-inspired compassion speaks all languages.
One of the pitfalls for those of us who live in countries that have fairly robust economies and healthy standards of living is to be pressured, by things like notable increases in the cost of living and rising fuel prices, into the urge to build increased financial security and to protect our perceived limited resources. We can then feel that we must safeguard what we have instead of donating some of it to those in need. Events like the warring in the Middle East and fluctuations in fuel prices can pressure us to be tight-fisted instead of generous. Yet,today’s gospel-reading challenges us to share the little we have. The attitude of attending to self interest pushes aside the Gospel call to attend to and promote the common good and give attention to the homeless and needy, who can so easily slip from our notice. In today’s gospel-reading, Jesus challenges us to set aside the fear of threatening scarcity and to make real the reign of God by giving preference to compassion. The account of the multiplication of the loaves and fish illustrates that Jesus can take our offerings of what is clearly not enough and bless and break them open for the benefit of others. Through Jesus, God has demonstrated for us a preference for an economy of abundance.
In coming to better understand today’s gospel-reading, it would help us to remember that the community for whom Matthew’s Gospel was written consisted mainly of Jewish people who had accepted Jesus as the Messiah and had warmed to his message. They would have been very familiar with the prophet Elisha and his writings. In the Second Book of Kings, there is an account of how a generous man from the town of Baal-shalishah had brought to Elisha an offering from the first fruits of his crop: “twenty barley loaves and fresh grain in the ear”. Elisha directed his servant to give the bread to the ordinary people. His servant asked: “How can I serve this to a hundred men?” “Give it to the people to eat” Elisha insisted, “for God says this”: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’ The servant served them; they ate and had some left over, as God had said. (2 Kings 4: 42-44)
The writer of Matthew’s Gospel, and the other three Evangelists, clearly had this story of Elisha in mind when they told of what Jesus had done for the large crowd with the meagre offering from his disciples. I conclude with a story told by the Quaker writer Parker Palmer: “One morning I boarded a 6 a.m. flight home after a speaking engagement the night before. The flight was delayed and the pilot announced: “We’re going to take off without the coffee in order to get you to your destination on time.” There was an audible chorus of complaints about lousy service and incompetence. Just after take-off, the head flight attendant came to the centre aisle with her mic and said: ‘I know you’re upset about the coffee. Well, get over it! And start sharing stuff with your seatmates. Start with the bag of peanuts you got on your last flight and put in your pocket. Got gum and mints? Share them! You can’t read all the sections of your newspaper at once, so share them around, too. Show off the pictures of your kids and grandkids you have in your wallets.” As she continued in that vein, people began laughing and doing as she had said. An hour later, as she passed by my seat, I got her attention: ‘What you did just after we took off” I said ‘was utterly amazing. Where can I send a letter of commendation?’ ‘Thanks’ she replied, I‘ll get you a form.’ Then she leaned down and whispered: ‘The loaves and fishes are not dead yet!’”