13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from
there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it,
they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he
saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15
When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a
deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may
go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 Jesus said to
them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They
replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” 18 And
he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to
sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to
heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and
the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were
filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve
baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men,
besides women and children.
Matthew 14:13-21
is the story of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. The source is Mark. This
is the one miracle story that all four gospels saw fit to include in their works.
The early church prized this story, undoubtedly because the story shows a
mighty work of Jesus that had a symbolic relevance to the Eucharist and to the
promise of the Messianic banquet. Popular historical explanations abound, such
as Jesus inspiring people to share their meager portions of food with others or
that they survive on meager rations. They have their moral value. Yet, they tend
to miss the point. Let us see if we can capture the point of the story. We see
Jesus retreating to a deserted place in order to be alone. We see the crowd
finding him. Matthew provides a strong contrast with the meal of Herod who,
filled with evil jealousy, kills the prophet John the Baptist. Jesus will have
a joyful, thankful, eschatological meal. In contrast to political leaders like
Herod, who used violence to keep the people oppressed and to take away popular
leaders like John the Baptist, Jesus showed compassion upon the people and
healed them. Matthew suggests Jesus wants to be alone to reflect upon the
significance of the death of John the Baptist. We can see the hesitant way of
Jesus with the crowds, recognizing their longing for political deliverance, a
longing from which Jesus clearly wanted to keep his distance.[1] The
crowds have come to a deserted place somewhere in Galilee to be with Jesus. We are
not sure why they come. They may have awareness of their spiritual need. They may
have curiosity. They may have political concerns. Jesus does not seem to care
why they came. The disciples inform him that the crowds need something to eat,
but Jesus invites them to feed the crowds. Such a story about Jesus brings to
mind a story of Elisha (II Kings 4:1-7, 42-44). During a famine, he invited a
man carrying 20 loaves of barley to serve the people and let them eat. The servant
of Elisha wonders how such a small amount will feed so many people, but Elisha
assures him that the people will eat and have some left over. This story about
Jesus appears to be a Midrash on this Old Testament story. In addition, in I
Kings 17:8-16, Elijah allows the meager rations of the widow of Zarephath to
provide sufficient food. We are also to think of Exodus 15 (manna provided in
the wilderness) and Numbers 11 (quail). Such stories indicate the promise of
heavenly nourishment, which in the time of Jesus would have an eschatological
import. The people of God receive nourishment today that contains within it a
promise of eschatological abundance. Jesus becomes the one sufficient to meet
the needs of those who follow. When Jesus blessed the meager food, blesses and
breaks the loaves, and has the disciples distribute the food, we are to think
of the Lord’s Supper, even though the story does not have anything comparable
to the cup of wine. He does not ask their views on Herod or the Romans
occupying their homeland. He does not ask their views on John the Baptist. He does
not ask them about which side they are on concerning the differences between
Jesus and the Pharisees. To put it in modern parlance, he does not ask if they
are progressives, conservatives, or another political brand. He does not ask
about their views on the hot topics of the day, such as abortion or gun
control. At some point, we need to have enough spiritual awareness that our
political issues are petty in light of the Infinite and Eternal. The late hour,
a place set apart, arriving on foot, a time set apart are all reminiscent of
the later worshipping act of the faith community. Yet, the crowd is not only
satisfied, but they have plenty of leftovers. The story wets our appetite for
the eschatological and Messianic banquet, where we will set aside the finite
issues that seem so important now and find ourselves satisfied by what Jesus
gives us in eternity.
[1]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
2, 336.
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