Deacon Ray - More than they could eat
The Feeding of the 5,000 is the central miracle in the Gospel of John. It also is the only miracle (other than the Resurrection) that is recorded in all 4 Gospels. As a miracle it is compelling proof of Christ’s divinity: only God could feed so many with so little. Elisha fed 100 men from 20 loaves. What Jesus did was 200 times that feat! But as a Sign, it signifies much more for us than this. The text is rich in symbolic details that resonate throughout God’s plan for our salvation. So let’s dive deeper into the story by asking the usual five questions: When? Where? Who? What? And Why?
When: It was the time of Passover, late March or early April. Passover coincided with the agricultural season of the beginning of the barley harvest. That helps to explain the detail that the loaves were barley loaves. Passover, of course, was more than a harvest festival: it was a memorial celebrating the deliverance of God’s people from slavery and death by the power and mercy of God.
Where: Jesus went up on a mountain, and the people followed. Mountain top experiences were often associated with drawing nearer to God who is in heaven. Moses for example, first encountered God in the burning bush on Mt. Sinai, and he later returned there with all of the people to worship and to receive God’s Law.
Who: The key person, of course, is Jesus. By situating Jesus on a mountain near the feast of Passover, John is presenting Jesus as a New Moses. Moses delivered the word of God; but now Jesus, the Word Made Flesh, is the embodiment and fulfillment of God’s word. This identification with Moses is completed by the miracle of providing bread for the people to eat. In Exodus, Moses prayed to God, and God provided manna — bread from heaven — to feed the whole people. In John’s Gospel, Jesus likewise miraculously feeds the multitude with bread. Later on, John presents Jesus not merely as giving bread, but as being Bread from Heaven! That, Catholics believe, is how we encounter Jesus in the Eucharist. Eat this Bread and you shall live forever.
There are other characters in the Gospel, but two are especially notable. First, there is the boy who offered the fish and bread. In love and faith, he gave all he had to Jesus. It seems like such a little thing, but God’s miracles all have humble origins. Water. Bread. Fish. And small acts of faith by the little ones of God. No wonder Jesus said the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. A solitary boy from a poor family.
Second, there is the crowd. They were mostly poor subsistence farmers and fishermen: oppressed by the Romans and dismissed as of no account by the Jewish elites. Their role at first seems passive, but it isn’t. First, they followed Jesus. They acted out of faith, or at least from hope. Hope for a better life. Hope for a messiah. Second, they did as Jesus commanded. They reclined on the grass and they ate what Jesus offered to them. And third, they responded with thanksgiving and faith, excitedly declaring Christ to be both Messiah and king.
What: With this question, we finally come to the heart of the story. The crowd is hungry. The disciples despair of having enough food to feed so many. All they can find is a boy who has offered all that he has: 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. The disciples are dismissive of his gift. But this is precisely what God’s miracles are made from. And it is more than enough! The rich layers of theological symbolism in the Gospel begin to ripen now as well. Barley is the first harvest, coinciding with Passover and the Feast of First Fruits, where newly ripened barley is waved as an offering before the Temple. As the Gospel unfolds, Jesus will complete this identification as the Passover Lamb who rose as the First Fruits of the harvest of Salvation on the Feast of First Fruits (which happens to be Easter Sunday). That there are five loaves likely corresponds with the five Books of the Law given through Moses. Some have suggested that the two fish signify the two stone tables upon which the Ten Commandments were written (one tablet devoted to love of God and the other to love of neighbor). Others have suggested that the two fish signify the whole people of Israel (that is, the two sons of Joseph). Jesus himself used the metaphor of fish for the people in the Gospel, calling his disciples to become fishers of men. And John’s Gospel concludes with a fishing miracle where, at Jesus’ command, the disciples catch 153 fish, perhaps symbolizing the Gentile nations.
Why: Now we can ask the big question. The why question! One answer is that the Feeding of the Five Thousand gives us a greater understanding and appreciation of God’s plan for our salvation, as realized in the unique Person of Jesus. Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus calls the disciples (and by extension us), His friends and says that He wants us to understand what God is doing for us, and why. So that by understanding, we may more authentically praise God for His Goodness, so that we might grow in faith, and so that we might more fully unite with Him in mutual love.
More particularly, this story also enriches our understanding of Eucharist. By highlighting the human contribution through which God works, this Eucharistic miracle can be seen to have two dynamic aspects. One emphasizes the Divine source of Eucharist — i.e. Jesus, the Son of God, who comes down to us as the Bread from Heaven, and who is at once both our Divine Deliverer and our Sacred Food, without whom we can do nothing. The other aspect is our human contribution: the humble gifts of bread and fish, offered by a peasant boy with imperfect faith and unperfected love, representing all of the people, who gives what he has, giving it to the One who is like him (Jesus), even as He sits upon the same grass and shares the same hunger.
These are some theological answers for the why question. But they are not the only answer. The more exciting answers are the answers that arise privately in our hearts, because those are the answers that propel us closer to Jesus. Why does God love me? Why did Jesus die for me? Why does what I do matter to God or anyone else? And when we begin to perceive the answer to these “why” questions, then we can pose the other questions to ourselves again in reverse. What am I going to do about it? For whom will I do it? Where? And when? Be specific. Make it real. Like the child who offered the lunch that he had in the moment of need. And believe this: whoever you are, and whatever you do, God will do miracles with your gift too!
