Food for All—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 10A/Proper 13A (Matthew 14)
Matthew 14:13-21 New Revised Standard Version UpdatedEdition
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.
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In the
preceding weeks, we heard parables about sowing, yeast, and treasure (Matt.
13). Now we hear another word about bread (and fish). Whereas in the parables
of Matthew 13, we heard a word about the process that leads to making bread
(sowing seed, harvesting, and kneading in the yeast, which allows the baking of
a lot of bread). With the bread having been baked, it’s time to eat. In this
story Jesus is the host, offering abundance to a gathering of thousands. That
will require even more bread than is provided by the parable of the yeast
(Matt. 13:33).
In our
reading for Proper 13A, Matthew tells us that Jesus has gone off by himself.
The reason is that in the previous verses, we learn that Herod Antipas had John
the Baptist beheaded at the behest of his wife Herodias. After this took place
John’s disciples buried his body and then reported the fiendish deed to Jesus
(Matt. 14:1-12). You can understand why he might want to take a moment away by
himself. So, Matthew tells us that after he heard this word, Jesus got in a
boat and headed to a deserted place. It seems as if he left without his
disciples, though that’s unlikely considering what follows. His time in the
wilderness by himself was cut short by a crowd that discovered where he’d gone
and traveled to that point on foot. There would be no rest for the weary.
When
Jesus saw the crowd gathering, he had compassion for them. This is the Jesus we
know and love, the compassionate Jesus. So when he saw them gathered he began
to cure their sick. Matthew doesn’t say anything about Jesus offering any teaching,
but perhaps he did a bit of that as well. Then, when evening falls, as Jesus
concludes the healing session, his disciples come to him and point out that
it’s getting late, the people are hungry, and there’s nothing to feed them. You
can understand their concern. A hungry crowd can quickly get out of hand. So,
they suggest that Jesus disperse the crowd. Send them on their way. Their
response is understandable. However, Jesus has something else in mind.
What
follows is the only miracle story that appears in all four Gospels. The details
might differ, but each of the Gospel writers reports that Jesus fed at the very
least five thousand people, and if we take Matthew literally, that five
thousand only includes the men and not the women and children. How many women
and children had gathered is not revealed, but we can use our imagination.
When
the disciples ask Jesus to disperse the crowd so the gathered people can head
off to the surrounding villages and find food, Jesus tells them they should
feed the crowd. Yes, “they need not go away; you give them something to eat”
(Matt. 14:16). You can imagine the disciples’ dismay at this request. How could
they feed such a large crowd when all they had at their disposal was five
loaves of bread and two fish? As for the loaves, Alan Culpepper suggests that
they likely were small, more like small rolls or buns than large loaves. He
notes that in a Lukan parable, a neighbor requests three loaves to feed a
surprise guest (Lk 11:4). Thus, “by this formula the disciples would have
needed to gather and distribute over 15,000 loaves!” (Matthew, NTL, p.
279). That’s a lot of bread!
While
can commiserate with the disciples, Jesus won’t be deterred. He simply tells
the disciples to bring these few staples to him. Then Jesus instructed the
crowd to sit down. Then Jesus took up the role of the host. What we see here is
similar in structure to what we read in the accounts of the Last Supper. To me
that suggests that we pay attention to Jesus’ expectations of who can dine with
him; if you know what I mean.
When
the people take their places—I’m envisioning a grassy gentle slope along the
lakeshore. A hungry crowd that has gathered around Jesus because they believe
he will provide for them waits expectantly. What Jesus is about to do could be
risky. As we see in John’s account, Jesus has to tell the crowd not to get used
to him providing them with meals but instead receive the bread of heaven (Jn.
6:22-52). When everyone was ready to eat, Jesus took the five loaves and
two fish, looked up into heaven (we needn’t get hung up here about the ancient
understanding of a three-tiered universe), that is Jesus looked to God,
blessed, and then broke the loaves. He then gave the broken loaves to the
disciples to distribute to the crowd. It’s just like Sunday morning when we
gather at the Lord’s Table.
When
all is said and done, the crowd was satisfied. Somehow this small amount of
food had “miraculously” fed thousands. Indeed, when they finished serving everyone,
they gathered up the crumbs and discovered that the five loaves produced twelve
baskets of fragments. This story invites us to consider the hidden abundance
that is in our midst. I don’t know how Jesus did it. Was it a
miracle? Or did Jesus set the example for those who had brought food for
themselves, never intending to share, but finding it appropriate to share what
they had once Jesus started the distribution? Again, we’re not told how
it happened, only that everyone ate, was filled, and there was more food left
over than when they began serving the crowd.
There
are parallels between this story, whichever version we choose to read, and the
Exodus story. Like Jesus in this story, Moses is called upon to feed hungry
people. Of course, in Exodus God provides manna from heaven. There are
spiritual connections here, though John’s Gospel makes more explicit
connections. There are also programmatic connections. When Jesus tells the
disciples to feed the hungry crowd, might we not see this as a word to the
church, calling it to feed the hungry? Most, if not all, Mainline churches,
whether Protestant, Roman Catholic, or Orthodox, have some form of relief and
development support. We can do both—we can share spiritual and material bread to
sustain those who are spiritually and physically hungry. The message here seems
to be that with Jesus there is abundance rather than scarcity. That stands in
contrast to the messages we constantly hear from the political world. It's a
message of everyone for themselves.
Grace
Ji-Sun Kim takes note of our tendency toward feelings of scarcity and fear,
whereas in reality there is an abundance available to us. We just might not be
as aware as we should be. So, she writes:
We have a tendency to live with a mind-set of fear and scarcity; we fear that we do not have enough to feed the poor or care for the sick. This passage gives us hope, whether we are individuals or small and struggling congregations: we have the means to do more than we think we can for God’s suffering people. Jesus offers a vision of the abundant life, the kingdom of sharing God’s resources here and now. The passage urges us to bring any small gifts that we have—money, talent, and time—to dedicate them to Jesus, because he will multiply what we have as we give it to others. [Preaching God’s Transforming Justice, Year A, p. 344].
The truth is, as a pastor I’ve noticed that whenever we put
out the call to support this kind of work, people responded. We might not
respond as quickly to supporting institutions like denominations, but we will
support their work when it is focused on caring for others.
As we
ponder this story of the Feeding of the 5000, it’s good to remember that it
follows not only John’s execution but that series of parables in Matthew 13,
where Jesus reveals the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven. We move now from those
parables, those teaching moments, to a series of miracle stories that speak to
this same realm. We see in Matthew 14 stories of healing, feeding, and even the
unexplainable. The question that faces us as we ponder these stories, whether
teaching parables or miracle stories, is what they do to release our spiritual
imaginations. How might they release the hidden resources, that hidden
abundance, so that the resources God provides might be released into the world,
revealing the true nature of God’s realm?
I can’t
end this reflection without taking note of the connections between this story
and the church’s sacrament of the Eucharist/Lord’s Supper. What does it say to
us about what happens when we gather at the Table? While the elements are
rather small in physical size, what is the message they send? How might we be
remembering the Jesus who fed the 5000-plus folks who came to him, looking for
help? Is our Table one of openness and welcome, assuming that the spiritual
resources present on the table reflect God’s abundance, or is it an exclusive
table, reflecting a sense that there is a scarcity of God’s blessings? If you
ask me, I do believe that Jesus welcomes everyone who would come to his table
and share in his meal, so that those who come to the table might receive the
bread of life and the cup of salvation. What we see here revealed, also has
eschatological implications, for these meals point toward God’s eschatological
banquet. Again, as Grace Ji-Sun Kim writes: “Scripture speaks of the kingdom of
heaven as a banquet where we sit down in a celebration of community, rejoicing
and sharing our bread with one another. Bread shared is the most delicious
bread of all. Bread shared with those in need or those who are ‘other’ than the
people we usually eat with is the most satisfying meal of all.” [PreachingGod’s Transforming Justice, p. 344].
So we
sing:
For
everyone born, a place at the table,
For everyone born, clean water and bread,
A shelter, a space, a safe place for growing,
For everyone born, a star overhead,
And God will delight when we are creators of justice
and joy,
Compassion and peace: yes,
God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice,
and joy!
Image Attribution: Reid, Patricia. Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, detail, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55893 [retrieved July 27, 2023]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimforest/5125264193.
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