An old man goes to a local diner every day for lunch. He always orders the soup du jour. One day the old man asks for a little more bread. So the next day the manager tells the waitress to give him four slices of bread instead of just two. But that day the old man once again asks the manager if he could please have “a little more bread.” So the next day the manager tells the waitress to give him eight slices of bread. “How was your meal today, sir?” the manager asks. “Good, but could you please give a little more bread,” comes the reply. So the next day the manager tells the waitress to give him a whole loaf of bread with his soup. And when the manager once again asks how the meal was, the old man replies by saying: “It was good, but you could please give just a little more bread.”
The manager is now obsessed with seeing this customer say that he is satisfied with his meal. So he goes to the bakery, and orders a six-foot long loaf of bread. When the elderly man comes in as usual the next day, the waitress and the manager cut the loaf in half lengthwise, butter the entire length of each half, and lays it along the counter, right next to his bowl of soup. The old man sits down, and devours both his bowl of soup, and both halves of the six-foot-long loaf of bread. The manager now thinks he will get the answer he is looking for. So when the old man comes up to pay for his meal, the manager asks “How was your meal today, sir?” The old man replies: “Oh, it was good as usual, but I see you are back to giving only two slices of bread.”
The story of the “feeding of the five thousand” (or a close parallel) appears six times in the four Gospels of the New Testament: Matthew 14:13-21 and Matthew 15:32-39; Mark 6:32-44 and Mark 8:1-10; Luke 9:10-17; and today’s Gospel, John 6:1-15. Multiple feeding stories in the Gospels should not surprise us. They echo a common theme in Israel’s scriptures: Bread and fish feeding the hungry crowd in the wilderness (translated “a deserted place” in Matthew); manna in the wilderness providing daily sustenance for the Israelites during the journey to the Promised Land; and Isaiah speaking of the abundance of food, drink and rich food for those without money to buy it [Isaiah 55:1-2]. The Gospel narratives of Jesus are reminiscent of the accounts of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath [1 Kings 17:8-16] and Elisha feeding one hundred [2 Kings 4:42-44].
Jesus’ actions over the bread echo customs of Jewish meals practiced even today. We hear in these actions the elements of our Catholic Eucharistic meal. Jesus’ blessing and breaking bread are the same as those in the Gospel accounts of his last meal with his disciples (see Matthew 26:26; 1Corinthians 11:23-24; Luke 24:30; and Acts 27:35).
Breaking bread together is a communal and sacramental act that echoes through scriptures and through the centuries. Sharing a meal is a primary means of creating and maintaining community. When Christians gather to break bread together, we remember and repeat Jesus’ words and actions. In this sacred meal Christ satisfies our deepest hungers, heals our brokenness, binds us together as if one body, and strengthens us for service in the world. The symbols of the sacramental gathering and their multivalent meanings resonate in the narrative of Jesus feeding the crowds in today’s Gospel.
In all three synoptic Gospels, “the feeding of the five thousand” follows the account of John the Baptist’s death, but each Gospel narrates the transition slightly differently. While Mark and Luke disconnect these stories completely, Matthew seems intentionally to connect them. According to Matthew, Jesus withdraws by himself into “a deserted place” upon receiving the report of John’s death. The mention of “wilderness” invites the listener to consider another potent biblical metaphor.
The wilderness is a barren place─lonely, deserted, uninhabitable, and desolate─literally and metaphorically. John the Baptist preaches repentance in the wilderness. Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness, immediately following his baptism, to fast and be tested in preparation for his ministry. Wilderness time can last a long time, forty days or forty years (the trek from Egypt to the Holy Land), or it may be brief. Wilderness is a good place to grieve, pray, repent, and fast. It is a lonely place, but God is not absent. Because there are no distractions in the wilderness, it can be a place of spiritual intensity. In this narrative, Jesus’ time in the wilderness is cut short not by his own choosing, but by the crowds who follow him there.
The narrative of the feeding of the crowds in the wilderness is notably straightforward. Jesus was moved by compassion for the crowds and healed them. Late in the day, the disciples assessed the situation (in the wilderness there is nothing for the hungry crowds to eat) and perhaps they, too, were moved by compassion when they suggested the crowds be sent to nearby towns where they could buy food. But Jesus had another idea: feed them right here with what we have. Taking the five loaves and two fish that the disciples had on hand, Jesus blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples. The disciples fed the crowds, numbering five thousand men, plus women and children. Everyone had enough to eat, and they gathered up the leftovers. The story does not tell us how the hungry crowd is fed, only that no one leaves hungry. And so the story invites us to use our imaginations.
I wonder if the “miracle” of the feeding is not so much what Jesus does as what happens among the crowds in the presence of Jesus. Maybe the crowds experienced the transformative power of Christ’s presence when he ordered them to make themselves comfortable on the grass, as if they were honored guests at a meal. And when he blessed the loaves, the crowd sensed this meal was special. Perhaps as the disciples moved through the crowds distributing the food, no one feared there wouldn’t be enough, and so they didn’t think of themselves and their own needs. The men shared with their wives and sisters and mothers, and the children were fed first. Maybe Jesus’ compassion was contagious in the way the crowd cared for each other. And Jesus’ healing touch inspired them to gratitude for a simple meal abundant by wilderness standards. Conceivably the most profound thing Jesus does in the story is to insist that the disciples imagine possibilities for distributing food for a hungry crowd so that there is enough for everyone.
St. Augustine would often end Mass by saying to his people: “Be what you eat.” As we receive the Eucharist today may we “be” that loving and caring presence of Christ in our world today. May we be motivated by a joyful gratitude for what we already have and by a constant concern for the needs and concerns of others. May we attend not only to our own hungers but to the hungers of those in our world who suffer with empty stomachs, aching hearts and lonely spirits constantly crying out for help.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!