Seventeenth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: God Is Greater Than Our Hearts 天主比我們的心大
In previous miracles, in particular healing miracles, Jesus usually gave us the impression that the faith of people had saved them and that faith was able to trigger miracles (Mark 1:30, 40, 2:5, 5:34). Moreover, He seemed to make use of those miracles to teach the on-lookers the importance of faith as well. It seems that in our relationship with God, faith is all that counts. It sounds reasonable but the Lord is greater than our hearts (1 John 3:20). Our faith would never be able to constrain the movements of the Lord because He knows more than we do. He knows everything. He even responds to needs which we may not be aware of. The Lord excludes nobody, whether they believe in Him or not. Even if they were ungrateful, like the nine Jewish lepers (Luke 17:17), or they denied Him, the Lord would not take back His favour.
First of all, we meet Philip who appeared very early to bring in Nathanael with the famous line, “Come and see” (John 1:46b) which he learnt from Jesus (1:39a). Philip appeared to be a quick learner and a very practical person. There was no need to debate about whether Jesus of Nazareth was the long awaited Messiah. Come and see for yourself to decide! Philip has shown the true spirit of evangelization. We do not rely on our eloquence to convince people to believe in the Lord. The Holy Spirit would do the job, not us.
In the story today, it is interesting to meditate why among the Twelve Jesus chose to test Philip, “He said to Philip, ‘Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?’ He said this to test him” (6:5b-6a). Once again, Philip demonstrated his practical personality, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little bit” (6:7). It was good of him to know of human limitations. Philip was already better than many others whose egos are too big to admit their frailties. However, Jesus wanted Philip to go beyond being practical. This miracle should turn Philip’s world-view upside down. Out of love and not rationality, would the Lord provide for more than we need. Alas! It took John six decades of meditation to grasp the love of God. It would be unrealistic to expect Philip to learn quickly his lesson before the resurrection of his Master. The last time we meet Philip was during the Last Supper in which he requested Jesus to show the disciples the Father (14:8). He was still the direct and practical Philip. Here, Jesus made it clear to him and to all of us that we need to go beyond our limited conceptions, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (14:9). For Christians, the Blessed Trinity is a mystery which we struggle to comprehend and to love throughout our whole existence. Indeed, whoever does not acknowledge the Blessed Trinity, which human logic explains not, cannot claim to be a Christian. We need to go beyond to reach God.
Secondly, we meet Andrew who also appeared early in John’s gospel. It is believed that Andrew and John were the Baptist’s disciples and after the Baptist’s testimony, they followed Jesus. It was Andrew who brought in Simon Peter and Philip to follow Jesus (1:40, 43). From the Synoptic gospels, we conclude that Andrew did not belong to the “core-trio”: Peter, James and John. He probably belonged to the second tiers. It is because after Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, some Greeks approached Philip to express their intention to meet Jesus. Philip went and told Andrew about it. Only then did both of them go and tell Jesus (12:22). Andrew was eager to bring people to his Master to expand the fellowship. He brought in Simon Peter and Philip. In the story today, we find Andrew to be more pragmatic than Philip. While Philip did more calculations in his head, Andrew would look around for resources and solutions. It was Andrew who found the boy with five loaves and two fish (6:9). From Andrew we learn to be more spiritual. He teaches us not to shy from bringing our limitations in front of the Lord and God will take care of the rest. The Lord does not need to put Andrew to the test! As for the boy, we know nothing about his age and the reason why he carried five loaves and two fish with him among the crowd. The fish must have been cooked or roasted, otherwise people could not consume them on the spot. Perhaps, the boy was simply a hawker to make a few extra dollars for the family; or he brought the food to look for his family members in the crowd.
I would talk about the second detail first. After the people had eaten their fill, Jesus told the disciples to gather the fragments left over, “so that nothing will be wasted” (John 6:12). It was a pragmatic instruction because the disciples were travelling and those left over fragments would be good enough to be their viaticum, meaning a supply of provision for their journey. We can also speculate that the Twelve might give a few baskets of fragments to the boy to reward him for his generosity. Of course, this is insignificant in comparison to the feeding of five thousand people who did not ask for the food! Nobody grumbled because they did not expect to be fed! The Lord’s compassion is vividly demonstrated by this unrequested favour. He simply met the need of the crowd and did not expect them to thank Him. Here comes the first detail which seems irrelevant at first. John says at the beginning, “The Jewish feast of Passover was near” (6:4). What has the feast of Passover to do with this miracle of feeding the five thousand? When we pay attention to Jesus’ gestures in performing the miracle (6:11), we can immediately see its connection with the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion during the Last Supper. Jesus leaves behind His Body and Blood to feed the faithful before He offered Himself up as the true Paschal Lamb on the cross. John drops this hint to point to Jesus’ compassion on the pitiful conditions humanity is suffering.
Beloved brethren! The Lord is greater than our hearts. He provides for all our needs whether we are aware of them or not. His mercy endures forever. Amen.
God bless!
Picture Credit: creator.nightcafe.studio
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