On the previous three Sundays, we heard a few parables of the Kingdom of Heavens. Today, we heard the familiar story of "Five Loaves & Two Fish", the Kingdom of Heavens breaks into the life of the believers.
The story began with the death of John the Baptist.
Now when Jesus heard this (the death of John the Baptist), he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart (Matthew 14:13).
You don't need to be a prophet to tell that the prospect of the ministry of Jesus was grim. His forerunner was beheaded by Herod Antipas because he was outspoken; he was carrying out his mission as a prophet. What else could Jesus expect? What would be the next move, giving up or moving ahead? Moving ahead would surely be a self-imposed death sentence; be suicidal. If Jesus had continued with the Baptist's path, criticizing Herod, he would have been an extra zealot, one more martyr. On the other hand, had Jesus been a utilitarian, he would have given up at this point to call off his preaching and mission. The cost-benefit analysis would not have been simpler. No, Jesus is not an imprudent martyr nor a utilitarian. He does not confront Herod with his sins, nor doe he seek pleasure and to avoid pain. Jesus knows what exactly the right thing to do --- retire into a lonely place. Jesus was prudent. He did not join the Baptist's disciples to bury the Baptist to avoid stirring up the emotion of the people to rebel against Herod. Remember, Jesus would easily summon the support of 5000 people at the zenith of his popularity. Therefore, Jesus had to handle this sensitive situation very skilfully. Jesus chose to come into hiding to preserve his own life because his time had not yet come. Coming into hiding was a prudent decision. It sustained the tension of the situation. Everybody would be watching his move. Jesus kept them guessing.
As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick (Matthew 14:14).
It is worthwhile to do a little comparison here with the other Synoptic gospels.
As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things (Mark 6:34).
When the crowds learned it, they followed him; and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing (Luke 9:11).
It is not necessary to assume the priority of Mark, (that is, Mark wrote his gospel first. Based on the gospel of Mark and his own collection, Matthew wrote his gospel) because all four canonical gospels report this event. Surely, each Evangelist must have his own emphasis. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus taught the crowd many things while in the other two, Jesus healed the sick. It is understandable for Luke to pay attention to Jesus' healing before the feeding miracle because Luke was a physician. However, since Matthew portrays Jesus as a greater teacher than Moses, it is interesting that Matthew did not go along with Mark. Surely Jesus must have done both healing and teaching before the miracle. How do we explain Matthew's "deviation"? Why didn't Matthew report Jesus teaching the crowd, but instead Jesus healing the sick? Any suggestion?
One possible answer is that Mark's rendering was clumsy. Jesus had compassion on the crowd. Why do you have compassion on people? They must be less fortunate and perhaps are suffering illness or pain at the moment. Then, instead of relieving people's pain, the Jesus of Mark taught them many things! It is counter-intuitive. It would be very very indirect to relieve people's pains with teaching. Therefore, the Jesus of Matthew cured their sick to show his compassion on the crowd.
Let's return to the miracle itself. Jesus multiplied five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand men. Some preachers try to downplay miracles and explain this event away with psychology. They would quote the rendering of John in which Andrew reported to Jesus that a lad had five loaves and two fish and they would not be enough (John 6:9). The preachers explain that the generosity of the lad touched the hearts of the five thousand men. They were willing to follow the good example of the lad to share what they had brought. Therefore, everybody had enough to eat and there were twelve baskets of leftovers.
This explanation assumes the possibility of convincing five thousand men in the open space within a short time, which involves transmission of information among five thousand men without distortion, persuading them the truth of the piece of information and touching their hearts with this "generosity". It is, in itself, a miracle! Skeptical man like me will wonder why the lad had brought five loaves and two fish. Perhaps the lad was trying to do some business in the crowd! We are not dealing with five thousand men packed within an auditorium watching a video. We are dealing with five thousand men in an open area. I don't know how to achieve this feat.
So, let us put down our skepticism. Read the story again with faith.
Our community is sick. We need healing because each one of us carries our own stresses, burdens and personality defects. We go to Jesus because we believe that Jesus has compassion for our sickness. He is willing to heal our wounds. Not only does he heal our illness, he also feeds us. But what do we have? We only have five loaves and two fish. Our resources are not sufficient to deal with the problem we face. The problem is too huge and our resources are too meagre. The situation looks hopeless. We bring what we have in front of Jesus.
Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over (Matthew 14:19-20).
Jesus orders us to sit down on the grass to relax. We have done our part to put our problem and our resources in front of Jesus. He will take care of the rest. He will take our resources, look up to heaven and bless them. He will break them up and perhaps reconfigure them. Then he will send appropriate people to tackle our problem. And in the end, not only is our problem solved (they all ate and were satisfied), our resources have increased (12 baskets full of leftover). With the blessing of Jesus, we shall overcome. We will grow up after every encounter with our problems.
Dear Lord, at the moment, my mother is convalescing in my home. I pray for her quick recovery. I also pray for Hilary my eldest son. Lord, may he grow and reconcile with his grandmother. Lord, I put my problem and my resources in front of You, trusting that you will take care of the rest. Have mercy on the souls of my family. Amen.
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