Retreat?!

The feeding of the 5,000 is one of the most familiar stories in the
Bible. The crowds follow Jesus to the middle of nowhere, it gets late,
people get hungry, the disciples want to send the people away, Jesus says
no, five loaves and two fish are scrounged up, all are fed, and twelve
baskets full of leftovers are collected. In Matthews version, there is no
mention of the food being a little boys lunch, but most of us remember it
that way from the other gospels. The message is simple; Jesus is the bread
of life, and there is more than enough Jesus to go around. Combine that
with Yahwehs invitation to Come, buy wine and milk without money and
without price. in Isaiah, and you have a sermon that writes itself. God
provides for Gods people; they just need to avoid spending their money
for that which is not bread, and their labor for that which does not satisfy.
While this is a fine message, I cant help but think that there is more
to this story. Lets start with the fact that Jesus is broken at the beginning of
the reading. He has just found out that John the Baptist has been
beheaded because of King Herods lust for his niece. I cant imagine the
emotions that this news must have set off. Overwhelmed, Jesus grabs a
boat and heads for a place where he knows that he will be alone. Although
the action of the water and the exercise of rowing may have made him feel
better, an unwelcome surprise awaited Jesus. There was a huge crowd in
his private place, and they had not come to support him. Instead, they had
come because they wanted something from him -- the experience of seeing
a famous person do miracles, healing of the sick, maybe the exorcism of
some demons. Because he is Jesus, it is easy to dismiss how difficult this
situation must have been. John was Jesus cousin, he did the same kind of
work as Jesus, and he was killed because of the same beliefs that Jesus
shared. Jesus was aware that he would be suffering the same fate soon,
 Retreat?! 2

and now these people dared to show up and ask for more? If there was
ever a time for Jesus to freak out, this was it. Instead, he felt compassion
for the crowd. I imagine that he still had tears in his eyes when he left the
boat and began healing the sick. This wasnt sympathy or pity; Jesus was
reaching out from his own pain to ease the pain of others. Notice that he
didnt preach to them or make them promises; he was actually concerned
with their physical well being.
After a full day, the disciples tell Jesus that he should send the people
away so that they can eat. Im sure that you can identify with this. Doesnt
everyone have a relative or friend with the convenient habit of showing up
at mealtime, forcing us to decide between being hospitable and showing
our annoyance? These people were not invited, Jesus has spent all day
healing them, and there is no food in the immediate area. This is clearly not
Jesus problem, but Jesus continues to attend to the physical needs of the
people. Yes, the bread is highly symbolic and probably foreshadows the
last supper, but there is also actual bread and fish involved. Jesus blesses
the bread, probably using the Jewish grace: Blessed art Thou, Jehovah
our God, King of the universe, who bringest forth bread from the earth. He
then gives it to the disciples to distribute. The path of the bread is clear; it
begins with God, is blessed by Jesus, and is given to the disciples to share
with the crowds who have been asked to sit on the grass. Shouldnt we see
ourselves as the disciples in this story? Barclay says that, Jesus sets
every one of us the tremendous task of communicating Himself to men; but
He does not demand from us splendors and qualities and magnificences
that we do not possess. He says to us, Come to me as you are, however
ill-equipped; bring to me what you have, however little, and I will use it
greatly in my service. Little is always much in the hands of Christ. AMEN