Weekly Reflection 072703AD

Sunday July 27, 2003AD

17^th Sunday in Greentime

Feeding 5,000 Then and Now

According to biblical critical techniques, the presence of a story or saying in several different sources lends even greater reliability to that story. Such is the case with the multiplication of the loaves and fish. This Gospel appears in all four Gospel; it even appears twice in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew. It is a pivotal story.

Theories abound on the origins of the story. Clearly, while there are Eucharistic overtones here, other realities in the ministry of Jesus are present as well. (Our first reading today speaks of the prophet Elisha’s multiplying loaves for 100 and this story is be operative here as well.)

Some feel that Jesus’ table fellowship with anyone who would eat with Him was His most radical demonstration of the “Coming of the Kingdom of God.” He ate with sinners and tax collectors; He ate with officials of Judaism; He ate with single women, viz., Martha and Mary. Today, He eats at a “picnic” that He hosted in the wilderness near the Sea of Tiberias just before Passover.

Some feel that, even during the Public Ministry of Jesus, there were two types of communal meals. 1) The bread and wine meal evolved, via the Last Supper, into the Eucharist. 2) The bread and fish (potluck) meal focused upon the communal sharing of food and the distribution of the surfeit so that there never be a waste. This type of meal still existed in Corinth in 55 AD.

What makes this innocent enough scenario explosive to conventional wisdom of Jesus’ time was that dining was only done in the presence of one’s intimates, one’s family and closest friends. Next, since the venue was the wilderness, people could not observe dietary and ritual prescriptions. This was offensive to prevalent religious sensitivities.

However, Jesus might have been crossing other lines as well. In the earliest accounts of the feeding in St Mark, the Evangelist tells us that 5,000 men were there; John tells us that 5,000 people. A crowd of 5,000 people would trouble public authorities; a crowd of 5,000 men would really trouble authorities. Pontius Pilate was not big on crowds, as we know from other stories. More, John tells us that “they wanted to make Jesus king, so he ran off and hid Himself.” Pilate had to say to himself, “King? They wanted to make him a king. What’s up with that?”

St John tells us that the boy had 5 barley loaves and 2 fish; the number “7” hints at divinity. The loaves were barley, which was the bread of the poor person. These folks lived in a subsistence economy. One could not fault poor people for looking for free food in such an environment.

The story of an idyllic scene for us is charged with different meaning for other audiences. Whatever happened that day, Jesus clearly challenged both the religious and political systems. The bottom line was that 5,000 hungry folks were fed. Jesus wants none of us to hunger. 072703 AD jfq