Sunday, July 26, 2009AD
17th 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 Gospel of Mark! 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. The sociological term that is used is “commensality”, “with-at table”.
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 extras so nothing was wasted. This ritual meal 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.
As two ladies in the area commented recently, “the poor don’t get the summer off.”
Thank God, the people of our Jesus Movement here at St Patrick’s, for the most part, try to remember the poor every Sundays as a biblical “thank offering” of food as they enter the Eucharist each week. Sadly, a distinct few do not do so (for whatever reason, God knows!). Sadly, again, so many do not attend Mass (here, at least) during the summer. During the school year, one cannot top their generosity, but what about God and the poor during July and August? See the connection in ethical monotheism?
An elderly lady in the area (who lost quite a little bit of money in the recent economic downturn, but still remembers the reality) teaches her children and grandchildren by working volunteer turkey dinners on TXG Day and Christmas at shelters. She tells them, “All have to get out and do something, not just talk about it.” As modern theologians say, “Don’t just talk the talk, but walk the walk.”
Every Sunday is a Food First Sunday, but the summer is traditionally a thin time. What do you teach your children to do as the “5000 hungry scenario” continues in global proportions daily, without taking the summer off? 072609 AD jfq
