The Feeding of Five Thousand
Father Antony Hughes
February 3, 2022
The Gospel of the feeding of the five thousand men may seem to be nothing more than a simple miracle story but is so much more. There are many layers of meaning, and depending on the level of our emptiness, that is, our openness and willingness, we receive what we at any given time are capable of receiving.
Remember the Lord’s Jesus Christ’s admonition to the Pharisees, “You search the scriptures thinking that in them you find life, but the scriptures speak of me.” He is the deepest of all mysteries. Here are a few things you may not know or may never have considered about the feeding of the five thousand. (John 5:39)
1) The number five in the Bible is the number of God’s goodness and grace.
So, this is a story about the abundance of grace that God pours out on his creation. There is so much abundance that there is not just enough to satisfy the crowd (really well over five thousand since women and children were not counted), but 12 baskets are left over. The grace and goodness of God are superabundant and he shares it with everyone without condition. The people he was feeding were, in the eyes of the religious of the time, poor and sinful, like Untouchables.
2) This is a story about the Compassion of God for all his creation. Lord Jesus was afraid that the hungry people might faint on the way home. He cared for them and loved them, so he took notice of their simplest need and did something about it. The Father of our Lord and Savior, is the All-Compassionate One, and Jesus is his perfect image.
3) This story is prophetic.
Lord Jesus goes into the barren wilderness presumably to pray as he often did, and the people followed him. There he fed them with bread and fish. This is reminiscent of the feeding of the people of Israel as they sojourned in the desert. Remember manna, that mysterious bread-like substance that covered the ground in the morning that was given by God to feed the Hebrew people. The faithful Jews in the crowd that day would hardly fail to notice and connect the two events. Therefore, that Old Testament event was prophetic.
Looking at this Gospel at prison last week, one of the men had a revelation. “Maybe this was the first Mass!”
In a very real sense every meal and partaking of food is Eucharistic which is why in Orthodox tradition every meal begins and ends with prayers of blessing and thanksgiving. Why? Because all of life is sacrament!
It takes only a short leap to connect the feeding of the Hebrews in exile and the feeding of the 5,000, with the Eucharist. From the barrenness of this world we are invited to experience God’s all-pervasive grace by receiving the New Manna which is the Lord’s body and blood. One of the overarching themes of the feeding of the 5,000 and of every miracle is this: God is here and now and cares for us. He connects with us through the material of this world. This miracle, therefore, is also sacramental.
4) Every teaching of Lord Jesus and every miracle he performed has a social element.
So does this one. He says to his disciples, “You give them something to eat.” He says the same to us. “Feed the hungry clothe the naked, welcome strangers, visit those who are sick and in prison.” (Matthew 14:16, 25:35-45)
The feeding of well over five thousand men, women, and children is a demonstration of this truth. Because God is the glue that holds everything together and energy that courses through and gives life to everything, in the hands of the Son of God a few loaves and fishes was more than enough to feed them all.
The overall message is about God and his kingdom being here and now, his love and care for us unconditionally; and if we recognize our very real spiritual hunger, he will feed us abundantly. The proud cannot be fed for they won’t admit their poverty; the arrogant will not open their mouths because they cannot admit they are hungry. If we are humble and poor in spirit, God will always feed us.
May our Lord Grant us his blessed nurture, Amen!
Source: Saint Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge