More than Bread and Fish – Mark 6:30-52

The feeding of the five thousand is usually seen as a miracle in that the idea that five loaves of bread and two fish could actually feed such a large number of people. And indeed it is a miracle but there is far more to this event than a miraculous meal.

In the leadup to the actual event, the disciples have come back from their first mission trip and are anxious to share the results with Jesus. Jesus invites them to come away with him to a deserted place so they can be alone and rest as they all have been so busy that they have barely had time to eat. They took a boat and probably crossed the lake to get away from the crowds. But people saw them going and, recognizing Jesus and the disciples, they ran around the end of the lake and were there when they arrived.  Ever aware of the needs of people, Jesus sensed that they needed the wisdom that he could share with them.  In spite of the fact that he and the disciples needed rest, he could not turn them away.  And so the event that would capture our attention begins with Jesus teaching the crowd.

Now Jesus does not teach them because he wants to impress them with his wisdom or because he wants their praise. He teaches them because he has compassion for them.  He likens them to sheep who have no shepherd.  The people need someone who can teach them about life and about their life with God.  They need direction. There is so much that Jesus wants to share with them that he loses track of time.  The disciples come to him late in the afternoon and urge him to send the people away so that they can buy something to eat. But Jesus tells the disciples that it is their responsibility to feed the people. With what is their first thought.  Then the thought of going into town and spending money on strangers is not going over well. If going to town and spending money is not an option for the disciples, then they need to see what they have with them. Where exactly the five loaves and two fish come from is not clear as the text does not say whether this is the food that the disciples themselves have brought with them. But of course where the food comes from is not as important as what Jesus does with it.

The people are invited to sit on green grass in groups of hundreds and fifties.  Then Jesus takes the loaves and the fish, looks up to heaven and blesses the bread breaking the loaves and dividing the fish.  The image reminds us of a number of things. First of all, think about the 23^rd Psalm.  We have David speaking about his relationship with God. He is like a sheep but one who has a shepherd. He is made to lie down in green pastures where he can be fed and led beside still waters so he can drink in safety.  Jesus has viewed the crowd that followed him as sheep without a shepherd. He begins to care for them by teaching them but then he leads them to a place with green grass where they can sit in comfort and then he provides them with physical nourishment as he has provided them with spiritual nourishment.  Food for the soul and food for the body.  The breaking of the loaves mirrors the last supper where Jesus will take the bread and break it but this bread will be more than just a physical feeding.  It will be a reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus will make of his body – broken – and blood spilled for the forgiveness of the sin of the world and our sin.  This event also reminds me of words from the Magnificat in Luke 1:53 where Mary declares: He has filled the hungry with good things.

We need to remember that the Hebrew people believed not in a soul that could exist separate from the body. The physical, mental and spiritual parts of us were created to be a unit – together they make us who we are. That is why the resurrection of the body is so critical.  Our spirits need a body to make us whole and so Jesus is ever concerned not only to feed the mind and the spirit but to feed the body as well.  While we celebrate the Lord’s Supper four times a year other Christian groups celebrate every week.  The preaching of the Word is made real in the breaking of the bread.

One last thing to look at with this event. It is recorded that twelve baskets of broken pieces are collected.  These baskets are symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel – the people called by God to be a light to the world.  While five thousand had been fed that day, there was enough broken pieces to feed the rest of the people.  Each tribe – broken in body and spirit – could come and be fed by the Good Shepherd.

The next event that is related by Mark is that of Jesus walking on the water.  Jesus has sent the disciples off in the boat to go to the other side of the lake – to Bethsaida from where they had come.  He then goes to the mountain to pray – a time to refresh his physical and spiritual health. It is taking the disciples most of the night to cross the lake as an adverse wind has come up and they are having difficulty making progress.   Having spent most of the night in prayer, Jesus is ready to rejoin the disciples. But as the boat is already heading back, he chooses to walk on the water.  Interestingly, he is not even thinking of joining them but intends to just walk by them. When they catch sight of him, they do not immediately think that he is real or alive. They believe they are seeing a ghost which of course would scare them and cause them to cry out.

Realizing that he needs to calm their fear and reassure them that he is no ghost, Jesus speaks to their fear and shows them he is real by getting into the boat whereupon the wind dies down.  They were utterly astounded as well we can imagine but they fail to make the connection because they still do not understand the significance of the breaking of the loaves.  Mark tells us that their hearts were hardened.  The time had not yet come for the disciples to understand the significance of the breaking of the loaves and so they remain in the dark.

What are we to take from these two events as told by Mark?  First of all, we are to see that Jesus is the Good Shepherd whose concern for people goes beyond just teaching or just healing.  His concern encompasses the whole person.  Just as David was keenly aware of God being in his life to guide, protect, defend and feed him in every way, we can be aware of God in our lives to guide, protect, defend and feed us.  The compassion that Jesus showed to the people that day is the same compassion that Jesus shows to us as we are encouraged to not only read the Word of God to enlighten our minds but to pray about what we read to gain wisdom and we are encouraged to remember the sacrifice of the Shepherd who becomes the sheep when we break the loaf and receive the bread.

God is concerned with our whole person and so it is that we are to seek God’s nurturing presence in every part of our being.  And so we come to understand that our response to this nurturing presence is to love the Lord our God with the strength we have been given in mind, body, and spirit.

AMEN