How Many Loaves Do You Have?

How Many Loaves Do You Have?

Matthew 13:54-16:12

You give them something to eat (14:13-21)

This story, which we commonly call “The Feeding of the Five Thousand” is the only miracle that is recorded in all four Gospels, and this is surely an indication that the story was very important to the First Century Church. This passage has its analog in Mark and Luke, and there is a similar passage in Mark which is found later in Matthew (15:29-38). In both cases, Matthew contains some unique details, including the clarification that the “five thousand” (or the “four thousand” in the second account) was the number of males, and and did not include the women and children. The familiar story of the young boy who shared his meager meal comes to us from John (John 6:1-14). And all of these accounts bring to mind the story of the great Old Testament prophet Elisha, through whom God worked a similar miracle (2 Kings 4:42-44).

What are we to make of these three New Testament stories – one from the Synoptics, another from Matthew and Mark, and a third from John? Are they three accounts of the same event, or separate accounts of different events? If they are separate accounts, we must wonder at the differing details, and wonder why the two Gospels would include both accounts. If they recount different events, then we must wonder at the reactions of the disciples, who were in each account similarly nonplussed when Jesus requested that they feed such large crowds with such meager provisions.

As is always the case, the value of asking such questions is only in the opportunity the may offer in understanding the meaning of the text, and though we may not be able to answer these questions, there is much we can understand from the passages we have. We know that Jesus expected his disciples to serve the crowds. We know that the disciples were not prepared to do so of themselves, but were able to do so only through the power of God made manifest in his Christ. We know that this power is an expression of love of God made manifest in the compassion of Christ.

Walking on the lake (14:22-33)

It has been suggested that the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” was not miraculous in the traditional, physical sense, but that the crowds, moved by the meager offering of the young boy, began to bring out their own packed lunches to share with each other. Jesus can certainly bring about such transformations, but this “interpretation” is hard to support from the various details, which are clearly intended to present the stories as miraculous.

Likewise, there are suggestions to explain away the idea that Jesus was, in fact, walking on the water. One idea is that the phrase “waling on the lake” was simply a manner of speech, and that the writer intended to say that Jesus was walking on the shore. Alternatively, it has been suggested that the disciples experienced an optical illusion, in which Jesus appeared to be walking on the water. The proponents of both ideas have pointed to similarities with the post-resurrection encounter with Jesus on the shore (John 21:3-8) despite the fact that the language of the text and circumstances of the story are in stark contrast, and despite the fact that the reaction of the disciples clearly indicates that they had witnessed a miracle (cf. Mark 4:36-41).

Peter certainly knew that we he saw happening could only be explained by the miraculous power of God. He knew could not do the same on his on, but that such power could command him to do so. This knowledge served him at first, but he began to doubt (distazō, which suggests two minds, or two souls). Especially in his failings, Peter always stands for us, the coming church, and we may certainly hear Jesus calling us “you of little faith (cf. 6:30-31).

But how much faith is required? What is the promise of the faith “of a mustard seed”? (17:20; Luke 17:6) It would be easy to make the measure of faith another measure of accomplishment, another means by which we could compare ourselves to those around us, or another method by which we could achieve that state in which God must give us the salvation we deserve. But there is no such measure. Christ calls us to grow in faith, but this too is a gift of God (Mark 9:20-24)

Unwashed hands (15:15-28)

The religious leaders had asked Jesus why his disciples did not wash before they ate. This had nothing to do with our modern ideas of hygiene, but with a strict understanding of being ritually clean. Jesus had responded by saying that is not what goes into one’s mouth, but what comes out that makes one clean or unclean, and this is the “parable” to which the disciples now refer.

It may seem quaint to us, this notion that the touching of certain things or the eating of certain foods could affect our standing before God. Jesus was telling these men that they had confused legality with morality, and we rightly understand that we are not required to give evidence before men of our faith in God. But we must also understand that such faith in God is always evidenced before men, “[f]or out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (12:33-37).

Right up against this discussion of the clean and the unclean, we are given a strange story in which Jesus seems to hold on to this distinction in regard to the Jews and the Gentiles. Why should such a story be included in a Gospel that clearly states that the plan of God includes the Gentiles as well as the Jews? (8:10-12). As Jesus clearly states that the will of God is to redeem us all, he is equally clear that the Messiah of God was sent to the Jews.

Matthew often explains that events transpired as they did in order to fulfill scripture, but we should not imagine that Jesus did what he did in order to legitimize the scriptures. These scriptures, together with the life of Christ, are a part of the active presence of God in ours lives. Jesus suffered and died on the cross, as the scriptures said he would, because this was the will of God for the redemption of the world (John 19:28-30).