Thursday, 4/6After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ One of his
disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’ A day of surprises, of discovery hidden perhaps from us through the passage of time and the weight of familiarity. Feeding the five thousand. The loaves and fishes. A miracle so often repeated it seems almost ordinary. Who among us has not heard this story so many times that by now it doesn't seem like a taken-for-granted metaphysical party trick? (It's OK, you can say yes. Anyway, I did.) That being said, I'm delighted to suggest that it was anything but. I mean, for starters, He fed FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE WITH THE EQUIVALENT OF A SHOPPING BAG OF WONDER BREAD AND A FEW CANS OF TUNA. So stop not considering it remarkable. Really, it was. And if it is for us, what on earth did the people who were there, who received this physical nourishment along with the spiritual, make of it? What was discovered? Discovery… the disciples discovered there was food for all when just a moment before both Philip, who may have known how much money they had and that it wasn't going to be nearly enough to feed the crowd (in kind of a reverse potluck), and Andrew, who couldn't imagine how that small a quantity of food could possibly suffice, were deeply concerned. Discovery... that Jesus, who was just “testing” Philip and Andrew to see how they would respond, if they knew He could and would provide plenty from paucity, as he had already determined to do. Even the fact that there was rather a large lake nearby where more fish could be caught, did not occur to them, if He even gave them time to think that far ahead before immediately supplying all the crowd could have wanted and more. Discovery... that Jesus, after thanking God, provided for people, whether or not they were looking for a prophet, wanted a prophet, or accepted him as such even after the fact—note that the text says the people “began to say, This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world,” implying that they were not saying it before. And discovery that what He did provide was so vast that there were twelve baskets (one per apostle?) remaining after feeding the crowd. Discovery, then, that God is with us whether we know it or not, whether we seek him out or not, whether we accept Him or not, because He has accepted and fed us, accepts and feeds us still. - John Ford
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