Reflection by The Ven Dr Deborah Broome

Scarcity and abundance 

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.       Matthew 14:13-21

This is the only miracle story that’s in all four Gospels.  Only don’t call it “the feeding of the 5000” since that clearly misses out many of those who were there, namely the women and children.  I read somewhere that sociologists think when you gather a crowd of men, women, and children, the ratio of women and children to men can be as high as five or six to one.  So the story’s possibly the feeding of the 35,000.

There are hungry people here and Jesus wants to look after them.  The disciples come to him and say, “We’re miles from anywhere and it’s getting late; send the crowds away so they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”   It’s an entirely reasonable thing to say.   Only Jesus doesn’t go along with that plan.  Instead, he says to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”  That’s the bit I can really relate to: there are thousands of people there, and it’s late and they’re hungry and need feeding – and Jesus tells the disciples it’s their job to do something about it.

It seems sometimes that we’re surrounded by people’s needs – and we feel we should be doing something, only we don’t have enough money.  Or time.  Or resources.  Or knowledge.  Or expertise.  Or people.  Or young people.  Or food.  Anyone else identify with the disciples at this point?   But they do their best – they do a quick check of their available resources and come back to Jesus. “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”  So little food, for so great a need.

And Jesus says, “Bring them here to me.”  Then Jesus orders the crowds to sit down on the grass.  So then what happens?  “Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  And all ate and were filled.”  I don’t know exactly what happened.  Was it a miracle?  Or was Jesus setting an example for those who’d brought food along for themselves but hadn’t – until that moment – intended sharing it with others?   Maybe this story is an invitation to consider the hidden abundance around us.  And something happens when we offer what we have to Jesus.  When we offer our limited time, or energy, or resources to Jesus, then it can be enough.

There’s something else worth remembering.  What Jesus did with the five loaves and the two fish is the same thing that happens with the bread of Eucharist.  It’s taken, and blessed, and broken, and given – and it feeds people.  And what Jesus does with the bread of Eucharist he also does with us, for we too are taken, and blessed, and broken to be shared around, to be given to those around us.  Blessed and given to be a blessing to others, even when we feel insignificant and inadequate.

 Image credit: Mohamed Hassouna, Unsplash