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| Loaves and Fish |
Text: Matthew 14:13-21
“When Jesus heard the news about John…”
Today’s gospel reading drops us in the middle of a story
that is already in progress. Yes, the feeding of the 5,000 can be read as a
standalone story. But it is also part of a literary structure that begins with
another story, a story that the author intends to be a literary foil to
the feeding of the 5,000. Here is the first part of the story, chapter 14,
verses 1-12.
14 At that time Herod,
the ruler of Galilee, heard about Jesus. 2 “He is
really John the Baptist, who has come back to life,” he told his officials.
“That is why he has this power to perform miracles.”
3 For Herod
had earlier ordered John's arrest, and he had him tied up and put in prison. He
had done this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. 4 For
some time John the Baptist had told Herod, “It isn't right for you to be
married to Herodias!” 5 Herod wanted to kill him,
but he was afraid of the Jewish people, because they considered John to be a
prophet.
6 On Herod's
birthday the daughter of Herodias danced in front of the whole group. Herod was
so pleased 7 that he promised her, “I swear that I
will give you anything you ask for!”
8 At her
mother's suggestion she asked him, “Give me here and now the head of John the
Baptist on a plate!”
9 The king
was sad, but because of the promise he had made in front of all his guests he
gave orders that her wish be granted. 10 So he had
John beheaded in prison. 11 The head was brought in
on a plate and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. 12 John's
disciples came, carried away his body, and buried it; then they went and told
Jesus.[1]
The two stories share a common theme: a banquet. There is
Herod’s birthday party. And then there is the banquet for thousands in the
wilderness. One is a banquet of self-indulgence. The other is a banquet of
self-giving. One is a banquet of death. The other is a banquet of healing and
life. One banquet has the appearance of abundance and wealth. The other has
very little to show materially, but it is the one which ends up with more than
can be had by the crowd.
Jesus had been teaching in the towns and villages around
Galilee. But when he heard that his relative, John the Baptizer, had been
executed, he tried to get to a secluded place. One likely reason was that he
needed time for himself to work through his emotions. Another reason likely was
that because Herod thought Jesus was possibly John brought back to life, Jesus’
life too, was in danger if he stayed within populated areas.
In any case, Jesus didn’t get his time alone, because the
crowds followed him. Whatever personal distress and grief he may have been
feeling, the overwhelming needs of the crowd touch his compassion, and he tends
to their needs.
As the day begins to enter late afternoon, the disciples
suggest a prudent course of action: dismissing the people so they can take care
of their physical needs. But Jesus responds, “There’s no need to send them
away. You give them something to eat.”[2]
The disciples are perplexed. Among them, they find that they
have five loaves of bread and two fish.[3]
Barely enough to for just Jesus and the disciples themselves. They bring these
to Jesus, who takes them, then looks up to heaven, blesses the bread and the
fish, and breaks the bread and gives them to the disciples. This act is
frequently interpreted as a type of Eucharist, Lord’s Supper, taking place
before the Last Supper event. It also shows Jesus’ continuing compassion for
the crowd, providing for their needs before they even ask. It is also a sign
that identifies the true Shepherd of Israel.[4]
Finally, it can be seen as symbolizing the Messianic banquet, spoken by the
prophets.
Here is where interpreters take two very different routes in
attempting to answer, “How did there come to be enough food for the entire
crowd?”
The first is the traditional and probably for many of us, the
most obvious explanation: it was a supernatural act that Jesus performed. The
strength of this explanation is that it parallels the miracle of manna during
Israel’s wilderness wanderings. The text too, could be read as implying that is
what happened: Jesus gave the bread and fish to the disciples, and then they in
turn gave what they had been given to the crowds.
There are, however, pitfalls to be aware of when
interpreting this way. One is coming to expect supernatural divine intervention
to take care of many of life’s problems. It may become a temptation to excuse
idleness and laziness as “waiting for God.” Another pitfall is that the miracle
interpretation raises the question, if God can supernaturally provide sustenance,
why are the needs of the world increasing instead of decreasing?
Before moving to the second possible way of interpreting the
“feeding” story, I would like to take a slight pause and note that thinking of
miracles as supernatural intervention is a modern concept. Ancient people
simply assumed that divine beings and their agents performed miracles all the
time. So, that many thousands of people had their fill would not have raised
questions about “how did it happen?" Rather, it meant to them that it
signified that Jesus was like Moses and Elijah, major prophetic figures in
their history.
Returning to interpretations of the miracle, a second line
of interpretation does not invoke supernatural intervention but sees in the
story an act of sharing among the crowd. The act of Jesus and his disciples
sharing is interpreted to have prompted sharing among the rest of the crowd. Among
several thousand, it is highly unlikely that no one brought any food with them,
especially knowing that they were going to be out on the road for many days.
Perhaps some were low on or out of supplies, but not all. And once everyone got
around to sharing what they had, there was not only enough, but more than
enough to go around.
A strength of this line of interpretation is that it
highlights the fact that God has provided sufficient resources in the world and
among the people of the world so that no one should be in need. Another
strength is that it emphasizes the community that Jesus is building and one of
the key tenets: that the community shares what it has with everyone else. There
are no hierarchies or privileged ones. All are equal in this community. The
very first generation of Christians were at their best when living this out in
their community. Another strength of this interpretation is that it shows that
God’s people are not simply passive observers waiting for God to act, but that
they are active participants in finding and sharing resources in caring for the
world. A final strength is that one could say that getting thousands to
spontaneously share is a greater miracle than a supernatural provision of food.
But there are also pitfalls. The primary one is that it
discounts or eliminates the supernatural from the story of the feeding of the
5,000, and this might cause us discomfort by challenging traditional
assumptions. A second pitfall is that one could take it too far and say that
the work of community is all up to us. Leading from both pitfalls is that we
might be less inclined to wait for God when waiting is appropriate, and instead
do something just for the sake of doing something.
What we are left is a paradox. Both can’t be true
simultaneously, yet they are. There are principles, truths, and warnings that each
line of interpretation offers. All are valuable in understanding how we are to
live as a faithful community. Sometimes we wait. Other times we act. We also recognize
that God has provided sufficient resources within God’s community and that what
we are asked to do is share with one another.
The way of self-indulgence, self-protection, and
self-aggrandizement leads to death. Just ask Herod Antipas and John the
Baptizer.
The way of compassionate, sharing community leads to life.
That is what Jesus taught and lived.
In the name of God, the Creator of the world,
In the name of God, the Redeemer of the world,
And in the name of God, who discomforts our tendencies toward
self-indulgence and self-protection, Amen.
Bibliography
France, R. T. (2007). New International
Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Garland, D. E. (2012). Reading the New Testament:
Reading Matthew. Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Incorporated.
Van De Laar, J. (2026, July 23). Lectionary
Reflection for Proper 13A on Matthew 14:13-21. Retrieved from Sacredise
Your Life!:
https://sacredise.substack.com/p/lectionary-reflection-for-proper-23c
Wilson, W. T. (2022). The Gospel of Matthew:
Volume 2 (Matthew 14-28). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co.
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