Bp Miller’s Musings: Feeding of 5,000

The story of Jesus feeding the five thousand (plus I numbered women and children) raises several questions.

How did the crowds know where Jesus was going when he went off to “a deserted place”?

If Jesus sent the people away to find food as his disciples suggested, would they have gone?

Why is it that the disciples, who witness Jesus curing the sick among the crowd, do not believe that he can also meet their hunger?

Had the disciples already inventoried their food supply to know that they only had five loaves and two fish? Would that have been enough to feed the twelve plus Jesus?

Jesus had gone to be alone, possibly to grieve his relative, John. Yet, when he sees the crowd that followed him, he still has enough in him to feel compassion toward them and cure their sick, and he provides as well for their hunger. I wonder what lesson we can learn from this. Perhaps we can recognize that, even as we grieve the current decline in church membership, the ministry of healing and feeding continues. Like the twelve, we may not recognize in ourselves that we have more than enough to carry out the mission to which Jesus calls us.

We spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about ourselves, whether we can sustain life in our homes and congregations. When Jesus tells us to feed those around us, our first reaction is to look at what we have over against the overwhelming need that surrounds us. Our meager resources cannot begin to satisfy so many. So, we must take what we have and bring it to Jesus whose blessing is to create plenty so that not only do we satisfy but there is an abundance left over.