Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.”
One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
Gospel Trivia:
The feeding of the multitude is one story that appears in all four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). John's message in this story is different from the other evangelists and is reflected in the following:
- only John mentions that the event happens during Passover, alluding to the Exodus event and the feeding of the Israelites with manna from heaven;
- thus, Jesus is being compared to the great prophet, Moses;
- the feeding is reflective of the eucharist, with Jesus taking the loaves, giving thanks, and distributing them to the crowd;
- fragments are gathered afterwards, which fills twelve baskets, (twelve being a perfect number); the Israelites also gathered manna during their journey, but only a day's portion; the twelve basketful gathered in the gospel account is so much more;
- thus, Jesus is compared to Moses, but is a lot greater than Moses;
- the gathering also alludes to the gathering of all of humankind, which is the purpose of the Kingdom of God, as symbolized in the Eucharist.
This story is more than just a miracle to show the power of Jesus, but establishes the role and mission of Jesus -- to feed, sustain and gather all peoples under the kingship of the Father.
Reference:
- Nil Guillemette, SJ, Hungry No More (Makati: St. Paul's Publications, 1989), pp. 75-79.
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