When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." They said to him, "We have only five loaves here and two fish." And he said, "Bring them here to me."
- St. Matthew 14:15-18
The Gospel tells us of the well-known miracle of the feeding of the five thousand with the five loaves and two fish. There are, of course, many miracles recorded in the Gospels, and it’s interesting to see how people have approached these accounts.
When it comes to Christ’s parables, there seems to be (for the most part) no issue, because they’re taken as the stories that they are. But when it comes to the miracles – actual historical events which took place – there are those who try to explain them in exclusively natural ways. When Jesus walked on the water, for instance, there are those who want to say that there was a sand bar right beneath the surface. When Christ stilled the storm, there are those who try to say that it was coincidental with the storm having run its course.
When it comes to the miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, as we look at various biblical commentaries, some have tried to say it was a kind of collective illusion – that the people there only thought they had eaten their fill. Others have said that it wasn’t really a miracle, but that the people simply shared their food with one another, and that was the real miracle.
But these are faithless theories. Either God is God, or He’s not. If He could create all things, if He could take human flesh upon Himself and come to us – if He is indeed the God of the universe – then taking elements of His creation, bread and fish, and multiplying them, is simply in keeping with who He is.
And in fact, when we look at the event, the details are so specific: the disciples are clear in saying that there are five loaves and two fish. Our Lord instructed the disciples to have the people sit down, after which He gave thanks to His Father, and then the food was distributed to the crowds. And further details are given to us: there were twelve baskets full of pieces left over. Everything about it tells us this was an actual event. The details are spelled out; it was an act done by Jesus Christ to make a particular point, and to teach us something. So what was it all about?
We should start out by noticing that the people had come there with no forethought of preparation, and this is clear from the Gospel account. This crowd had been following Jesus for some time, listening to him, having their hopes raised higher and higher as He taught them the things of God. They weren’t thinking about anything else other than the fact that they wanted to stick close to Him. They wanted to see Him and hear Him. So there they are, gathered at the place to which He had gone.
In hearing this account, there is no doubt about the central place of our Lord Jesus Christ in all of this. The people had come to Him simply to hear Him. The apostles were there simply to assist Him in whatever way He asked.
It is Christ’s pure and complete love for each and every person which is demonstrated in this miracle. Through the loaves and the fish Christ made the Father’s love a reality to the people.
In the midst of the literal reality of what’s taking place in this miracle, there’s the important spiritual message, too. There are aspects of this story that, when we look closely, communicate something to us. We weren’t there, so we didn’t receive the immediate benefit of the food itself, but God preserved this account for us so that when we look at it, we get the message He wants us to get. And a central message is that God’s love is abundant, and it’s available to us through our Lord Jesus Christ.
All this looks forward to the fact that God’s love comes through the Living Bread which we receive at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. If we miss this spiritual point, and look only at the aspect of the physical abundance of bread and fish, we begin to ask the wrong question. We fall into the trap of asking, “If He multiplied the loaves for these people, how can He let so many people die of hunger today all over the world?” But that’s missing the point. Isaiah asks the question, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy?”
We can get so caught up in the things of this world, that we miss what God counts to be more important. Yes, we need to be concerned for those who are hungry and homeless and in need, just as the apostles were concerned for the people who had gone that day out into the wilderness; but Jesus wanted His apostles to go further than that. He wanted to show the people there that day what the power and love of God is like.
The world is hungry, but not just hungry for food. The world is hungry for the truth. It is hungry for spiritual fulfillment. It is hungry for God. Certainly, we are to minister in Christ’s name to those who are poor and hungry, but at the same time we must remember that, more important than bread, is the Bread of Life.
In many ways, the world has become a twisted and sour place, but Christ holds out to the world what is true and eternal. He holds out forgiveness. He holds out everlasting life. And He asks us to assist Him in distributing what He is holding out to the world. So we must be careful not to hand out a false gospel that sees no further than the things of this world.
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Image: Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha, showing the stone under the altar, where Christ placed the loaves and fish.