# Today’s lecturer is the assistant pastor Mizuguchi

1. The legend

After the day of Pentecost we continued reading the Gospel according to Mark. Last Sunday’s lecturing passage was the story about Jesus’ act of feeding five thousand. Jesus performed the miracle because of his compassion on the crowd who were “like sheep without a shepherd"(Mark 6:34).
Today we commence for 5 sessions to reflect in detail on the same feeding story according to John. The Gospel writer John added extended significance to the event by interpreting the bread as Jesus corps on the Cross. In other words he described the episode as background of the upcoming Passion.

Whereas Mark’s writing is rather short (6:30-44) John accorded much longer part to the story, from the first verse of the chapter till verse 71. Today we will read the first part of the portion, verses 1- 15.

The miracle that Jesus fed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish seems to have been largely known. All of 4 Gospel writers reported the same story. His disciples might think it was the most amazing and impressive act during Jesus’ ministry.

John and Mark noted the similar number as participants of the meal :- the men sat down, about five thousand of them” (John 6:19) , ;- the number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. (Mark 6:44).

If we include the number of women and children who might be there the total could go up to around ten thousand. Jesus was able to feed sufficiently such numerous crowd only with 5 loaves and 2 fish!

Moreover they reported that when the disciples gathered broken pieces of bread twelve baskets were filled with them. (see John 6: 12-13, Mark 6:43)

John placed the opening of the story on the lakeside of the sea of Galilee.;- Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.(John 6:1-2)

In Jesus’ time science of medicine did not advance at all. Medical herbs, rest and prayers were only way for them to heal the sick. In short, all was depended on natural self-curing capacity. So much so healthy persons avoided sick persons by fearing contagion. But Jesus took care of those sick persons regardless of the risk. Such behaviors consoled and encouraged them. Once spiritually empowered by Jesus many of them regained natural force of self-healing. Therefore so many people crowded Jesus.

John continues the description ;- Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near.(John6:3-4)

We find there expressions specific to John’s writing, “a mountainside” and “The Jewish Passover Feast”. Those words refer to the Exodus of Jewish people led by Moses (see Exodus 16:4 ~). John had the intention to relate Jesus’ feeding act to another divine work, more exactly manna given by God in the dessert of Sinai. In John’s writing the bread shared by 5000 men symbolizes Jesus’ body and is considered to be equivalent to manna, divine aliment. (see from John 6:31~)

And John tried further to represent the Cross as the new covenant, which should replace the old one contracted between God and Moses. Thus John described the act of feeding as an allusion to the Passion. In contrast, Mark presented it as expression of Jesus’ compassion on the crowd like without a shepherd.

John continues.;- When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"(John 6:5)

Instead of giving a direction Jesus asked the question to Philip, I think, to see the degree of Philip’s faith.
Jesus will give bread as his own body in order to lead people to the eternal life. But Philip could not understand such a profound meaning. He was concerned merely with earthy matter, how to get such an enormous quantity of bread without enough money. ;- Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"(John 6:7)

Enough bread for 5000 men and their family costed, in that era, about eight months’ wages of ordinary person. And naturally Jesus and his disciple did not have such a big sum. Besides it should be difficult to find bakers in an isolated place.

At that moment Andre, another disciple of Jesus’, brought a boy who had some food;- Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"(John 6:7-8)

Perhaps it was his lunch pack. According to common sense, ” five small barley loaves and two small fish” was too little to satisfy all the crowd. Nonetheless, ;- Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.(John 6:10-11)

” Gave thanks” is “¦Åὐ¦Ö¦Á¦Ñ¦É¦Ò¦Óή¦Ò¦Áς (yoo-khar-is-teh’-as)” , which gave the word “Eucharist”. Here please remember the famous passage of 1 Corinthians, verse 11:23-24 ;- For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Paul shared John’s interpretation, “the bread” symbolizes the body of Jesus.

2. After the miracle

“Twelve” is the symbolic number for the Jewish people. Jesus chose the Twelve for the foundation of the church. John understood that twelve baskets filled with piece of bread are an allusion to the twelve tribes of Israel. Thus John implies that Jesus gave to Jewish people the role of feeding and and grown up the church, like pieces of bread in the baskets.

We will seek now the point of the miracle itself. Its core must be the faith. Normally it is impossible to feed sufficiently more than 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Philip and Andre thought that way. Because they could not imagine that God’s power would intervene to help them. At that moment the little boy wished spontaneously to share such a small quantity of food with others. And Jesus found an faithful will in that act. In short the boy trusted in Jesus.

Therefore Jesus “gave thanks” to God, who gives humans what they need, then distributed the loaves. The story reveals us that we can increase the value of a tiny source if we use it by trusting in God. Even till 50 or 100 times more than its original worth.
As long as we complain about shortage of whatever, like Philip and Andre, nothing could be resolved. Because we are ignoring the God’s power which provide us with all the necessities.

A German theologian Bonhoeffer * commented about the issue this way :
– If we share bread with others all of us can eat sufficiently. But once someone begins to keep more than he needs shortage of food occurs. I think the story of feeding 5000 people recorded in the new testament gives that lesson .–

His remark is impressive. It is true that we feel food more tasty when we shared it with others. In Jesus’ time aliment of ordinary people was rather poor, barley bread, salt and olive oil, for example. Fresh meet and fish should be available only in special occasions. Nonetheless when they eat them with family or friends, after giving the prayer of thankfulness, the meal might be delicious. Today we have abundance of food. However more than more people take meals alone because they are too busy to enjoy time with others at table. Food became mere material source of energy. I think that people of Jesus’ time knew more how to really appreciate meals than today’s humans.

3. Bread of life

Toyda’s invocation verse is John 6:35 ;- Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

Witnessing Jesus’ miraculous feeding act the crowd said;- “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."(John 6:14)

In ancient time humans’ living conditions were very fragile and they suffered from famine very often because of abnormally low or excessive rainfalls, for example. Therefore they were aspiring longtime to a leader who could provide them with abundant food. In consequence the crowd there thought Jesus, who performed such a miracle, was the very man and would free them from poverty and lack of food. Jesus gat insight of their mind. ;- Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.(John 6:15)

But they followed him till Capernaum. To those people Jesus said;-"I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."(John 6:26-28)

Jesus knew very well people needed daily bread but he tried to make them understand that there is a more important thing than that for their life.

Indeed we need food to maintain the body. But it is not mere food which makes us live authentically as humans. Even if we can satisfy with daily bread we can not get spiritually fulfilled, as Jesus said ;- “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’"(Mathew 4:4)

Jesus’ words are teaching that God, the father in heaven, knows our need and would supply us with what is necessary to live. Therefore he compel people to seek the bread of real life, instead of earthy aliment.

As I remarked before John referred to the Last Supper in the passage of the feeding miracle. Loaves of bread shared there represented the body of Jesus. And, from the Ascension of Jesus to today, christians continue observing the Lord’s Communion to give thanks to Jesus, the son of God.

Today we learned form John’s writing that the feeding miracle indicates two key points. The first one is that the belief that God always feeds us increases the value of food. The fact is shown also in the Gospel according to Mark. The second one, which is a particularity of John, is that the real bread is Jesus’ body, or words of life. We are fed with God’s words not only with earthy food. And we are gathered here in this church to receive and spread those words to the world, as Jesus’ disciples did.
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*Dietrich Bonhoeffer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonhoeffer