They Had As Much As They Wanted

They Had As Much As They Wanted

Jn 6: 1 – 15

17^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s Gospel is about Jesus feeding the five thousand. This story is one of the few stories that is narrated by all four gospel evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, giving it a privileged importance especially in the life of early Christians.

Our reading begins with the evangelist John narrating to us that Jesus crossed the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Notwithstanding this, people kept following him. Then Jesus goes up a mountain and sees this large crowd coming toward him. He then asked Philip: “ Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” Philip must have been surprised by the question. How could Jesus even think of feeding such a large crowd?  In return, Philip replied: “ Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.”

But then Andrew, in an attempt to find some solution to the problem, spotted a boy who was carrying five barley loaves and two fish. But somehow, he himself knew that this was of little use as it simply was not enough to feed the crowd. He said: “ But what are they among so many people? “

From this point on, his disciples didn’t know what was in the mind of their Master. But the Gospel tells us that Jesus “knew what he was going to do.” So Jesus tells his disciples to make the people sit down. There was grass in that place. There the crowd that numbered five thousand was made to sit on the grassy meadow.

Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, distributed them to those who were seated. Everyone ate and was satisfied. The gospel tells us that they had “as much as they wanted.” It must have been an incredible sight to behold an open outdoor banquet for five thousand. Food overflowed. There was too much in fact, that there were even some leftovers. So Jesus tells his disciples to gather what was left.  To this they gathered twelve baskets of fragments of the five barley loaves.

Feeding five thousand was no mean feat. Soon enough, people realized that they have just witnessed an incredible miracle and thought perhaps that Jesus was the prophet promised to come to this world.  Their attempt to take Jesus by force to make him king was thwarted, as Jesus withdrew once more to the mountain by himself as soon as he knew of their intentions.

Our reading is one story where faith was not required. This is one story where blessing was poured out abundantly and indiscriminately to all, regardless of whether people were good or bad; whether they had faith or not.  This is a story about an overwhelming abundance that came from a small insignificant amount of resource that made all the difference.

            But most important of all, it is our own story too. In life, we really fall short on many things- physically, mentally, financially, morally, spiritually, emotionally. Our inadequacies and limitations can sometimes cripple us in thinking that we really have only so much in life and can't do better. But it is the Lord who takes up our short falls and uses the little that we have to bless us abundantly. 

Just like Andrew who wondered what a few pieces of bread and fish could do, we too at times wonder whether the little that we have could be of use for anything at all. Yet, as we have seen in the story, it is the little that we have that the Lord takes up and blesses to fill us and bestow upon us his abundance.

The Lord wants us to live life abundantly. But we can have such abundance only in him who blesses the little that we have.  He fills what is lacking in us and fills us to the brim.

The indiscriminate blessing that came upon the crowd speaks of the Lord’s generosity to all who come to seek him. Just like the crowd who came in great numbers looking for him, we need only to seek Jesus in order for us to experience an unending feast where we could have our fill, be satisfied and have as much as we want.
Lift up to Jesus the little that you may have; lift up to him whatever feelings of inadequacy, insecurity and limitations you may harbor, knowing that his grace will eventually transform the little that we have into something abundant and beautiful. Amen.

“And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. "  - 2 Corinthians 9: 8