“Some time after this, 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 signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near. 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?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” 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?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 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. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.” John 6:1-13

“A Simple Miracle?”
Here we have the feeding of the 5000. It is a simple story, yet so complex in our world that demands explanations and scientific understandings. C. S. Lewis wrote this about Christianity, “It is no good asking for a simple religion. They look simple, but they are not. The table I am sitting at looks simple; but ask a scientist to tell you what it is really made of – all about the atoms and how the light waves rebound from them and hit my eye and what they do to the optic nerve and what it does to my brain – and, of course, you find that what we call ‘seeing a table’ lands you in mysteries and complications which you can hardly get to the end of. Besides being complicated, reality, in my experience, is usually odd. It is not neat, not obvious, not what you expect. For instance, when you have grasped that the earth and the other planets all go round the sun, you would naturally expect that all the planets were made to match – all at equal distances from each other, say, or distances that regularly increased, or all the same size, or else getting bigger or smaller as you go further from the sun. In fact, you find no rhyme or reason (that we can see) about either the sizes or the distances. Reality, in fact, is usually something you could not have guessed. That is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. It is a religion you could not have guessed.”

When we conceive a feeding program, we look for ways to be tidy, neat and equal — meaning we gather an abundance of food, we put people in lines, we gather their information, we give them limits, and send them on their way. We expect that would be how Jesus would organize a feeding event. But, the feeding of the 5000 tells us a different story. Jesus tells the people to sit down anywhere, he does not care where they come from, he uses the little scraps that the disciples can gather together, and everyone eats in abundance. We listen to this story and scratch our heads in wonder and disbelief.

The feeding of the 5000 leaves us with more questions that answers – yet a simple reality – Jesus feeds us abundantly, in ways we do not understand, giving to those we think least deserve it or expect it. But thank goodness that Christianity often leaves us gasping for air and searching for understanding. If we understood it all, we would soon be searching for something else.

Let us Pray,
Lord Jesus, your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts — to which we give thanks and praise to you. Help me to live my life giving thanks for the abundance you have provided for me — and give me the strength to share out of that abundance. Amen.

Pastor Dave