Thoughts for the Day

Feeding the Four Thousand

In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, ‘I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.’ His disciples replied, ‘How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?’ He asked them, ‘How many loaves do you have?’ They said, ‘Seven.’ Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed. They ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Mark's Gospel records two different accounts of feeding a large number of people, the first of 5,000 men plus women and children (Mark 6.34-44), and the second 4,000 men plus women and children, as above. In Matthew's Gospel the same thing happens, though we only get the 5,000 mentioned in Luke and John's accounts. So why are there two accounts, and are they just duplicates of each other? Well there are many differences between the two accounts - here are just a few;

1. The 5,000 was on Jesus' 3rd tour of Galilee after one day of teaching. The 4,000 near Decapolis in gentile territory after 3 days of teaching.
2. Differing amounts of food are mentioned (for the 5,000 - 5 loaves and 2 fish; and for the 4,000 - 7 loaves and a few small fish).
3. Differing amounts of food are collected back (5,000 - 12 small Jewish baskets, 4,000 - 7 large Gentile baskets).
4. Jesus mentions the two separate occasions (Mark 8.19-20)

But never mind all this, what is the overall meaning of these two events? Together they are a way of Jesus symbolically defining his identity for those who are willing to see! They also show us his compassion; his creative power as the Messiah; and his mission to Jews and Gentiles alike. For us today Jesus is the 'bread of life' and He is ready to feed us when we are open to His teaching.

Lord Jesus Christ,
As You taught the people,
feeding them spiritually by word,
before giving them food for their bodies,
so may we draw near to be fed.
Help us to be open to Your teaching
that our lives may be transformed
by Your Spirit,
and we may be renewed to fulfil
our vocation here on earth.
Amen.