I've been thinking about this blog project -- something that would afford me an opportunity to be more disciplined (and orderly!) in my postings here. I'm sure there will be the random post about this or that, but at least once a week, my intent is to offer a brief reflection on the Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday. The "Gleaning" will appear every Friday, beginning today.
John 6:1-21
Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?”...
Last Sunday, the Lectionary skipped Mark's account of the feeding of five thousand. The only reason I can think of is because John so beautifully sets it out, and we will be having this five-week stretch of readings from John's sixth chapter beginning this Sunday.
The feeding of five thousand is one of the most popular parables of Jesus. It definitely ranks among the "top ten." It's not one of those we go like...where is the drama?
The drama is not in a large crowd of five thousand following Him, they always followed Him and still follow.
It is not in not in His having compassion on them-He always had and will always have compassion on all who follow Him.
It is not in their being hungry...who isn't? Food has always been a basic necessity.
The drama is in His feeding five thousand people with five loves of bread and two fish.
How did He do it?
I may not be able to attend to your doubts adequately here, but here is what occurs to me as I think of this parable. We are talking about an all powerful God. In these days of gardening and tending flowers, I am reminded of a basic truth: Knowledge of "how" a seed grows doesn't mean I can make it grow. For all of our agricultural science, which has decreased growing time and increased productivity, the basic facts are still in play -- a seed must be planted; there must be sufficient heat and light; water and nutrients must be available; time must transpire. And in the end, some seeds will yield an abundance of fruit and others will fail to even germinate. God is God and we are not.
I am touched by the two Characters in play on this parable with Jesus. Some of us are the Philips of this day and age... people who only see mountains on our way. They are those for whom “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” But there are the Andrews who see a window of opportunity for feeding thousands even in the provision of a little boy...five loves of bread and two fish.
As participants in God's Good News, we don't need to know "how" the Kingdom works! What a relief! We don't need to know all of the answers or anticipate every question. We are only responsible for one thing -- planting the seeds -- spreading the message--seeing the opportunities for doing that and taking advantage of them.
Where do you find yourself in the myriads of problems facing the church today? A Philip or an Andrew?
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