Having to speak to and then
feed over five thousand people was, at this moment, the very last thing that
Jesus wanted. He had just been told
that his cousin and forerunner, John the Baptist was dead. John had died for who he was and what he was
doing. This was a man who had taken up
an ascetic life to live rough and preach to people in the desert. He was a man who had taken no prisoners in
his style of preaching and told them exactly how it was and what was required
of them. He did not offer a soft option
to the crowds who came to hear him. He
was a prophet chosen by God. Now he had
paid for his faithful service for God.
The most important thing about him was that he had been selected to
announce the coming of Jesus to God’s chosen people. Like many pivotal characters in history he
had become a martyr.
Of Jesus, walking by one
day, John had proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God!” John and Jesus almost certainly knew each other
very because they were cousins. When
Mary had become pregnant she had paid a visit to Elizabeth to celebrate their
common good news. When the two boys
were in their formative years you can bet they met up and played together. They were family. Now
there was a very significant death in their family. On hearing this bad news, Jesus went off to
be private.
By now Jesus had become the
name on the lips of everyone and a huge following had built up. Right now the key word was “following.” The people discovered where he had gone and
had followed him to the place. So there
was nowhere to hide away and grieve for Jesus.
He was to be allowed no private time to think about his beloved
kinsman. He was the sort of public
figure who could not escape his fame.
Jesus travelled across the
lake in a boat and when he arrived on the other side he discovered a great
crowd had anticipated his arrival there and were waiting for more of his teaching. Others had brought sick relatives and
friends seeking a cure.
People have, for a long
time, discussed the two sides to Jesus.
There was the holy side where Jesus was considered to be God’s Son and
was therefore divine. On the other hand
he was very much part of humanity. On
this occasion I see both sides of him together. He was grieving for his cousin, John, and
needed time out to deal with grief.
This was the humanity in him. However,
he had come as the divine Son of God to break into history and show a new way
of living as God’s children. The
narrative says that “his heart went out to them.” Clearly he was required to continue his
ministry to humankind despite the loss of John.
So Jesus continued to
minister. He took his sorrow at the
loss of John and it became sorrow for so many people who were in need. They had, indeed, come for spiritual
food. This had been the purpose of
their following this great man. So they
received much spiritual food and healing from Jesus. But then came the realisation that time was
marching on and they had not planned mass catering for the multitude who were
now with them. The disciples could
clearly see they had nothing like enough food to feed so many. Their solution was to send the people to the
villages in hope of buying food. But
Jesus turned the problem round and said they would have to feed the
people. They must have been asking
around for food and only one boy had volunteered to give up his own rations.
Suddenly, they discovered
that the little they had was sufficient to work with and they were able to fed all
the people. Now, when we read our Bible
we note that there is no explanation as to how five loaves of bread and two
fish were enough to feed so many people.
All we know is that the small amount of food was blessed and then they
all had enough to eat. The narrative
does not even say “suddenly there was a lot of food.” On this matter there is no evidence at
all. We have nothing to go on. The story appears in all four gospels and
only in John do we learn that a boy had offered his bread and fish. For many years I have thought that the
obvious answer to how they were all fed was that the people were prompted by
this small donation to give to the disciples some or all of the food they had
with them. It seems likely to me that
they would have food with them that they had organised before setting out to
find Jesus.
One of our church members told me the story of a very cold winter’s day in
Liverpool where she lived and worked. The
weather had taken a turn for the worst and snow was falling heavily. The buses were held up and many people
found themselves waiting a long time for their bus home from work. As is often the case when a crowd of people
are facing a common difficulty people began chatting to each other. One said, “I’m not half hungry.” Another replied, “I have a small packet of
biscuits here. You are welcome to share
them with me” Another declared she had
a bar of chocolate and did anyone care for a piece. It went on like that until, finally, the bus
arrived. Everyone then went happily on
their way home. What a difference the
person with the biscuits had made.
It is true, of course, that
in the presence of Jesus some surprising things happen. He has the gift of bringing out the best in
us if we remain committed to him. The
response of people close to Jesus is something special. They sometimes give what they consider a
little and suddenly it is the catalyst for much bigger response. A young friend of mine who has Down’s syndrome
has sometimes said, “Keith, you’re preaching next Sunday. Can I dance for you?” I always say “Yes” because to see Lucy
dancing in church is remarkable. When
she dances the congregation suddenly have smiles galore and go home later
feeling much happier. Lucy is
challenged in many ways. She has
limited thinking and can’t work out choices beyond two things. She stammers. But just watch her dance and pay attention
to her hands and you will find joy.
She has problems starting new stitches in knitting but once she masters
them she can knit for hours – even days.
One year she knitted over a hundred scarves with some wonderful
patterned wool. They were all sold off
for charity.
Some years ago I took the funeral service for a young
woman who had died in her thirties. Her
brother told me that her pain was so great that she asked him to show her how
to make jewellery spiders to sell on his market stall. He showed her and she started to make
some. Eventually she said she had some
for him to sell. “How many?” he
asked. “A thousand!” was the reply.
From small beginnings we can achieve great things. Our church hall was about to be built and we
were short of the total money to pay the builder. An elder stood up and put the problem to the
church and added that he was donating a further £5,000. Within a few minutes we had the balance
promised.
A preacher once shared an experience he had after leading
a Sunday service. At the church door he
was shaking hands with people and asking “What do you do for the Lord?” An old lady replied, “I wash up!” Whatever we can do or give is always enough
in the hands of our Lord. He takes our
small gift and uses it in many ways.
It just takes faith for us to give our small gift and it
grows in the hands of Jesus.
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