John 6.1-21 (NRSV)

John 6.1-21

Feeding the Five Thousand

6After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.  ²A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. ³Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. ⁴Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. ⁵When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ ⁶He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ ⁸One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ ¹⁰Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. ¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. ¹²When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ ¹³So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. ¹⁴When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’

15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Apologies for the relative lateness of this reflection: my saintly octogenarian mother-in-law has just been diagnosed with breast cancer which has already progressed into her bones – and we are temporality devastated by this news. She lives thousands of miles away in South Africa and this just makes us feel helpless and unsettled. She has some good people to look after her, but I am sure you will all understand that this is simply a difficult time for us.

But God is merciful and good and we await his guidance.

Aids to my reflection this week are: Filson, Wright, Suggit, Marsh, McPolin and Hunter. (As school holidays have finally arrived, I am able to enjoy the luxury of more detailed reading!)

Jesus was exhausted and needed time alone to recharge his batteries. As he often did, he retreated from the crowds. But the word had got around of all the wonderful things he had done, and so crowds gathered and followed him, probably happy to make a detour to see and hopefully witness a spectacle, as they journeyed to Jerusalem for the Passover.

There is a great deal of significance in this. As we know, nothing is ever simple in John’s Gospel, and he sought to tease out the meaning and significance of everything that Jesus said, did and is.

In writing the way he did, the author looked back to the significance of the people of Israel being fed with Manna as they journeyed from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. On this occasion, the people would experience a deeply significant spiritual meal, and in a year’s time, Jesus would become the Passover Lamb of God, dying and rising for us and giving us the wonderful spiritual meal of the Eucharist.

Peter tested Philip who responded as we often do: there is a problem and there is no human solution – Philip just noted what it would all cost to give each person even a small morsel. Andrew responded differently and saw what could be done and he saw what a little boy might be willing to offer.

There is also significance in the way Jesus gave specific instructions. It is important to remember that there is nothing included in John’s Gospel that is not of some deep significance.

Jesus told the people to sit on the spring grass – he took what was offered, even from a young boy – he gave thanks and using his disciples, he distributed to the people what they needed. And he did the same with the fish.

The author saw Jesus as the Bread of Life and expounds more on this theme later in the Gospel. He is also convinced that the miracle happened as recorded. He had little difficulty in accepting this because it is appropriate that the Messiah would be able to do things that us mere mortals cannot do. If the Incarnation is possible – that God could become man in Jesus – then something like this is understandable. To deny it, would need to be accompanied by a denial of the Incarnation as well. On this occasion, the author saw God at work in Jesus. Those who witnessed it all would also have been able to see in Jesus someone like the Prophet and leader like Moses and they wanted to make him king.

Let’s delve a little deeper.

This was the second time the author referred to the Passover. In this Gospel, the first time was when Jesus cleansed the Temple. Wright sees in this some significance as well – the notion of cleaning as well as feeding.

There is also the significance of bringing things to Jesus all those things about which we do not know what to do about (like my mother-in-law at this time). And it is our experience as well and that is that Jesus will do something we hadn’t thought of – something new and creative.

Suggit’s work is all about the Sacramental significance of the Fourth Gospel. He suggests that the author looks forward to Jesus giving his own body for the food of the world – the Bread of Life – and that Jesus is portrayed here as fulfilling the Old Testament as the Passion and Resurrection is the fulfilment of the Passover. The Eucharist is the supreme way that we experience God’s miraculous feeding and today, we are the disciples of Jesus who distribute the ‘food’ in the same way as the disciples did on this occasion. McPolin speaks of the way in which Jesus is the one who sustains us by his living word and uses the way in which the disciples collected the remains to emphasise the importance of treating the leftovers after the Eucharist with deep respect.

Hunter addresses the issue that many modern people focus on and that is the question: “Did it really happen?” His immediate response too is: “If Jesus is God incarnate, then why not?” If Jesus is not, then we do need to rationalise what happened. Some have suggested that Jesus inspired people to share what they had with everyone. They would have been on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover and had made a detour to see Jesus, and so they would have been prepared with food for the road.

Some, like Barclay, adopt a middle path between these two positions. While accepting Jesus as God incarnate he still finds the need to provide a rational explanation. He questions the miracle because for it to have happened seems to suggest that Jesus was willing to do the very thing that he refused to do at his temptation – turn stones into bread. But he recognises the difference and the significance of what could have happened here and focuses rather on the way in which what happened nourished their souls more than their bodies.

We also know from our experience that Jesus needs what we bring to him – he needed what the boy had to bring with his loaves and fishes – and when we do it is transformed by his touch, blessing and thanksgiving. Barclay reminds us that the loaves the boy brought were made from barley wheat, and would have been the bread of the very poor and concludes: “Little is always much in the hands of Christ.”

Verses 16-21: Jesus Walks on the Water

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the lake to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸The lake became rough because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. ²⁰But he said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ ²¹Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land towards which they were going.

Here, I am reminded why I had difficulty with Barclay when I was younger, because he seems to try to explain away some miracles. At the time he was writing (the 50s and 60s) it would have been vital that he come up with some empirically verifiable possibility, because people were increasingly seeking to dismiss the Gospels as mere fabrications, because they described things that simply either could never have happened or today can be explained in other ways e.g. what appeared to be demon possession can be explained as mental illness.

But today, people are rediscovering the miraculous, because, especially in medical science, there seem to be things that happen still today that still defy scientific explanation. Of course there are also those who would contend (like Marcus Borg) that the Gospels should all be read as allegories and if the events actually happened is of little – even no – consequence. I remain unconvinced!

What happened?

It was after the feeding of the 5000, it was ‘second evening’, the time between the twilight and darkness. Mark tells us that Jesus told the disciples to go on ahead of him. It was at the time of the Passover and therefore time of a full moon. Up on the hillside Jesus had spent time in prayer.

Verse 21 reads “…and immediately the boat reached the land towards which they were going …” Because of this, Barclay suggests that the disciples were almost at the end of their journey and because of the blustery winds, they just did not realize the fact. The total distance is only 4 miles and verse 19 suggests that they had already rowed that distance. Jesus was therefore walking along the sea shore and they saw him near them and it therefore only ‘appeared’ that he was walking on the water. My question is, how did Jesus get there so quickly (perhaps I am missing something)?

But pondering on this sort of thing misses the point (and here I am with Borg). For most of the time before the Enlightenment, authors and readers were not so transfixed with the literal meaning alone; this was just the first step in Biblical interpretation. They always went on to the next step – the allegorical – but where they differ from Borg is that they did not think that the literal meaning was of no consequence. They went on to the spiritual and anagogical which asks the question: “What is it saying to me?” The last is for me the most important – but I do not believe we can get here without looking at the other stages as well. Too often, people get preoccupied with the literal meaning alone!

By the Spirit, Jesus watches over us in a loving way, especially in the blustery moments of our lives. Jesus is alive and is with us by His Spirit – always. As Barclay puts it: ‘…When we are up against it, Jesus watches.’ Jesus also comes to us, in the depth of our being and gives us perspective and deep inner peace, so when our mere human strength seems to fail us, His Spirit nourishes us. Our faith is deeply practical as Jesus is Immanuel – our God with us.

Enjoy the presence of Christ.

Amen.