The Feeding of the Five Thousand

Today's Reflections

 

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

Mt 14:13-21

¹³When Jesus heard of [the death of John the Baptist], he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. ¹⁴When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. ¹⁵When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶[Jesus] said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” ¹⁷But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” ¹⁸Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” ¹⁹and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. ²⁰They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over—twelve wicker baskets full. ²¹Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.

A FORETASTE OF HEAVENLY BANQUET. Matthew narrates that Jesus feeds the crowds who have followed him because he is moved with pity for them. His mission is to give life—abundant life—to men and women. Abundant life, however, addresses not only hunger and thirst but also the deeper longing of the human person, the longing of the human spirit, the longing for God.

Earlier, when Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread, Jesus declined because “one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4). There is more to food than bread, however important bread may be. Man also needs food for “eternal life”—life of value and meaning, life with God.

So the feeding of the multitude in a deserted place is not just a matter of satisfying people’s hunger. The fact that Matthew describes Jesus’ actions—taking the loaves and fish, looking up to heaven, saying the blessing, breaking the loaves, and giving them to the disciples—as the very actions Jesus will make at the Last Supper (cf Mt 26:26) tells us that the gift of bread is the anticipation of Jesus’ gift of his Body and Blood. John is even more direct: the multiplication of the bread is but a prelude of Jesus’ self-revelation as the Bread of Life.

But even the gift of the Bread of Life in the Eucharist is not the ultimate gift, the ultimate goal. It foreshadows, anticipates, and guarantees the “eternal life” that we will have in the kingdom of God. There God and the Lord Jesus will be all for all. Everyone will sit at the heavenly banquet, symbol of perfect satisfaction and happiness. There, God will fill up the emptiness in the human heart.