Filled Baskets to Feed All

Our reading from Matthew today is one of two accounts of Jesus feeding a large crowd of people in Matthew. This story tells us about the feeding of five thousand men not including women and children. We note here that Matthew and Mark have two accounts of Jesus feeding a large group. Luke and John only record one. Here we can see that Matthew is following Mark and using Mark’s accounts as the basis of his accounts. A careful reading of these six accounts* show that they were first passed down as oral accounts before the gospel writers wrote them down. Which may explain why Matthew and Mark have two accounts and Luke and John only one. Somehow two different accounts of the same event were told. Are they the remembrances of two different disciples? Could they come from two different communities? We cannot say. We also need to be suspicious of the numbers fed. Oral tradition always changes the numbers to emphasize the greatness of the event. Think about every fish story you have heard. The fish gets larger with every telling. Or the accounts of the armies in a battle where the losing side’s numbers are increased while the winning side’s numbers are decreased. Five thousand men would indicate ten maybe twenty thousand in total if each man had his wife and two children with him. A nearly impossible number to raise in Rural America today let alone in Palestine during Roman times. What we can say is that however many people there were they were surprised that Jesus did not send them home and that he was able to feed them. They were so surprised that some remembered the event and told others about it. Matthew, as he often does, has placed this story here not to extol Jesus’ miracle but to say something else.

Remember that this account comes after Matthew tells us about the beheading of John the Baptist. Which may indicate that Matthew is thinking about Jesus’ passion. Jesus seems to be thinking about it since he tries to be alone to contemplate what John’s death meant. What we do know is in Matthew’s day some believed that John was the Messiah not Jesus. They argued that, since John baptized Jesus he must have been greater and that John’s life and preaching was more in line with the Old Testament prophets. Matthew, by inserting this story here is saying that Jesus came to feed the people not just food but eternal life. With this story he is telling us that Jesus, not John, is the Messiah. Looking carefully at Jesus’ words – he took, blessed, broke, and gave – we hear the words of the Eucharistic meal. Listen to all of Jesus’ words here, not just those of the Eucharist. Hear him say to the disciples, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” After the meal they do have something to give – twelve full baskets. One basket for each disciple. The disciples of Jesus now have something to share with others – Jesus. And now it is your turn to do the same. God has filled your basket full and now calls you to go out and help feed the people who are in need. Answer that call. Go and serve Jesus by serving others.

*Matthew 14:13-21 and 15:32-39, Mark 6:30-44 and 8;1-10, Luke 9:10-17, and John 6:1-13.