The First Liturgy
This is a unique miracle narrative (Matthew 14:14-22). It is the only miracle that all four Gospels include. So we should pay extra attention! It is also the most public miracle, witnessed by “five thousand men plus the women and children.”
As one theologian put it, “on the face of it, it’s a miracle to gladden the devil’s heart—a trick with bread, an act of spiritual power with endless political potential” (Iwan Russell-Jones). It’s a miracle to gladden the devil’s heart and every politician. But isn’t this the same Jesus who a short time earlier (Matthew 4:3), refused to feed himself when he was hungry in the desert, when he was tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread? Has he now succumbed to the devil because there’s a large audience? Is Jesus just another politician after all? Of course he’s not. The Gospel of John tells us something the other three Gospels left out: When 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.”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. As I said, the political temptation was huge. George Washington himself had to reject efforts to make him king in those early years of the American republic.
In the OT the wilderness/desert was the place of wandering and rebellion against the God who freed Israel from slavery in Egypt. Psalm 78 describes Israel’s unfaithfulness in the desert with words such as these:
Yet they sinned still more against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God, saying,
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
The answer given today is that God can indeed spread a table in the wilderness! Jesus was the answer to every question raised by the Old Testament, just as we saw how at the transfiguration Jesus answered the desires of Moses and Elijah. So yes, in answer to Psalm 78, God can spread a table in the wilderness….and not just in the wilderness, but wherever and whenever you need God’s compassion and God’s provision! You see, the desert is a symbol for every situation and every place in our lives where we question God, where we feel insecure….and where God responds.
Jesus looked up to heaven. When Jesus was tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread, it was a temptation to turn away from God, to declare independence from God. But Jesus replied to the devil with words from Scripture: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Here in the desert, the people were fed with bread, but they also heard the words that came from the mouth of God!
Jesus then blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the crowds. This was the first Liturgy, if you like. The action is the same as at the last supper and at every Liturgy! “Your own of your own…” we say at the Liturgy. God is the giver of what we use in our Liturgy, and we offer back to him before we receive it. This is eucharist, this is life lived in thanksgiving and awareness of dependence on God. The desert is any place of temptation. But that same place can be where we turn to God and admit that we need God more than anything else; more than money and power and health.
And note something else. At the end after the thousands of people were fed, there were twelve baskets of leftovers. Twelve baskets for twelve apostles to continue the giving! God’s gifts continue giving when we unite ourselves to Jesus Christ and join him in his ministry of compassion and healing. Do you leave this church after Liturgy with the desire to share what you received here? If you do, then you are an apostle.
And as for the fish, did Jesus multiply them also? We only hear about he loaves of bread being multiplied. Maybe even God cannot do anything with fish when there isn’t a grill present. Even God has to stop somewhere. Even God has to say, okay with the miracles! Enough with the big rallies in the desert, enough with mountain-top experiences. Let’s get to work in the real world. And that’s where you return today, after you leave this Liturgy, to the real world where you will be called upon to do some miracles of your own with God’s help.