Luke 9:7 – 17 Multiplication of the Loaves.

Luke 9:7 – 17 Multiplication of the Loaves.

Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, "John has been raised from the dead"; others were saying, "Elijah has appeared"; still others, "One of the ancient prophets has arisen." But Herod said, "John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?" And he kept trying to see him.

When the apostles returned, they explained to Jesus what they had done. He took them and withdrew in private to a town called Bethsaida. The crowds, meanwhile, learned of this and followed him. He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured. As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here." He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people." Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of (about) fifty." They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.

This is a very famous miracle, one that until recently I think I have taken for granted. What changed my mind was a sermon I heard while in Maine. The priest, who initially looked to be quite stern, turned out to be pretty funny. He started and ended with a joke and told several funny stories along the way. But it was his insight into the miracle that has stayed with me. I always took it as a straight up miracle – a bottomless basket of bread and fish, or maybe you imagined baskets of food appearing out of thin air, poof, poof, poof, to feed the masses. This priest had a different take on it. I think his larger point was that we should look to Jesus as our example, follow his ways of faith and trust and generosity. In a way, his take on the miracle was perhaps less “miraculous” in that he said that perhaps what happened that day was that when Jesus blessed and broke the few loaves and fishes and began to share them with the crowd, everyone who had squirreled away a bit of food in their belongings when they came out to see Jesus, broke that out as well and began to share with their neighbors. So Jesus’ example inspired people and together they created the miracle. Maybe that makes this miracle less in your eyes, but not in mine. In my eyes it means that those kind of miracles – inspired by Jesus’ deeds and acted upon by us are possible anytime and anyplace. Have you ever wished you lived in a time of miracles? Maybe we just have to stop waiting for the “poof” and start doing our small part in faith.