The Bread of Life

CHEDDINGTON Sunday 26 July 2009

Reading 2 Kings 4.42-44

⁴²A man came bringing food from the first fruits to Elisha, the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, ‘Give it to the people and let them eat.’ ⁴³But his servant said, ‘How can I set this before a hundred people?’ So he repeated, ‘Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, “They shall eat and have some left.”’ ⁴⁴He set it before them, they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.

Gospel John 6.1-21

¹Jesus 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 Jesus, 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.’ ¹⁵When 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.

¹⁶When 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.

Sermon

Whenever we read one of miracle stories in NT, we often ask ourselves “Did it actually happen or is there another explanation?”

The answer will vary according to the story, but broadly there are two schools of thought. One group interprets the Bible in the plainest and most literal way. What we read happened just as scripture relates it. Labels are not always helpful – they muddy the waters as much as clearing them, so I will not give this approach a name, but we all know many people who read their bibles in this way and we admire their uncomplicated, trusting faith.

The other group takes a more so-called ‘modern’ view. Back in the 60’s we spent a lot of time in our theology classes hearing about ‘scientific’ explanations for the miracles. So, for example, a strong wind blew back the waters of the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds). Lazarus was in a coma or suffering from a form of catalepsy. The boy who suffered from fits was an epileptic and other ‘healings’ were in reality psychosomatic. The darkness that followed the death of Christ was caused by a volcanic eruption, and so on.

Which approach do you take? Which is right? As so often is the case, neither of them. You see, the literalists in concentrating on the wonder of the miracle often neglect the hidden meaning lurking just below the surface. But the modernisers in their attempt to explain away the gospel account miss the wonder of the actual miracle and in doing so risk doubting the divinity of Christ.

How can I be so sure that there are hidden meanings, you may ask? For the clues, let’s delve into today’s gospel – the feeding of the 5,000.

A similar account to what we have just heard from John 6 also appears in Matthew, Mark and Luke. But Matthew and Mark have another version only a chapter later in each case: this is the feeding of the 4,000.

In the feeding of the 5,000 there are five loaves of bread and two fish. Everyone ate their fill and the remnants filled 12 baskets. Then in the feeding of the 4,000 there were seven loaves and a few small fish. 7 baskets of broken pieces remained.

Was this second account a duplicate that somehow slipped into the manuscript? Almost certainly not. After all, although Matthew makes no attempt to explain the two accounts, Mark deliberately draws our attention to them. Jesus asks the disciples:

When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets did you collect? They said 12. And the 7 for the 4,000, how many baskets full of broken pieces? They said 7. Then he said to them ‘Do you not yet understand?’

Numbers have great significance in the Bible. 12 is the number of tribes of Israel and the number of apostles. It’s a Jewish number. 7 on the other hand is Gentile. The feeding of the 5,000 takes place in a Jewish area. The feeding of the 4,000 in the Decapolis – a Gentile area.

The two miracles then may prefigure the two stage preaching of the gospel. First to the Jews, then to the Gentiles as Paul says. The message is the Word of God. Salvation includes the Gentiles and not just the people of Israel.

More importantly, like all meals in the New Testament we learn something about the Kingdom of Heaven. All is shared, all are equal, and all are provided for in great abundance.

John’s gospel may contain only one version, but John’s constant use of the word ‘signs’ instead of ‘miracles’ reinforces the way he interprets these accounts. In John, after a short interlude when Jesus walks on water, the following morning he explains in great detail the bread of heaven. In feeding the crowds, Jesus did no more than Moses when God provided manna for the children of Israel. But the same bread represents Jesus himself, who can feed the soul.

I am the bread of life Jesus says. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

The way Jesus takes the bread, breaks it and distributes it to the people mirrors our own experience of the Eucharist through which we ourselves are fed. Jesus gives of himself repeatedly. The Holy Communion gathers up all the strands of allusion that the miracle story weaves together.

Important though the interpretation is, we cannot neglect the miracle itself. Clearly something amazing happened, even if the numbers and the details became invested with greater significance by the time the story was written down. After all, we must remember the gospels were written many years after the actual events.

All the miracles are in effect a speeding up of time. Water is naturally turned into wine by the action of nature. Vast number of people are fed by bread produced from tiny seeds. People are healed every day. What Jesus is doing is greatly speeding up the process of creation. So do we believe in the miracles? I would say, yes – then we move on, ‘drill down’ as accountants say these days, and understand the deeper significance and teaching that each one contains.

Let’s reflect on the meaning of the bread of life as we encounter Jesus during our communion today.