THE FOOD WHICH SUSTAINS
The Fourth Sunday in LENT
14 March, AD 2010
TEXT: St. John 6:4-14.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
“And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” (St. John 6:11-12).
We heard in the Gospel lesson this morning one of the greatest miracles performed by Our Lord during His earthly ministry. The feeding of the multitude was so important to the four Evangelists that they recount this miracle in each of their Gospels with only the smallest of variances. In fact, both St. Matthew and St. Mark record its occurrence twice, in order to emphasize its importance to us. Moreover, during the course of the Christian Year, today is one of three times that we hear of the feeding of the multitude; the others being the Seventh Sunday after Trinity and the Sunday next Before Advent. What, then, is so important about this event that all four Evangelists were so careful to include it in their Gospels and why do we hear about this miracle three times during the Christian Year? In order to begin to understand this, we must delve deeper into St. John’s account of the feeding of the multitude.
For St. John, the feeding of the multitude is the fourth “sign” out of the seven He recorded which reveals Jesus, through His miracles, as the Messiah. These “signs”, which occur in the first eleven chapters of his Gospel, serve to reinforce who Jesus is and point to realities about Him both as Son of God and Son of Man. St. John is careful to make this occasion, the feeding of the multitude, the most important doctrinal manifestation of Jesus’ identity as Messiah and His saving revelation to all of humanity. For as those who were there experienced it and we, some two thousand years later, hear that event recounted to us again, understand at once that it resounds with at least two other events like it from Israel’s history; those of the manna in the wilderness and how Elijah fed the company of one hundred.
We don’t have time, this morning, to dwell upon the details of these two similar miracles. Suffice it to say that you can read them for yourselves in Exodus 16:15 following and II Kings 4:41-44. Why these events shed light on our Gospel is found in the fact that it is GOD who supplies the people’s need. It is God who gives them food for their physical sustenance and strength. Moses asked God for sustenance for the Children of Israel during their wanderings in the wilderness. God multiplied the meal that was put into the pot for the one hundred men whom Elijah was with. In both instances, it was God who provided the over-abundant means to meet the need. Now come back to the Gospel this morning. Does this scenario look like that of the other two Old Testament examples? Let’s see. The need here is hunger. Even Jesus, Himself, acknowledges that. He asks Philip, “Where are we going to buy enough bread to feed all these people?” Philip answers, “It would cost about eight years of a normal working man’s salary to buy enough bread to feed them!”, and Philip simply gives up on trying to feed them all. So the need, hunger, is truly present. It’s Andrew who tells Our Lord that there is a boy in their midst who has five barley loaves and two small fishes, but that’s probably not going to be enough to feed all these people. It is then that Jesus asks for that food and, after giving thanks to God, distributes it to the Apostles for them to give to the people to eat. And there in their midst so meager morsels are multiplied before them that all ate until they were filled and satisfied; so much so that there were twelve baskets full of leftovers. Only God, in the manner in which He had done before, could do that again, this time, through His Son, Jesus the Christ. It is then that those in the multitude cried out that Jesus was, of a surety, that prophet which was to come into the world and they tried to take Jesus by force to make Him their king.
When the early Christians read this passage from St. John they understood, at once, that this miracle in the wilderness was a pre-figurement of the Eucharist. In fact, some commentators still today propose that this miracle of the feeding of the multitude is the farewell Messianic banquet of Jesus’ Galilean ministry, much like the Passover meal in the Upper Room on Maundy Thursday where Christ instituted the Sacrament of His Body and Blood was His farewell to His Apostles. Be that as it may, it is incontrovertible that, once again, God fed and sustained His people in the wilderness in St. John’s account of the feeding of the multitude. So where does that leave us, some two thousand years after that event? Again, we revisit that night on which Our Lord was betrayed.
As a Passover meal, Jesus celebrated, with His Apostles, the annual remembrance of the liberation from bondage of the Hebrew people during their exodus from Egypt. At that meal all those present renewed the covenant that God made with Abraham and were sustained by that meal of which they ate. Jesus, to be sure, celebrated that event with His Apostles that night, but He also did something more. He transformed that Passover meal into something new, something different so that now, not only would it sustain us physically as food does, but it would, through all eternity, sustain us spiritually as well. For now we eat the bread of Heaven, just like the Hebrew children did, and we drink of the Passover cup, which have both become for us the Body and Blood of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by His action in the cenacle on that very night. Jesus has put into common, living, physical means the very essence of God’s Love for each one of us. We are reminded in the Eucharist that God not only cares about and will supply our physical needs, read St. Luke 12:29-30 - that God knows we have need of those physical things for our body, but we are reminded, too that Our Lord’s Body and Blood, nourishes our souls as well; feeding us when we are spiritually weak, strengthening us when we are tempted beyond our endurance, and transforming us more and more each day into the image and likeness of God. It is only Jesus who can do this through His Body and His Blood. It is only through the Eucharist that Jesus can satisfy our soul’s hunger by His Blessed Body and our soul’s thirst through His Most Precious Blood. And the most wonderful thing about it all is that it is totally free! There is no cost to eat of this Bread and to drink of this Cup. All you have to do is to believe that Jesus is truly and really present at that Altar and then come forward, partake, and see how good the Lord is and how so very much He Loves you. Therefore, I implore you, come to the Lamb’s Banquet. Eat and drink of Our Lord’s Body and Blood. Feed upon Him in your heart by faith and with great Thanksgiving and be fed, nourished, and strengthened both now, during your Lenten journey, and throughout all eternity! Let us pray.
O merciful Jesus, Who in this Holy Sacrament dost vouchsafe to us the immortal food which is Thyself: Grant to our weak and languishing souls new supplies of Grace, new life, new love, new vigour, and new resolution; that we may nevermore fail in our duty, nor faint in our service; to the Glory of Thy Holy Name. Amen.
And now, unto God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost be ascribed all might, majesty, power, and dominion as is most justly due this day both now and forever; world without end. Amen.
SOLI DEO GLORIA – JEU+