A Homily given by Fr. Ben Jones,
For St. George’s Anglican Church, Raleigh, NC;
On the Seventh Sunday after Trinity; A.D. 2010.
“Compassion”
+In the name of God the Father, and of God the Son, and of God the Holy Ghost, Amen.
From the Epistle; Romans 6:23.
“for the wages of sin is death but the gift of god is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
From the Gospel; St. Mark 8:2-3.
“I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from afar.”
It is difficult, if not almost impossible to talk about the miracle of the “Feeding of the Four Thousand” without talking about the miracle of the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” as well. If you think about it, we really should compare and contrast these two miracles. They are very different in that they occurred on two different occasions yet they had a common teaching. So let’s take a look at the similarities and the differences of these two miracles and find what is revealed to us about ourselves, what is revealed to us about Jesus, and what is revealed to us about the Church.
First of all let’s consider the similarities. Out of the dozen or so similarities there are a few that warrant mentioning. Both miracles took place in a location where there was only a small, insignificant amount of food available when it came to feeding the multitude present in each case. In both miracles Jesus involved the disciples who in turn doubted their Lord’s ability to meet the needs of satisfying the hunger of the multitude that were present in each case. In both miracles the multitudes were entirely satisfied of their hunger and as well, there were large amounts of food that remained. With the similarities Jesus was driving home a very important lesson a second time with the “Feeding of the Four Thousand”. It may be understandable in some respects that the disciples asked Jesus in the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” where the necessary food was going to come from; but how about a second time and as we will find out, what about a third time?? Following the “Feeding of the Four Thousand” Jesus shows compassion on the disciples in a very loving, yet stern way. Listen to what Jesus told the disciples as recorded in the Gospel according to St. Mark.
“Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. And He charged them saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it, He saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto Him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And He said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?”1
The reproof Christ gave the disciples was with some warmth, for He knew their hearts. Yet at the same time He knew that He must express disapproval of their lack of faith in His ability to provide for those in need. So here it was, a third time with the one loaf of bread among the disciples in the ship. Jesus reminded the disciples not only of the sufficiency and the over abundance of the former feedings but of His true intent to be God’s compassion to them. This teaches us of God’s compassion in His total and abundant care in not some, but all of our needs. God is teaching us not to be pre-occupied with our concerns or our needs. He wants us to understand the source of our guidance and our help. God is teaching us to turn all of our concerns and needs over to Him in Faith and Belief. We do this through the compassion of God in the teachings of His Church. Through His compassion He has given us the Holy Ghost which indwells us and teaches us. Scripture makes this point very clear. In the Gospel according to St. John we hear; “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you”2 What an assurance we have through this “organic” relationship between God and His Church which extends to us. Now let’s look at the differences between the two miracles.
Of the seven or so differences there are some that are obvious and some that are not so obvious. We note the obvious differences between the two miracles; the number of people recorded, the initial available food, the amount of fragments, and the size of the baskets used to collect the fragments. The differences that were not as obvious revolve around Jesus’ carrying out the work of His Father. In the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” the miracle was motivated by the “Spiritual Needs” of the people. In the “Feeding of the Four Thousand” the miracle was motivated by the “Physical Needs” of the people. In the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” Jesus in the Greek “eulogese” blessed the food. In the “Feeding of the Four Thousand” Jesus in the Greek, “eucharistesas” gave thanks for the food, which thereby evoked Eucharistic Imagery. The differences in the locations show that the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” was directed to the Jewish nation or Israelites and the “Feeding of the Four Thousand” was directed to the Gentile nation. Let’s explore the not so obvious differences just a bit closer.
Jesus is revealed to us as a “Compassionate Saviour”. We hear from the Gospel according to St. Mark, “And Jesus when He came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and He began to teach them many things”,3 shows Jesus’ concern for our Spiritual needs, and again we hear from the Gospel according to St. Mark, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat”4, shows Jesus’ concern for our physical needs. Jesus also shows Himself as being compassionate to His Father. In giving thanks to God for the gifts of food is a proper way of desiring a blessing from God. Through the blessing of the Father, Jesus fed the multitude. We further see Jesus as the “Compassionate Saviour” who has now taken His ministry in a new direction. Time after time He has presented Himself as the “Bread of Life”, the Saviour to His chosen nation, the Israelites and time after time they have rejected Him. Jesus now has presented Himself to the Gentile nation as the “Bread of Life”, their Saviour which shows that our “Compassionate Saviour” is being that “Bread of Life” to the whole of His creation. We see how our “Compassionate Saviour” is revealed to us through the differences, but what is revealed about ourselves and about the Church through the differences? Let’s take a look.
We find that what is being revealed in the differences is what we saw in the similarities. Christ is teaching us of His constant care and love for us through all of our Spiritual needs as well as our Physical needs. We also are taught that through Jesus’ giving thanks to His Father, we should likewise always give thanks for our many blessings. Though the Disciples had a lack of Faith in Jesus’ ability to provide for the needs of the people, Jesus continued to be about His Father’s work. This same compassionate Saviour, and His love for us is right here in this Church, His Bride. We are spiritually and physically nurtured right here. Yesterday, the third Satuday of the month St. George’s celebrates a “Votive Mass for the Sick” to include the Sacrament of Holy Unction. I invite you to take advantage of this special Votive Mass.
So here it is in a nutshell. It is nothing new to us. What we have is the basis of Jesus’ teaching and love for us. If we put Christ first in our lives, turn it all over to Him, ask Him to be in our hearts and souls by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and seek His Kingdom through Worship, prayer and study of His Holy Scripture, He will provide for our needs in an abundance that we could never imagine possible, more than we need, even in our most deep, dark places. He knows our hearts. He invites us to bring all of our concerns and needs to the “Throne of God” and in turn leave nourished spiritually and physically from receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Just as we heard in the closing verse of our Epistle this morning, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.5 We choose life. Thanks be to God.
AMEN.
+
“AND NOW UNTO GOD THE FATHER,
GOD THE SON, AND,
GOD THE HOLY GHOST;
BE ASCRIBED ALL MIGHT, MAJESTY,
POWER, AND DOMINION,
MOST JUSTLY DUE THIS DAY,
BOTH NOW, AND FOREVER,
WORLD WITHOUT END.
AMEN.”
1 The Gospel according to St. Mark 8:14-21.
2 The Gospel according to St. John 14:26.
3 The Gospel according to St. Mark 6:34.
4 The Gospel according to St. Mark 8:2.
5 The Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans 6:23.