July 25, 2021
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
An interesting thing happens on this Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year B in the Three-year cycle of the lectionary. We take a break from the near continuous readings from the Gospel of Mark and turn to the Gospel of John for a few weeks. In particular we read from one of the most important passages of John, which is the Bread of Life Discourse found in Chapter Six. It is where Jesus preaches on the theological foundations of the Eucharist in this Gospel, because John’s Last Supper scene does not include an Institution Narrative like the other Gospels, where Jesus offers the bread and wine as the sacrifice of his body and blood to his disciples.
The first portion of the Bread of Life Discourse begins with the story of the Feeding of the Multitude. It is presented using the allegorical, or typological method of scripture interpretation, where everything written in the Old Testament serves as a prefigurement for persons or events found in the New Testament. In this particular case, it is a parallel between the prophet Elisha in the First Reading (2Kgs. 4:42-44) and Jesus in the Gospel (Jn. 6:1-15).
Elisha was a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel and served as an advisor to the kings before the nation fell to the enemy army of the Assyrians (722BC). Elisha was highly involved in political affairs and was said to have great mystical powers. He also had a personal relationship with the people often showing God’s love for them by using his miraculous powers to resolve their difficulties.
In fact, one of the ways Elisha and Jesus are so similar is in the types of miracles they performed. Elisha brought the dead son of a Shunammite back to life (2Kgs, 4:33-35), while Jesus raised the daughter of a Roman official (Mt. 9:24-25). Elisha created a large amount of oil from just a few drops to save a widow and her son (2Kgs. 4:1-7), while Jesus turned water into wine to save the reputation of a bridegroom (Jn. 2:1-10). Elisha cured Naaman of leprosy (2Kgs. 5:1-14), while Jesus healed ten lepers on his way to Jerusalem (Lk. 17:11-19).
This weekend we hear about another miracle which both Elisha and Jesus perform. Elisha’s servant brings him twenty loaves of barley and a few ears of corn and Elisha tells him to give it to the people to eat. But the servant questions how such a small amount of food could possibly feed one hundred people. However, Elisha insists that he give the food to the people because the Lord has said, “You will eat and have some left over” (2Kgs. 4:43). And of course, this is what happens.
Jesus is in a similar situation in the Gospel. He has gone across the Sea of Galilee and up the mountain and a large group of people has followed him because of the signs he has performed. To test Philip, Jesus asks him where they can buy enough food to feed the crowd. But Philip suggests that this is impossible, two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough.
Andrew points out that there is a boy there who has five barley loaves and two fish, but doubtfully asks, “What good are these for so many?” (Jn. 6:9). However, Jesus instructs that they have the people, about five-thousand, recline on the grass and once they are seated the familiar miracle occurs. Jesus takes the loaves, give thanks, and distributes them to the people along with as much fish as they want. When all have been fed the disciples are still able to collect twelve baskets of leftovers.
Then we hear the conclusion to the story: “When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, ‘This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.’ But since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.” (Jn. 6: 14-15).
Notice that, as the New Testament counterpart to Elisha, the miracle of Jesus is much superior. Elisha feeds one hundred people with twenty loaves of barley and some corn, while Jesus feeds five thousand with only five loaves and a few fish. In the Elisha story there is “some left over,” but with Jesus’ miracle there are twelve full baskets of fragments collected. And although the people recognize Jesus as a prophet, he knows that they are going to consider him a king.
However, there is one detail in the miracle of Jesus which is actually inferior to Elisha’s, and this is where the message becomes crucial for those of us listening today. In the Elisha story, it is a main character, his servant who brings the food. But in the miracle of Jesus, it is a scarcely noticeable, trivial person – a small, anonymous boy. Without a careful reading one might even mistakenly transpose the disciple Andrew as the one who provides the loaves and fish.
Imagine that. One of the most significant passages of John’s Gospel, the Bread of Life discourse where Jesus tells us that the consumption of the Eucharist brings eternal life, has as the provider of the sustenance an insignificant child. No one in the crowd would have noticed him. No one would have thought that what he carried in his little basket was vital for the action that Jesus was about to perform or the sermon he was about to preach. But he was chosen by God to be a part of this salvific moment.
The same holds true for each and every Christian member of the Church. We may think we are not important enough to matter. We may consider that we have nothing special to offer. We may deem ourselves to be insignificant. Sometimes we may even feel invisible to those around us. But this story about the one, small boy tells us something different. It tells us that no matter how small, unimportant, unworthy, or unnoticeable we may feel, God notices. Not only does God notice, He also has a plan for us just like the little boy with the loaves and the fish. And when we least expect it, God will ask us to step forward and offer whatever gift we have regardless of the size, for in the eyes of Jesus it will become a thousandfold offering.
