August 02, 2020
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In the Gospel from Matthew for today we hear the story of The Feeding of the Five Thousand (Mt. 14:13-21). Jesus has just heard of the death of his cousin and baptizer, John the Baptist. He seeks solitude for his grief and withdraws in a boat to a deserted place. But, as always, the crowds learn of his whereabouts and follow Jesus, intent on listening to his teaching and, perhaps, witness a miracle or two. Even with his own remorse and sadness over the loss of his friend, when he sees the vast crowd, his heart is moved with pity for them, and he cures their sick. (Mt. 14:14).
Later that evening, the disciples approach Jesus and advise that he dismiss the crowds so they can go into the village to buy food. Jesus replies to his disciples, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” (Mt. 14:16). The disciples object because they only have five loaves and two fish, barely enough for their own small group to eat.
Then follows the well-known miracle: Jesus takes the bread, praises God with a blessing, breaks the bread, and has the disciples give it to the people to eat. Jesus feeds the five thousand men and their families and there is even enough left over to fill twelve wicker baskets.
This event sounds a lot like what is being described in the First Reading from Isaiah for today (Isa. 55:1-3): “You who have no money, come, buy grain and eat. Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what does not satisfy?
Only listen to me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare” (Isa. 55:1b, 2). Jesus is fulfilling this Old Testament prophecy. He is providing bread to the crowd without them having to spend any money. They only need listen and pay attention to him and they will eat well.
However, there is also more going on here. This passage from Isaiah, written to address the Jewish people living in exile during the Babylonian captivity, is a passage of hope and reassurance. It promises the people that they will be returned to their beloved homeland if only they turn back to God and abandon their wicked ways. God will not forsake them, but rather renew the everlasting covenant made with them and restore their nation by sending the anointed savior and descendant from the line of David.
In this passage titled “An Invitation to Grace,” the prophet Isaiah uses the image of a banquet to extend the covenant made with David to the people in exile. Further down in the passage, God emphasizes the promise of this salvation with this vow: “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me empty, but shall do what pleases me, achieving the end for which I sent it. Yes, in joy you shall go forth, in peace you shall be brought home.” (Isa. 55:11-12).
Enter Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, the Word that goes forth from the mouth of God, and dwells among God’s people achieving the end for which he was sent. He is the word of the covenantal promise now feeding the Jews of the first century AD at the feast described by Isaiah. The twelve baskets of fragments that are collected at the end represent the dispersed tribes of Israel joined again at the messianic banquet.
One interesting aspect of this story in Matthew is the fact that Jesus will repeat the miracle in the next chapter as he travels this time through Gentile, rather than Jewish, territory (Mt. 15:32-39). Here he feeds a crowd of four thousand men and their families out of pity because they have been following him for three days with nothing to eat. This time the disciples have seven loaves instead of five, and when the meal is finished, they collect seven baskets full of leftovers.
Herein lies the significance of the second miracle – the number seven. In the Bible the number seven represents completion and perfection, like the flawlessness of our world created by God in seven days. The number seven is also a symbol of completeness. What has been completed with this miracle is that the salvation offered to the five thousand Jewish followers is now offered to the four thousand non-Jewish, Gentiles followers. The five loaves that Jesus takes, blesses and breaks, and gives it to the disciples to feed the Jewish people are joined to the seven loaves multiplied for the Gentiles now a united group of twelve.
Jesus once again repeats these actions of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving at the final meal he shares with his disciples. But at this Last Supper he gives new meaning to the motions as he equates the bread with his own body which is about to become a sacrifice for the disciples, and all people. After the resurrection, the followers closest to Jesus continue this celebration at his command and establish the tradition of the Eucharist, which we still continue today.
When we gather at Mass and celebrate the Eucharist, we are the Gentiles brought into the fold of salvation extended to the Jews as God’s chosen nation. When the priest takes the bread, he offers words of blessing to thank God for the gift of the bread, breaks the bread and gives it to us as the Body of Christ. We thus receive the same invitation to grace given to the Jews by God through Jesus, who has become the promised witness, leader, and commander of all peoples foretold by Isaiah (Isa. 55:4).
