Can Jesus Feed Us, Too?
After reading about Jesus feeding the 5,000 in John 6:1-15, we may ask, "Can Jesus Feed Us, Too?" August 9, 2009.
What are you going to do with the miracles of Jesus? We heard a classic in today’s Gospel; even non-Christians know this story. Jesus took five small loaves of bread and two small fish and fed 5,000 people. Add the women and children, and maybe he fed 10,000 people with five small loaves of bread and two small fish. And after everyone was filled to the brim, Jesus’ followers collected twelve baskets of leftovers from five small loaves of bread and two small fish. What are you going to do with a miracle like that?
If you’re like a lot of your neighbors, even some of your church-going neighbors, you smile a little and store this miracle on the same shelf you put the rest of his miracles--right next to the other impractical things you hardly ever use. You take it off the shelf when you need a punch line, like when your wife wants to invite her whole family for Thanksgiving: “What are we gonna do, feed the five thousand?” People who think like this about Jesus’ miracles don’t mean to be disrespectful; they’re just echoing the accepted point of view. For the last 200 years or so most Bible interpreters have been pretty sure that the stories of Jesus’ miracles aren’t much more than a publicity campaign Jesus’ disciples used to sell his teachings. The world they lived in took gods and goddesses seriously; even sophisticated people repeated spectacular stories about what the gods had done. Nobody believes those stories anymore; we talk about Greek mythology or Aesop’s fables. And that’s what most people think of Jesus’ miracles. For them, the miracles of Jesus are just another episode in a biblical Harry Potter novel.
But what are we going to do with the miracles of Jesus? We call ourselves conservative Christians and confessional Lutherans, and conservative Christians and confessional Lutherans accept the miracles of Jesus as facts. We actually believe that Jesus rose from the dead; in fact, we consider the miracle of the resurrection to be the cornerstone of our faith. We believe that Jesus’ mother Mary was a virgin, and we believe that this miracle underscores the truth that Jesus is both divine and human. We believe that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and that this miracle proves that Jesus can raise us from the dead, too. We don’t consider Jesus’ miracles to be fairy tales you teach children. We consider them to be real events that still have an impact on our lives.
OK. So the feeding of the 5,000 was a miracle; it was a real event that has an impact on our lives. So what’s the impact? What are we to take home from this miracle? Some people are having trouble putting food on the table during this recession. Millions of people around the world are starving. What does this miracle mean to them? And there’s more on the table here than bread. This miracle has something to say to every physical issue we face. The same Savior who made bread made wine at a wedding. The same Savior healed physical handicaps and cured terminal diseases. What are we going to do with the Gospel for today? Can Jesus Feed Us, Too?
That’s a question Philip never asked. The idea that Jesus might be able to feed 5,000 people was never really on Philip’s radar. The truth is, Philip always had trouble getting what Jesus was about. The night before Jesus died Philip asked a question that led Jesus to say: Don’t you know me Philip, even after I have been among you for such a long time? When Jesus spoke to Philip in the Gospel for today, he knew exactly how he was going to feed all these people. This was a test question: Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? And Philip flunked miserably. Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite! Could Jesus have been a little more direct? Could he have said point blank: Do you think I can feed all these people? What would Philip have answered? Impossible!
My guess is that Andrew heard this exchange between Jesus and Philip. Jesus never asked Andrew anything, but all at once Andrew showed with a boy who brought his lunch. Andrew wasn’t an idiot; he knew you couldn’t feed this kind of crowd with a boy’s lunch. But he brought the boy and the lunch to Jesus anyway. Andrew was always willing to help. He had been around from the beginning, and he was close to Jesus. Andrew must have believed Jesus could do something or he wouldn’t have said: Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish. But Andrew wasn’t completely convinced. How do I know? Did you hear what he said? But how far will they go among so many? Andrew wasn’t like Philip; he didn’t suppose it was impossible for Jesus to feed the 5,000. But he was pretty sure it was improbablethat Jesus would do it. Andrew was thinking: Could happen; probably won’t.
As it turns out, Philip and Andrew were both wrong. It wasn’t impossible at all for Jesus to feed a crowd like this, and it certainly didn’t turn out to be improbable that he would do it with a boy’s lunch. You know the story. Everybody ate, everybody had enough to eat, and twelve big baskets were left over. Another Bible story with a happy ending.
Well, not quite. After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. Here was the problem the Jewish people simply could not get rid of. I’m not going to repeat the whole story this morning because it takes too long, but what the majority of people in Israel wanted from Jesus was a victory over the Romans. Every time they saw Jesus heal somebody, they thought about what he could do for wounded soldiers. Every time they saw him raise somebody from the dead, they imagined him raising casualties after a battle. And when they saw him feed 5,000 men, they saw a stockpile of military supplies that wouldn’t run out. They wanted more bread and they wanted it now. They weren’t interested in much else. They didn’t want to hear about repenting of their sins or forgiveness for their sins, and they certainly didn’t want to hear about a crown of thorns or a cross. They wanted to know what Jesus could do for them right here and now, and whatever he could do, they wanted it immediately.
Can Jesus Feed Us, Too? My father would’ve been more direct. He would have said, “Fellow Christians, what does this mean for us?” Here’s what it means. It means we can’t divide our lives into two neat little categories, one marked “spiritual” and the other marked “physical.” We can’t suppose that the Savior who went to the cross for us and defeated the devil, death, and hell forever somehow lacks power or interest when it comes to our daily lives. The rye bread and lake perch I had Friday night came from Jesus. I would have had neither--in fact, I would have had nothing--without Jesus. And I would have had nothing on Saturday or today, either. Our health and wealth, our house and home, our wife and children--even breath and death--all of these come to me and to you because of Jesus’ power and love. Jesus cared about these 5,000 men and he cared about their 5,000 families and by his power he fed them until they all had enough. Philip thought it was impossible. Don’t be like Philip. Can Jesus feed us, too? Of course he can.
Now the truth is that Jesus works in normal ways. He doesn’t simply look down on my tomato plants and shout down, “Grow.” He makes the sun shine and the rain fall--like he did yesterday--and makes my tomatoes grow just as he makes tomatoes grow all over the world. But Jesus isn’t bound by normal ways; he’s not forced to do things by the book. The check book may be empty, the dream may seem unreachable, the doctor may say six months, but in the end, Jesus decides. Andrew looked at the crowds of people and then he looked at the five little loaves and the two little fish. Andrew said “Improbable.” But he forgot to look into the love in Jesus heart and the power in Jesus’ hands. Don’t be like Andrew. Can Jesus feed us, too? Of course he can.
The worshipers gather in a 16,000 seat auditorium where the average Sunday attendance is 43,000 people. Millions more watch on TV. They come because they want God to bless them. They want happy marriages, nice homes, growing investments, and a healthy balance in their checkbooks. What does the Houston preacher tell them? “You can have it all now! If you let God control your life, you can expect God to give you whatever you want.” His message is the message of the American mega-church, the message of a thousand religious paperbacks, the message of most Christian radio stations. The message has an audience, a big audience: people who’ve forgotten that earthly success doesn’t always translate into eternal happiness, that prosperity on the outside isn’t the same as peace on the inside, that sometimes trouble and tragedy have a purpose in life. Jesus knew what the people wanted. They wanted more bread, and they wanted itimmediately. What did Jesus do? He withdrew to a mountain by himself.
Can Jesus Feed Us, Too? Of course, he can. Jesus wants to give us daily bread; he even encourages us to pray for it. Most often Jesus gives us daily bread as the world turns. And he can give us what we need in miracles just as spectacular as the miracle we heard about today. One more thing: Jesus has something to give us that’s better than bread. He wants to give us himself: his life for our lives, his death for the death we deserve, his resurrection for our life in heaven, his baptism that covers us with himself, his meal that gives us the forgiveness of sins. Jesus is so much more than bread. He calls himself the Bread of life. And he will give us bread or he will withhold our bread in a way that will keep us focused on the Bread that gives life forever. Can Jesus feed us, too? He can--and does and he will. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on August 9, 2009
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