“I've never seen such a crowd follow him."
"Does he realize it's getting late?"
" You know, I don't think he's even
noticed."
"They must be getting hungry, I know I
am."
"But how could we possibly feed all
these people?"
"Just wait, if I know him, I bet he's got
something up his sleeve.”
“Like what?”
“John, get Philip to ask him what he wants
to do.”
Just as Philip is about to whisper in his
ear, Jesus says, "Hey, Philip, where should we buy bread for all these
people?" Without missing a beat, Andrew picks up on Jesus' humor. “Well,
there's a little boy here who brought five teeny rolls and a couple of fish
maybe that will help.” “Perfect,” says Jesus. “Send him over. And have the
people recline on the grass.” “Now what's he going to do?” says one of them. As
the little boy comes to him, Jesus stoops down and whispers in his ear. The boy
smiles, nods and hands Jesus his small basket. Jesus takes it, rises, looks up
to heaven and gives thanks, and then starts handing out bread, and more bread
and more bread and then the same with the fish, fish and more fish. The sun is
setting. Everyone is famished, and they are enjoying every bite. There are a
few muffled belches; chatter builds up again. Everyone is full. "Gather
all the fragments,” says Jesus. “Let's not waste anything." Many of
the people now begin filling up the laps of their robes and gathering up the
edges; filling kerchiefs and head scarves and bags, excited to share their
leftovers with those at home who couldn’t make it to hear Jesus this time.
So, it is that once upon a time a little
boy's picnic lunch was transformed by a Word of love into a huge banquet with
baskets and baskets of leftovers. This is not a story about what a friend's
mother would refer to as a "genteel sufficiency," just enough. It is
all about overflowing abundance and the immeasurability of God’s love
and compassion. This is God's dream of the kingdom; for in this scene from
John's Gospel we see that the reign of God has become a reality in Christ
Jesus. In him heaven is wedded to earth forever, and a celebration is in order.
God's Promised One is here to feed the poor and lowly with as much as they
want. The Good Shepherd has brought his sheep to recline on the very green
grass where he has prepared a banquet for them. And he has invited us to join
them.
Photograph by James O'Kane.
Photograph by James O'Kane.
