'When the apostles returned, they explained to him what they had done. He took them and withdrew in private to a town called Bethsaida. The crowds, meanwhile, learned of this and followed him. He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured. As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, “Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.” He said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.” They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.” Now the men there numbered about five thousand. Then he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of [about] fifty.” They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets (Lk. 9;10-17). '
The apostles returned from preaching the word of God and healing the sick in Galilee. Jesus charged them with feeding the multitude of people who were following him. Jesus’ command to “Give them some food yourselves” meant that the apostles should spiritually feed his followers, the new Israel. The apostles understood that Jesus wanted them to give the crowd food for the body. Jesus was sent to abundantly provide for and feed the new Israel; 'On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples A feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines (Is. 25:6).' Jesus made the crowd sit in groups of fifty reminiscent of the Exodus; (Ex. 18:21) and Jesus was leading a new exodus (Ex. 16:1). The blessing Jesus gave before feeding the five thousand would have reminded the early Christians of the Eucharistic formula used in the early Church before the Gospels were written; “Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me (Lk. 22:19; 24:30).” The food that was left over was an example of how God abundantly feeds us. Disciples of Jesus are to share in the fulness of Jesus’ ministry even all the way to martyrdom.
Almighty God, each of us climbs the mountain leading to salvation on a different path. Help us to join in communion along the way so that we are strengthened by each other and by the body and Blood of your beloved son. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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