Unnatural?
8th Sunday after The Trinity
1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 14:14-22
“Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So, they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” (Matthew 14:19-21)
When we read this Gospel story, it is difficult to comprehend it with reason alone -- it seems like a fairy tale. Some of The Gospel events are told by one or two evangelists, and some (like the suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ) are told by all four evangelists. The miracle of the feeding of more than five thousand people with five loaves and two fish is told by all four evangelists, so there can be no doubt that this miracle was actually performed by Jesus Christ.
Seems unnatural? - Who established the natural order? - If God the Creator created the entire universe, all of nature and the natural order of things, the alternation of phenomena in nature (for example, birth, germination-development, ripening, birth-propagation, etc.), then He is able to change that order, shorten, accelerate, multiply…
However, there are believers who do not deny that Jesus Christ performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand people, but not literally, but metaphorically. That is, by sharing five loaves of bread and two fish with the people present, Jesus multiplied their brotherly love for their neighbours. It is assumed that many people who followed Jesus took different food with them, but each kept their supplies to themselves. But Jesus touched their conscience and they shared with those who had nothing - “they all ate and were filled, and from the leftovers they gathered twelve full baskets.” (Matthew 14:20)
I do not claim that this is exactly what happened - this is the assumption of some believers, but this assumption does not deny that Jesus Christ performed a miracle, but it was not just a miracle of multiplying loaves and fishes, but a miracle of multiplying and showing love to one's neighbour.
As people shared their abundance, everyone, including those who had nothing, had enough, and everyone was satisfied. This giving and showing of love to one's neighbour was exactly in keeping with the idea of showing love to God and to one's neighbour that Christ preached. The Lord even said later:
“For I was hungry, and you fed me; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.” “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” (Matthew 25:35,40).
So, when those who had shared with their neighbours, love for their neighbors was revealed, they fed both their neighbours and, indirectly, Jesus Christ Himself. This manifestation of virtue occurred under the influence of Jesus Christ, a miracle that is undeniable.
If we take the story literally - Jesus Christ simply multiplied the loaves and fish - then the miracle was also performed by Christ. But let's not forget that a more important spiritual shift towards the spiritual rebirth of people is the willingness, the desire to do good to one's neighbour, to share one's wealth with him, to share with the poor, the hungry, and the thirsty.
This virtue of sharing by the well-fed with the hungry is very, very important not only between individuals, but perhaps even more so between individual nations and countries. Psalm 23 states:
“You have prepared a meal before me in the presence of my enemies.” (Psalm 23:5).
We obviously remember the rich man who dressed lavishly, ate, drank, and celebrated, while poor Lazarus was starving at the gate (Luke 16:19-21). That rich man was condemned by God, by Christ.
In today's world, there are many countries with high standards of living, where thousands of tons of food are thrown out into garbage cans every day, but there are also countries where thousands, even millions of people are hungry and malnourished. We are not saying that the wealthy nations have wronged the poorer nations that are starving; however, when we indulge in luxury here, the hungry, as stated in the Psalm, become enemies of those who live extravagantly.
And it’s unclear what is more frightening - terrible bombs or millions, tens of millions of people who are homeless, starving, living in poverty. Of course, we are aware that “man does not live by bread alone” - people need spiritual nourishment, but we are not free to forget Christ’s words: “for I was hungry and you gave Me food”. (Matthew 25:35)
And in the light of that statement of Christ, we must understand the miraculous feeding of the five thousand people by Jesus Christ. He fed them first of all spiritually, with the Word of God, but then He also took care of food for their bodies. Imitating Christ the Saviour, we should care not only for the multiplication of bread and food, but also for the multiplication of mutual brotherly love, because by brotherly love among ourselves- by the manifestation of Christ's faith in our lives - we build the Church of Christ.
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.
