The Passover was getting closer. Jesus was up in Galilee, in the North Country again. A huge crowd had seen and heard of the healings he had done, and were reading the signs, and following him, out into the countryside; over the sea of Galilee (where he planned to have some retreat time with his disciples) and up the mountain that the began to climb to get away. These poor Galileans, farmhands and fisher folk, people of the soil, used to scraping a living, would have easily identified with the Passover story of liberation for a downtrodden nation. Some of the crowd may have been thinking, "It's just like the first Passover - out in the desert, up the mountain, like with Moses..." There's that sense of connecting with history, and of anticipation to see God at work in the way he did in history; maybe we can be part of it!
As the day goes on, it became obvious that people were getting hungry. Mark tells us that the disciples came to Jesus and suggested that he send the crowd home. In John's version it looks as if Jesus started the conversation: "Where are we to get bread for this crowd?" Once again, I don't believe John messed around with the story. He gives us different bits of the jigsaw from Mark and the others. The total picture is that, the disciples first suggested that Jesus send the crowd home; then Jesus told the disciples to give them something to eat, but threw in the question to Philip (maybe because he was from the local area) "Where are we to buy bread?" In other words "You know the area - where are the shops?"
Jesus knew it would cost a year's wages for a labourer to feed that crowd: 5000 men plus women and kids. He also knew what he was going to do. But he was testing Philip. What is he and the other disciples made of? What are their priorities? How will they respond to the challenge? Are they going to care more about the hungry crowd or about their own comfort? Are they going to bottle out of the challenge or are they going to face it with faith? Jesus had the miracle lined up, ready to go. He knew what he was going to do, and what and whom he was going to use. But the big question is one of character: indeed, in this whole business of dealing with supernatural signs, Godly Character is vital: and godly character includes questions about our motives and our faith.
Jesus tests their priorities and motives. Is it all about "me"? Self-motivation takes a variety of forms. Sometimes, like the disciples, it's about our quiet, our spiritual boost, our rights, our traditions, and our time. Sometimes it's about our comfort, our convenience, our security. It is about keeping the effort to the minimum. It's about feeling entitled. We feel entitled to be looked after; we don't want to put ourselves out. Anything that involves being uncomfortable, taking risk, altering our plans or using or resources, is a problem. "Send them away, Jesus; we don't want to be bothered. It's all going to cost too much."
For others, self-motivation is about visibility: about being the most important, being in charge. The question is always "what's in it for me?" The person who thinks like this may be keen to get busy with something - a new project, a new challenge - so long as I am in charge, so long as people acknowledge the contribution I am making. So long as I benefit from this. These are the people who will go out and feed the five thousand, but they want the crowd to make them king afterwards. That's exactly what Jesus took pains to avoid: as soon as the miracle was done, and realizing how people were feeling about him, he took himself off up the mountain by himself.
Faith, courage, perseverance, a positive attitude to difficulties, is also part of character. The circumstances look impossible. We have a crowd, we have no food, and we have no money. No; wait a minute; here's someone with a "piece" ... Andrew comes back and says, very honestly, "here is one lad (maybe a young slave on a day off rather than a child) with five loaves and two fishes" Five tattie scones and two wee bits of pickled fish to give them some flavour. It was a poor lunch even for one! No wonder Andrew says "What are they among a crowd this size?" The resources look so small as to be almost laughable. The best plan would be to give up: disperse the crowd; let it be their problem where they get something to eat. It takes character to maintain a sense of hope, optimism, anticipation, faith, in the face of small resources. It takes courage and faith to break chapattis and fish into twelve portions: it takes courage and faith to pick up one of these portions - less than half a scone with a wee scart of fish paste on - and hand them around. At least, it takes faith, until you see that every time you break a bit off there is a bit the same size left.
But it is godly Character, the motivation of love, the optimism of positive, forward looking hope, the deliberate exercise of faith, that releases God's resources and brings about a generous and extravagant miracle. There were twelve basketfuls of leftovers after everyone had eaten enough.
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So the poor, hungry, hard-bitten Galileans saw the sign: outrageous Compassionate generosity; a miraculous, charismatic gift, released by Godly character. And at Passover time, this sign, wilderness bread, revealed who Jesus is. It moved people along the journey. Some were saying, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world." That referred directly back to when Moses was nearing the end of his life's work, and he told the Israelites that God would send "another prophet like himself", only greater. (Deut 18. 15) There in the countryside, as Passover drew near, some who had eaten the wilderness bread recognized Jesus as that other Moses, the one who was to come. And after this Passover sign Jesus himself went on to say, "I am the bread of life." (John 6. 35) "I am the Passover Bread: I am the Passover lamb, who takes away the sin of the world."That's what signs are for. They are to demonstrate something, not about us but about Jesus. They are to show the Father's love. In our world, and in or lives, there are struggles. There are still people in our society and in other parts of the world, for whom life is a struggle for the basics. Some of us are just scraping through. Some of us feel we need liberation in lots of ways
Bruce Milne says Jesus "still surveys the needy world with compassion, just as he surveys the micro-world of our personal needs. He is not without plans. He 'already has in mind what he will do' in our time and generation, and just as surely with the tangled threads of our personal present and future." Jesus still wants to show the father's love: to give the signs through Godly character, generous compassion and charismatic gifts. And we can be part of that.
William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury 1942-44 said "The need of the world is not too great for our resources if it is the Lord who directs these resources."
© Gilmour Lilly July 2012
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