Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
Jesus preferred to feed the crowds rather than sending them away, scattering them from what was meant to be the centrality of his presence. The place was remote and the hour was late. He did want to leave them to fend for themselves. He was acting as the Good Shepherd who would make his flock to lie down in green pastures (see Psalm 23:2). He was fulfilling the promise of God himself in prophecy of Ezekiel, "Yes, I will give them good pasture on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in peace and feed in luscious mountain pastures. I myself will be the Shepherd of my sheep and cause them to lie down in peace,” the Lord God says" (see Ezekiel 34:14).
When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?”
because he himself knew what he was going to do.
It was not something that could be taken for granted, but in this instance, Jesus did desire to give a miraculous gift. The "Passover was near", and so the manna from heaven ought to have been fresh in the minds of his listeners. That would ensure that they had the proper context for this bread as a new manna, and Jesus himself as a new Moses, who would lead his people on a new exodus from sin and death unto eternal life. It was different than the time in the desert when the Devil tempted Jesus to produce miraculous bread. But we now see why that temptation was so cunning, is it very nearly matched what Jesus himself desired to do, only not quite. There was something perverse in that temptation that wasn't present here. The Devil wanted Jesus to satisfy himself and his own hunger in a way quite apart from his concern for his sheep. The Devil wouldn't mind the crowds seeing the spectacle as long as the result was that they carry Jesus off and make him a king. Jesus then, would have been someone who demonstrated the primacy of satisfying one's own hunger, and who purchased the loyalty of the crowds by promising in turn to meet their material needs. Rather than such a selfish approach that did not really care for the sheep Jesus provided materially for his disciples precisely in the service of mission, in a way that united them around himself as Messiah. When Jesus and his disciples picked grain on the Sabbath it was permitted precisely because they were participating in a greater mission that it was acceptable. The gifts of Jesus are always meant to be at the service of his mission, always meant to gather us around Jesus himself so that we don't need to wander to the world for answers when it is already evening. Satan seemed to say, 'Don't worry about the mission, the hunger is primary.' But that was a lie Jesus never believed. That it was a dangerous lie we can see from the crowd's response to the gift even when it was given in due season, at the proper time.
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
Jesus still desires to be the Good Shepherd who gathers the world around him. He has great promises for those who will allow themselves to be shepherded by him. But sheep would be foolish to seek the gifts and then ignore the shepherd. We will still need him even after we eat our fill, to keep us safe from wolves, and to lead us safely home. Yet we tend to eat, find satisfaction, tell Jesus "I'm good", and then leave for our own pursuits. When he satisfies us we sometimes set about making him a king, but a king whose reign only lasts so long as we stay fed. In view of the goodness of our shepherd who knows our needs better than we ourselves we ought to trust him more.
So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin,
rejoicing that they had been found worthy
to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.
The disciples in Acts demonstrated the degree to which their faith in the shepherd had grown. They did not insist on the satisfaction of natural desires when there was something deeper and more spiritual at play. Unlike us, when they encountered suffering they were not surprised or unsettled, but rather saw that their Lord was putting them to a special and particular use. They trusted and even rejoiced that their shepherd deigned to chose such a role for them. It was because they were not dependent on merely physical bread that they were able to rejoice in that way and remain faithful. They had tasted the bread of life, and that bread had given them the strength and the confidence they needed for mission, because that bread contained in itself the presence of their shepherd.
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