"One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him,
'There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?'"- John 6:8-9
Impossible. We've seen Jesus water into wine and heal people of illness. In the next story, he even walks on water! But feeding 5,000 people? And with only bread and fish enough for a child's lunch? Impossible. Ah, but when things are impossible - that's exactly when the Christ does his best work. "Tell everyone to have a seat," he says. And he proceeds to bless the food and hand it out until every one of the men, women, and children are full. There were even leftovers, tons of them. I wonder if maybe Jesus sent it home with the boy; a token of his generosity and obedience.
I've heard another version of this story. It's a safe version; a "Jefferson version," if you will - void of the supernatural and glory of God the Father. The story goes that Jesus was teaching this multitude of 5,000 when it came time to eat. Jesus' disciples were trying to figure out how to feed so many, when a young boy approached and offered his measly meal of five loaves and two fish. This is all fine and dandy, right? But the story goes on to assume that the 5,000 were so moved by the boy's innocent, though naive, offer that they all pitched in and everyone was fed well by communal generosity.
Unfortunately, this false narrative reels in the back of my head every time I go through the gospel telling. It makes me sad that people reach so desperately for practicality and naturalism and relativism, that they end up discombobulating the simple truth. The simple truth is Christ and His awesome power to feed a starving world! 5,000 people... that's a lot of people! Sometimes - no, all the time - the truth is outrageous and doesn't fit into our little humanoid boxes. It takes imagination and flexibility and, yes, even faith. That's the whole point of faith - to hold fast against the impossible.
The problem with this twisted version of the story, besides it actually not being practical, is that it leaves out any need for Jesus. If the 5,000 had enough money (or bagged lunches) to feed themselves, there would be no conflict. No story. Lie - debunked. Next. It is completely based on the people, their compassion being the answer and removing Jesus from the equation. But the people were helpless. Whether they were kind or not, all of them could have been as generous at heart as the giving boy, scripture is clear that they had nothing to give. They were hungry and they looked to Jesus to feed them - to perform another great miracle.
Don't we see this in our world today? It's going on all around us. Humanitarian and civil rights movements, focused on and hopeful of man's kindness toward one another. But scripture is also clear that "no one is good." Our hearts are wicked and in dire need of Divine Purification. Even setting the wickedness aside though, we are helpless creatures trying to help other helpless creatures. A drowning man can't save another drowning man - they both need the Life Guard. Not to say we can't (or shouldn't) be active in aiding our fellow man. The disciples passed out the food and collected the leftovers afterward. But they could only pass out food because Jesus made the food possible, and they could only collect it afterward because he made so much.
The problem is pain, the root is sin, the factor is man, and the answer is Jesus. Without the answer, there's only a problem. And the problem won't fix itself.
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