The Multiplication of the Loaves

John 6:1-15

Bernhard Blankenhorn, OP

Jesus did not multiply loaves to feed thousands of people, for that is scientifically impossible. The only miracle he worked was that he convinced the people to share the food that they already had.

Such is a popular interpretation of this Gospel. You may have heard it on the radio, in religion class, or perhaps even from a Catholic priest. It seems to present several advantages. It seems to give the Gospel credibility in a secular world that cannot believe in the supernatural. Thus, Jesus respects the laws of physics. Second, it seems to offer a healthy exhortation to practicing Christians and Catholics like you and me to be more generous, to share from our abundance with those in need.

On the other hand, this idea risks turning the Gospel into bad news. The lesson of the feeding of the 5000 becomes the equivalent of a reminder from Jesus to share what we have and nothing more. It is like a phone call from Jesus. He tells us: “Remember to share,” and then hangs up. Now if I received such a phone call from heaven, I would be pretty upset. I think I would respond: “Thank you Jesus, thank you so much.” The problem is that often I cannot share, because I am weak, broken and sinful. Sometimes, we find ourselves at the point of physical or even spiritual exhaustion, and we seem to have nothing left to give. In those situations, a reminder to share would be something of a cruel joke.

But the sure way to find the true meaning of the Gospel is to pay attention to the text itself. What is it that Jesus and John are trying to tell us?

The story is set during the time of Passover. Now there are two other Passovers in the Gospel of John. During the first Passover, Jesus is at a wedding feast in Cana. He takes a few jars filled with two hundred gallons of water altogether and miraculously transforms them into wine. Then he ascends to Jerusalem and drives the moneychangers out of the temple, purifying the place of sacrifice. Somehow, the temple guard cannot manage to arrest him. The third Passover in John takes us to the Cross, where Jesus offers the perfect sacrifice that replaces the temple. Jesus will soon rise from the dead. It seems that Jesus likes to go beyond the laws of nature at Passover time. Perhaps it is a kind of law written in the heavens.

Let us return to the story about the feeding of the multitude. We notice that Jesus ascends the mountain with his disciples and sits down. Now any Jew would have immediately recognized the image of a rabbi surrounded by his disciples. Jesus is in the act of teaching. The liturgy of the word precedes the liturgy of the Eucharist.

Then Jesus looks up. Now the last time that Jesus looked up was in chapter four, after speaking with the Samaritan woman. He had miraculous knowledge about her life. She went off to tell her neighbors about Jesus. He has stayed in the countryside, a kind of wilderness. His disciples return to bring him food. He looks up and says to them: “Lift up your eyes and see how the fields are already white for harvest.” The townspeople are about to come to Jesus to hear him teach. The harvest of souls is ready so soon. Now Jesus looks up on the mountain, but it is springtime. This harvest is premature, for the people will not believe his preaching. Yet he does want to speak to them about a harvest, another kind of harvest, about the wheat of life.

Then someone brings five barley loaves and two fish. Barley was the poorest kind of bread. Five loaves are little more than five slices. And the two fish are dry, as the Greek text tells us. Jesus takes a meager portion of very simple food.

Jesus takes, he gives thanks and he gives. At the Last Supper, Jesus took bread, he gave thanks and he gave. On the road to Emmaus, he spoke to two disciples about the meaning of the Scriptures. The liturgy of the word precedes the liturgy of the Eucharist. Then they stopped at an inn, where Jesus took bread, gave thanks and gave. The disciples recognized him in the breaking of the bread. We have technical language for the Eucharist: to take, to give thanks, and to give. In fact, the Greek for “give thanks” is eucharestesas, Eucharist. The multiplication of the loaves is about the Mass.

Then Jesus has all of the loaves distributed. No one has seen the miracle, the actual transformation of the loaves, just the effects of an abundance of food. Everyone is fed, 5000 men plus women and children. The text never mentions people sharing food they have. The people do not seem to have anything. They are utterly dependent and in need. Not only has Jesus supplied enough food for them, but he has multiplied the precise amount that allows exactly 12 baskets to be left over, symbols of the 12 tribes of Israel, because the Church, the new Israel is here at its banquet. Then the disciples gather up the fragments. Nothing is wasted, nothing is trampled underfoot. The food is treated with great care and reverence.

Finally, all of this is a sign. The next day, the people tell Jesus: “Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness” (6:31). Jesus responds: “Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they died” (6:48). The true manna is Jesus himself. He is the bread of life (6:35). And this bread is his flesh. “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (6:53). The multiplication of the loaves is about Jesus.

The miracle of the loaves is about the Eucharist. We begin by sitting to hear the rabbi teach through the Scriptures. Then he takes meager portions of bread and wine which he transforms in a miraculous way. Through the words of the priest, Jesus himself speaks the words of the Last Supper. The priest takes, gives thanks and gives. The hosts are distributed, and the life of grace that proceeds through them is virtually infinite. Then we gather up the fragments with great reverence into golden baskets and place them in tabernacles. And no one sees the miracle … usually.

In the 8th century, there was a monk who struggled immensely to believe in the Eucharist. He wanted to believe, but he doubted. One day, he celebrated Mass in the small town of Lanciano in Italy. He consecrated the hosts and then the chalice, but then he stopped in shock. For the host had turned into a living piece of human flesh, and the chalice was filled with human blood. He ran to gather the townspeople, and they all saw the same thing. The flesh is a piece of heart muscle, AB blood type. They placed the flesh and blood into glass containers, where you can still find them today. Scientists have investigated it over the years. The World Health Organization sent a team of them a few years ago. Their conclusion was: “We cannot explain this.” After centuries, the same piece of living heart tissue is still there along with the blood. You can be sure that there has not been a hoax, for the miracle is guarded by a group of Italian Church ladies, and there is no force in the universe more formidable than a group of Italian Church ladies. It's real! There would be cadavers lying everywhere if it were a hoax. Once in a while, Jesus says, “Peek-a-boo, I'm here. Did you forget me?” So if your faith in the Eucharist is weak, take a pilgrimage to Rome, then take a bus a couple of hours east to the Adriadic Sea to the town of Lanciano. The miracle is still there, waiting for you.

The Eucharist goes beyond the laws physics, just like the miracle of the loaves, and that is the point. The very purpose of the story is to tell us that Jesus has done something extraordinary, something that goes beyond the realm of nature. The multiplication of the loaves is not about you and me, it's about Jesus! If Jesus were simply telling us to share, then he would essentially be a self-help guru who teaches us spiritual narcissism: “Look to yourselves, you have what it takes.” But the beauty of the Eucharist is that Jesus breaks into our world and into our emptiness.

So if you are self-satisfied, in control of your life, if everything is going well and you do not need the help of another, then the Eucharist is not for you. If you have the resources to share with others as you ought, then the Eucharist is not for you. But if you are broken and empty, if you are utterly in need and realize your dependence on another, then the Eucharist is for you. Jesus asks us to live a supernatural life, one that goes beyond what is naturally possible, and so we need the Eucharist. The wonder of the Eucharist is that Jesus truly transforms bread and wine into himself, for then he can transform you and me.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------