Word to the Wise
Friday, April 13, 2018 - 2nd Week of Easter - Fri
[Acts 5:34-42 and John 6:1-15]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?" He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred days wages would not be enough for each of them to have a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people recline." ......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. [John]
FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2018 FRIDAY IN THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER
[Acts 5:34-42 and John 6:1-15]
The multiplication of the loaves and fishes is an event in Jesus' ministry that is recounted in all four of the gospels. But the Gospel According to John uses it in a characteristically unique way. To begin with, this "sign" is not meant so much as an act of compassion for a hungry crowd as it is to point to Jesus as the one whom God has sent. The crowd misunderstands and wants to act politically, so Jesus has to hide! Another important detail is that Jesus does not hand the loaves and fishes to the disciples to distribute but does the job himself! We are left to imagine how he does this, but the point of this is that Jesus is in charge of his destiny. We are told that he knew already what he would do when he replied to Philip. My final comment on the text itself is that this event will serve as the platform for another discourse which will form the gospel scriptures during next week. This discourse is called by scripture scholars the "Bread of Life discourse."
Our own understanding of the meaning of Jesus' sign in multiplying the loaves and fishes is important here. We can become focused on the multiplication without realizing that in this gospel, nothing happens by chance. The evangelist is preaching to us about Jesus and the meaning of every action he performs. We are going to be challenged to consider what is meant by "the bread of life." We receive this bread in the celebration of the Eucharist. Do we know what the gospel and Jesus mean by it? Stay tuned! AMEN