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Table of Contents
Focus Text: Matthew 14:13-21
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Scriptural Commentary on Matthew 14:13-21
Jesus’ feeding the multitudes is found in all four gospels. Both Matthew and Mark include two feeding stories. While Luke includes only the feeding of the five thousand, his gospel is filled with significant events surrounding meals. John’s extended account of the feeding of the multitude is interwoven with his account of the Eucharist. All of the evangelists saw in this story something crucial to the identity of Jesus and the life of the church.
The ubiquity of the feeding stories in the gospels should not surprise us. Jesus’ ministry and the gospels’ record of it are filled with echoes of Israel’s scriptures. Matthew tells us that the crowd has followed Jesus “to a deserted place” (v.13) recalling God’s provision of manna in the wilderness. Jesus’ feeding the crowds also evokes the prophets of Israel: Elijah and the widow of Zarephath whose jar of meal does not run out (1 Kings 17:9-16) or Elisha who feeds a hundred with just a few loaves and “they had some left over” (2 Kings 4:42-44). In Isaiah 55, the Old Testament reading which accompanies this passage in the lectionary, the prophet speaks of a future when there will be abundant food and water and the fulfillment of God’s promises where God will reign as king. Isaiah also envisions a time when “the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast” (25:6). Thus, Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the multitude both recalls the past acts of God and looks forward to a future time of abundance and justice. It also reminds us that there are, and always have been, hungry people.
The prayer Jesus taught his disciples reflects this tension between the present and future, longing for the reign of God to come into the present. This is why we pray “thy Kingdom come.” Next we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Such a prayer commits us to solidarity with all those who do not have food. As Brazilian Theologian Leonardo Boff writes, we “pray for daily bread because there are many who do not have it.” Our petition for bread in the Lord’s prayer declares that the present age is characterized by a lack of bread in the mouths of many of our brothers and sisters. It also expresses the hope that even today the hungry will be fed while also calling upon God to usher in the new age, in which all will enjoy abundant food. In Jesus’ feeding of the multitudes we see the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom in the present—a quite literal foretaste of God’s just reign.
Matthew carefully describes the sequence of Jesus’ action: he takes the food, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it. This is the same pattern Christ will enact at the Last Supper (Matt 26:26; see also Luke 24:30; 1 Cor. 11:23-24) before he himself is broken and given for the whole world. This is the pattern we rehearse when the church gathers together as the body of Christ. Like Jesus’ feeding of the thousands, the Eucharist points to the abundance of God’s good future, when the Messiah shall be the host at the table that includes people from all corners of the earth may come, eat, and drink (Isa. 55:1-2).
In the feeding of the multitude we see the compassion of Jesus, the abundant care of God, and the connection that we share with our neighbors, both now and in the coming Kingdom of God. We believe Jesus revealed God’s power and justice by feeding the hungry from a mere five loaves. The command he gave to his disciples on that occasion should still echo in our ears as disciples today: “You give them something to eat” (Matt. 14:16). Jesus left his disciples a meal of bread and wine in which he promised to be present—a table where we believe that all people are welcome and where there is enough for all: enough love, enough forgiveness, and even enough food. Wherever we go we have opportunities to extend the Lord’s Table beyond our places of worship and into the communities where we live—to offer food and fellowship to all who seek it. For we believe that Jesus Christ is the living bread who has come to feed all the people of the world (John 6:35).
By Michael Burns, Duke Divinity School Intern
Worship Aids about Ending Hunger
Prayers
May We Hunger Enough
Lord, let us hunger enough that we not forget the world’s hunger. Lord, let us hunger enough that we may have bread to share. Lord, let us hunger enough that we may long for the Bread of Heaven. Lord, let us hunger enough that we may be filled. But, O Lord, let us not hunger so much that we seek after that which is not bread, nor try to live by bread alone. Amen.
(SOURCE: http://www.bread.org/help/church/worship/prayers/suffering-with-those-who-hunger/may-i-hunger-enough.pdf)
That We May Be Satisfied
Generous God,
Enough is enough! Or is it?
Your love and care are extended way beyond our deserving,
Way beyond our capacity to collect.
You provide us more than enough…
But Lord, so much of life disclaims that enoughness.
We hope for more than we need.
We work for more than we can obtain.
We demand more than we have earned.
We expect more than our share.
At the same time we hear story upon story of people
Truly lacking the enough we consider so basic to our lives…
Too many millions of children lack the basic nutrients
With which to build strong bodies,
As famine and adult power struggles strip their pantries bare…
God, we do affirm your enoughness.
Please, now, bestow on those so lacking:
The home, the food, and the peace they need truly to have enough.
And help us who enjoy a super-abundance
To turn our longing for more into a mission to simplify, to share,
And to follow your lead, that is, to give.
In the name of the one who gave himself, even Christ Jesus our Lord, we pray.
Amen.
(SOURCE: http://www.bread.org/help/church/worship/prayers/community-with-those-who-are-hungry/that-we-may-be-satisfied.pdf)
Responsive Prayer for Those Who Hunger
Leader: In peace, let us pray to the Lord,
People: Lord, have mercy.
Leader: Let us pray for those who are hungry.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Leader: Let us pray for those who are full.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Leader: Let us pray for those whose voices are strong.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Leader: Let us pray for those whose voices have been silenced.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Leader: Let us pray for all those who gather on this day, in this place, and across the globe, hungry and full, speaking and silent.
All: That, together, we may raise our voices against hunger and injustice. Amen.
(Source: http://www.bread.org/help/church/worship/prayers/litany/responsive-prayer-for-those-who-hunger.pdf)
Sharing Our Abundance
God our sustainer, we ask you to pour your powerful Spirit into all who are empty this day: Fill the hearts of persons who are troubled. Fill the minds of men and women who are confused. Fill the stomachs of children who are hungry. Fill the souls of people who are feeling lost.
Fill the lives of all who need you, but do not know you. May your Spirit fill us all to overflowing, dear Lord, and may it inspire us to share our abundance with others, so that there will be no more empty hearts and minds, stomachs and souls. We pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ, who fills lives with your endless grace. Amen.
(SOURCE: http://www.bread.org/help/church/worship/prayers/suffering-with-those-who-hunger/sharing-our-abundance.pdf)
Facts and Reflection about Ending Hunger
- “Food insecurity refers to USDA’s measureof lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Food-insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. Food insecurity may reflect a household’s need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing or medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods.”
- In 2015 Over 42M people in the US were found to be food insecure with some of the highest rates occurring in the American South.
- In 2015 1.6M North Carolinians struggled with hunger with 31% of those being children. 1 in 4 children in NC struggles with hunger.
- 75% of North Carolina’s food insecure residents are economically eligible for SNAP and other benefits by earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level.
Source
- Feeding America, “Food Insecurity in the United States,” http://map.feedingamerica.org
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
