Our Gospel reading begins with “Now, when Jesus heard this…”
Heard what? Matthew’s listeners knew what drove Jesus out on a boat to a deserted place. It was the story of the beheading of John the Baptist. Herod had imprisoned John. He knew that John had power within the crowds of people, some seeing him as a prophet. Killing him might not be the best option for popularity’s sake.
But Herod was tricked by his wife and their daughter. It was Herod’s birthday, and there was a great feast to celebrate the occasion. His daughter danced for all the people, and he promised her whatever she wanted for this gracious gift. She consults with her mother, and asks for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Suddenly, Herod has to save face and give her this wish. A feast of celebration turns into a power game, and the death of John the Baptist.
This is where today’s story begins, “Now when Jesus heard this…”
Jesus and the disciples lost a dear one for the sake of a king’s image. A terrible show of power and ego. We are meant to compare this deadly feast and today’s feast of 5000. We are meant to see the difference. It is such a powerful miracle, it is the only one that makes all 4 Gospel accounts.
Jesus retreats. Every time we hear about Jesus retreating, he’s “borrowing” someone else’s boat and going as far from the beach as he can. But today, the people follow. The crowd brings Jesus to a place of compassion, not destruction. He goes ashore, and in one moment, reaches out to the ancient crowds and to you and me in our deepest pain. Even in his deep loss of his friend, John the Baptist.
Jesus offers an alternative look at what the feast means. In the times before money was exchanged, the feast symbolized the greatest extravagance. Wealth and prosperity. The feast of Herod is one that leads to self-preservation. The feast of Jesus not only feeds the 5000, plus the women and children…but there are leftovers.
The disciples couldn’t see this. They were clouded in their own grief and self-preservation. They asked Jesus to send the crowds away, for they needed to find food. Jesus turned the desert into abundance, turned a feast of beheading into a feast of equipping. “You feed them. You give them something to eat.”
The miracle happened as Jesus equipped the disciples to care for those in need. Each disciple received a basket for distribution and collection of scraps. There were leftovers.
This is the miracle of God’s love. Something the people of ancient times needed to hear, so much that they followed Jesus on foot as he traveled to get away. Hope and inspiration in a world that beheads for the sake of self.
2 We learn about God’s amazing, unbounded love for us in today’s Gospel. It is a love that surprises our ancient brothers and sisters. It is so unlike the “love with strings attached” of every human governing body they knew. The power games. The distinction between master and servant, and the ultimate reality that in this wealth construct, you would never leave your station in life.
The miracle that God hands each one of us a basket, and equips us to share a love that abundantly multiplies. Love received in bread and wine. A love that cares for us beyond our basic needs, and loves us into extravagance. Leftovers.
The miracle lives in you and me today. We are called to be disciples. Jesus commands to the disciples, “you give them something to eat.” God’s gonna give you a basket, friends. God gives us all baskets. Equips us to make a difference to a grieving, hungry, desparate world. Jesus doesn’t do this by himself, but invites disciples to do the feeding.
Following Jesus means making our faith visible in our acts of love. In our voices fighting for justice. In the compassion we lend to others. We meet Jesus every time we take on the basket and let God make a miracle happen through our hands and hearts.
And God will do this. The feast of the 5000 reminds us that God can work miracles in places where scarcity threatens. We will always fear that the task is impossible, and it is if the work is only left to us. If it’s up to us, our feasts would end in beheading and self-preservation and fear.
It’s up to God. When we unite in the name of God, we watch baskets overflow with extras. God gives us the power to do good in our world. Nourishes us with bread and wine. We are called to accept the basket and follow.
This is not always a journey that leads us to our own dreams of happiness or prosperity. In fact, using our basket to reveal God’s abundance can be filled with pain, struggle. We just need to see Jesus on the cross to know that.
But Jesus’s story doesn’t end in death on a cross. And neither does ours. When we pick up the basket, we are allowing God’s love shine for a world that desperately needs a word of grace and mercy. When we pick up the basket, we are equipped with everything we need to share hope with those in need.
God intends for us to know the good life of plenty, not scarcity. God believes in us enough to empower us and equip us. God does not abandon us, but remains with us so that together, we may witness and celebrate the miracle.
Just as the ancient people saw long ago, the miracle of God’s love continues to break through, turning us from our self-made prisons, and freeing us to be God’s hands in the middle of a miracle. No matter what boat we try to take to get away from the troubles of this world, God is always calling us back to shore. Calling us to cast aside our nets of fear and embrace the dreams that God sees for us. Baskets of plenty for all. With leftovers. Amen.