The Miracle of the Loaves and Fish: Beyond the Math into Balance

Most, if not all Christians, know about Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish. What many do not know, however, is that there were actually two such miracles.

The “Feeding of the Five Thousand” is reported in all four Gospels (Mt 14:13-21, Mk 6:31-44, Lk 9:12-17, Jn 6:1-14).  But the other miracle, the “Feeding of the Four Thousand” with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish, is only reported by Matthew (Mt 15:32-39) and Mark (Mk 8:1-9).  The Feeding of the Five Thousand involved five loaves and two fish supplied by a boy and is the more well-known of the two multiplication miracles.

The Real Numbers

In looking at these miracles we should remember that only men were counted in the numbers (Mt 14:21). So in each case, we are really dealing with at least twice the number. More likely the real number is three to four times the number given.

So, in reality, these miracles are about feeding between 10,000 and 20,000 people in each case.  While such figures may impress many even further, the sacred irony here is that the more we are impressed by the numbers, the less we know what this is all really about.

So Much More than Sharing

Some see these miracles as simply lessons in the value of sharing.  But such a view short-changes what these events are really about.

It is unlikely, in my opinion, that so many people would go to hear Jesus without at least some of them having brought something to eat.  Given human nature, it is very likely that many people were bringing food meant just for themselves.  And they probably had no intention of sharing the fruits of their foresight with those foolish enough to not plan ahead.

Certainly, the generous unselfishness of the boy who offered what he had in one of the miracles is a valuable lesson in unselfishness. The unconditional offering of what God has given us can be multiplied by God to do so much more than we could ever imagine possible.  But, again, we can get lost in the numbers on one end, or become too wrapped up in the unselfish sharing in the other.

Miracles with Real Legs

Christ’s miracles are very well known.  Yet these wonderful events and accounts are often filed under His efforts to simply get people’s attention.  Other times they show Him serving the immediate needs of those before him – restoring sight to the blind, healing cripples, curing disease, or providing food for a multitude.  In each of these cases, the miracle catches the attention of the favored, and the witnesses, if any, to the miracle itself.

Such miracles likewise capture our human attention as examples of Christ’s power or of the power of faith.  I say “human” attention because these miracles should most importantly capture our spiritual attention as well.

Miracles are lessons in the balance needed to fulfill our sacred destiny as partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).  As such, all miracles have the potential to guide us closer to God.  The two multiplication miracles, however, have a unique and wonderful potential to provide us with the balance necessary to grow closer to God.

The Two Extremes

Balance is necessary if we are to grow in our faith because we face two extremes which can each stifle that growth. In order to grow in our faith and toward God, we have to fight against two very different, yet equally damaging, extremes fed by our sometimes warped human nature.

On one hand, we may feel overwhelmed and useless to serve God in any real way.  This is due to our human imperfection and weakness.  Surely, we have all sometimes felt that we have come to the gathering with no fish or loaves to offer.  We feel that we have only insignificant skills or talents wholly inadequate or even useless to the task at hand or for what God wants us to do.

Having taught religious education to third- and fourth-graders for the past decade, I was recently asked to take on the seventh- and eighth graders in preparation for their confirmation. My initial sense was that while my religious teaching skills worked well with a younger audience, they may not transfer to older children.  I feared my abilities would fall miserably short with the early teen crowd so distracted and immersed in so much beyond their faith.

Not Enough?

What I failed to see, however, is that the boy’s meager offerings of loaves and fish may have likewise seemed pathetic to this world’s eyes, but not to God.  He thrives in flipping the script and magnifying the effect on a regular basis.  What I need to do is simply to follow Mary’s lead in saying “yes” and leaving the rest to God.

I do not know how much difference I will make shifting to this older age group. But I have become well aware that this is what God wants me to do at this time. It is certainly not about comfort, convenience, or familiarity, because the third and fourth-grade offers so much more of that at this time. It is about avoiding the temptation, certainly inspired by the evil one, to retreat and hide my talents under a pillow out of fear that the Master will not be pleased by the results of His investment in me.

Ultimately, we have to love and trust God enough to believe that He has special plans for each of us.  We have to offer what He has given us unconditionally, and then get out of our own way.

Too Much

If we sometimes feel inadequate to serve God, at other times we expect too much from ourselves.  We play god even as we obsess over our own inadequacy to fulfill the mission God has given us.  Human beings are nothing if not contradictory, irrational, and misguided precisely when we simply need to keep things as simple as possible.

Faith, trust, and love of God and others is, at its core, a simple task. Either we believe in God enough to leave everything to Him, or we do not.  Either we love God and others enough to live to serve Him and them, or we do not. If we find this whole ‘growing toward God’ thing complicated, it is because we take it there.

If we want to see what so often prevents us from becoming what God wants us to become, we only need to look in the mirror.  We can often be our own worst enemy. Thankfully, God will always be our best friend if we only offer what He has given us back in humble and loving service.

I have heard it said that God does not want or need us to multiply the fish and loaves, but only to bring them to the gathering.  How often do we speak out of both sides of our mouths, whining about our imperfection and hopeless insufficiency on one hand while complaining about our inability to work miracles on the other. Which one are we?  Are we useless incompetents or frustrated mini-gods?

The answer is neither, and hence the need for balance.  What we need is a reminder that God has given us enough to make miracles.  Our job is to merely offer what we have and let God do the rest.

Conclusion

The miracles of the feeding of the multitudes are some of the most dramatic, dynamic, and inspiring wonders provided by Our Lord.  Many interpretations and inspirations from these events focus on everything from the impressive numbers to the low hanging fruit of sharing and generosity.

What I am suggesting is that there is a lesson of divine balance here.  On one hand, we must humbly trust and love God enough to believe that He has wonderful and transcendent plans for us through the gifts that He has given each of us.  On the other hand, however, we must humbly step back and leave those plans to God.

Through these events, God is reminding us that we each have a sacred mission in His service.  And our all-knowing God has given us the tools to fulfill that mission. The balance comes in remembering that we bring the tools but need to let Christ, the Divine Carpenter, do the work through us.

When we feel useless or trivial, we underestimate God’s investment in us.  When we become frustrated or anxious because we cannot make things go as planned, we underestimate our investment in God.