Scripture Sunday: A Taste of Jesus

2 Kings 4:42-44
A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, "Give it to the people and let them eat."
But his servant said, "How can I set this before a hundred people?" So he repeated, "Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD: They shall eat and have some left."
He set it before them; they ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.
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John 6:1-21
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.
​A large crowd kept following him because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.
Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples.
Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.
When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?"
He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little."
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him,
"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?"
Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place, so they sat down, about five thousand in all.
Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.
When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost."
So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.
When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world."
When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified.
But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."
Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

Have you ever wondered what happened to the extra bread and fish collected after the feeding of the 5,000? Did the people wrap it up and take it with them for the journey home? Did it disappear after one night like the manna did? Why have extra left over and not just enough for one meal?
This miracle of Jesus clearly alludes to Elisha's miraculous feeding of the 100, where some was left over. In both stories, God provided not just enough, but in abundance. However, Jesus didn’t just feed 100 people; he fed 5,000. Jesus was not just a prophet but God, who is Lord over the dry land.
Our God is not only the God who provides but also the God gives in abundance because, in God’s Kingdom, all of Creation exists to give life in overflow, like their Creator. Jesus shows in this miracle, that all who come, whether on time or a straggler hours later, will be filled and can take some home. The feeding of the 5,000 reflects the imagery of the wedding feast, where there is abundance for all who are in the Kingdom, and the prayer that Jesus taught the disciples to pray: give us this day our daily bread. It is both an image of the Kingdom to come and the Kingdom here now, with lines blurry between the spiritual and the physical, both becoming one.
After feeding the five thousand, Jesus walked on the raging sea as if it were dry land, showing His Lordship not only over the earth but also the sea. The words used to describe the LORD ring out in this passage from John to describe Jesus: the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.
Imagining this is mind-blowing and awe-inspiring. The God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land, became part of Creation as a human. God has never rejected Creation or left it for the heavens but loved it so much that God became human. Not only as the Creator but as the Creator who let Himself become created through a woman. One who knows our sorrows, knows of being hungry, knows of being afraid, and yet is without sin. Jesus is both the bread of life and also chose to be sustained by physical bread. He is the living water and yet gets thirsty and asks for a drink.
In the divine mystery of Jesus, the Church becomes His body, each member playing their part. Naturally, as creatures work through their bodies, Jesus works through His body to abundantly provide. In the feeding of the five thousand, He asked his disciples to find the food, honored the gift of the young boy, and had the disciples distribute and retrieve the food. Through the acts of faith done by the disciples and the young boy, Jesus made them miraculous. In the Church, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus is working through His body to provide the daily bread and abundance to the community. Just as our God did, we too can live within Creation, helping others experience the God who loves them.

​Caroline Hiler is a Seminary Intern at Creation Justice Ministries.