Abstract
Kingdom Feeding
Jesus feeding a ‘great crowd’ with bread and fish must not be misunderstood. It was a wilderness meal (vv. 13, 15)—not a picnic in a park. All and sundry were there, over five thousand people (v. 21)—not merely family and friends. The event had a political edge as the crowd following him were looking for a leader (according to John 6:15)—not homely, carefree munching by a few, but organized eating in hundreds and fifties (according to Mark 6:40). A meal, if you can call it a meal, was provided from their limited provisions of two fish and five loaves—not a picnic hamper with all sorts of goodies or a barbecue with sausages, burgers, beans, and booze.
So, why does this story of feeding appear in every gospel? We can emphasize Jesus performing a miracle, but the evangelists themselves don’t describe it like that. We can see Eucharistic overtones in the narrative, but that’s not the immediate point of the story. The truth is that the gospels can’t stop telling us about Jesus either eating with people or Jesus telling stories about meals. So, what’s distinctive about all this?
Let’s start with who Jesus eats with. One author once described Jesus as ‘in bad company’ (Adolf Holl) because he’s not bothered about who he eats with: Pharisees (e.g., Simon) and tax collectors (e.g., Zacchaeus), and with fishermen and down-and-outs. He’s not fazed by the presence of prostitutes or the disabled, by eunuchs or the elite. Jesus is an unfussy eater. Indeed, he seems to revel in eating with those whom others would disapprove of. Poor folk disapproved of him eating with the rich. Pharisees were indignant at his eating with tax collectors. The elite dismissed him for eating with marginals. We can understand this open table practice when we see that Jesus is enacting God’s Kingdom. Jesus talked all the time about the Kingdom, and his eating practice is a demonstration of it. The Proclaimer of the Kingdom is bringing the Kingdom in, establishing signs of its presence, parabolically practicing it—and in the Kingdom feeding of the 5,000 we see it happening.
When we turn to the stories Jesus tells we often find that they undergird and defend his practice of eating ‘in bad company’. Jesus’ stories of eating focus on banquets and feasts. This ‘feeds’ on popular expectation of God’s Great Banquet at the coming of God’s Kingdom. So it is that Jesus tells stories of banquets and who gets invited to them and how the guests perform. At one level, they could be perceived as tales of dining etiquette, although, of course, Jesus turns it all on its head by telling guests to take the lowest seat when they arrive, no matter how important they think they are; by criticizing those who send apologies for their non-attendance, no matter how important their excuse; by challenging bridesmaids to be ready to ensure they don’t get locked out; by giving feasts to wastrel, good-for-nothing sons; by recommending going into the highways and byways to drag the down-and-outs and all the riff-raff into the feast. It’s really surprising how many of Jesus’ stories focus on the wedding banquet or the great feast, emblems for him of God’s Great Kingdom Meal.
In speaking in this way Jesus is drawing on ancient texts like Isaiah 55, which highlight that everyone is invited to God’s Feast. Hunger and thirst are the only requirements. The starving, the roofless, the debt-laden will respond readily. At a church barbecue last year, some tramps came in and asked if they could join in: ‘Is there any food for us?’ The priest welcomed them in and they hungrily devoured burgers and hot dogs with the rest of us—a sign of the Kingdom in our midst. I was struck by the politeness of their inquiry and by the generosity of priest and congregation. There was no sense that these men were ‘out of place’, in their diffident way they joined in, took their place in the queue and shared in our feast day, and then went for seconds, like me.
Although the hungry and thirsty will respond readily to an invitation to a feast, the not-so-poor may wonder about the invitation. Already well-fed and watered, they may wonder who is going to be there: Will Maxine Roberts, the single mother and her noisy brats be there? Will John Powers, who has just come out of prison be invited? Surely they won’t invite the smelly people from the back alley. Will Sir Robert or the Mayor be there, or will they be put off by the riff-raff who will turn up? Such people may exclude themselves from the meal. But note: they are self-excluders, because they are invited, too. No one is too good to come; no one is too bad to come. No one is too rich to come; no one is too smelly to come. So: come! That’s what God’s Kingdom is like: there’s a Great Banquet for all. That’s what Isaiah foresees and it’s what Jesus proclaims and begins to live, here and now.
So, are we ready for the invitation to God’s Great Meal? Are we hungry and thirsty enough or do we spend our money on what cannot satisfy (Isaiah 55.2)? Are we sufficiently humble and full of mercy to not exclude ourselves? Or, will we be put off by who is going to be there, by who is included?
The narrative placing of the feeding of the 5,000 in our gospel today demonstrates the difference between inclusive Kingdom feeding and exclusive non-Kingdom banqueting: Jesus’ act of food sharing among the hungry and powerless stands in stark contrast with the conspicuous feasting and revelry of Herod’s birthday banquet in the previous episode (Matthew 14:6–11). Herod Antipas hosts a meal of the elite in his palace (Mark 6:21); Jesus hosts one for the masses in the wilderness. The banquet of the well-fed and well-to-do, the feasting of the powerful and power-hungry culminates in diminishment: the beheading of John the Baptist. Jesus’ meal with the peasants and workers and hired-hands ends with multiplication. Herod’s meal prepared from great resources gorges his guests but ends with great loss: the death of a prophet. Jesus’ meal prepared from scant resources feeds everyone sufficiently (v. 20a) and ends with great gain: ‘twelve baskets’ of leftovers (v. 20b). Herod feeds an elite few. Jesus feeds five thousand not including women and children. Herod’s feasting leads to violence. By organizing the masses and meeting their needs, Jesus restrains violence. Which is closest to God’s Kingdom? It’s no contest.
So, are we ready for the invitation to Kingdom feeding? It won’t cost us anything ‘Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price’ (Isaiah 55:1). All we may be asked to do is to share with others what we’ve got and by being blessed and broken it will feed more than us, it will feed a multitude and the Kingdom will be among us.