Lenten Daily Reflection 2020-03-19
Mark 6:30-46
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ 37But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii* worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ 38And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ 39Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all.42And all ate and were filled; 43and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.
Here we have the miracle of the loaves and fishes. What transpires in this passage is clear. And as I read the passage, I find two messages, one stated clearly and one implied. I do not know if we believe in miracles in these days of science. How do we distinguish a modern miracle from a coincidence? But dividing five loaves of bread and two fishes among five thousand cannot be a coincidence. Nor do I find anything in the passage to suggest a metaphor, another favorite piece of modern sophistry to explain what we, in an age of science, struggle to understand.
I must examine myself daily to appreciate the altar to science that I build between me and my God. I find that my work on that altar makes it grow higher and stronger almost by the hour, and I am afraid that I cannot, without faith and love, tear it apart.
For me, the second message comes through seeing just what Jesus does through faith and love. When he is trying to rest and take care of himself and his disciples, he nevertheless feels compassion for a great crowd. He becomes the shepherd to a flock of five thousand, speaking to them and feeding them. Nowhere in the passage does he ask the lepers to seat themselves in a separate section. He feeds the flock both spiritually and physically. And then, not having rested himself, he does not disperse the flock but sees it members safely off before retreating for his own spiritual nourishment through his prayers.