“…You Feed Them”
8th Sunday of Pentecost
Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 14:14-22
A crowd of many thousands of people was with Jesus all day. We learn about that large number of people only because there was a need to feed all Christ's listeners bodily. Jesus did not give or promise them any material things, but thousands of people followed Him and listened to Him. The Lord preached the Gospel of salvation to them; however, He was under no obligation to worry about their food.
But, as evening approached, the people became hungry. The place in which they were gathered was deserted. Therefore, the disciples turned to Jesus:
"'Here the place is deserted, and the hour is already late; let the people go - let them go to the villages and buy food for themselves.' And Jesus said to them: 'There is no need for them to go away - you feed them!'" (Matthew 14:15-16).
At first glance, it seems that Jesus gave a strange instruction to his disciples, which was simply impossible to fulfill. For, without the divine actions of Jesus, the disciples could not have fed those people. But Jesus directed the people "to sit down on the grass; He took five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowd" (Matthew 14:19).
And then an extraordinary thing happened: the disciples distributed food to the people, and it did not decrease, but it multiplied, it increased. It was clearly a miracle. Rationalists believe that something is wrong here, because from their point view this is a rational impossibility.
But the evangelist Matthew and the other three evangelists testified that this is exactly what happened - food multiplied, a miracle of God was created.
"And they all ate and were satisfied, and from the pieces that remained they gathered twelve full baskets... And there were five thousand men who ate, besides women and children" (Matthew 14:20-21).
If we were to talk about human capabilities, it is impossible for people to do this, but for God everything is possible. For God there is nothing impossible. Jesus was not only the Son of Man, but also the Son of God (John 10:36).
Perhaps we are too accustomed to limited thinking and drawing limited conclusions. We simply do not pay attention to the fact that the miracles of God are constantly working on a global scale. God has always performed miracles since the creation of the world.
Every day, every month, every year, hundreds of millions of people eat millions of tons of different foods, but the food on earth does not decrease... The number of people increases and the amount of food and drink increases.
The same thing happens for all kinds of animals, birds... All can eat their fill, all can slake their thirst, and all can be renewed again, multiplied. Baskets, once again, become full…
And what a mass of water is consumed by people, animals, and now by all kinds of factories, plants. Nevertheless, the overall quantity of water in the ground does not decrease by a single drop. And all this is so foreseen that, without the participation or involvement of people, all that water must be continuously purified. Undoubtedly, the miracle of the world is constantly occurring.
People, through simply comprehending the continuous multiplication of food in the world, can understand the miraculous omnipotence of God, and can only affirm as does the prophet: "How great are Your works, Lord, You have created everything in wisdom" (Psalm 103).
I also wish to draw your attention, dear brothers and sisters, to the fact that although the Lord Jesus Christ had the omnipotence of God and multiplied food, yet He directed that all the leftover bread be carefully gathered. Nothing can be lost when God's blessing was asked for it.
In Ukraine, bread was traditionally considered holy, God's sustenance. It could not be thrown or tossed disrespectfully. The greatest manifestation of hospitality was an offering of bread and salt. Bread was kissed. On the American continent, one can observe an attitude of disdain: bread is thrown into the trash, among rags, as waste, because bread is, as they say, only a commodity, financial gain. But we know and are convinced that bread is the basis of life. Life has shown us that there have been times when people might have been sitting on gold, yet died of hunger.
The Lord Jesus Christ was and is the master of nature, and thus it obeys Him. Nature created by God, the earth, the sun, give us bread and all types of sustenance - everything is foreseen by God's providence, because He alone is the Creator of all life. Outside of God, life does not exist. Therefore, when we consume all manner of food, let us not forget to give thanks to the Creator, our Lord and God. Glory to Him, forever.
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.