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Compassion and Community - a symbolic exploration of Mark's Feeding of the 5000 (Mark 6:35-44)
Today we come to reflect on Mark’s telling of the story of the feeding of the 5,000. I guess one of the questions that many modern readers might have is whether the story is historical or not? Did the story happen exactly like this or was it a legendary story that grew up around Jesus within the first 30 years or so after Jesus death? My rational scientific brain would question the exact historicity of the story… and yet there is a part of me that is still unable to dismiss strange and miraculous events simply because at this point science is unable to explain it. There is far too much anecdotal evidence to suggest that strange unexplainable things don’t happen.
What I do know however is that Mark’s Gospel deliberately employs symbolism in order to capture the meaning of Jesus life and ministry. Mark’s Gospel (in fact like all 4 gospels) is in fact very short to be a history of Jesus life. Rather, the author seems to have deliberately crystallised a number of stories in order to capture symbolically, the meaning of Jesus life and ministry. And so I believe that it is not just possible, but quite probable that the writer of Mark’s Gospel is wanting us to interpret this story of the feeding of the 5000 symbolically. And so, like the Native American story teller who would always begin his tribe’s creation story with the words: “I don’t know if it happened exactly like this, but I know this story is true”, that is how I would approach this story from Mark’s Gospel today. “I don’t know if it happened exactly like this, but I know this story is true”… and so I invite us to explore some of the symbolic truth of the story and how it might speak to us today. And when we do so, I believe that we find that it is more than simply a story about a miraculous provision of food; it might in fact be a profound statement about God's kingdom, justice, and community.
Setting the scene in Mark’s Gospel, as we saw last week, the disciples have just returned from their missionary journey, and Jesus invites them to rest. They withdraw to a quiet place, but the crowd follows. As Jesus sees the multitude, He is moved with compassion because they are "like sheep without a shepherd." This phrase (which we touched on last week) evokes the imagery of Psalm 23, where the Yahweh, or ‘the Lord’ is depicted as the shepherd who provides, guides, and cares for His flock.
In Psalm 23, we read, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures." Here in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus instructs the people to sit down on the "green grass." This detail is not incidental. The writer of Mark is directly linking Jesus' actions in this passage to the pastoral care depicted in Psalm 23. Mark is wanting to emphasize that Jesus is the good Shepherd, God’s chosen leader for his people Israel, who sees the needs of the people and responds with compassion and provision where the actual leaders of Israel have failed because of their own corrupted self-interest.
Ched Myers, in his book “Binding the Strongman” develops these insights further and suggests that this miracle is not just about feeding hungry stomachs; it's a radical act of economic justice and community building. Myers interprets this event as a direct challenge to the Roman Empire's economic system, which was marked by scarcity, competition, and exploitation. The Roman Empire, as almost all of the world’s empires have been was fundamentally built on the principle of exploitation. Slaves and peasants were exploited through low wages and taxation to create wealth for the Empire. The crowds, in Mark’s Gospel represent these large swathes of people living in the Roman Empire whose primary purpose in the eyes of the Empire were to be used and exploited as economic fuel for the glory of the Empire.
Getting back to the story, when the disciples suggest sending the crowd away to buy food, Jesus' response is revolutionary: "You give them something to eat" he says. In doing so, Ched Myers believes that Jesus shifts the focus from the market economy of buying and selling to a community of sharing. The disciples find five loaves and two fish—an amount that seems insignificant—but in Jesus' hands, it becomes abundantly sufficient.
Jesus takes the loaves, looks up to heaven, blesses them, breaks them, and gives them to the disciples to distribute. Many suggest that this act mirrors the symbolic practice of communion, where all share and are fed from a common loaf. But Ched Myers suggests that it also symbolizes a new economy based on God's abundance, not human scarcity. Twelve baskets of leftovers signify not just enough, but more than enough—a direct contradiction to the empire's narrative of never enough. But when food and provisions are shared there is more than enough. As it is often said, if the aim is to meet everyone’s greed, there is will never be enough. But if the aim is to meet people’s genuine needs, there will be abundantly enough.
Ched Myers suggests that by involving the disciples in the distribution, Jesus models a new form of leadership and community. It's a decentralized power structure where everyone participates in the miracle. This community is marked by mutual aid and sharing, a stark contrast to the top-down power dynamics of the Roman Empire.
This miracle also serves as a foretaste of the Messianic banquet, a recurring image in the Old Testament, the eschatological feast at the end of time where all are welcomed and provided for. In Psalm 23, we read, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; my cup overflows." In Mark, the feeding of the 5,000 anticipates this overflowing abundance and the inclusive nature of God's kingdom.
And the writer of Mark’s Gospel is suggesting that as followers of Jesus, we are called to embody these kingdom values in our lives. We are called to see the needs of those around us and respond like Jesus with compassion to those in society who are like sheep without a shepherd. We are invited to participate in God's economy of abundance, where we share what we have with those in need and trust in God's provision the provision of a Higher Power. We are challenged to build communities of mutual aid and justice, where those at the bottom are empowered and lifted up reflecting the radical inclusivity and generosity of Jesus.
A colleague of mine in South Africa used to say that the purpose of work from a Christian perspective is not simply to earn a living. The true purpose of work from a Christian perspective is to earn a giving. AS Christians we are called to be part of a society where our main aim in life is not simply living for our own wealth and our own comfort, but to become givers so that others around us can be raised and lifted up and enabled to become the best that they can be.
Last year I heard Constable Martin, one of the Dromore Police Officers, speaking of these things. He has been very concerned about the number of teens in Dromore who have become directionless. He has been trying to initiate projects where some of this directionless energy is channelled into positive ways. One of these is the repair shop… fixing bicycles. Another is initiating sporting events during the holidays. He is convinced that these kinds of projects have an impact. He spoke of one teenager who was becoming problematic in the town a few years ago engaging in anti-social behaviour. In befriending the teenager, he managed to get the youngster involved in a boxing academy to channel his directionless energies into some kind of discipled structure. He said it made an enormous difference in the life of that teenager, whose life he says has now begun taking on a different turn simply because he was given a little direction and a lift up at a time when he was becoming directionless and destructive.
I wonder if that is what this story and others like it in Marks Gospel are pointing towards. The nurturing of a society where no-one is left behind. And ultimately it benefits us all when the unruly and directionless energy is channelled and nurtured and fed in positive and wholesome ways.
Just some food for thought for us all today. Amen.
Today we come to reflect on Mark’s telling of the story of the feeding of the 5,000. I guess one of the questions that many modern readers might have is whether the story is historical or not? Did the story happen exactly like this or was it a legendary story that grew up around Jesus within the first 30 years or so after Jesus death? My rational scientific brain would question the exact historicity of the story… and yet there is a part of me that is still unable to dismiss strange and miraculous events simply because at this point science is unable to explain it. There is far too much anecdotal evidence to suggest that strange unexplainable things don’t happen.
What I do know however is that Mark’s Gospel deliberately employs symbolism in order to capture the meaning of Jesus life and ministry. Mark’s Gospel (in fact like all 4 gospels) is in fact very short to be a history of Jesus life. Rather, the author seems to have deliberately crystallised a number of stories in order to capture symbolically, the meaning of Jesus life and ministry. And so I believe that it is not just possible, but quite probable that the writer of Mark’s Gospel is wanting us to interpret this story of the feeding of the 5000 symbolically. And so, like the Native American story teller who would always begin his tribe’s creation story with the words: “I don’t know if it happened exactly like this, but I know this story is true”, that is how I would approach this story from Mark’s Gospel today. “I don’t know if it happened exactly like this, but I know this story is true”… and so I invite us to explore some of the symbolic truth of the story and how it might speak to us today. And when we do so, I believe that we find that it is more than simply a story about a miraculous provision of food; it might in fact be a profound statement about God's kingdom, justice, and community.
Setting the scene in Mark’s Gospel, as we saw last week, the disciples have just returned from their missionary journey, and Jesus invites them to rest. They withdraw to a quiet place, but the crowd follows. As Jesus sees the multitude, He is moved with compassion because they are "like sheep without a shepherd." This phrase (which we touched on last week) evokes the imagery of Psalm 23, where the Yahweh, or ‘the Lord’ is depicted as the shepherd who provides, guides, and cares for His flock.
In Psalm 23, we read, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures." Here in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus instructs the people to sit down on the "green grass." This detail is not incidental. The writer of Mark is directly linking Jesus' actions in this passage to the pastoral care depicted in Psalm 23. Mark is wanting to emphasize that Jesus is the good Shepherd, God’s chosen leader for his people Israel, who sees the needs of the people and responds with compassion and provision where the actual leaders of Israel have failed because of their own corrupted self-interest.
Ched Myers, in his book “Binding the Strongman” develops these insights further and suggests that this miracle is not just about feeding hungry stomachs; it's a radical act of economic justice and community building. Myers interprets this event as a direct challenge to the Roman Empire's economic system, which was marked by scarcity, competition, and exploitation. The Roman Empire, as almost all of the world’s empires have been was fundamentally built on the principle of exploitation. Slaves and peasants were exploited through low wages and taxation to create wealth for the Empire. The crowds, in Mark’s Gospel represent these large swathes of people living in the Roman Empire whose primary purpose in the eyes of the Empire were to be used and exploited as economic fuel for the glory of the Empire.
Getting back to the story, when the disciples suggest sending the crowd away to buy food, Jesus' response is revolutionary: "You give them something to eat" he says. In doing so, Ched Myers believes that Jesus shifts the focus from the market economy of buying and selling to a community of sharing. The disciples find five loaves and two fish—an amount that seems insignificant—but in Jesus' hands, it becomes abundantly sufficient.
Jesus takes the loaves, looks up to heaven, blesses them, breaks them, and gives them to the disciples to distribute. Many suggest that this act mirrors the symbolic practice of communion, where all share and are fed from a common loaf. But Ched Myers suggests that it also symbolizes a new economy based on God's abundance, not human scarcity. Twelve baskets of leftovers signify not just enough, but more than enough—a direct contradiction to the empire's narrative of never enough. But when food and provisions are shared there is more than enough. As it is often said, if the aim is to meet everyone’s greed, there is will never be enough. But if the aim is to meet people’s genuine needs, there will be abundantly enough.
Ched Myers suggests that by involving the disciples in the distribution, Jesus models a new form of leadership and community. It's a decentralized power structure where everyone participates in the miracle. This community is marked by mutual aid and sharing, a stark contrast to the top-down power dynamics of the Roman Empire.
This miracle also serves as a foretaste of the Messianic banquet, a recurring image in the Old Testament, the eschatological feast at the end of time where all are welcomed and provided for. In Psalm 23, we read, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; my cup overflows." In Mark, the feeding of the 5,000 anticipates this overflowing abundance and the inclusive nature of God's kingdom.
And the writer of Mark’s Gospel is suggesting that as followers of Jesus, we are called to embody these kingdom values in our lives. We are called to see the needs of those around us and respond like Jesus with compassion to those in society who are like sheep without a shepherd. We are invited to participate in God's economy of abundance, where we share what we have with those in need and trust in God's provision the provision of a Higher Power. We are challenged to build communities of mutual aid and justice, where those at the bottom are empowered and lifted up reflecting the radical inclusivity and generosity of Jesus.
A colleague of mine in South Africa used to say that the purpose of work from a Christian perspective is not simply to earn a living. The true purpose of work from a Christian perspective is to earn a giving. AS Christians we are called to be part of a society where our main aim in life is not simply living for our own wealth and our own comfort, but to become givers so that others around us can be raised and lifted up and enabled to become the best that they can be.
Last year I heard Constable Martin, one of the Dromore Police Officers, speaking of these things. He has been very concerned about the number of teens in Dromore who have become directionless. He has been trying to initiate projects where some of this directionless energy is channelled into positive ways. One of these is the repair shop… fixing bicycles. Another is initiating sporting events during the holidays. He is convinced that these kinds of projects have an impact. He spoke of one teenager who was becoming problematic in the town a few years ago engaging in anti-social behaviour. In befriending the teenager, he managed to get the youngster involved in a boxing academy to channel his directionless energies into some kind of discipled structure. He said it made an enormous difference in the life of that teenager, whose life he says has now begun taking on a different turn simply because he was given a little direction and a lift up at a time when he was becoming directionless and destructive.
I wonder if that is what this story and others like it in Marks Gospel are pointing towards. The nurturing of a society where no-one is left behind. And ultimately it benefits us all when the unruly and directionless energy is channelled and nurtured and fed in positive and wholesome ways.
Just some food for thought for us all today. Amen.
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