The Feeding of the Five Thousand Luke 9:10-17

Francis Orozco

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On their return the apostles gave him an account of all they had done. Then he took them with him and withdrew towards a town called Bethsaida where they 11 could be by themselves. But the crowds got to know and they went after him. He made them welcome and talked to them about the kingdom of God; and he cured those who were in need of healing. 12 It was late afternoon when the Twelve came up to him and said, 'Send the people away, and they can go to the villages and farms round about to find lodging and 13 food; for we are in a lonely place here.' He replied, 'Give them something to eat yourselves.' But they said, 'We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless 14 we are to go ourselves and buy food for all these people.' For there were about five thousand men. But he said to his disciples, 'Get them to sit down in parties of 15, 16 about fifty.' They did so and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven, and said the blessing over them; then he 17 broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps left over were collected they filled twelve baskets. - Luke 9:10-17 (New Jerusalem Bible)

They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps left over were collected they filled twelve baskets (Luke 9:17, New Jerusalem Bible).1 Many people will see these words and think of the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish. This is the only miracle, apart from the resurrection, that is found in all the four Gospels. Particularly in the Gospel of Luke is a theme of food, there are at least fifty-one relevant passages.2 Also in chapter nine of Luke is the christological concern or the question of Jesus identity.3 By looking at the text and most importantly, at the events, characters, and settings given in the text, I hope to show that while there can be many interpretations of this pericope, the question of Jesus identity is the central concern of Luke. Exegesis The first verse of the pericope is divided into two sentences that provide the setting for the rest of the passage. On their return the apostles gave him an account of all they had done (Luke 9:10a). Apostles here refers to the twelve.4 Because the apostles are returning and giving an account to Jesus, Jesus must have sent them out on a mission. Darrell Bock points out that the term for giving an account that is used is the same term used in the beginning of the Gospel of

1. The New Jerusalem Bible, (New York: Doubleday, 1985). All biblical quotations are taken from this version of the Bible. 2. Wilson C. K. Poon, Superabundant Table Fellowship in the Kingdom: The Feeding of the Five Thousand and the Meal Motif in Luke, Expository Times 114, no. 7 (April 2003): 224230, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 12, 2012), 226. 3. Robert F. OToole, Luke's Message in Luke 9:1-50, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 49, no. 1 (January 1, 1987): 74-89, ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 12, 2012), 74. 4. Franois Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50, trans. Christine M. Thomas, ed. Helmut Koester (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002), 355.

Luke,5 meaning a historical narrative.6 The apostles then do not simply want to tell what happened, but rather give a report of their mission. The second sentence sets up the situation for the rest of the pericope. Then he took them with him and withdrew towards a town called Bethsaida where they could be by themselves (Luke 9:10b). Jesus wishes to take the apostles and go toward Bethsaida so that they could all meet in private. Perhaps to rest7 or pray8 or both, but there is a sense that it is to be in a more private setting. There is a contrast here within the same verse. In the first part we discover that the apostles were on a mission, they were with the people presumably doing things like proclaiming the Kingdom of God and healing the sick. Now they are planning to be among themselves at Jesus direction. Verse eleven is also divided into two sentences. But the crowds got to know and they went after him. He made them welcome and talked to them about the kingdom of God; and he cured those who were in need of healing (Luke 9:11). Since the crowds went after Jesus, the apostles and Jesus did not get to have their time by themselves. Jesus did not turn away the crowds but welcomed them. Not only welcomed, but continued his mission of preaching to them and healing them. Bock indicates that this is probably what the apostles were doing when they were out just before.9 By saying he made them welcome, Luke shows that Jesus did not simply allow the crowds to follow him or just tolerated their presence, Jesus provided a friendly 5. Darrell L. Bock, Luke: Volume 1: 1:1-9:50 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1994), 827. 6. Bock, 56. 7. Bock, 828. 8. Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50, 356. 9. Bock, 829.

reaction. The word used for to welcome has the meaning of warm reception by a person of higher rank.10 It was late afternoon when the Twelve came up to him and said, 'Send the people away, and they can go to the villages and farms round about to find lodging and food; for we are in a lonely place here' (Luke 9:12). Here the apostles initiate the discussion.11 They bring to Jesus a problem, one of food and shelter for all of the people. The crowd, presumably, is paying much attention to Jesus, and now comes the issue of ending for the day. It seems to me that the apostles are concerned for the people and do not want to wait until it is dark in order for the people to return home and eat. Franois Bovon sees this verse as a transition point: Jesus and his disciples, as well as the crowd, stand on a threshold from one place to another, and between day and night.12 But the question still remains, how are the basic needs of the crowd going to be met? Jesus reply to the apostles is interesting and focuses solely on the food aspect of the apostles plea: He replied, 'Give them something to eat yourselves.' But they said, 'We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are to go ourselves and buy food for all these people' (Luke 9:13). Jesus reply could be seen as a challenge to the apostles. They could share what they have, which is not adequate; or they could go into town and purchase food, which would be a great undertaking needing plenty of time, energy, and money.13 The apostles, in considering options, do not think about having Jesus provide for the crowd, and for this reason 10. Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50, 356. 11. Luke Timothy Johnson, The Gospel of Luke (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1991), 146. 12. Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50, 356. 13. Bock, 830.

Bovon considers the apostles reaction to be both wise and foolish: wise from the perspective of those outside the faith, and foolish if one knows the story already.14 The following verse gives the reader the sense of the crowd. For there were about five thousand men. But he said to his disciples, 'Get them to sit down in parties of about fifty' (Luke 9:14). Five thousand men is a large number to feed and for some reason Jesus asks that the crowd be broken down into groups. This could be to make it easier for crowd to be served,15 to go against the Pharisees taboos,16 to give the feeling of a banquet or party,17 or there is perhaps some other ecclesiological meaning.18 Verse fifteen shows the apostles following through with Jesus command. They did so and made them all sit down (Luke 9:15). Again the word sit down is used, but a more literal translation would be the word recline: kataklinate in verse fourteen and aneklinan in verse fifteen. Reclining in groups gives the sense of a king hosting an array of guests who fix their attention, not on one another, but on the king.19 Everything seems to be as Jesus wants, the apostles are following Jesus command, the crowd is situationed according to Jesus, and everyone is doubtless focused on Jesus. Verse sixteen brings the focus to Jesus explicitly: Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven, and said the blessing over them; then he broke them and 14. Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50, 356. 15. Bock, 831. 16. Robert J. Karris, O.F.M., Eating Your Way Through Lukes Gospel (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2006), 52. 17. Johnson, 147. 18. Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50, 357. 19. Karris, Eating Your Way Through Lukes Gospel, 51-52.

handed them to his disciples to distribute among the crowd (Luke 9:16). We see here that Jesus performs the miracle, but it is the apostles that distribute the food to the crowd. The actions that Jesus performs; taking the food, raising his eyes, blessing, breaking, and handing to be distributed has Eucharistic overtones,20 although there is not universal agreement on this.21 What Jesus does however, in these actions, is not abnormal in that there is thanksgiving22 and sharing. What happens in all of this is a miracle. Jesus hands the food to the apostles to be distributed to the crowd. There is no mention of any reaction of the crowd or of the apostles, which has led to many interpretations of this miracle.23 They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps left over were collected they filled twelve baskets (Luke 9:17). Possibly the most striking feature of this verse is that there are twelve baskets with leftovers. This final verse in the pericope, Poon argues, is placed at the end to emphasize that this miracle is one of superabundance.24 Bovon appears to agree and mentions that eating during this time meant continued life, joy in the meal, and fellowship.25 20. Bock, 834. and Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50, 357. and Justo L. Gonzlez, Luke (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 116. and Johnson, 147. and Robert J. Karris, O.F.M., The Gospel According to Luke, in The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, eds. Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J., and Roland E. Murphy, O.Carm., (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1990), 699. and Jerome Kodell, O.S.B., Luke, in The Collegeville Bible Commentary: Based on the New American Bible with Revised New Testament, eds. Dianne Bergant and Robert J. Karris, O.F.M., (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1989), 954. and Karris, Eating Your Way Through Lukes Gospel, 52 and Poon, 229. 21. Jonathan Knight, Lukes Gospel (New York: Routledge, 1998), 100. 22. There is a small debate as to what Jesus is blessing, God or the food. Bock, 832. and Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50, 357. 23. These will be mentioned later on. 24. Poon, 226.

Thus giving the extra meaning that Jesus provides these things in overflowing quantities. The twelve baskets of leftovers can also be seen as being symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel,26 although this should not be read into too deeply as it is probably more about excess than a symbolic number.27 Interpretation The Feeding of the Five Thousand lies between two other pericopes that deal with Jesus identity. In Luke 9:7-9, Herod the tetrarch wonders if it is John the Baptist who has returned or Elijah or perhaps one of the other ancient prophets. In Luke 9:18-21, Jesus asks his disciples, Who do the crowds say I am? The replies match those that Herod the tetrarch proposed earlier, but Peter then speaks up and answers, The Christ of God. The Feeding of the Five Thousand can thus be understood as a miracle that reveals or helps reveals Jesus identity to the reader or listener.28 In feeding the crowd, Jesus identity is that of a messiah or prophet and even a king.29 Feeding the people is a fundamental obligation of a king and Jesus not only feeds the people with food, but also with preaching, with the Word of God. Jesus is a source of nourishment,30 but also an example of servant leadership that others can follow where everyone is accepted.31 Jesus is a 25. Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50, 357. 26. Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50, 358. 27. Bock, 835. 28. Karris, Eating Your Way Through Lukes Gospel, 51. 29. Bock, 836. 30. Knight, 100. 31. Poon, 229.

leader as well as legislator32, but more than that, he is indeed a king that takes care of his people, but also expects his people to take care of each other. There was not enough food, yet Jesus managed to feed all of the people. The lesson is that Jesus is the source of all that is needed. His identity is not simply of an earthly king that can provide food: but Jesus is God who can miraculously multiply whatever provisions there are to offer. If examined closely, the identity of Jesus can be seen at every meal in which Jesus partakes in the Gospel of Luke,33 and Jesus identity is especially stressed in chapter nine of Lukes Gospel.34 A superabundant Eucharistic feast is probably the most common interpretation, and links directly to the identity of Jesus. In the pericope the apostles mention to Jesus that the crowd will need lodging and food, but Jesus reply only deals with the food aspect of the apostles concern. The passage does not say that the crowd was starving or even hungry. Perhaps the apostles themselves wanted to rest, or perhaps the crowds expected something like what was going to happen from Jesus. Poon points out that, the silence of Jesus on the matter of accommodation could lead the reader to infer that going to surrounding villages for shelter was not impractical.35 If this is the case, then going to the villages for food would have been a viable option. This leads Poon to the conclusion that Jesus did not multiply the loaves and fishes to satisfy a physical need. Poon also notes that the use of the word welcome in Luke 9:11 does 32. Franois Bovon, The Role of the Scriptures in the Composition of the Gospel Accounts: The Temptations of Jesus (Lk 4:1-13 par.) and the Multiplication of the Loaves (Lk 9:10-17 par.), in Luke and Acts, 26-31, (New York: Paulist, 1992) ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 12, 2012), 28. 33. Barbara R. Rossing, Why Luke's Gospel? Daily Bread and Recognition of Christ in Food-Sharing, Currents in Theology and Mission 37, no. 3 (June 1, 2010): 225-229, ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 12, 2012), 226. 34. OToole, 76. 35. Poon, 225.

not suggest any kind of need; it at least downplays the notion of a physical need that the crowd has.36 Jesus then is welcoming people to a feast, a superabundant banquet. Karris shares this same view: Jesus, who welcomes the crowd, becomes the host and reveals who he is as the giver of the food of life.37 The fact the Jesus has the crowd recline gives the feeling of a banquet, a banquet where Jesus is the benefactor38 of the groups. If Jesus is the benefactor then he would be the center of attention with all eyes focused on him. All would have seen him multiply the loaves and all would have been served by the apostles. The apostles especially would have noted Jesus actions in Luke 9:16 and would have remembered his actions at the last supper. The superabundance of Jesus in this pericope can be thought of in different ways. First is the amount of food that is collected after everyone ate as much as they wanted. This is the miracle: that Jesus made the five loaves and two fish into enough food for five thousand men with twelve filled baskets left over. There is a rationalist interpretation that suggests Jesus generosity in sharing the food shamed the crowd into sharing the food they secretly had in their garments.39 This does not seem to have any textual basis however. This interpretation was popularized by William Barclay in his Daily Study Bible Series: The people were hungryand they were utterly selfish. They all had something with them, but they had to share it with others. The Twelve laid before the multitude their little store and there upon others were moved to produce theirs; and in the end there was more than enough for everyone. So it may be regarded as a miracle which turned selfish, 36. Poon, 226. 37. Karris, Eating Your Way Through Lukes Gospel, 51. 38. Karris, Eating Your Way Through Lukes Gospel, 52. 39. Karris, Eating Your Way Through Lukes Gospel, 51. Karris does not hold this view but merely mentions it briefly.

suspicious folk into generous people, a miracle of Christs changing determined self interest into a willingness to share.40 The miracle however, does seem to me to be about feeding. Of all the Gospels, Luke has the most references to food and the Eucharist.41 Luke then uses the multiplication of the loaves and fishes not just as a way to teach others about generosity, but to tell about Jesus identity. Jesus is the one that we must turn to. The apostles and the crowd turn to Jesus for instruction, they turn to Jesus for food, and Jesus does not disappoint. The other aspect of superabundance is the hospitality that Jesus shows. Jesus and the apostles were on their way toward Bethsaida in order to be alone, but the crowds came and Jesus welcomed them. Not only did Jesus welcome them, that is, allowed them to be around him, but Jesus talked to them about the Kingdom of God and healed those that needed healing (Luke 9:11). When the late afternoon comes Jesus does not send the crowd away but serves them food. The apostles suggestion that the crowd be sent to the towns is met with Jesus response telling the apostles to feed the crowd themselves. The apostles did not say that they would not be able to feed the crowd, but it seems to me that there is a hint of sarcasm on the part of the disciples in their response to Jesus in Luke 9:1342. At Jesus command the crowd is reclined as in a banquet, and they are served by the apostles. There is no inspecting of the crowd in order to see if the people are clean or unclean, or of proper status, there was not a formal seating plan.43 Jesus is 40. William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975), 117118. 41. Gonzlez, 116. 42. In Luke 9:3 the apostles are told to carry no money, and in Luke 9:10 we learn the apostles just returned. This leads me to think that their response is a bit sarcastic since Jesus knows they are probably tired and probably have no money. 43. Poon, 228.

welcoming to all who seek him. It is in the abundant amount of food and the overflowing hospitality where Jesus identity can be seen by those present, the crowd and the apostles. Conclusion The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes along with the hospitality shown by Jesus go hand in hand in allowing the crowd as well as the apostles to know who Jesus is. The identity of Jesus as the Christ of God, which Peter would profess in Luke 9:20 was very much influenced by past events including the feeding of the five thousand which immediately preceded Peters identification of Jesus. The narrative approach, with the emphasis on the text, allows the reader to concentrate on the text that is in front of him. It is often tempting to read something into the passage that is not there, but this approach does not allow for too much input from other sources other than the text. Luke shows clearly that Jesus provided exceptional amounts of food and hospitality leaving no doubt on the peoples minds as to who Jesus is.

Bibliography Barclay, William. The Gospel of Luke. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975. Bock, Darrell L. Luke: Volume 1: 1:1-9:50. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1994. Bovon, Franois. The Role of the Scriptures in the Composition of the Gospel Accounts: The Temptations of Jesus (Lk 4:1-13 par.) and the Multiplication of the Loaves (Lk 9:10-17 par.). In Luke and Acts, 26-31. New York: Paulist, 1992. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 12, 2012). Bovon, Franois. Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1-9:50. Translated by Christine M. Thomas. Edited by Helmut Koester. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002. Gonzlez, Justo L. Luke. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010. Johnson, Luke Timothy. The Gospel of Luke. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1991. Karris, O.F.M., Robert J. The Gospel According to Luke. In The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, edited by Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J., and Roland E. Murphy, O.Carm., 675-721. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1990. Karris, O.F.M., Robert J. Eating Your Way Through Lukes Gospel. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2006. Knight, Jonathan. Lukes Gospel. New York: Routledge, 1998. Kodell, O.S.B., Jerome. Luke. In The Collegeville Bible Commentary: Based on the New American Bible with Revised New Testament, edited by, Dianne Bergant and Robert J. Karris, O.F.M., 936-980. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1989. OToole, Robert F. Luke's Message in Luke 9:1-50. Catholic Biblical Quarterly 49, no. 1 (January 1, 1987): 74-89. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 12, 2012). Poon, Wilson C. K. Superabundant Table Fellowship in the Kingdom: The Feeding of the Five Thousand and the Meal Motif in Luke. Expository Times 114, no. 7 (April 2003): 224230. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 12, 2012). Rossing, Barbara R. Why Luke's Gospel? Daily Bread and Recognition of Christ in FoodSharing. Currents in Theology and Mission 37, no. 3 (June 1, 2010): 225-229. ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost (accessed March 12, 2012).