The beautiful readings today speak about a fascinating dimension of God—His Divine providence! The Lord God provides for His people. But the people will need to go to Him for their provision. Of course anyone can elect not to seek the provision of God. Isaiah the prophet reminds us this morning that God’s provision is “rich”, “juicy”, “tasteful”!
We all know that food is not just about filling up the stomach. When we are hungry, we need a nutritious meal. We want to be fed well. Unfortunately, not everyone has access to a balanced diet in our world today. Eradicating involuntary hunger is an essential aspect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Gospel today, the Lord said “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat and I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way” (Matt 15:32). Why did Jesus ask His disciples to provide for the crowd? Were the disciples hoarding food somewhere that they refused to share? Would God ever give us responsibilities that we are not capable of?
Answers to the above questions can be seen in the sequence of events narrated in the gospel story today. First, the Lord asked, “how many loaves do you have?” God has already blessed us, yes He has. Have you noticed that most of the times when Jesus intervened in anyone’s life, it’s mostly an act of stirring up something, a blessing already resident in the person? “Your faith has saved you…Or Your faith has made you well…Or may it be done for you according to your faith.”
We are told that Jesus blessed the few loaves and fish and then, gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the crowd (Matt 15:36). The Lord always has a plan for every mission he calls us. We just need to follow His lead. Jesus is not sending us to feed His flock with our own resources because we have none—if any, it’s only a husk. God is the source of our resources. When Jesus said he did not want to send the crowd home hungry, He was inviting the disciples to tap into the eternal source of the divine Lord for their resources. It’s important to acknowledge Jesus’ important disposition prior to feeding the crowd—compassion. The Lord felt their pain. He felt their hunger. The crowds flock to Jesus because He feeds them spiritually and physically. The whole person is important to Christ. Jesus our Savior saves our souls and our entire being.
Dear friends, this is the God we serve—the one who cares for us, loves us, can go any length to heal, feed, save and make our lives better. Such ministries did not stop when Jesus ascended to the Father. The Lord Himself promised that because He is going to the Father that we will do works greater than what He did! (Cf John 14:12). Let me admit that such a promise at times appears to be impossible in my mind. It’s just the same way the thought of catering for the physical (and spiritual) needs of the crowd appeared daunting and impossible to the first disciples of Jesus. I feel like the Lord gave us the solution to that fear: stop looking at our little resources and start looking up to God for the provision. These events of mass provisions as supplied from God culminate in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist where Jesus continues to feed us with His Body and Blood, the banquet of eternal life.
