It feels like the world is divided into those who love leftovers and those who don’t care much about them. I am not a food aficionado, so I’ll avoid the debate. I do know that sometimes I lean towards leftovers, and other times I crave something fresh. Generally, leftovers come second in our minds, and it is easy to discard them. Parents make rules, promises, and punishments to discourage wasting leftovers. And in places where leftovers are truly disliked, careful measurements are made to cook the exact amounts of food that will be consumed, thereby avoiding waste.
Does anyone know what Jesus did with the leftovers He commanded His disciples not to waste?
Why God Loves Leftovers
The first reason Jesus loves leftovers is that there is no room for waste in God. He has a way of not just recycling anything but recreating it. The world, for example, fell into sin, and evil multiplied to the point that without divine redemption, we would be doomed. God could have discarded the world and started all over if He wished. Rather, He chose to redeem it. The redeemed are always sharing their redemption.
Also, Scripture often refers to the “remnant” as the special group that will be saved from the vast crowd. The remnants are the survivors, the leftovers, those who probably bore the brunt of the vestiges of lack, war, abandonment, sin, and death. In Isaiah we read how a surviving remnant will no longer lean on their aggressor as enslaved people but on the Lord their maker and redeemer who will bring them back from exile (See Isaiah 10). The leftovers or remnants are nobodies, fragile, the throwaways, aliens who rely on the last resort-God to survive. And here is the mystery about the leftovers: anyone can fall into this state spiritually or physically. In either way, God saves the remnants, the leftovers!
Leftovers for Heaven
I dare to think that the moment the fall happened at the Garden of Eden and humanity became tainted, save for Christ’s redemption, humanity became a remnant, a leftover of heaven. Let’s be honest, what do we do with leftovers? We throw them away. What does the Lord do with leftovers? He loves us! You don’t waste what you love. The twelve baskets of leftovers were a symbol of the twelve tribes of Israel, which have become the Church, the Body of Christ. Jesus is saying, don’t waste the Church.
Within the Church we find the hurt, broken, weak, persecuted, etc. We are all part of the family of God. Don’t waste any. Save all. Heal all. Forgive all. Redeem all.
[Readings: Isaiah 55:1-3; Romans 8:35, 37-39; Matthew 14:13-21]
Clever typology. Thank you.