Feeding of the 5,000

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There are actually two miraculous feedings.

Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? (Matthew 16:9-10)

Jesus fed the Jews first in Matthew 14. Five loaves and five thousand people represent the first five books of the Bible, the books of the law. They took up twelve baskets for the twelve tribes of Israel. This represents a completion of the law for the Jews.

After feeding the Jews first, Jesus then feeds the Gentiles in Matthew 15. Jesus was in the district of Tyre and Sidon which is not Jewish territory but Gentile land. He had just finished telling a Canaanite woman that it was not lawful for a Jew to give what is holy to non-Jewish dogs but then granted her wish because of her faith. After this he fed four thousand non-Jews. Four represents the non-Jews from the four corners of the earth. He fed them with seven loaves and had seven baskets left over. Seven is the number of perfection or completion symbolizing the completion of the non-Jews when they too become members of God’s covenant family.

There were also two feasts in Matthew 14 - Herod’s feast of gluttony and self service which ended in death (John the Baptist) and Jesus’ feeding 5000 in the feast of self sacrifice which ends in eternal life. We see the choices we have to make - self-sacrifice or self-service - in the image of these two feasts.

These are but two of the meanings of the miraculous feedings.

-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
There are actually two miraculous feedings.

Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? (Matthew 16:9-10)

Jesus fed the Jews first in Matthew 14. Five loaves and five thousand people represent the first five books of the Bible, the books of the law. They took up twelve baskets for the twelve tribes of Israel. This represents a completion of the law for the Jews.

After feeding the Jews first, Jesus then feeds the Gentiles in Matthew 15. Jesus was in the district of Tyre and Sidon which is not Jewish territory but Gentile land. He had just finished telling a Canaanite woman that it was not lawful for a Jew to give what is holy to non-Jewish dogs but then granted her wish because of her faith. After this he fed four thousand non-Jews. Four represents the non-Jews from the four corners of the earth. He fed them with seven loaves and had seven baskets left over. Seven is the number of perfection or completion symbolizing the completion of the non-Jews when they too become members of God’s covenant family.

There were also two feasts in Matthew 14 - Herod’s feast of gluttony and self service which ended in death (John the Baptist) and Jesus’ feeding 5000 in the feast of self sacrifice which ends in eternal life. We see the choices we have to make - self-sacrifice or self-service - in the image of these two feasts.

These are but two of the meanings of the miraculous feedings.

-Tim-
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When you write about symbolism and such, does it mean He didn’t really multiply the loaves and fish after all?
 
Gorgias said:
:confused:

I’m not quite certain what you mean. The notion that the miracles of Jesus, including the feeding of the 5000, was not really a miraculous event but rather, was a natural event that was misunderstood or mis-reported by Apostles and others, is a notion that was developed by some Protestant theologians in the 19th/20th century. How could that notion – a reaction to a NT miracle – have come from Hebrew Scriptures? I’m confused… 😉
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Well that is stupid…Of the protestant theologians that is. I mean how can they say, on one hand, that the writers of scripture were inspired by the Holy Spirit and thus what they wrote contains no error and then turn around and say those same writers “mis-reported” something? Someone should have taken a Bible and whacked them upside the head with it.
 
Faith1960 said:
When you write about symbolism and such, does it mean He didn’t really multiply the loaves and fish after all?
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I get a little bit tired of people asking “did it really happen?” Not finding fault with you but…

Of course some of the things in the Bible really happened, such as the crucifixion and resurrection, and many, many other things. There are many historically accurate facts in the Bible but whether any given event actually happened or not completely misses the point of why the Bible even exists.

The Bible exists so that we might be saved. Salvation - that’s it. That the entire reason for the existence of God’s written word, so that we might be saved and spend eternity with God. We therefor have to ask ourselves what God is trying to teach us so that we can spend eternity with him.

Instead people want to argue about whether the Noah’s flood actually happened or why 5000 people would have left home without food - both of these are mostly irrelevant to what God’ wants us to know so that we can know him, love him, serve him and spend eternity with him. Anytime you read scripture ask yourself, “What is God trying to tell me in this passage so that I can know him, love him, serve him and spend eternity with him.”

My opinion is that yes, in general, it really happened. I believe it is an historically account of the fact that Jesus took a small amount of bread and fish and fed a huge number of people - Jews first, then non-Jews. That is my opinion.

-Tim-
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
Thanks for this. That homily about sharing the bread is an old one, and definitely from someone who refused to believe in miracles, and didn’t want other people to either. Sounds like a Unitarian sermon or a Thomas Jefferson sermon. 😉
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Yeah, it’s not what unexpected to hear from a Catholic priest.
 
Faith1960 said:
The sharing interpretation.
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Oh yeah, I agree. I can’t imagine a Catholic priest using that story in his homily. It’s almost heresy. It’s like saying Jesus didn’t perform any miracles, he was just a wise man.:rolleyes:
 
Our pastor gave the same silly story of people sharing a small amount of their lunch with the people next to them.
The gospel says it was late in the day & the apostles wanted to send the crowd into the villages to buy food. Jesus told them “you give them food” but they only had 5 loaves & 2 fish that a boy offered. Jesus told them to distribute it & as they did, it never stopped. 12 baskets of the fragments were left over…just enough for the apostles, by the way! This was a true miracle & not a lesson on sharing.
Jesus supplies all and it was a lesson of the coming Holy Eucharist.
 
Maybe you could write to the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans and express your concern about what you heard in the homily. I know that the Masses are broadcast daily, and I looked into the daily mass website, but there is no archive listed where I could pull up that August 3, 2014. You stated that the priest was over 60. Do you remember what he looked like? Since it is a cathedral, naturally the Archbishop regularly says Mass on Sundays, or one of hte former Archbishops, and of course, the rector of the cathedral. You can access the cathedral’s website, and go to " The staff" section, and you will find photos of the priests and the Archbishop.
 
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