Relationship between OT and Gospels?

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There’s an interesting juxtaposition in the readings today, the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B: John 6:1-15, the feeding of the 5000, is read with 2 Kings 4:42-44, Elisha’s feeding of 100.

The NAB makes the same connection as the Lectionary, noting that Jn 6:9 alludes to 2 Kings 4:42-44.

Question: What, exactly, is the relationship between those two stories?

I assume that the relationship is not unlike the relationships between other sets of similar stories. E.g.,
 
The OT story forshadows the NT story.

People would often bring offerings to prophets, and the man in today’s OT reading was no different, bringing 20 barley loaves to Elisha. Jesus uses the event to further teach that all the OT prophecy is fulfilled in him, and in citing the event, John refers the reader back to the story of Elisha to help teach us what Jesus is doing.

In Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 10 and John 6, Jesus feeds five thousand with five loaves. Five represents the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch or Torah, which was the Jewish law. There are writings outside of the Bible which tell us of priests eating the Bread of the Presence which was kept in the Holy Place in the temple, and when they ate a small morsel they were satisfied. Jews would have recognized Jesus’ actions that day, and recognized the recounting of this story as the same event but on a larger scale, and not just satisfying priests but ordinary people. They would have recognized Jesus as God through that event.

In Matthew 15 and Mark 8, Jesus feeds four thousand with seven loaves. Four thousand represents the entirety of the Gentiles, non Jews, from the four corners of the earth. Seven is the number of completion or perfection and seven loaves represent the completion and perfection of the gentiles.

In both 1 Kings 4 and John 6, there are barley loaves, which would have helped the reader understand that what Jesus was doing was a reference back and fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. In that Old Testament event, God was revealing to Israel what he was going to complete in Jesus.

-Tim-
 
ASD said:
There’s an interesting juxtaposition in the readings today, the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B: John 6:1-15, the feeding of the 5000, is read with 2 Kings 4:42-44, Elisha’s feeding of 100.

The NAB makes the same connection as the Lectionary, noting that Jn 6:9 alludes to 2 Kings 4:42-44.

Question: What, exactly, is the relationship between those two stories?

I assume that the relationship is not unlike the relationships between other sets of similar stories. E.g.,
Click to expand...
In general, the New Testament is prefigured in and points to the New Testament. The Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament.
 
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