“As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied , “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish, ” they answered. “Bring them here to me, ” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass.” (Matt 14, 15-19)
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Little Sammy dashed out of his catechism class full of enthusiasm. “Well, mum, that story of Moses and all those people crossing the Red Sea was great!” “Yes? How did it go?”, asked mum, just to keep the conversation going. “Well, amazing! The Israelites got out of Egypt, but Pharaoh and his army chased after them. So the Jews ran as fast as they could until they got to the Red Sea. The Egyptian Army was getting closer and closer. So Moses got on his walkie-talkie and told the Israeli Air Force to bomb the Egyptians. Meanwhile, the Israeli Navy built a pontoon bridge so the people could cross over. Sure enough! They made it!” Obviously, mum was shocked, “Now! Is THAT the way they taught you the story?” “Well, no, not exactly,” Sammy admitted, “but if I told you the way they told it to us, you’d never believe it!!!”
Just a joke. But in his innocence, Sammy has put his finger on the pulse of our sophisticated adult world where cool scepticism reigns supreme. Life is becoming more and more confined. No space for the miraculous, for diversity , for change.
Nothing ever changes. Everything was, is and will always be as it is. This marriage will always be like this. Once an alcoholic always an alcoholic. My husband was, is and will always be mean. I was born with this character, I shall die with this character. I will always be defeated by the same old temptations.
This is life. Take gravity. Heavy objects fall toward the earth. Always and always. Count on it. Take chemistry. Mixing certain elements in precise proportions yields the same result. Today and tomorrow. Take astronomy. This evening the sun will get down and darkness will follow. Then tomorrow morning the sun will come up again. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…
We operate strictly on the basis of facts. Hard, immutable, stubborn facts. Absolute, unbending, undeniable.
A Killer
This scepticism has only one problem. It kills faith. It kills hope. We go to Church but we know that things will always remain the same. We do our small little things of religion but we do not believe that things can possibly be different.
“Jesus, what do you mean, give them something to eat? We have only five small loaves of bread and two fish. Those are the facts. Five and two. No more, no less. Send the five thousand people home; we can’t take care of them today.”
They put this lion in a cage. Ten meters by ten. The animal passed all his life pacing from one side of the cage to the next. Ten meters by ten. For twelve years. One day they took away the cage. He kept pacing ten meters by ten. He was still in the cage. This time a mental cage.
This is us. Through continued failure we have become conditioned to confinement. We may yearn to use our lives creatively, but our invisible cage reminds us: “You can’t do that. It isn’t practical. You’re not smart enough. It will cost too much. People will laugh at you. You’re too young. You’re too old. Your health won’t allow it. Your parents won’t allow it. It will take too long. You don’t have the education.”
But suppose we can remember that miracles do happen? Suppose we became aware that resentments, hurts, hates, grudges, illness, greed are cages which Jesus Christ can remove? Suppose we believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever and so what he did yesterday, He can do today.
Beyond Reality
You see, reality IS that Jesus did change people with his miracles. Jesus did change people with his compassion. Jesus did feed five thousand men, let alone women and children with five loaves and two fish. Was it possible? Apparently it was… by His power. When Jesus comes into our life, we end up with a lot more than we started with. That is multiplication. And that is one focus of God’s program for our lives.
This miracle is so important that it made it into the four Gospels. Luke and John have one multiplication of loaves. Mark and Matthew even have two. One on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee – it speaks of twelve baskets, the number of the tribes of Israel and of the apostles. The second situates it on the Eastern shore of the lake and speaks of seven baskets, the number of gentile nations of Canaan and of the Hellenistic deacons. Both traditions depict the event in the light of the multiplication of oil and bread by Elisha (2 Kings 4) and the episode of manna and quails (Exodus 16). Jesus repeats these gifts of heavenly nourishment but with even greater power.
The reason of this miracle? “He had compassion on them,” says Mark. He feels for us.
Betting on God
What are we expected to? Just follow His instructions. What did He tell them to do? He told them to sit down. Obviously, we read the story backwards, knowing how it turns out. That day however no one had a clue. Murmurs must have rustled through the group on the packed hillside. Sit down? Be passive? Expect Him to feed so many people? Ridiculous.
But this is the only thing He is asking of us. He is just asking us to let HIM do something. Imagine if this morning you receive a MEMO from God which reads something like this :
GOD’S INTER-OFFICE MEMO
From: GOD
To: All those who believe in me
Subject: Life’s problems
Good morning. I am GOD. Today I will be handling all of your problems.
Please remember that I do not need your help. If the devil happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, DO NOT attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFJTD (something for Jesus to do) box. It will be addressed in MY time, not yours.
Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold on to it or remove it. Holding on or removal will delay the resolution to your problem. If it is a situation that you think you are capable of handling, please consult me in prayer to be sure that it is the proper resolution.
Because I do not sleep or slumber, there is no need for you to lose any sleep. Rest my child.
If you need to contact me, I am only a prayer away.
Signed : GOD
If you receive that MEMO every day, what would you do?
It is that simple…