Monday 10 July 2023
- Bible Book:
- John
‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ (v. 9)
Background
A friend of ours has decided to have her operation done privately as she can’t face waiting any longer. It’s very expensive and her teenage granddaughter offered her savings to help! Of course, my friend didn’t accept, although the family have joked that she’s spending their inheritance.
Our readings this week work step by step through a rather long chapter in John’s Gospel much of which revolves around this story where a child offered what little he had, to help in a crisis which was clearly much bigger than he realised. However, he generously offered, just as my friend’s granddaughter did – in innocence and naive generosity maybe.
Stories of the feeding of crowds appear in all four gospels; they probably concern the same event though there are small differences. It was clearly important in the minds of the evangelists. John is the only one to mention the boy, the source of the food being unclear in the other gospels. John uses this story as one of his seven ‘signs’, each of which introduces an ‘I am’ saying, a symbolic description of Jesus linked to the story of Moses at the burning bush where Moses pressed God as to his name, and God said "I am that I am". (Exodus 3:14)
Because we have a stronger understanding than a child would of the enormity of the tasks sometimes facing us, we are more likely to panic, or just despair. A child is more likely to see a problem at face value and at least have a go at doing something. The enthusiasm of youth may sometimes be seen as naivety by those with more years of experience, but we need both perspectives working together. The small offering of a child, combined with the wisdom of Jesus, produced a feast.
To Ponder:
- The ‘name’ of God signifies God’s nature. What signs of God’s nature do you see in this story?
- In what aspect of life might the small ‘offerings’ of children bring a new resource; and are we ready to accept that gift?
Prayer
Great ‘I Am’, help me not to panic but to trust more in you and your provision in whatever channel you use to provide it and however meagre it at first seems. Amen.