The True, (But Maybe Hidden) Meaning Of The Feeding Of The 5000.

This sermon was delivered to Holy Trinity Church in Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 28th July 2024

(a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).

“Please join me in my prayer.” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen. (Ps. 19:14).

Introduction.

The reading this morning of the great miracle of the “Feeding the Five Thousand,” is a story we have all heard many times before, and listened to many sermons as well. I remember well a sermon I did away back in August 2011, where on preparing that sermon, I was enlightened to find that Jesus by feeding the Five Thousand, defied a law of physics which says that “matter can neither be created nor destroyed”, and here we find, Jesus creating food from nowhere.

Back of the church

Now I was quite chuffed with this revelation until, standing at the back of the church after the service, one woman said, “good sermon Gordon, but … “, and I went “aw naw, here we go, … “and this is how it actually happened” she said, and went onto tell me with authority and in detail, how the people who followed Jesus that day into the desert, all took food with them as they knew it was going to be a long day, but they didn’t tell the others in case they had to share their food … but when Jesus blessed the bread and fish, everyone simply started to share the food they had brought with them. … Now I didn’t argue because I had actually heard this interpretation myself many years before, and I had wanted to stay well clear of it because amongst other things, I feel, it totally demystifies and demeans the miracles and presence of Jesus … and the whole bible as well if you come to think about it.

Rewrite the bible

Because … if you start to go down the road of explaining the miracles in terms of … magical events, then we have a problem. … And the problem is this, where are you going to stop.

Caveat.

Now I do agree the bible was written over two centuries ago, in another language and too a people of a different culture, with different customs and values, and I agree we must make allowances for that, but to explain the miracles away in everyday terms, greatly devalues their meaning and impact, because it devalues Jesus as God.

We have to decide

So, we have to decide whether we believe the bible as it was written … or we take the parts we like, and throw away the parts that we don’t like. … Now this is not as easy as you would think, because on one hand, if we believe the bible is as written, then we must believe that Jesus defied the Laws of Physics with this miracle by feeding the five thousand, and him walking on water as well … and other seemingly impossible miracles … and God only knows what laws were broken when Jesus was resurrected from the grave. … And not just the New Testament, the Old Testament as well, including the story of Adam and Eve whom Jesus believed in, yet is disproved by every modern-day scientist.

On the other hand, (or the other extreme), where we leave out the parts of the bible, we do not like … or don’t understand, some of us are going to end up with a very thin bible; a bible probably with the Christmas story, harvest thanksgiving, maybe the crucifixion … and the maps at the very back of the bible which no one reads.

We must make a decision.

You see, it’s not an easy choice to make, both are extreme, but we must make a decision and choose one. I had to make this decision many years ago, and it came down to this: either the bible wrong with these stories of the miraculous, or my brain was not capable of believing what the bible was saying; as it is totally illogical as many people claim.

I chose the latter and I am glad I did because years later, as an engineer, I began to understand the bible in a very logical sense as you know, and the older I get, the more logic I see, gelling more and more of the bible together, making it so much clearer, and easier to understand, now that I have my spiritual ears on.

You would miss.

So, with that in mind, I believe Jesus fed this multitude of people, somehow defying the laws of physics, and making it an impressable miracle indeed. … And I am not the only one impressed by this miracle, as all four of the gospel writers recorded this miracle, in fact, this is the only miracle, in the earthly ministry of Jesus, that is told in all four gospels. … So please, tread carefully when telling the story of people smuggling food into his meetings, because if you don’t, you are going to miss some hidden gems if you do. In this story alone: