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John 6:1-21
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

Continue scrolling to read reflection.

By: The Rev. Prof. Stephen Noll

In Uganda, the Lord’s Prayer reads: “Give us this day our daily food,” the last word translating the vernacular mmere, which means staple food (http://www.ugpulse.com/heritage/matooke-buganda-s-mmere/539/ug.aspx). In some regions, mmere is plantain bananas, in some regions dried fish, elsewhere millet paste. In other words, it is the “stuff of life.”

It was this stuff of life that was lacking in the wilderness when Jesus asked Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” (verse 5). All they had were five loaves and a couple of fishes. Thanking God for the little they had, Jesus then distributed the food to five thousand followers. “And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten” (verses 12-13).

Clearly Jesus intended this miracle to be a “sign” (verse 14), but a sign of what? He himself answers the question when he says: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51).

We have been considering the theme of abundance in life throughout the lessons this month. The first part of abundance involves our basic “daily” needs. We have a family prayer at meals that goes like this: “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and make what you have given us blest. Thank you for the gift of food in a hungry world.” There can be no abundant life without basic life, a foundational truth of the pro-life movement and of movements like “Food for the Hungry” (www.fh.org) or “Anglican Relief and Development Fund” (www.anglicanaid.net).

At the same time, the twelve baskets of leftovers represent the “living bread that will last forever.” Jesus commanded us to take this food whenever we gather to remember his death for us in the Eucharist.