Art Reading Scripture

The Feeding of the 5000, 1547 Lucas Cranach the Elder, National Gallery of Sweden

There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. John 6:9

The Gospel writers told The Feeding of the 5000 story four times (Matt. 14:13-, Mark 6:30-, Luke 9:10-, John 6:1-). In addition they told The Feeding of the 4000 twice (Matt. 15:32-, Mark 8:1-). The writers did not tell any other story as much as these feeding of the multitude stories. Among all the Gospel stories told about healing, teaching even the Passion story itself, this one carried great significance to the earliest followers of Jesus.

The pattern of the story is consistent, with a few variations. Elements include: a boat journey, a deserted place, crowds, hunger, disciples' objection, meager supply of loaves and fish, blessing and distribution and satisfaction. Cranach's painting is based on the Gospel of John where it is a boy who provides the loaves and fish, rather than the disciples. The detail of the child as the provider is likely the reason that this is the version taught in Sunday Schools where children are the being taught, discipled.

The impact of this story for the church has been twofold. First, feeding ministries have played a central role in the churches witness to the love of God in Christ. One of the first crises in the book of Acts concerned the distribution of food to widows, Acts 6. The church continues to witness the love of God through sponsoring food shelves, soup kitchens, hunger appeals, and advocating for governmental programs for the food insecure and for places that experience chronic hunger and famine. Food is an essential good and a universal blessing for all creation. Cranach included a dog in the painting. One might wonder if he intended us to remember that if even dogs receive crumbs from the masters table, we who are blessed and full need remember those who survive on less. In Paul's first letter to the Church at Corinth one of the central issues was the communal meal shared when people gathered at the end of the day for instruction, worship and fellowship. Some, people of means, were free to arrive early and feast at their leisure, consuming the best part of the meal and even drinking to excess. Others, servants and slaves, the poorer members of the community, arrived later and went hungry. Paul said such behavior showed contempt for the church and humiliated those who had nothing, 1 Cor. 11:17-33. The communal meal was intimately connected to the Lord's Supper. Paul accused those who ate and drank to excess before others arrived of eating in "an unworthy manner." "...when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation."

The communal meal shared at Corinth was closely bound to the supper of our Lord, Holy Communion, the Eucharist. The feeding stories of the Gospels foreshadow or allude directly to the meal through the language of the blessing and distribution: "...he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people." Cranach painted a scene of an expectant congregation sitting in rows patiently waiting for the disciples (priests) to distribute the loaves and fish (Jesus). The distinct space of separation between the two groups of people, crowds and disciples with Jesus, recalls the separation of space between the altar where the elements are blessed and the pews where the people wait to receive. The consternation of the disciples in the painting may also allude to the question of worthiness to receive that the church often misused against people. People who saw the painting knew where they sat in relationship to the altar and the church. They longed for the food of God blessed and distributed by Christ.

Lastly I find the element of the boy as the provider significant. Grace always comes from an unexpected source. When the perception is that God is more judge than savior, and the church more concerned about worthiness than forgiveness, the truth is that God's grace and mercy do come freely and abundantly. Or, when we might feel overwhelmed by the hunger of the world and what little we think we can share, the Spirit calls us to unexpected sources of generosity within our lives. We are children of God in possession of gifts beyond measure because we have been filled with the bread of life, and Jesus, ichthus, (Jesus, Christ, God, Son, Savior), fish.

Keep the faith. Say your prayers. Love like Jesus.

Pastor Tim Bauer