You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don’t make judgments like that. But even if I did, my judgment would be true because I wouldn’t make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father. John 8:15-16 (MSG)

Five Thousand Mouths – The Meal Series – Part 7

Go to  PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4  |  PART 5  |  PART 6  |  PART 7

Jesus had had a challenging few days. He was exhausted, had just heard that his cousin AND friend had died at the hands of Herod (which would have brought with it a myriad of stresses and concerns for Jesus and the disciples), and Passover was approaching. He was trying to get some down time in a remote place, when somehow word got out that he was in the area, and a crowd of five thousand plus (probably more like 12,000) converged on him.

I am a textbook introvert. Textbook. Having a crowd of two round me up on a day where I just want to lie in bed listening to Bon Iver is enough to put me over the edge…

Let alone five thousand plus people. And on a day where Jesus was most likely feeling anything but “saviour-ish.”

Yet, he leaned in. He succumbed to the crowd and all four gospel writers tell us that he spent the day healing and talking. Feeding souls.

The feeding of the five thousand is told in a way that makes it look like it was an afterthought. As if Jesus said,

“Oh goodness me, isn’t it getting late! I completely lost track of time. It’s getting past dinner and people will be hungry! BUT WAIT, there’s no food for miles. I know! I’ll pull some fish and bread out of my hat and feed everyone. That should do the trick.”

What if feeding the five thousand plus people who had desperately followed Jesus that day WASN’T an afterthought? WASN’T a convenient miracle to control a large and hungry crowd? WASN’T a means to an end, a solution to a problem?

What if it was planned? What if it was an opportunity to gather together a group of unlikely friends and family. It was unheard of that a group that large would gather together to break bread. A group full of people from all different social classes and beliefs that previously would have never done something so intimate as eat together. Such a group would be a startling message to the Romans who controlled and occupied the land; to Herod who had just beheaded the one who proclaimed the coming Christ; to those who sought to suppress the Gospel of Jesus (which yes, was preached BEFORE Jesus death – more on that another time); and for those who sat waiting, hungry, and unified.

This was more than a meal. More than a convenient miracle. More than a display of power. This was a subversive feast protesting the social, political and religious labels and constructs in a day and age where separateness and control were of highest value. The powers that controlled the land wanted anything but unity and togetherness amongst the Jewish people. They were doing all they could to divide and conquer.

So, Jesus had a picnic with five thousand plus people, sending a message saying “we can do this.” We can live together, we can be at peace. The table of God is not exclusive but inclusive.

The only prerequisite for a seat at the table is hunger.

Jesus said, “You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don’t make judgments like that. But even if I did, my judgment would be true because I wouldn’t make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father.” (John 8:15-16).

This is where I am challenged and encouraged the most these days. Who do I accept and who do I turn away? Do I judge out of the narrowness of my own experiences? Or out of the largeness of the Divine? And if I was to lean on the largeness of God, who am I to say who and what he includes?

All I know is that I am thankful he includes me. And if he includes me, if he sets a place for me at his table, then I figure there is a place for everyone.

How do you think God sees who can and can't come to the table? Leave us a comment below.

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