If you remember my post from Tuesday I made mention that today's Passage from John 6:1-21 is a retelling of a short story we found in 2 Kings; that of feeding a many with little. Both stories include loaves of barley bread and a few who think the task of providing for so many is daunting. Both stories also include one person who has enough faith to understand that it's ultimately God who provides.
As I read the passage I really enjoy the images painted by the writer. Large crowds, grassy hillsides, thousands of people eating together, and a little boy in the center of it all somehow put me at ease. maybe it's because I particularly like grassy hillsides. Maybe it's because I like big parties. Maybe it's because I have a soft spot for the Youth and Young Adults in our cultures. Whatever the reason might be it's obvious to me that when I read this passage I have a sense of people who are gathered together for one reason; to be with each other in the presence of hope.
How that hope is spread will vary on how one wants to interpret the reading. Perhaps people shared their lunches after seeing a little boy do so, maybe this is the predecessor to the story of the stone soup, maybe Jesus multiplied 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed 5,000 people. Whatever, however you want to interpret this story doesn't matter so much as to why this story is told in the first place.
The why, in my opinion, is to help us understand that God gives us each something to bring to the picnic, and through God we are able to share what we have to bring hope to everyone we meet. This is the good news we share; that we are loved, no matter what, and through Christ's show of compassion for us we are able to live in the knowledge that we are loved.
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