Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 23; Matthew 15:29-39
Abundance. That’s Isaiah’s dream, and Matthew’s story. The feeding miracles are the only ones to appear in all four gospels. All four have the feeding of the five thousand (men), and Mark and Matthew include this one, the four thousand (men) just for emphasis. In case you missed it, they’re saying, Jesus brings miraculous abundance.
In our modern sensibility, in which miracles are an embarrassment, many of us take refuge in saying that of course these stories are metaphor. We say we shouldn't read them as literal history, but as a way of saying that Jesus brings abundance beyond what we can imagine. And that may well be “true.” But it short-circuits the potential of the Gospel. Naming the miracles only as metaphor means not really stepping into the space in which God can do “infinitely more than we can ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20). It means playing it safe, not really expecting God’s grace to exceed my grasp. The result is that God goes back in a box. I don’t know about you, but I need God out of the box right now.
So perhaps, just for these weeks, we can live in the space where miracles happen. Perhaps we can come to God as little children, or as the hungry crowd, and see what happens.
How would your life be different if you lived inside this story, if you expected Jesus to come and feed you from nothing? How would your world be different if you heard him say, “Give this to the crowds” - and you did? Blessed would be the eyes that see that, and the ears that hear of it!
What miracle of abundance will you be part of today?
And enjoy Bobby McFerrin’s version of Psalm 23: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsQCLrXXuvQ
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