Feeding the 5000

Introduction

Last time, we thought about the banquet thrown by Herod that led to the death of John the Baptist.

This time, we think about the banquet thrown by Jesus on the rolling hills of Galilee.

Mark is inviting us to compare the two, and learn something important from the contrast between them.

Imagine that you are so socially popular that you have a clash of dinner dates - on your mantelpiece are 2 banquet invitations, but they are on the same date, so you have to choose.

These are the 2 events:

First is a high profile event thrown by the local ruler, representative of the biggest empire the world has known. This ruler has invited the hoi polloi of society, the ‘nobles and military commanders and the leading men’ of the area.

There we have it: the upper class, the powerful. Today it would be the Prime Minister. The Admiral of the Fleet. The Chief of Defence Staff. The Lord Mayor, the Chief Constable and a High Court Judge. And you’re invited to join them. You may see and be seen with the movers and shakers of high society.

The food would be prepared by celebrity chefs and there would be an abundance of it. Entertainment would be lavish and exotic, even erotic.

The second is very different. Anyone who wants to may come. It’s on a hillside by the Sea of Galilee, outdoors rather than in a palace. The emphasis of the story is on the sheer numbers gathered rather than the exclusivity.

Not only is it a non-exclusive guest list, it is fluctuating, even unstable. We are told that ‘many were coming and going’.

There is no guest list, there is not even the promise of food, still less exotic dancers. On the contrary, the need for food seems to have been overlooked until the last minute.

Which is more appealing?

Yes, the previous event Mark has narrated is about the death of John the Baptist, told as a retrospective in between the sending out of the disciples and their return to tell Jesus what they did and taught. Mark is not concerned with chronology, but is piecing together what we would call ‘biopics’ creating a photomontage of who Jesus is, and what discipleship means.

And John died a gruesome death in the context of a lavish banquet for the ‘great and the good’ with exotic - or more likely, erotic - dancers and a conspicuous excess of everything.

And here is another banquet. There is also food enough and to spare.

That is probably because there is a difference between extravagance and abundance. Herod’s banquet was about extravagance. This banquet is about abundance. We’ll think about the contrast between the 2 banquets shortly.