In 2019 the average Major League Baseball game brought in about four million dollars in revenue from 28,000 fans. That’s the average across the league and across the season. Of course, certain games and certain teams bring in much more than others. But four million dollars for a game is a lot of money! Interestingly, less than one million dollars out of that four came from ticket sales. The rest—a little over three million—came from concessions. Baseball concessions are a huge business. A staggering 20 million hot dogs are eaten at MLB games every season, a tradition which began here in St. Louis. That’s about 8,000 hot dogs per game. Another source said that about 6,000 beers are sold every game. And these and the other concessions are prepared and sold by an army of workers. According to one source there are about 24,000 baseball concession workers across the country. It takes a lot to feed a crowd.
In our Gospel for today there’s a crowd of hungry people. They weren’t gathered for a baseball game. They gathered to hear Jesus. There weren’t any concession stands. No long lines. No expensive hot dogs. There just wasn’t any food. But Jesus fed this crowd on his own in a great miracle. And by this he demonstrated his loving care for us, body and soul. It takes Jesus to feed a crowd.
There are two different miracles where Jesus feeds a crowd, and this is the second one that we’re focusing on today. Based on sheer numbers this one is less impressive. That previous miracle is the famous feeding of the five thousand. With this miracle Jesus fed only four thousand. That’s still a huge number, but you can’t really help comparing the two. And as we carefully look at the similarities and differences we can see some wonderful lessons here.
The first thing to note is that this is clearly a second miracle, and not, as some people have claimed, two different accounts of one miracle. Yes, some details are similar. There’s a crowd of hungry people in a remote location. Jesus and his disciples talk about feeding them and the disciples can’t offer any solution. Jesus takes fish and loaves and feeds the crowd, with a significant amount left over at the end. We find those in both cases. But there are also quite a few differences. The crowd was smaller, of course. It was springtime with the five thousand and there was a lot of green grass for them to sit on. Not so anymore—the summer sun had dried the grass out. The five thousand spent a day with Jesus but Jesus says here that these 4,000 have been with him for three. The fact that both had fish and loaves is no surprise. That would have been very common food near the Sea of Galilee. But the amounts starting and finishing were different. And both Matthew and Mark record Jesus later asking his disciples about these miracles, and Jesus lists both of them: “Do you remember when I fed the five thousand? And how about when I fed the four thousand?”
The real question is not “Why did Jesus feed a crowd twice?” After all, people get hungry again. Jesus could have fed a crowd every single day if he had wanted to. The question is “Why did the Holy Spirit inspire Mark and Matthew to record this second miracle for us?” Is it just the same lesson that we are to learn here? Or is there something different?
And there are some differences in the way that these things happen that point us to some lessons from our Lord. Mark’s account starts by saying
In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples and said to them, 2“I feel compassion for the crowd because they have already stayed with me three days and do not have anything to eat. 3If I send them home hungry, they will faint on the way. Some of them have come from a long distance.”
4His disciples replied, “Where can anyone get enough bread to feed these people here in this deserted place?”
Is it not amazing how dedicated these people were to hearing Jesus? They have been with Jesus three days. And it’s not as if they just ran out of food. Many of them probably had little or no food to begin with, so little that Jesus was concerned that they would faint on the way if they didn’t eat something. I’ve been hungry at different times in my life, but I have never gone so long without food that I was actually in danger of collapsing.
It actually puts me to shame. I worry about my next meal while I’m still eating the meal I’m on. But I don’t put nearly so much thought into filling up on the Word of God. These four thousand would rather skip a meal, two meals, three days of meals, than miss one word from Jesus. I don’t think they did this expecting a particular miracle from Jesus. They just trusted that he would give them what they need.
Jesus’ disciples, too, recognize that they cannot do anything to solve this situation. The way that they respond here is a little different from how they responded at the feeding of the five thousand. Some commentators think that they have forgotten about that miracle when they reply “Where can anyone get enough bread to feed these people?,” but it seems more likely that they are simply telling Jesus “What can we do? Only you have the answer.” They didn’t have an army of concession stand workers with beer and hot dogs. They didn’t have the money it would take to buy all these people food. They were truly helpless. But they did have Jesus.
This is how we ought to think when we pray the Lord’s Prayer and say those words, “Give us this day our daily bread.” We ought to look about ourselves and realize that we have no answer except for Jesus. We should think this way even if we are swimming in abundance, as we so often are. Because apart from Jesus the most sumptuous buffet is truly a deserted place. Without Jesus our riches are nothing. Without Jesus we truly will faint along the way.
Without Jesus we can starve to death while feasting, but with Jesus seven loaves and a few fish are all it takes to feed four thousand. It takes Jesus to feed a crowd. Give us this day our daily bread.
The disciples had no answer. They turned to Jesus and Jesus answered. Mark says:
5[Jesus] asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
“Seven,” they said.
6He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks, and broke them. He gave the pieces to his disciples to distribute to the crowd, and they did so. 7They also had a few small fish. He blessed them and said that these should be distributed as well. 8The people ate and were satisfied. They picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9About four thousand men were there.
It takes a lot to feed a crowd. At a baseball game it takes an army of workers with thousands of hot dogs and drinks. It costs millions of dollars. Jesus gave thanks. He blessed the loaves and the fish. They were distributed to the crowd. The people ate and were satisfied. Seven basketfuls were left over.
Think about all the earthly things you worry about. You have needs. You need food and drink, clothing and shoes, house and home. Are these things difficult for your Lord to provide? Has he forgotten you and left you to faint along the way? Or has he been with you to provide for you and care for your needs often with so much abundance that you don’t know what to do with it all?
And just as Jesus answers that prayer “Give us this day our daily bread,” so he answers our prayers to satisfy our spiritual hunger. Spiritual hunger can be a harder thing to gauge. I can’t look down at my soul’s waistline. There’s no rumbling in my belly that says it’s time to fill up on the Gospel. I can’t mindlessly snack on a bowl of forgiveness.
But dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what a banquet our Lord sets before us! It takes a lot to feed a crowd, but Jesus is more than enough for every one of us. How did those people stay three days with him in the desert wilderness? Isn’t it because the joy of heaven was filling up every one of them as they listened to Jesus proclaim to them the good news of the kingdom of God? The feast of forgiveness doesn’t come to you in meager tidbits. When Jesus died on the cross he did so to provide lavish, sumptuous, full forgiveness.
We witness and participate in a miracle of Jesus’ feeding every week. This takes place in two ways. It happens by faith, as Jesus describes in John 6 after the feeding of the five thousand where he says, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” That’s a miracle, because no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. And the miracle of Jesus’ feeding also takes place sacramentally, in the Lord’s Supper. By the all-powerful word of Jesus he distributes himself to us as a miraculous food for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith. That’s a wondrous feast for people whom he has redeemed, body and soul.
“I feel compassion for the crowd.” Jesus said. He could have sold concessions for a lot of money. Even more, he could have demanded payment to satisfy your spiritual needs. But Jesus came in compassion for that crowd and for you. He came to fill those who are hungry and satisfy those who thirst. He is the one who provides everything you need for this earthly life. He is the one who satisfies your soul.
It takes Jesus to feed a crowd. Hold to him, in Word and Sacrament. Fill up on his grace. And you will not faint along the way.
Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson