TRANSLATION MATTHEW 14:13

So when Jesus heard this he left there by himself, in a boat, for a lonely place. But when the crowds of people heard of it, they followed him on foot from their towns. When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw the large crowd and was moved with pity for them, and healed their sick people.

As evening arrived his pupils came to him, saying,”This a lonely place and it’s already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go off into the villages to buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They don’t need to go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We’ve nothing here except five loaves and two fish.” He said, “Bring them here to me.”

Then he ordered the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, lifting them up towards heaven, he blessed them and broke them and gave them to his pupils who gave them to the people. And they ate, all of them, and were satisfied; and they collected the leftover fragments, twelve full baskets. There were five thousand men who ate, apart from women and children.

Once more a comparison with Mark’s version shows how Matthew has edited a fuller account, leaving out details he thought unimportant but adding a crucial detail of his own: Jesus shows his pity/ compassion for the people, by healing their sick. Given that he wants to show Jesus as the true ruler over against Herod, this detail defines the messianic rule as healing, teaching and feeding.

If Jesus always does the right thing, the storyteller has to show his pupils getting it wrong. Their motive in this case however is sensible proceeding from concern for the people. They cannot expect Jesus’ miracle. Jesus’ expectation that they should feed the people is dramatically appropriate but also instructive for the future responsibility of church leaders. If there is any hidden meaning in the five loaves and two fish, I have not found it.

The words, took, blessed, broke and gave, look forward to the last supper and the narrative of Holy Communion, and may also look forward to the victorious banquet of the Messiah in heaven. The pupils are decisively placed between Jesus and the people, a necessary part of this social miracle.

There is no scarcity amongst the people of Jesus, but rather abundance. The twelve baskets of leftovers point to the twelve clans of Israel: there is enough for the whole people. The gospel tradition shared by Matthew and Mark, with its comparison of Herod and Jesus, carries with it the joyful hope of ordinary people, in the just sharing of earth’s resources.

Matthew does not present this story as a religious event, but rather as social and political. He writes about just power, which however is also marked in advance with suffering and death, through the link with the last supper. His story reveals true magic but also true realism.

The image of the crowd/ people in this story is particularly focused by the greek verb anaklithenai, which is difficult to translate. Properly it is not to sit ( as I have translated) merely, but to recline, as for a meal. The people of Jesus are not a crowd ready to fight but a family ready to eat.