Jesus was holding a gigantic press conference at the Jerusalem Hilton. CNN asked, “How will your teachings spread?” Christ replied, “Through my followers.” “Supposing they fail you?” Christ replied, “I have no other plan.”
As this Gospel opens, Jesus has just read in the obit section of the Jewish Times of John the Baptist’s beheading. He is crushed. They were cousins but much more than funeral and
wedding cousins. Their mothers had been close. Jesus had walked for days to hear John lecture and be baptized by him. John was a hero of His.
Jesus weeps. He wants to hide from crowds and have time to compose Himself. But also with John dead, He knows police will round up the usual suspects. He will be on their A list. He too
may be murdered. So, He has to go into hiding. It is a misreading
of the Gospels to conclude that Christ was a loose cannon. He did not look for trouble. He had too much work to do. He planned to disappear into a safe house till the situation calmed and then reappear.
Besides, He needed to catch up on sleep. Given His all systems go pace, He had to be nearing physical exhaustion.
He jumped into a water taxi, aka a sailboat, with the apostles. He set the tiller for the lake’s other side. He was spotted. Crowds gave chase on foot. You can measure His charisma
when you reflect that people walked ten miles in 100 degrees plus heat to hear Him. When was the last time someone walked a block to hear you?
When Jesus arrived at the picnic grounds, he saw field to field people. Clues, given by the Gospels, indicate over fifteen thousand men, women, and kids. Notice He does not get angry at
them. He places His desperate need for a swim and nap on the back burner. He forgets about His safety. He puts grief for the Baptist on hold. He makes room for these sheep without a
shepherd. He has compassion. He has the willingness to touch others’ pain.
President Ronald Reagan in 1988 approved compensation for victims of a US military mistake. He was advised he was setting a bad precedent. Reagan said, “Compassion is never a bad
precedent.”
Here is a rainy day project. Study the Gospels. You conclude shortly that Jesus preferred to spend more time easing peoples’ pain than talking to them.
The Nazarene tells us we must likewise extend ourselves to those who need us. We must make room in our lives for them. He never found anyone a drag. That is what the Christian mystique is all about. As Christ did, so must we.
Only after filling their stomachs does Jesus proceed to feed their minds. One hopes He took time to eat a fish sandwich Himself. Notice that before preaching He had the apostles clean
up the meal leftovers. He was environmentally friendly. Are we? Do we clean up our mess? Better, do we clean up others’?
The context suggest He talked for hours. Not a body stirred. There was no microphone. His voice must have been raw and His lean body drained. Was He Himself eating? Again Matthew, who was an eye witness to all this, wants us to note His willingness to put out for others. We know the unsubtle message being e-mailed to us by Matthew.
Underline the point that Jesus was not just in the business of saving souls but of people – body and soul.
We do not preach a pie in the sky Jesus. There are 2000 verses on the poor in the Bible. (Rick Warren) He wants the poor to enjoy the good life not only after death but also today. Do
you see now why the Church asks us so often for money for the poor? It is just taking a leaf out of Jesus’ plan book. We must get our fingers around those sharp fish hooks in our pockets.
Note too He does not make a distinction between the deserving and the undeserving poor. The poor do not have to pass a litmus test. He feeds everybody. Should we be different?
Stephen King at Vassar College reminded the graduating class that what we scrape down the kitchen disposal after a family of eight’s meal would feed a village in Africa for a week.
The Gospel tells us the role of the disciples in Christ’s plan. It was they who gave out the meal to the crowd. He worked through the hands of the disciples and He still operates through
us. Are we the messengers Jesus wants us to be? Will we loan Him our hands, feet, and voice today? He has no other plan.