by Whaid Rose
I love good bread. So when the CT Daily Briefing arrived at my inbox with an article titled “Ministry of Bread,” by Rachel Pfeiffer, I was naturally curious.
It turned out to be a meaningful read. It is about how bread is ingrained in Ukrainian life and culture and how “As the war continues, pastors and churches across Ukraine are working to bring people both the bread they need to feed their bodies and the bread they need for their souls.”
This calls to mind the rich symbolism of bread in Scripture: God’s miraculous supply of manna in the wilderness; Jesus being born in Bethlehem (the “house of bread”); Satan tempting Jesus to turn stones into bread; Jesus declaring, “I am the bread of life”; the breaking of bread as a seminal practice of the early church. The Bible has a lot to say about bread.
It makes sense, then, that of the miracles of Jesus, the feeding of the multitudes is recorded in detail in all four Gospels. No other was so public, performed before so many witnesses. We can glean several lessons from this event.
Ministry insights
Solitude and rest. In Mark’s account (6:30-44), the disciples had just recounted their busy day when Jesus responded, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (v. 31).
This highlights the first of several principles gleaned from the story: Solitude and rest are essential to effective ministry. Mark notes that many people were coming and going, so much so that the disciples “did not even have time to eat” (v. 31). Ministry involves overwhelming demands and responsibilities, requiring regular withdrawals for rest and renewal.
Compassion. But things did not go as planned. Seeing Jesus and the disciples withdraw by boat, the crowds scouted out their intended destination and arrived ahead of them (v. 33).
Most would have found this frustrating, and Jesus would have been perfectly justified in turning the crowds away. But instead, “Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd” (v. 34). This underscores another lesson: Ministry must be driven by a genuine compassion for the deep needs of people.
Meeting needs. This point is expanded on in the next three verses. To summarize, at the end of a long day, the people were tired and hungry, and there was nothing for them to eat, for it was “a deserted place” (vv. 35-37). The disciples’ natural impulse was to dismiss the crowd. But Jesus suggested, “You give them something to eat,” highlighting another important lesson: Ministry is about meeting people’s needs, and we are to be an active part in doing that.
Jesus’ statement startled the disciples initially, but the resources needed were wonderfully supplied. From a lunchbox containing two fish and five loaves of bread, thousands ate and were filled, and there were baskets full of leftovers! Two lessons emerge here: Jesus always supplies the resources to match whatever task He assigns us, and God uses ordinary people to meet God-sized needs in ways we would never imagine. God can do much with whatever we place in His hands.
Broken world, divine supply
It’s too bad the disciples looked to themselves instead of trusting Jesus when they saw a big need. What’s worse is that we often do the same thing. Overwhelmed by the enormity and complexity of human needs around us, we conclude there’s no way our small loaves can make any lasting difference.
Yet in the description of the crowd and the surroundings — vulnerable, hungry people in a desolate place — we see a picture of our world. And in the unfolding miracle, we’re given clues as to how we can become bread to the masses.
Ultimately, the outcome of this story results from Jesus’ compassion for the people. But in John’s Gospel, Jesus is not just a multiplier of bread; He is Himself the Bread of Life (6:35). The temporal bread He gives is symbolic of the living bread He is (vv. 48-59). Just as He is light and calls us to be light in a dark world, so He is bread and calls us to become bread to a hungry world.
Four takeaways
This happens by becoming what the late Henri Nouwen calls “The Beloved.” He asserts that every human being is, fundamentally, the beloved of God. Fleshing out the truth of our beloved-ness is the greatest pursuit, a journey marked out before us by the four things Jesus did in multiplying the fish and loaves.
First, just as Jesus took these elements, so we must see ourselves as having been taken, or chosen, by Jesus. In doing this, we find identity and purpose.
Second, just as Jesus blessed the fish and loaves, so we must believe we are the blessed. To bless someone is to speak words of affirmation into their lives, which is what the Father did for the Son when He declared, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).
Third, just as Jesus broke the fish and loaves, so we must face the reality of our brokenness, ever mindful that the gospel offers good news to broken people. As this story shows, in the hands of Jesus, whatever is broken is transformed into something beautiful.
Fourth, just as Jesus gave the fish and loaves to the disciples to be distributed, so we must give ourselves away in the service of others, in which we’ll find the greatest fulfillment in life. As Frederick Buechner wisely said, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
This is how we embrace the reality of our beloved-ness. Like the fish and the loaves, we must be taken, blessed, broken, and given away.
As Gandhi well observed, “There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” So let’s turn afresh to the story of the fish and loaves. And, moved by Jesus’ compassion, let us take up this ministry of bread, giving people both the bread they need to feed their bodies and the bread they need for their souls.
