Text: Saint Matthew 14:13-21
It's easy to imagine that if Jesus where physically present in our own town today, we might find Him in a Restaurant, sharing a meal with friends. For example, there is a Gospel account of what happened to two of Jesus' Disciples when they encountered the Risen Lord on the road to
Emmaus. At first they didn't recognize Him, but then they sat down to eat and Jesus "took bread and said the blessing: then He broke it and handed it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him" (Luke 24:30,31).
Later, when the two Disciples joined the Apostles and some other friends of Jesus, they told them their story of what happened, and how they had recognized Him when they sat down to eat. They were still talking about all this when Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst, saying,
"Peace be with you" (Luke 24:37). Jesus' friends became fearful. They thought they were seeing a ghost. "Why are you frightened?" Jesus asked. "and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have
flesh and bones" (Luke 24:38-39). Then, as to prove His physical presence beyond any shadow of doubt, Jesus asked, "'Have you anything here to eat?' They gave Him a piece of broiled fish. And He took it and ate in their presence" (Luke 24:42-43).
In the last Chapter of John's Gospel, Simon Peter and several others of Jesus' friends decided to go fishing. "They went out and got into the boat and caught nothing." Then the Risen Jesus appears on shore and calls out, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find
some" (John 21:3, 6). They follow the instructions and immediately catch more fish than they can handle. Moreover, Simon Peter calls out "It is the Lord." Then he jumps into the water, and rushes to Jesus. When the other Disciples come to shore, they see that Jesus has some bread
there, and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. Jesus says to them, "Come and have breakfast" (John 21:7, 12). And again, they have a meal together.
There are many other New Testament scenes in which Jesus shares a meal with others…
On one occasion, He goes to a Wedding Feast with His Mother and some friends.
On another occasion, He sits down at the table with some Prostitutes and Extortionists, among others.
Today's Gospel Reading describes a scene in which Jesus serves up a miracle meal to a hungry crowd of more than five thousand people.
"When it was evening, the Disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." They
replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves of bread and two fish." And He said, "Bring them here to Me." Then He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to Heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the
Disciples, and the Disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children" (Matthew 14:15-21).
In writing down the story of Jesus' life and ministry, the New Testament writers place a certain emphasis on mealtimes beyond nourishment - obviously, with good reason. For as we know, it is often in the mealtime context that Jesus points the way to our Spiritual Nourishment.
It was during the Passover meal - the Last Supper - that Jesus instructed His Disciples, and those who followed, to never forget that He will forever be their Source of Spiritual Nourishment.
As they sat at the table, Jesus broke and shared the bread with the Disciples, saying, "This is My Body given for you; Do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19).
"I am the Bread of Life, Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry," Jesus told them earlier (John 6:35). "This is the bread that came down from Heaven," He had said. "But the one who eats this bread will live forever" (John 6:58).
Jesus Christ is the Source of our Spiritual Nourishment.
Jesus Christ is the Source of our Human Fulfillment.
Jesus Christ is the Source of the Grace, the Power we need in order to grow into the kind of persons God created us to be.
A New York Times writer began a column with these words …
"It's all right to want it all. We have advertisements in which people who have it all torment people who don't have it all. They display their fantastic dental caps, their stunning physiques, the incredible automobiles, their beautiful mansions, their tasty burgers and wine and
pizza and beer, saying, 'It doesn't get any better than this!' Which is another way of saying, 'We've got it all.'?"
But don't be misled. If that's all there is to your fulfillment, as a child of God, then it doesn't get any worse than this. If that's all it takes for you to say, "I've got it all," then what you've really got is nothing.
There was a King sitting on a Throne and around him stood great and beautiful columns, covered in ivory and bearing the banners of the Kingdom with great honor. It pleased the King to raise a small feather from the ground, and he commanded it to fly. The feather flew, not because of
the King's command, but because the air blew it along …
This am I … a feather borne on the breath of God, and the breath of God is love.
Let go, and let Christ Jesus empower you to say, "With the love of God at the center of my being, I've got it all!" And it doesn't get any better than this!
A man who had been a Waiter most of his life was on his deathbed, drawing his last breath …
He said to his wife, "I'll be on the other side waiting for you. And if you ever want to talk to me badly enough, I'll come back. I promise."
Some weeks after the Waiter died, his wife decided she must speak with him again. Consequently, she sought the assistance of the town's leading Spiritualist. "Just knock on the table," advised the Spiritualist, "And he'll hear you."
So the wife knocked once, then again more loudly, but absolutely nothing happened. Then she hammered on the table hollering, "Marvin, you just come here quickly, or else."
There was a flash of lighting and a roll of thunder and Marvin, her husband, stood before her big as life.
"Marvin," she said, "You heard me knocking! Why didn't you come?" The veteran ex-waiter explained simply, "It wasn't my table."
To be what you ought to be in your relationship with God and in your relationships with one another, come to your table. Come to the table of the Lord and experience the very bread of love deep within your soul. Come to your table to be what you ought to be in your ministry of
loving service to others.
A man brought his new boss home to have dinner with his family. After the meal was over, the boss said, "That was a wonderful dinner. It isn't often that I eat such a fine meal as we just had." To which the little boy sitting next to him said, "Neither do we!"
There may be times when even a family dinner may not provide us with optimum physical nourishment. But for our spiritual nourishment, the table of the Lord is the ideal place to be.
There we partake of the bread of life that never becomes stale or weak - the bread of life that nourishes our very soul.
Come to the table of the Lord! And "Let's Eat!"
Thanks be to God!!!!!
Amen!!!
Come to the table of the Lord!
