THE FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND

The feeding of the five thousand. PHOTO /CORRESPONDENT

The feeding of the five thousand

By Fr. Felix (African Times Guest Writer)

According to Mark 6:-34-44. The story can be read on several levels.

It is a foretaste of the

Eucharist, the disciples gathered round Jesus as the new Israel (12

baskets for the 12 tribes) for a fully satisfying meal, the messianic

banquet. Jesus is the good shepherd who feeds his flock, according

to Psalm 23, on the green pastures beside the restful waters of the

Lake of Galilee. Jesus is the prophet like Moses who provides manna

for his people in the desert, or more exactly like Elisha in 2 Kings 4

. The story is recounted in terms which

deliberately recall these and other biblical scenes, concentrating

more on the meaning than on the historical facts. There must, of

course, have been a wonderful feeding at the base of the story, but it

is difficult to re-establish exactly what this was.