Incredible Moment with the Five Thousand

Gire has taken two stories and combined them, but it is, for the most part, the same group of people (give or take a few hundred). I am so familiar with the feeding of the five thousand story I get the four versions mixed up. No matter. They all pretty boil down to the same thing: Jesus gave thanks for what he had to work with and proceeded to make a miracle. But in this miracle, he included his disciples. Andrew found the boy with the lunch, and all the disciples helped to distribute the food and collect the fragments. it was a group effort... a daunting task made less daunting by many hands.

The second part of the story reminds me of the story of the woman Jesus met at the well. She said, "Sir, give me this living water always." In John's account (RSV) they say the same thing: "Sir, give us this bread always." Give us this bread always. What does that mean in the context of today's culture? That we expect Jesus to feed us, water us, keep us from going hungry or thirsty? I think he included the disciples in that miracle for a reason... he wanted them to participate, to understand that it would be their job once he was gone. It is our job too.