August 1st Reflection by Bill Lynch

Matthew 14:13-21
 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 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 that 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 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.

Reflection
One thing I always liked about this passage of the Gospel is the thought that Jesus multiplies. Jesus doesn't subtract or divide but rather he multiplies. Jesus multiplies God's love with compassion, healing, teaching and feeding.

Jesus takes the very crowd that he was seeking a short time of refuge from and has compassion on them. Jesus knew that these people and this crowd were truly his followers. These people were seeking Jesus and Jesus loved them with an astounding love that multiplies. And this love of Jesus would multiply from within this crowd to throughout the world.

Yes, Jesus through God's love for all of the people... the crowd... did not divide this crowd and cast some aside... rather Jesus fed the crowd, healed and taught all the people. The subtraction and division would come later at the decision of the people to stop following God in Jesus and take on a different course in life. But it still stands that Jesus multiplies and does not divide or subtract.

We, meaning me and you, are the ones who divide and subtract. We divide ourselves through our words and our actions. Our divisions are for selfish reason in most cases. We divide to get our own way or to take something that does not belong to us. We subtract and take to appeal to our own pleasures and meet our own desires. When "we" subtract and divide, very seldom is there compassionate love, rather their is selfish gain. When we subtract and divide we sin. We leave out God and gratify self.

That's not the case with God's love through Jesus. Jesus takes and multiplies his love and in a compassionate caring way feeds all of the people, the good and the bad all together. Jesus multiplies and feeds the crowd. All are fed and there is even left overs. God's love is immeasurable and overflows anything "we" can imagine.

As I prepare for communion, I can't help but to think of how the love of God in Jesus truly multiplies and feeds all of the people. God calls us forward and we have in mind the supper that Jesus had with his disciples. This is my body and this is my blood, given and shed for you and for all people. God has multiplied his love once again through Jesus death and resurrection to grant life eternal with a loving, compassionate, healing and teaching Savior who has come to give you that same love.

So, take and eat and remember how Jesus has multiplied. Put aside the subtraction and division and go into the world in which God places you with the people God gives to you to multiply the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Yes, Jesus multiplies... Thanks be to God!

Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRhck_fxxzw

Prayer
Lord, forgive me when I run from you to subtract and divide. May I feed off of your love and hear your Word and multiply your love... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen