The Passover and the Feeding of the Five Thousand

St. John's Gospel is full of details. One of the things quickly missed in the passage I have been looking at all week on the Feeding of the Five Thousand, is that the miracle occurred at Passover.

Now, John has more than one Passover mentioned in his Gospel. He is very aware of the Passover, and Christ as the Bread of Life, the fulfillment of the Old Covenant with the New.

That these people were following Christ at Passover Time is very important. They would have had to stop or at least interrupt their preparations in order to listen to Jesus. Some may have seen the significance of the Feeding happening on the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. God has no accidents, as we say-only God-events.

Christ was showing all the Jews that He was doing something new with the Passover Feast. A new commandment, a new rule was beginning. The Pharisees and Sadducees "got it", which is why they were angry and jealous. Christ is claiming to be God through the Feeding of the Five Thousand. He is claiming that His miracle is greater than that of the Passover-in fact, His Passion and Death form the New Passover-the Angel of Death passes over us as we are saved by the Blood of the Lamb of God. Only, this time, our sins are taken away and we get access to heaven and God in the Beatific Vision.

There just are not enough hours in the day to read and re-read this passage and learn all there is to know from the Word of God.

The Bloody Sacrifice becomes the Unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass. St. John knew all of this and this is why he makes the effort to remind us of the Passover. The Feeding of the Five Thousand points to the Eucharist, the re-enactment of Calvary. Jesus, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, gives us Himself in His Body and Blood.

We can never be too grateful for this Gift.

Many posts today...have a great First Friday.