In today’s reading from the gospel of John, we read a story of one of Jesus’s greatest hits: The Feeding of the 5,000. This story looms large in Christian consciousness and for good reason. It is a fantastic and beautiful testament to Jesus’ humanity and divinity. In reading this story, I am most struck by how Jesus came to this position in the first place.

The text says that a large crowd was following Jesus because “they saw the signs he was performing on the sick” (v. 2). They did not follow Jesus because of any one thing he taught. The most persuading thing about Jesus to the crowd of people, at least in this particular pericope, is what he does. John’s gospel is very interested in the σημεῖα, “signs,” that Jesus performs and uses them as a motif for demonstrating Jesus’ deity through action. He heals people and raises them from the dead. The Gospel of John reserves the bulk of Jesus’ teachings for a 5 chapter, soliloquy only privy to his disciples at the end of his life right before his trial and death in chs. 13-17. Therefore, what the crowd is most familiar with and most compelled by the person of Jesus are his actions with specific attention to their recipients: the sick.

When I read this story during this Eastertide, I am thoroughly challenged by Jesus to evaluate whether or not my actions do indeed affirm that Jesus Christ is king. If Jesus has actually risen from the dead, then his kingdom is at hand. Therefore, we Christians ought to be seeking justice in how black and brown communities are treated by the authorities. We Christians ought to be loving mercy with who has access to our healthcare system. We Christians ought to be walking with God in how we relate to other people who are also trying to walk in faith and a healthy spiritual life. Christ has risen so we ought to act like it.

Joshua Rumbaoa J.G.

M.A.R. Student in Hebrew Bible

Yale Divinity School ‘20