In My Father’s Name

During a church visit the pastor used the Feeding of the Five Thousand (Matthew 14:13-21) as his text. I have to admit I was taken aback when three times he told the congregation that the account was a parable. Placing this miracle in the category of a parable allowed the pastor to put his own spin on the account and he determined that the people assembled to hear Jesus would have brought food and water with them. His interpretation was that rather than a miracle, this was a matter of organizing the mass of people and getting them to share their abundance with others. He said, “If we read it carefully, it wasn’t Jesus’ idea. The disciples did all the work to feed the people with the little food they had. It was as though Jesus dared them to feed the 5,000. They tapped into something deep inside of them that rose to the dare.” I cringe at the thought of anyone discounting the Lord’s miracles, but then recalled what Jesus said to unbelieving Jews, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep” (John 10:25-26).