Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. (Mark 6:41)
I mentioned in the preceding meditation that we should not miss two levels of report and interpretation. As we see in this point of view, the expression of breaking the bread and giving it to his disciples is the interpretation of the Bible author in keeping with the conduct of Holy Communion service. As time goes by the religious tradition in which the “Five loaves and two fish” are involved with are handed down through many people of the world. “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body."(Mark 14:22) It indicates that the “Five loaves and two fish” and Eucharist raised fusion of horizons with the verbs “broke and gave”.
We often hear that Jesus gave himself up for us all but we do not feel it in our real lives. We think of it as a messianic role in which Jesus had to be crucified to take up my sin. It is not wrong but Christian faith cannot be explained in this manner. The word ‘Jesus broke his body’ is connected with a profound situation.
It is the incarnation. The Word became flesh. The invisible God became the visible one. Jesus is a visible God. He is God with the same body like ours. Here is the tension of Christian faith. Body has its limitations. But God is an unlimited being. It is a contradiction that infinite God has a finite body. Christianity began from this shrouded contradiction. To say in Barth’s way, ‘an impossible possibility’ has happened to Jesus. The confines of God and Men are found in the person of Jesus. At his point, Jesus is the only true God and true Man. He is the true “Five loaves and two fish”.
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