For the last few months I’ve been enjoying a slow walk through the fourth gospel. The gospel of John has long been a favourite of mine; a wonderfully-crafted narrative, with rich themes effortlessly woven throughout. One theme I’ve noticed recently is the abundant generosity of God. It a theme that runs from the first to the final chapter. Out of his fulness Jesus gives grace upon grace (1.17); the Father sends the Spirit without limit (3.34), and Jesus gives us life not just in a thimbleful, but in abundance (10.10).
This is reinforced by Jesus’ miracles of multiplication, where time and again he steps into the role of a host, bearing the shame of those who have under catered, and providing a lavish feast that alludes to the Old Testament promises of the Messianic banquet (e.g. Amos 9.13–14; Isaiah 25.6–9; Jeremiah 31.10–14). The first such instance is the wedding at Cana, where Jesus turns 500 litres of water into the finest of wines. This is surely excessive, especially since the crowd had already drained the host’s provisions. Presumably they didn’t manage to drink their way through all this extra wine. I suspect the happy couple was left with enough for further parties in the weeks to come. But this ‘excessive’ miracle reveals Jesus’ glory and his nature (2.11). He is no meagre host. He is abundantly generous.
The theme of Jesus’ generosity continues through the gospel. In chapter 6, Jesus fed 5,000 hungry folk who had gathered to hear him preach. And once everyone had eaten their fill, the disciples gathered up the leftovers.
‘He said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.’ (6.12–13)
This is an enormous quantity of leftovers. Arguably more was leftover than they had at the start! Why didn’t Jesus simply multiply the exact amount they needed? Isn’t this wasteful? Well, the twelve baskets are symbolic, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus provides for the entire Old Covenant community. But the abundance of leftovers suggests that his provision is not just for Israel alone. His grace is expansive and there is always room for more guests at his banquet.
Furthermore, Jesus isn’t wasteful. He tells the disciples to gather up the leftovers ‘so that none shall be lost’ (v12). A few verses later, he uses the same phrase when he speaks of the Father’s will that none of those given to the Son ‘shall be lost’ but will be raised up on the last day (v39). The careful ingathering of shards of bread, letting none be wasted, is a picture of Jesus’ commitment to the ingathering of all those entrusted to him.
Here’s a detail I’d never spotted before. When Jesus multiplies the food, there’s enough fish and bread to go round, but it’s only the bread that is leftover (v13). Why is there no leftover fish?
John is a very deliberate writer. He connects stories like links in a chain, through key words and allusions. This is one of two stories in John’s gospel set at the Sea of Galilee. The other comes right at the end of the gospel, where after the resurrection Jesus appears to his disciples who have been fishing all night and have caught nothing (21.1–5). He appears in the same place where he had previously provided for their lack. And in this very same location Jesus gives them a miraculous catch so vast that ‘they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish’ (21.6).
At the first feast Jesus multiplied bread. At the second he multiplies fish. And if the twelve baskets of bread symbolised his provision for the Old Covenant community, this post-resurrection multiplication of fish represents his provision for the New Covenant community.
Once again, Jesus provided more than they possibly needed. Much ink has been spilled on the significance of the 153 fish. It seems plausible that it somehow represents the breadth of God’s mission, with the disciples being appointed as ‘fishers of men’ to draw in all the nations. But whatever it represents, it’s clearly more than was needed in that moment. Especially since when the disciples landed ‘they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it’ (21.9). Jesus didn’t even need the fish they caught! Before they brought anything to the table, he already had more than enough.
And get this. When John lists the disciples who were present, he makes a point of telling us a specific detail about one of them: ‘Nathanael from Cana in Galilee’ (v2). It’s as if John wants to connect these three stories together in our minds. Whether at a wedding feast, or for a hungry crowd, or for a bunch of dejected fishermen, Jesus is repeatedly shown to be a generous host; the king of an abundant Kingdom.
Time and again John shows us that Jesus can take the little we have and multiply it to reveal his glory. What we lack he can make up for. When we work in our own strength, we’re like the disciples, labouring all night with empty nets. But under the direction of the King water can become wine, nothing can become something, lack can turn to abundance. And there is always room for more at his table.
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Photo by Anton Ryazanov on Unsplash
