enough to fill 12 baskets.........

This is Bread Week here at Word this Week and my question is.....Why did Jesus tell the disciples to collect all those leftovers, enough to fill 12 baskets?  Was he showing off?  [See?  I can feed you and have lots left over as well].  Was he using this as an opportunity to provide bread for his own disciples for the days ahead?  Was this just a 'teaching tool' since 12 is a significant number [being the number of the tribes of Israel]?

I won't go with 'showing off' since it would serve no purpose in the story.  Seems to me that feeding 5000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish is impressive enough without the leftovers.

Since this is the gospel of John, one could point to the significance of the number of baskets of leftovers.  John likes to have layers of meaning which are often hidden in otherwise mundane details.  Nothing is mundane in John as a rule.  Jesus is linked to his own people Israel, but also to God's people Israel.  At this point in history 10 of the tribes are 'lost' and so Jesus brings the whole nation back together (symbolically) in this re-counting of 12 baskets.

Furthermore, I don't believe Jesus uses this afternoon as a chance to build up the disciples' food supply.  However, I do think this is about 'daily bread.'

Daily bread is a phrase from the Lord's Prayer most of us learned early in life.  "Give us this day our daily bread."  Daily bread is just that: enough bread for today.   Just enough. Nothing left over.  Like the manna in the wilderness, daily bread is to be gathered for today's hunger and everyone is to trust that God will provide for tomorrow tomorrow.

In a world where food is scarce, praying for daily bread is a request to be fed today.  Please provide food for today because I am not sure there will be any.  There is no point in worrying about tomorrow.  Assuage today's hunger today and allow tomorrow to take care of itself.

However when we read this passage in a First World setting, other interpretations are possible.  In our setting the problem isn't finding enough for today.  We have enough for today.  And enough for tomorrow.  And maybe even the day after that.  Our problem is sharing what we have with others.

The people on the grass were allowed to eat until they were satisfied....but then the extra was to be given away.  One family had half a loaf; another had only small pieces.  It all went into a basket to be gathered together.  No holding back.  Give it away.

We struggle to learn this lesson again and again whether it be bread or our time or our money.  We want what we need plus a little, plus some security, plus emergency.  We don't share easily.  We have an entirely different lesson to learn from those 12 baskets of leftover bread.

I wonder what Jesus did with the leftovers.  I wonder if there was another group of hungry people just over the hill who were about to receive their daily bread.

Who is just over the hill waiting for us to share the bounty that God has given us?