Sermon Notes — March 8, 2026
“The Good News is: Together, the Impossible is Possible”
Mark 6:32-44
Rev. Terry Carty
March 8, 2026
I want to tell you something good: Together, the impossible is possible
“By the power at work within us [God] is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20)
Today I want to talk a little about miracles. In the Bible, miracles are supernatural events remembered as dramatic signs of God’s power breaking into ordinary life. Sometimes God worked alone, but usually God worked through human agents. Of course, God acted in the human form of Jesus, but God also used normal people like Moses and Elijah to deliver miracles.
Throughout history, the more we learned about the world … the more we became educated … the more we have found ways to ‘explain away’ supernatural miracles. Religious skeptics have long tried to explain the parting of the Red Sea using natural theories. Jesus’ skeptics doubted that Lazarus was actually dead when Jesus resurrected him.
And theologians and scholars have proposed a range of interpretations about our Bible story today – the feeding of the 5,000.
By far the most favored Christian interpretation is the traditional, “Literal Miracle” held by Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches. It holds that Jesus miraculously multiplied five loaves and two fish. The food physically increased in quantity. And after everyone had eaten there were basketfuls leftover. A literal miracle of supernatural multiplication.
A strong second interpretation in some liberal scholarship is the “Moral Miracle” Theory. It suggests that the miraculous transformation was moral and social. They saw the boy’s example of sharing and they heard Jesus’ blessing, and it inspired the crowd to generously give the stashes of food they had kept hidden. Once people began sharing, there was enough for everyone and leftovers too.
Let’s pause for a prayer
Holy God, today we hope to see you more clearly, love you more dearly, and follow you more nearly. So we pray that we can open up space in our hearts, in our spirits, in our minds, to feel your presence among us. Help me to faithfully attempt to interpret your Word. And show us once again that with you, anything is possible. We believe Lord. Help our unbelief. Amen.
Two weeks ago, a Zoom group that I meet with each week welcomed visiting Rabbi Michael Zedek who has written a book entitled “Taking Miracles Seriously.” In the Jewish rabbinical tradition, he is an engaging storyteller and uses stories to make his points. And in the Reformed Jewish tradition, he is open to discussing other people’s viewpoints.
He quoted Albert Einstein who said, “There are only two ways to live. First is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Good advice. Believe in miracles, recognize miracles when you see them, and appreciate them.
Everyday miracles could include
· waking up to another day of breath and possibility
· wounds that heal themselves back together
· seed in the early spring that blows around, plants itself, and can grow to provide food, shelter, beauty
· rainbow after rain
· a stranger holding the door for you
· communities showing up in crisis
Rabbi Zedek told us that he chooses to live as though everything is a miracle. His perspective on stories of miracles is not so much “what are the facts,” but instead “what are the truths.”
The good in the feeding of the 5,000 is more than simply marveling at the facts. The real good is that it holds truth for our lives today. It is a story that can help us follow Jesus more nearly.
The Feeding of the 5,000 is in each of the 4 gospels. Much of the story is the same in all four. But only John’s gospel remembers that it was a youth who offered the 5 loaves and 2 fish. This points out the truth that Jesus recognized and valued the contributions children and youth can make to the community. That is a truth.
Matthew and Mark report that Jesus and the 12 disciples were exhausted from travel and were grieving the execution of John the Baptist, so they were seeking to rest in an isolated place. But when Jesus saw the crowd gathering, he had compassion for them. Here I see a truth that Jesus was seeking retreat. He desperately needed compassion himself … but he was able to see the needs of others beyond his own need. One’s own need does not eliminate the ability to feel compassion for others. That is a truth.
In this miracle story, there is an emphasis on numbers. In first century Jewish storytelling, the presence of numbers was seldom exactly factual, but instead pointed to truth. Numbers reminded hearers of Hebrew scripture and theological themes.
· Five loaves could connect the hearer with the five books of the Hebrew Law – the Torah. Five often symbolizes God's grace, goodness, and favor towards humanity.
· Two fish: In Jewish law, it takes two witnesses to establish truth. This could represent testimony that God provides food for the people.
· Five plus two = Seven total items. Seven symbolizes ‘completeness’ and ‘divine order’ in Jewish thought. It also represents the days in creation. God would provide for all of creation to be fed.
· Twelve baskets left over may remind them of the 12 tribes of Israel, and the leftovers symbolize abundance for all Israel. It may not be coincidental that Jesus had chosen 12 people to be his closest disciples.
· 5,000: there is that 5 again, but this time multiplied a thousand times over. God’s grace upon grace.
5,000 people is a massive gathering in the first century. It could be representative of all the people of Israel. They may have been reminded of their nation in the wilderness with Moses being fed by God’s manna. Literally, this number was overwhelming to the disciples when Jesus told them to feed them all. Impossible to feed 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish.
That is how I feel when I think about the number of hungry people across the world. When I am confronted by one hungry person or a family, I feel compassion and often I am able to help. But, like the disciples, I am overwhelmed beyond the point of compassion when I think of the enormity world hunger. That is a truth.
The same holds true with the immensity of poverty and the impact of wars across the globe. The results of greed, graft and corruption are incomprehensible. What can I do in the face of such odds. What good can 5 loaves and 2 fish do?
The good news is that Jesus took so little and fed so many! Where the disciples saw an endless mass of humanity, Jesus saw a field full of possibility. He asked them to be seated in groups of 100 and 50. He organized them into smaller, more manageable communities who served each other. Jesus modeled a way of being in community and sharing what they have. In community, the impossible became possible. The truth of this miracle was that they experienced God’s beloved community.
For us, we have already seen this same model being lived out here at Bethlehem. Think about it. Our Fish Fry literally brings a huge number of people together, organizes them onto community tables under the trees, and we, Jesus’ disciples, share food. And then there are our various packing projects where all ages line up to pack rice and beans for distribution, boxes of food for families, shoe boxes for children’s Christmas. On the Sunday after Easter, we worship by going into our neighborhood to serve others. At Bethlehem, we organize our community to share. Miracles happen every time we come together for the purpose of sharing! The stories we tell about our experiences bear witness to God at work within us.
The truth of the miracle of feeding the 5,000 is that it was a physical vision of God’s kingdom being lived out on earth. The Good News for us today is that God’s miracles are not limited to Bible times. Every time we open ourselves to being God’s vessels in compassionate, sharing communities, God works miracles that we can see and touch in real life.
I will end as I began, with Paul’s words to the Christians at Ephesis:
“Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine …
by [GOD’S] power at work within us;
glory to [GOD] in the church and in Christ Jesus