Salvation: God’s Free-Food
Isaiah 55:1-3; Romans 8:35, 37-39; Matthew 14:13-21
To have our Scripture readings suggesting free-food today is a welcome news, given the untold pain, poverty and sorrows Covid-19 has visited on nations, families and individuals. For example, our gospel decrees free-food for the crowds that came to Jesus; when Jesus noticed they were hungry, he commanded—“give them something to eat!” In like manner, God invites his children, in our first reading, to “buy and eat without money”. You and I do know, though, that going to pick up food items or articles of clothing in malls or shopping complexes, without paying for them, will surely get us into trouble, if not a jail sentence or thorough beating up. So, where have biblical free lunches or promises of free lunches gone? It is the contexts of our readings that provide their meaning and message—SALVATION is the free-lunch God provides to all his children.
Promising free-food to a people in Babylonian exile, which is the context of our first reading, changes the meaning of free-food. To be in exile means dependency and servitude. Dependents have someone pay for their meals—their host. In return for their meals, they work hard at the tasks allotted them. Either way, they contribute towards their meals and upkeep—no free lunch in exile. However, it is the last statement of our first reading that teaches us the real meaning of free-food and where to find it: “Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life. I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David” (Isaiah 55:3). It is by “coming” and “listening” to the Lord that “life” is guaranteed. That is, God’s free-food guarantees “life,” it is not about developing pot-belly or paunch, it is about salvation.
Remember, when the Jews left Egypt, they were promised a land flowing with milk and honey. They arrived in that land during the harvest period, so they ate the food they never worked for and harvested crops they never planted—free-food. In fact, they started eating free-food all through their journey in the wilderness, before arriving in the Promised Land. Manna was their most memorable food from God. God was present among them through the pillar of cloud and column of fire. This time around, in order to have access to free-food, the Jews have to be liberated from exile and returned home from the land of Babylon. Free-food here means salvation or liberation that has God as its guarantor. The initiative to return to Judah—to the Promised Land—will come as a free gift from God, like he did for them in Egypt: “I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David” (Isaiah 55:3).
God’s talk to his people about free-food is a remainder to them of what their fortune was, when they were close to God and not in exile. It recalls what it means to be in the company of God, compared to their situation in Babylonian captivity. This scenario is not limited to the Jews alone. Exile and erosion of free-food symbolizes the separation from God and exile from the source of flowing milk and honey—God himself. Today, exile is the disobedience that comes from breaking the commandments of God, in all its forms. By sinning, human beings make it impossible for God to keep his own part of the bargain—“the benefits assured to David”. God is the provider of every free-food, but he also provides the conditions for accessing the free-food. God turns free-food into salvation because exile and servitude are the consequences of covenant-broken, so reconciliation and forgiveness must precede free-food, that is, salvation. Free-food is always available in the Promised Land because God is present there. It is the presence of God that guarantees free-food. This presence of God and guarantee of free-food connect our first reading to the gospel reading of today.
Our gospel reading ends on a note of festivity and party: “They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over—twelve wicker baskets full” (Matthew 14:20). The crowds that came to Jesus ate free-food to assuage their hunger. Jesus refused that they should go away to find food for themselves. Here, the initiative came from the people—they went in search of Jesus. The crowds that came to Jesus needed double sustenance: physical and spiritual. The fundamental reason for seeking Jesus was for life-security, because Herod just beheaded John-the-Baptist—they were fleeing from murder and a murderous king. They were exhausted and Jesus had pity on them. The faith of the crowds made them journey on foot to meet Jesus. In the presence of Jesus, they received free-food. So, faith always precedes free-food. From the five loaves and two fish meant for Jesus’ and his disciples’ dinner, Jesus multiplied them to provide enough free-food for the crowds. There is power and miracle in sharing! God takes from what is already in existence to sustain human life. The presence and signs of faith make miracles—free-food—possible. “Life” is union with God. Any divorce from this union with God is to compromise life and the meaning of living.
In our second reading, Paul makes a powerful argument about God’s supreme love towards human beings—salvation. If God showed his love by liberating the Jews from slavery in Egypt and liberated them also from exile in Babylon and feeds them freely in today’s gospel, Paul sees God’s supreme loved as manifested in the free gift of salvation he offers humanity in Jesus Christ: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life . . . will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” In other words, it is our ability to stand firm in temptations, persecutions, hunger, nakedness, etc. that proves our appreciation of salvation and the price of Jesus’ life that purchased it for us. On the contrary, the evasion of persecution, renunciation of fasting and abstinence, etc. prove our attachment to earthly goodies to the detriment of our salvation.
Yes, salvation comes to us as free-food. The ultimate free-food is the Eucharist. The Eucharist is free-food because it was prepaid by the death of Christ. If Isaiah prophesied it, and Jesus symbolized it by feeding the crowds free of charge, the death of Christ made it real. As we gather this Sunday, the Holy Eucharist reminds us of this free-food, the symbol and power of our redemption. Yes, free-food goes beyond the physical bread and fish of today’s gospel, it points to the Eucharist, the food of eternal life and the strength of pilgrim Christians here on earth. Little wonder, St. Paul says we should examine ourselves before eating it, and he stresses the compromise of one’s health, as a sign of a dishonorable consumption and participation in this banquet. Besides a holy life as a sign of our gratitude for the free-food we receive at every Eucharistic banquet, we need, in our turn, to provide free earthly food to the hungry. Covid-19 reminds us of the criteria for eternal salvation—“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirty and you gave me drink”. We are offered an opportunity to give someone free-lunch today or this week, because you and I are recipients of God’s salvific free-food—the Eucharist!
Assignment for the week:
Buy some lunch for someone this week.