NOTES for Luk 9:1-27

All four Gospels speak of the miraculous multiplication of bread, telling of meals for many thousands of people, which Jesus arranged as a sign of the approaching Kingdom of God. In it there will be no more hostility, hunger, or indifference, and therefore all people will gather around God's table for a feast. This is precisely what Jesus begins to accomplish, thereby affirming that the Kingdom has come: everyone can come to Him and eat the "bread of life." Everyone can come, but from the closest disciples an essential effort of spirit will be required: to understand still more deeply the meaning of these meals, to see in their Teacher not only the herald of the Kingdom, but also its Center, the Anointed One around whom all nations will gather at God's table. Having learned His mystery, they must hear strange and frightening words about the approaching trials awaiting Christ and His disciples. The evangelist shows how gradually the disciples walk the path of faith, learning their Teacher more and more, taking upon themselves an ever greater burden of faith, which does not always speak of joy and victories. Perhaps he hopes that his readers too will pass along this path.