Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Mat 14:18 Bring them here to me.

Christ responds here to the apostles who tell him that there are only five loaves and two fishes to feed the multitude, but we try and look at all of Christ's words as addressed to us here and now. In that sense, Christ is talking about bringing whatever we need more of to him. He can multiply it for us. Interestingly, the word used for "bring" is the same word used to describe bearing burdens and producing things, tasks which Christ can also help us with.

In many of Christ's discussions about the kingdom of heaven, he emphasizes that idea that the kingdom of heaven grows from little to big (the mustard seed), mixes through everything (the leaven), and multiplies itself a hundred, sixty, or thirtyfold (the seeds on good earth). In Christ's view of reality, spirit is what drives production, not only of more spirit, but of everything else. Spirit is, by definition, the creative force.

"Bring" is from pherĂ´, which means "to bear," "to carry," "to bring," "to produce," and "to fetch."