Numbers Never Lie

Seeing the deeper meaning of scriptural numbers

01/05/2021

Mark 6:34-44 When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already very late. Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” He said to them in reply, “Give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Are we to buy two hundred days’ ages worth of food and give it to them to eat?” He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out they said, “Five loaves and two fish.” So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass. The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties. Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; he also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the fish. Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.

There’s an old saying that “numbers never lie.” But not only do they never lie, they can also tell a lot of truth. Numbers mean more than their face value. When the inspired authors of the bible employ numbers, they not only convey historical facts – they don’t lie – they also suggest deep spiritual truths. For example, when Jesus selects 12 apostles to be his closest companions, he was not merely pulling a number off the top of his head; 12 was not just better than 11 or 13. In the book of Genesis the patriarch Jacob had 12 sons who became the heads of the 12 Tribes of Israel, the Chosen People.

When Jesus chooses 12 apostles he is constituting them as “his spiritual sons” and as the patriarchs of the new Israel, the true Chosen People. The number 12, therefore, in scripture means more than merely “one more than 11” or “one less than 13.” It unveils the plan of God for the salvation of the world. That is how “numbers never lie” in the bible; but even more, numbers nudge us to know what God did in the past and what he will do in the future.

With that in mind we can make more hay with the gospel today. First of all, bear in mind that there are two episodes of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. In Mark 6 Jesus feeds 5,000 and in Mark 8, our Lord will feed 4,000. In the first episode the number 5,000 is symbolic of the people of Israel, but the number 4,000 points to all the rest of humanity. This difference is also underscored by how many baskets are leftover. After feeding the 5,000 there are 12 baskets leftover, symbolizing the 12 Tribes of Israel, while after feeding the 4,000 there are 7 baskets leftover, which is the number of creation (God created in 7 days), and thus includes the whole world, Jews and Gentiles alike. That is how numbers never lie, and tell a ton of truth, in the bible.

The five loaves is also a highly suggestive number. Notice how in the gospel the people are in a deserted place and hungry and they are fed with miraculous bread. That is exactly what happened in Exodus 16: the people had left slavery in Egypt, were wandering in the Sinai desert, were hungry and Moses obtained bread from heaven to feed the people. Mark wants us to see how Jesus is the New Moses. But the number 5 means that Moses fed the people with more than wheat bread, that is, the fed them with the word of God. How so?

The first five books of the bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy – are traditionally called the “Books of Moses.” And in Deuteronomy 8:3, we read: “It is not by bread alone that people live, but by all that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.” By the way, this is why I work hard on my daily homilies. I feel like I am feeding you spiritual food. Isn’t this why many Catholics go to Protestant churches? They say they are “fed spiritually” better there than in the Catholic Church because they hear better preaching and inspiring singing. The number 5, therefore, symbolizes the 5 books of Moses, the Word of God that feeds us, and our deeper hunger for spiritual nourishment.

May I mention one more symbolic number in today’s gospel account? Mark wrote: “The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.” Now, the people really did sit down in that organized formation: the numbers don’t lie; they relate historical facts. But Mark also wants to evoke our memory of Exodus 18:21, where Moses appoints leaders over the people in a very specific way. Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, suggested to the old Moses: “Set them over the people as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.” Again, Mark wants us to notice how Jesus has come as the new Moses, the One who will feed us in the deserts of our life with miracle Bread from heaven. And in John 6 Jesus will make it crystal clear that the Bread he will feed us with is none other than his Body and Blood. That is, he will feed us with the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist.

Incidentally, do you know that at Mass I love to look at the congregation, and just watch you (just like you watch me)? I see what the apostles saw in Mark 6: people sitting “in rows of hundreds and fifties” in their pews. Some are awake and some are asleep, some come late and others leave early, but they are all hungry. And the new Moses is here today, Jesus. And as it said in the gospel: “Jesus saw the vast crowd, and his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to teach them many things.” And then he fed them with Bread from heaven.

Praised be Jesus Christ!