Episode 1 Transcript
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Welcome to your daily bread with co hosts, Abby Stacier and Hannah Calhoun. We're here to be your weekly source of spiritual nourishment, guiding you to find food freedom in a deeper connection with Christ. As we explore the intersection of faith and nutrition, these bite sized episodes will help you heal your relationship with food and your body through practical advice, biblical wisdom, and heartfelt encouragement.
And as a disclaimer, we are not pastors, but passionate registered dietitians and sisters in Christ, offering our insights to support you on this faith filled journey to a healthier, more fulfilling life. Join us by taking a seat at our table as we break bread and allow God in to break the chains of diet culture.
Hannah: All right. So we are going to be looking at the story of Jesus feeding the 5, 000, and we're going to be looking at it from John chapter six, verses four through 14. And I'm going to be reading that for us today. So Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. So when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, Where will we buy bread so that all these people can eat?
He asked this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn't be enough. for each of them to have a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, there's a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?
Jesus said, have the people sit down. There was plenty of grass in that place. So they sat down. The men numbered about 5, 000 and Jesus took the loaves. And after giving thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also with the fish as much as they wanted. When they were full, he told his disciples, collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.
So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, this truly is the prophet who is to come into the world.
Abbie: Wow. Amen. Yeah,
Hannah: so my pastor had gone over that in January, actually, and, you know, obviously I had heard the story before Jesus feeding the 5, 000, but as I've progressed in my dietetic journey, like it stood out to me in a different way this time. Um, and just some of the things that I noticed. First of all, the mindful eating that happened.
They were sitting, they gave thanks, they ate until they were satisfied, they had some leftover. Like that, that really stood out to me.
Abbie: Yeah, I feel like in that moment, Jesus is really modeling for us. This is how I want you to approach eating and how I want you to approach a meal.
Hannah: Right, right. And so I'm also thinking about like, well, what were they eating?
They were eating bread and fish. And of course, you know, from like a spiritual perspective, we're looking at this passage in the sense of like the miracle that Jesus performed and how he meets our needs and not only meets our needs, but you know, abundantly more than we could ask or imagine. Um, but from like a nutrition perspective, we're looking at how God as man demonstrates to us.
what our behaviors can be around food. And so this was like, really, really eye opening for me. Um, especially the part when he's passing it out. , when it says as much as they wanted of the bread and of the fish. Yeah. And so there isn't that like, You know, the women can only have one piece of bread, but the men can have two.
You know, there isn't like that. Right, right. Oh, that's so real. You know, and it's not like, uh, yeah, just in general. Like, the women get smaller portions than men and things. Like, you know, that we see. Today in our society that's really infected with diet culture. And I think it confuses us because as Christians, you know, we have like God walked on this earth as man, and there's so many instances where Jesus is around food.
and people are eating with him. And so like, we have that model of how we can behave around food, but it's just so hard to, really try and block out the messages of diet culture that we're hearing all the time. Yeah.
Abbie: You know, it definitely is. Yeah. It is really hard to, to block it out.
Hannah: And I think too, like, okay, this was in the evening, like this, the story in the timeline, this was happening in the evening.
They had had a long day and. Nobody said, well, Jesus, like I can't eat bread after 6 p. m.
I can't have any bread. I can't eat after 5 p. m. You know, like, that's not what's happening here. They're, you know, they sit and, and they're thankful because Jesus is, is performing a miracle and all of them, they don't have to go out and buy their own food.
Like, they're having this. This meal with everybody. And another thing that my pastor had pointed out was that first of all, there were leftovers, um, which really highlights like how much Jesus truly multiplied the five loaves. Um, but. The leftovers were packed into 12 baskets. So you can kind of think like one for each of the disciples.
Mm.
Abbie: So good. So good. He makes all the numbers in the Bible just like work together. Yes, yes, yes. And there's such a pressure in today's society to finish everything on your plate and to deny. Mm-Hmm. . Your fullness cues. So I love here that Jesus is modeling. Like this scripture is modeling eat until you're satisfied.
Like we don't need to be part of the clean plate club. And if you are listening and you are a part of that, you feel a lot of pressure to clear your plates. Maybe you grew up in a household where you couldn't get up from the table until you ate all your vegetables or until you cleared, cleared your plate.
This can be very healing for you that Jesus wants you to eat until you're satisfied and it's okay for there to be leftovers.
Hannah: Yes. Yes. And then even looking at it from, you know, cause that's so valid. Like people grow up as like, you can't get up from the table until you clean your plate or you can't have dessert until you, you know, clean your plate.
But on the flip side, there's also, you know, the mindset of, well, this is too much and I should, I should only eat a little bit. And people are, people are denying their fullness. Who are part of the clean plate club. And then people are also denying their hunger and they know that they're still hungry. Um, but in this passage is showing us, like the people were able to get as much as they wanted and they ate until they were full.
Abbie: Exactly. I mean, the narrative has been in our diet culture society that like nothing tastes as good as skinny feels and the, the, we shouldn't be enjoying the experience of eating. And that if you do feel hungry, that's something to be praised. No, if you're feeling hungry, that's a sign you need to eat.
Your body's not getting enough nourishment. And God designed our bodies like it's so smart and so intricately, it really is a sign for God when we are getting those hunger cues. And if we are continuously denying and not trusting our bodies inner wisdom God's creation. It's another sign that we're not really trusting God.
Hannah: Yes, you know, Jesus. Had the people sit. So I'm, I'm picturing all of these people sitting down. Then Jesus gave thanks. And once he gave thanks, so the people are sitting. They prayed, basically. Um, and then the food was distributed to everybody. And I'm kind of like almost picturing my Thanksgiving table.
Like how we can emulate this on a smaller scale in our life. You know, today. Um, you know, we're not scarfing things down, standing over the sink. We're not, you know, chugging a protein shake on the way to work,
Abbie: right? That's so real. Yeah. that had said too, that everyone found a piece of grass where they had enough space.
So like the setting in which they were eating hot was relaxed. They had enough space. They took time to sit down and fully enjoy that experience of eating the environment in which they were eating was. Helpful for creating, just creating that space to fully enjoy, properly digest a meal. That's part of, it's not just about the food, but what is your environment in which you're eating.
This just sets up such an amazing foundation for how we should be eating and that we can rest assured that God is always going to provide, like we're called to be fruitful and multiply.
And it's like, if we worry about the being fruitful part, I just heard, um, this talked about in the sermon I went to today. If we focus on the fruitful part and being fruitful, and we could talk about this in future episodes. To like how, how to be fruitful, but how to be generous and how to use your gifts to progress the kingdom and to, I don't know, just, just bear fruit and just be such such a giver and to love people.
If we are focused on that and being fruitful, God will take care of the multiplication. God will multiply that goodness and that favor and those blessings. And he'll honor that, that obedience to being fruitful. And that's what I feel like this scripture is also showing as well is that we can trust. That Jesus is always going to provide more than enough, more than what we
Hannah: need.
Yes, abundantly more than we can ask or imagine and we, we have to be willing and open to accept his blessings, especially I just think about, you know, the provision that we have that, you know, myself and so many people that I know we have pretty much full refrigerators, full pantries, and Access to, to food that we need to sustain us.
And there's still so much judgment, so much elitism, so much, you know, so many morals associated with certain foods, certain brands, certain labels. And it's like, God has blessed you with the means to feed yourself and your family. You know, I mean, it's like, what was the, the bread and the fish that, that they served?
Was this. organic, like, you know, probably like gluten free, like, yeah, you know, so it's like, and obviously like times have changed and everything, but I, I do think that there's a lot of judgment. And like we were talking about, you know, there's, there's people who don't know how to honor their fullness and there's people who don't know how to honor their hunger.
And there's just a lot of judgment about the food and the products and the grocery store and the labels. And we're kind of making that. Our God,
like, are we accepting the venom that is diet culture that has become wellness culture? And, you know, there's a difference between the pursuit of healthfulness. There's a difference between that and the pursuit of thinness at any cost and the pursuit of perfect, clean eating to evade all disease and death.
You know, at that point, it almost is becoming an idol. We're almost trying to be our own God. We're almost trying to defeat death and disease and like, we have to be so careful. We have to be so careful, especially as believers. So I just really hope that, you know, looking at this passage from this unique point of view, uncommon point of view, that it encourages You to take a look at your relationship with food and maybe start diving into other passages that talk about Christ and food.
We'll be talking about a lot of them here, but in your own work on your own time, like notice. How does Christ behave around food? Allow that to inspire you to examine yourself. Um, and so just know that, that we are, we're, we're all working on this together. Yes, we are. Really trying to, um, make sure that that our relationship with our food and with our body is glorifying to God and not becoming our God.
Thank you for joining us on this episode of your daily bread. We hope you found inspiration and practical guidance to nourish your body and soul. Remember the journey to a healthier relationship with food and a deeper connection with Christ is ongoing and we're here to support you every step of the way.
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As we conclude today's episode, we encourage you to take what resonated with you into your quiet time with God, allow God to reveal to you any changes that you can make for his glory, trusting that you are fearfully and wonderfully made in his image. Stay tuned for our next episode where we'll continue to explore how God's word helps us heal our relationship with food in our bodies Until then may you find both physical and spiritual nourishment and may you be filled with his peace and joy.
God bless
