10 PENTECOST, PROPER XII - B
- 18 JOHN 6. 1-21
In today’s gospel, we move
from Mark, our gospel for Year B, to that of John. Before today’s reading from
John, Jesus has healed the paralytic at the pool of Siloam just inside the
gates of Jerusalem. It was the Sabbath and his actions roused the anger of the
Jewish leaders to the point they decided he must die.
In their questioning of him,
however, the Pharisees get more than they bargained for. Jesus goes into detail
to explain that he and the Father are one and what he is doing is the work of
the father, which angers his inquisitors even more. Jesus has made himself
equal to God and that will not do. It is after “these things,” John tells us, “he
went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.”
As usual, a large crowd
follows him because they have seen him heal the sick and they want to see what he
is going to do next. Jesus goes up on a mountain and sits down with his
disciples. However, the crowd catches up to him. John reminds us that the
Passover feast was near. I will come back to that detail in a moment.
Seeing the crowds coming
towards him, Jesus tests his disciples with the question “where are we to buy
bread for these people to eat?” Philip does not know what to do or how to
answer. They are out in the middle of nowhere and besides they do not have the
funds to buy enough for each person present to have a little, including them.
Neither does Andrew know what
to do. What Andrew does is to bring to Jesus’ attention that there is a lad
present that has five loaves and a few fish. Then he surrenders the whole idea
to the reality that the lad’s lunch will not put a dent into the hunger of a
crowd of 5000. However, according to John, Jesus knew what he was going to do
from the beginning.
Have the crowd sit down he tells his disciples
and bring me the fish and the bread. Then the miracle occurs. He takes the fish
and the bread and blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to those seated and he
kept on giving until they had all eaten their fill. Then, to the disciple’s
surprise, Jesus has them gather up the leftovers, which filled twelve baskets.
John doesn’t record the
disciples’ reaction to the feeding only the people whose hunger was met. “This
is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” Let us make him our king.
The reaction of the crowd shows that they misunderstood him. They rushed to
make him king in order to fulfill their own desires and agendas.
Jesus seeing their intention
withdraws with his disciples further up the mountain leaving the excited crowd
behind. Darkness came and the crowds dispersed. The disciples decided it was time
to head for the boat and make it to the other side of the Sea. Jesus remains on
the mountain. The disciples cast off without him. That is when the second test
comes.
The disciples struggled to
cross the sea for the wind was against them. About mid-way across the sea to
Capernaum, they see Jesus walking on the water and coming near the boat. Their
reaction is one of fear. However, he
said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they willingly received him
into the boat and immediately found themselves ashore.
Their terror ends, as does
their ordeal once Jesus is in their presence. The presence of Christ restored
their faith. Faith untested is no faith at all. It has to be tempered like
steel if it is to carry us through the terrors and ordeals of life. The
tempering comes through repeated challenges to our faith until our faith in God
assures us that He will do something, something we have not thought of,
something new.
Like Andrew in today’s story,
we don’t always know what to do, but what we can do is to bring to Jesus
whatever we have. In some cases that will be our lack of faith, our doubt, even
our fear. And like the disciples who were struggling to make headway in the
storm, when we realize that Jesus is present, our faith is renewed by our
realizing God’s has loved us through it.
God is love and God’s love
will sustain us if we only believe. In time of fear, doubt, depression,
anxiety, even anger, we must look for Jesus in our midst for the light of his presence
penetrates the darkness in our lives and his word “it is I” dispels all fear.
When I was a child, there
were no “night-lights.” We have all at one time or another been afraid of the
dark. In my case, my mother gave me a Jesus “night-light” if you will. Perhaps
some of you had one too.
It didn’t plug into a wall
socket. It didn’t have a bulb as they do today. It was a picture of Jesus that
was covered with some type of luminous substance. When the room was dark, the
face of Jesus appeared.
My mother placed it on the
wall at the end of my bed and I can remember many a night I said my prayers
looking at Jesus and fell peaceably asleep knowing that He was present. He was
present then, and He is present now.
Jesus fed 5000 people when
the feast of Passover was near. The Feast of Passover was celebrated then and
now as a reminder not only that God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt but
also sustained them and protected them by His presence throughout their journey
to the Promised Land.
Whether the people realized
it or not, and most likely they did not, what Jesus did for them on the
mountain was reminiscent of what God had done for Israel during their wondering
in the wilderness. God fed Israel with “bread from heaven.” In addition, the
actions Jesus takes in today’s feeding are a prelude to his actions in the
upper room when he instituted the Eucharist in the presence of his disciples.
He took the bread, blessed
it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples with the words “this is my body
broken for you…do this in remembrance of me.” The crowds in today’s story
followed him up the mountain and were miraculously fed, as were their ancestors
in the wilderness. The disciples will soon follow him to the upper room
thinking they are going to eat the Passover meal with him; instead, he will
feed them sacramentally.
We, as the family of God
gather here week after week in this sacred space to learn to follow Jesus. Here
we are fed by Word and Sacrament. At the foot of God’s altar is the place to
deposit our own desires, our own agendas, our doubts and fears and take to
heart our reason for being here.
Which is not to see what God
is going to do next in our lives but to give Thanks for what He has already
done, and continues to do in and through the merits of His Son, Jesus, who died
and rose again that we might have the new life in Him faith brings.
It is His Body and Blood, the
“bread of heaven” that we feed on in our hearts by faith with Thanksgiving that
creates our oneness with Him and reminds us that He is ever present to those
who love him. Therefore, let us keep the feast. AMEN+
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