Tuesday, October 27 –
We are
continuing to read from the Gospel of John in our daily readings. Today, the text to read is in John 6:1 –
21. Please read the scripture first, and
then return that he might walk through it together.
I mentioned this before, but in John 5:1 we began a long section of John’s
narrative in which Jesus offers five signs that demonstrate he is the Messiah,
the Son of God. In the latter part of
chapter five, Jesus offered several different examples of why they should see
him as the Son of God who is God-incarnate.
The signs served as marker points in proving that He could do impossible
things. Perhaps you noticed it in your
reading today. After the loaves and fish
were distributed, and all had eaten, with leftovers besides, John says – “When
the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the
Prophet who is to come into the world!” (6:14).
The
story of the feeding of the five thousand is a well-known story. Jesus had crossed the Sea of Galilee (6:1),
and a large crowd followed because of the sign of his healing the sick
(6:2). When Jesus takes his disciples up
on the side of the mountain (6:3) they all saw a large crowd coming towards
them (6:5). John anchors this at the
time of the Passover which included bread in its festivities! Jesus takes the opportunity to test one of
his disciples – Philip.
“Lifting
up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus
said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”
He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be
enough for each of them to get a little” (6:5-7).
My brother
Ed comments on what is happening is a good reminder: “We need to keep in
mind that Jesus is ‘making disciples’ as he goes through his earthly life. He
is building in these followers a firm foundation as to who he is and why he has
come. The miracle of the feeding took place in a crowd, one that sadly followed
for the show more than to discover Jesus, the person. But Jesus used it to help
build in his disciples the significance of what they just heard him say in
Jerusalem to the religious leaders, that he was God the Son. Those of us reading this (story) might take
the words for granted, but to them it was… unreal, unbelievable, audacious,
maybe even bordering on blasphemy”.[1]
Jesus
must have regularly shocked his disciples with his commands. He hears Philip’s response, but then Andrew
speaks up about a boy who is in the crowd with two fish and five barley loaves
– ending this information with the words, “but what are they for so many?”. On the surface, who could disagree. Jesus did!
“Jesus
said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the
men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves,
and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So
also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their
fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may
be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with
fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten” (6:10-13).
The
details are important, and that’s why John wrote them. The meal had come from meager sources, but
the miracle was that it fed over five thousand (remember it was men who were
counted). When he told the twelve to
collect the left-overs, they each took a basket (kophinos), which would
have been used for a journey of one to two days provisions. The “fragments” were enough for all of the
disciples! They must have noticed the
lesson – don’t say “impossible” to God.
The
response of the people is what we noted at the onset – they saw it as a “sign”,
and for the first time, “they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to
come into the world!’” (6:14). The
reference to “the Prophet” comes directly from Moses who wrote in Deuteronomy
18:15 – 18, that a Prophet would arise one day like Moses, who would speak
God’s words. When John the Baptist was
baptizing, the Priests who came out to see him asked him if he was “the
Prophet” (John 1:21). The Prophet to
follow Moses was always assumed to be the Messiah. Consequently, there must have been a stirring
of voices that made Jesus aware of what they wanted to do, for Jesus quietly
makes a departure out of their sight (6:15).
Even in this, John is making the point that Jesus was not looking for
responses of people, but came determined to do the Father’s will, which
ultimately would lead to his death.
The
evening came, the crowd left, and the disciples minus Jesus took their boat
back to Capernaum, as Jesus must have instructed them to do (6:16-17). Almost all of his disciples were experienced
boat people and the Sea of Galilee was known for its sudden squalls that made
the water turn from a business place into a life-threatening event. The squall came upon them suddenly – “The
sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing” (6:18). The only power on that boat was their
strong arms and backs rowing against the wind.
They normally would have crossed the sea in an hour or so, but that
night in a pitch-black storm they couldn’t make any headway. They were experienced, but they didn’t expect
what happened next.
“When
they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and
coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It
is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat,
and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going” (6:19-21).
Jesus
had had their attention before in the healings and the miracles, but this
shocked them to the point of being afraid.
His words, “It is I”, come from John’s pen and he heard it over
and over again from Jesus – it was the Greek words, “ego eimi”, literally
“I, I AM”. It is daunting to think that
the Savior, is the Creator who made the wind and the seas, and can speak to
them, for “immediately the boat was at the land where they were going”.
Healings,
miracles, water-walking, waves-silenced… how do we make sense of it all? It’s God!
When we see the impossible it is because, humanly speaking, that is what
it is – impossible. My friends: a stroke
victim, a paralysis disease, cancers, virus-induced coma… they are right now
happening, and they are all humanly daunting events bordering on the
impossible. We don’t have to be afraid
to be frightened. It is not our adequacy
that is necessary – it is God’s omnipotence and providence that we need. What I cannot do, God can, and often
does. Not because of our faith, but
according to his own plan!
Peace
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