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Morning Devotion for the Season of Easter
April 15, 2024
The Invitatory
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Reading: John 6:22-29
The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the lake saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’
Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
It seems that in Eastertide we are confronted with the reality that we have very limited understanding of Jesus Christ. We have created for ourselves our own image, subject to our personal inclinations, the influence of upbringing, early religious teaching, cultural influences, etc. It is apparent, though, that this is wholly understandable, for if we truly could grasp in full who Jesus Christ is, it would overwhelm us. We tend to fill in with something, what we cannot know or comprehend. Nonetheless, to do so would be to bring Christ down to us. Let us allow ourselves the full measure of both uncertainty and wonder as we encounter Jesus Christ - perhaps especially so during the Season of Easter. It is one thing to take into account the birth of Christ. That is an occasion all human beings experience and/or witness. The mystery in the incarnation is the very person of Jesus. Resurrection is singular. We have not known, nor will we know, how the resurrection occurred.
Both the lack of understanding of Jesus Christ before the resurrection and after seem to be the topic of several of the passages during this Easter season. That is the case for today’s passage. There is a hint here that even though the members of the crowd find Jesus, they don’t comprehend who he is: “Rabbi,” they ask, “when did you come here?” This suggests that they have a rough understanding of Jesus, based upon the current religious structure. We owe them, as well as ourselves, some grace as we grapple with this immature understanding. But hold on. In life, just when we become comfortable in our outlook and expectations there arises a moment of dazzling insights.
For as they have addressed him as Rabbi, Jesus responds in words of a double blessing - “Truly, truly, I say to you,” (RSV) or (NRSV) “Very truly, I tell you.” Here is a deep assurance that Jesus’ message is guaranteed by God: “[Jesus] is the Word of God; he is the Amen.” Perhaps this helps us to hear this double amen as leading to the declaration that our work is to believe in Jesus. For John is clear: Jesus is the bread of life and life itself. Not even our lives, which most of us love and enjoy, are complete in themselves. “My life,” writes Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “is outside myself, beyond my disposal. My life is another, a stranger; Jesus Christ.” In John, Jesus is life itself and he has come so “that they may have life.” This points to an intimacy that we are invited to share with God and Christ. This intimacy is a treasure, holy and inviolable. It is a rock upon which our lives are built and thrive.
On this particular day when we render “unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s” let us now say without hesitation - “Praise be to God!”
Prayer for Mission
O God, you manifest in your servants the signs of your presence. Send forth upon us the Spirit of love, that in companionship with one another your abounding grace may increase among us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
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