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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
August 21, 2024
Invitatory
Know that the Lord does wonders for the faithful; when I call upon the Lord, he will hear me.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
John 6:1-15
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.* A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages* would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they* sat down, about five thousand in all.Then Jesus 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. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’
When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
Meditation-Rebecca Northington
Many of us are very familiar with this story. “Fishes and loaves” we often say in our homes when additional guests appear or when we find we need to feed many more mouths than we had prepared for. It is also referred to as the “bread of life” story as we begin to understand Jesus as a greater and more sustaining source of nourishment. It is the only miracle story captured in all four Gospels and speaks to the abundance of God. It parallels the story of Moses with Passover starting, Jesus taking everyone into the wilderness, climbing a mountain, feeding so many despite having limited resources, all while trying to communicate who God is for/to them.
But the story of Jesus surpasses the deliverance the Israelites experience in Exodus. Moses is delivering his people from slavery under the Egyptians. Jesus is delivering all people from the bondage they experience through their own making. This story and the Last Supper foreshadow Christ’s ultimate offering for all of us, he is the bread of life, his message feeds us, and the gift of his life liberates us from our own captivity. If we are honest, most of us suffer from the same primal fear that Adam and Eve wrestled. Even in Paradise they feared they were missing out when the serpent told them about the apple tree. Many of us fear we do not have enough. We fall victim to the scarcity conviction. We ask for more, always more. We treat life like a pie and are convinced that if someone has a large slice they have taken something away from us.
This passage is trying to help us all to know that there is enough. We are enough; even in our flawed human state. Christ’s message was hard to comprehend then as it is today. Rather than accepting in gratitude what is offered, the people want to make him King. They want more. This is the human instinct to control or humanize God’s role in our lives, rather than surrender to it. We cannot comprehend God’s love for us-or the magnitude of it-so we limit it with our human hearts and minds. We try to define something that is undefinable.
This passage beautifully reminds us that there is always more than we could imagine with God’s love. I believe it asks us all to choose love over fear, a faith in eternal abundance over scarcity. It takes practice and focus because we too are wrestling this primal urge to believe we do not have enough. We need to fight this feeling that others have more, or we have been robbed, and accept in gratitude all that is given. This is how we liberate ourselves. Jesus shows us again and again, through him, with God, we are free.
Lords Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
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