Morning Devotion for Epiphany
January 31, 2022
The Invitatory
The Lord has shown forth his glory: Come let us adore him.
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.
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
Reading: John 6:27-35
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.’ So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’
Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
Have you ever been trying to talk to someone, but no matter what you say, your words just seem to go in one ear and out the other? This is the kind of situation where you might say “There are none so blind as those who will not see.” What is being said is that no matter the speaker’s command of language and expression, understanding cannot be forced upon someone who chooses to be ignorant. If somebody is choosing not to listen to you, the best thing you can do is to pause, move on and hope for another opportunity. It may mean choosing between being right and being loving. The expression, “There are none so blind as those who will not see, actually has its origins in the Bible. In the book of Jeremiah 5: 21, it is written “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people; who have eyes, but do not see; who have ears, but do not hear.” A person who is foolish is one who has eyes and can see what is physically there, but is unable to see more deeply to perceive wisdom, knowledge or truth. In Jonathan Swift’s Polite Conversation, this quote was paraphrased to “There are none so blind as those who will not see”.
What Jesus puts up with! He says something about gaining eternal life and the concern of those to whom he is speaking is how they might perform the works of God. (As if they could!) Such patience born of such love. It seems enough to provoke an outburst of exasperation leading to stomping off. Or is that what one of us would do? For Jesus persists in revealing who he is and what love is to the disciples… if they would or could only see.
Perhaps patience is in order so that we are not too hard on immature understandings of the disciples, or, for that matter, of ourselves. The narrator has a way of turning those “dull” moments into dazzling insights. Jesus uses the expression “Very truly, I tell you” four times. Maybe one might use an emphatic expression, like, “The fact of the matter is,” or “Let me be clear.” None of these “translations” do the phrase justice. On Jesus’ lips it speaks to an assurance that his message is guaranteed by God: Jesus is the Word of God. If that helps us to hear “Very truly, I tell you” it leads to the declaration that our work is to believe in Jesus. For John, there can be no confusion: Jesus is the bread of life and life itself. Not even our lives are complete in themselves. “My life,” writes Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “is outside myself, beyond my disposal. My life is another, a stranger; Jesus Christ.” Jesus is life itself and has come so “that they may have life” What the disciples demand is what they already have in the presence of Jesus.
The Lord's 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.
