Tag: John 6:1-15

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Fourth Sunday in Lent

Readings: Exodus 16:2-21 | Galatians 4:21-31 | John 6:1-15

Text: John 6:1-15

We began Lent in the wilderness. Jesus is alone and hungry. Then, the Devil comes along and tempts him. Hunger is evil, he seems to say: “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread to feed you in this wilderness”. The feeding of the five thousand echoes this temptation of Jesus. In the first wilderness, Jesus was starving in the wilderness, on the verge of death. To Satan, He quoted Moses: “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4)

The wilderness is known as a place of testing. When that testing is in the hands of the devil, it becomes a place of temptation. Satan is influential in this wilderness by tempting the disciples to despair and the people to love bread and the stuff of creation above the Word. “Philip answered him, ‘Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little’…[Jesus said,] Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” (John 6:7, 26)

As far as temptation goes, just like our first parents and unlike Jesus, they fail. They sin. They don’t want a Savior from sin, they want a bread king. “15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” If they have full bellies, they feel no hunger for the Word.

Jesus has come for the sake of these failures. The Word made Flesh [John 1:14] provides bread not from stones or manna, but by an abundant multiplication of the boy’s gift distributed by the apostles. This foreshadows how He will give His own risen Body through bread.

This all brings together the providence, patience, and grace of God, which comes for the unworthy through means.

Vulnerability and Need:

1. Like the people in the wilderness—both Israel of Old and those people who came out to hear—we often don’t recognize how weak we are, that our every breath comes from God, and that we are easily killed. We wander about without a plan, stumble into spiritually harmful situations, while thinking we have it all under control. We will do well to identify with the Israelites and those crowds in the wilderness. It’s only to our detriment when we think we’re a higher caliber of human being than them.

Our trouble today is that we have an arrogance which calls itself “common sense,” (how pragmatic!) thinking it is actually superior to others. Related to that, we think that most people, unlike ourselves, are stupid. We suffer from incredible biases and pride.

This bias and this pride mislead us and deceive us by false comfort and cause great harm to ourselves and to others.

2. Unbelievers simply call this ignorance, but they find no serious fault in it. Not so with us Christians. We should know the Creator and His mercy. Therefore, our guilt is greater. Our vanity comes from a hardness of heart against God’s revealed will which we know.

What this looks like is when ee ignore or hush His Word and then assume it will always be there when we want it. “Of course,” we say, “God will always rescue us!” When we take God’s providence and patience for granted, we commit blasphemy and idolatry.

3. Worst of all is our abuse of grace. When we behave as though God’s mercy and grace is deserved, that He will forgive us no matter what. That is, when we commit premeditated sin willfully, repeatedly, without true remorse or any effort to amend our ways, we mock God and the gifts that He gives. This is highest blasphemy. It is anything but “walk[ing] in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness” (Ephesians 4:1-2) Such abuse is poisonous, and I warn you, if left untreated it will destroy faith.

4. Therefore, we rightly learn to see ourselves in the wilderness in our present day, on the cusp of destruction. We have foolishly paid no attention to spiritual matters. We have been misled by our pride and wicked men. We are starving for what God gives, in desperate need of His grace. There is nowhere else to turn. Without you, we perish, Lord. Save us. As we prayed last week in the hymn, “Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die.” (LSB 761:3)

God’s providence, patience, and mercy revealed is in the miracle of feeding the five thousand.

1. What do we do with the historical events that happened there for these 5,000+ people in the wilderness? So far removed from these eyewitnesses, and with “common sense” as their guide, liberal scholars teach people to view this miracle as an inspiration to share with the needy.

2. This is not completely wrong. Jesus did use the means of the boy’s bread for the miracle. The boy’s generosity was inspired by the teaching and love of Jesus. We ought to be careful not to despise the smallness of any gift. This boy gave to the need that was presented to him. That is, he gave it to the Church, in love and what he gave away is no longer his. That is okay because he gave it in love.

3. But the idea that Jesus is simply teaching us how to share is blasphemy, because it treats Jesus as simply a moral teacher, not true God. Yes, He is an example worth emulating. Yet, if that’s all we take way, how sad our state! What’s more, He is the Giver not the sharer. He is the Almighty and His miracles are real. He works through means, but it is He alone who multiplies loaves and fish.

What was it that moved Jesus to act that day? Consider the heart of God first of all. It was His compassion: 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?”  Not simply that they needed a meal for a day. They needed life-long spiritual care. In another place, Jesus also looks at the crowds and this is what He sees: “36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36). What does He do, but rescue the people from their helpless and ignorant condition? He gave them what they needed, more than nourishment: He gave them, “the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)

This is to say He showed them that “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.” Not only did He resist Satan in his temptations, but He also steers us against the dangers of faith-destroying unbelief. Unbelief will steal everything from us. We will lose everything—the temporal gifts of God that our bodies enjoy, but also the eternal gifts of His grace and a place in His eternal Kingdom. May He preserve us from such a dreadful condition! In the Naem of Jesus Himself, who overcame in the wilderness, and showed His willingness to save us in our own need.

Amen.

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Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare)

Readings: Exodus 16:2–21 | Galatians 4:21-31 | John 6:1-15

Text: John 6:1-15

The name, Laetare, comes from the first word of the Introit, “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; that you may nurse and be satisfied at her consoling breast.”

It sounds great to invite people to rejoice, but let’s dwell there for a moment so that we learn the cause for rejoicing.  These verses for the antiphon are at the center of a bigger lesson for today.  (It might be helpful to open the pew Bible to this passage, so you can follow along better.  Isaiah 66:7-13, page 625)

7“Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son.
8Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children.
9Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?” says the Lord; “shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?” says your God.
10“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her;
11that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.”
12For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees.
13As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

These verses fall in the midst of a controversy.  It’s between those who tremble at the Word of the Lord, and those make themselves the Lord’s enemies.  It would be easy enough if the God-fearing wore red arm bands while the haters of God’s Word wore white, but it’s not that easy.  The controversy is between two groups which outwardly claim the Lord, His City, His Temple, and they allege to be His true people. 

In that much, nothing has changed.  Even a cursory glance at Church history will show parties who claim to have the right to the Name of God.   How can this dispute be settled?  That’s what this portion of Isaiah teaches us.

But some will object to reading all this into Isaiah.  How can you say that Jerusalem stands for the Christian Church?  I mean, it’s found on a map, and since 1947 it’s been part of a country called Israel!  Doesn’t that mean that the city of Jerusalem holds some dear place in God’s heart, in His plan for the fullness of time?

St. Paul explains this, himself a Jew, one who had the highest regard for Jerusalem and the activity God was doing in the Temple and on Golgotha outside the city. Still, however, he comes back to the controversy of two parties claiming a place and, with that, claiming God’s blessing.  The party claiming Jerusalem the city, the ancestry, the traditions, the Temple itself, are also saying that in order to be saved, you must obey at least some parts of the Mosaic Law.  Yet in doing that—even though they are claiming the right of children of God with the outward trappings—they are insisting that their human birth and outward obedience to God’s commands gives them the right to become children of God.  They are willing to fight those who claim, “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”

We’re naturally attracted to outward proofs, and that’s how God operated for Israel under Moses.  He gave them outward signs: circumcision, the Temple rites, national borders, a city for His Name to dwell.  But as is the case with sinful man, it was abused.  Rather than be seen as an inexpressible gift for God, whom “heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain” (1 Kings 8:27)—for Him to locate His presence and bestow His undeserved favor upon the sons of Israel—it was turned into a source of pride.

But what’s needed is more than to say, you’ve got it wrong; now do this instead.  God goes further by making it clear that those who are truly His people are not able to boast even of their faith.  Listen to this analogy of birth:  You are born of water and the Holy Spirit.  You, the barren one, break forth and cry aloud even though you do not labor!  And despite all the effort and alleged holiness, it’s the children of promise who are named before God.  It’s the children who believe in the promised Son of God who are of the true Jerusalem.  Those who are enslaved in the blindness of the old covenant—who actually hate the Word of God—are slaves in the present Jerusalem.

“But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.”  This is where we properly call the Church our mother—not a human institution, but the work of God.  You, hear the Word of God and keep it, who have the gift of faith in Christ, the Church is your mother.

So Paul continues,

28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

One of the dreams of our age is for there to be peace in the Middle East.  There actually hasn’t been outward peace in that region since the days of King David and Solomon, about three thousand years ago.  But since the time when Christ was born, this is a major reason why: People are clamoring over the city of Jerusalem and claiming it as their holy site.  Jews, Christians, and Muslims have all gotten wrapped up wanting to find God in a place.

Jewish Zionist movements of the 19th and 20th centuries certainly haven’t helped this either.  The fruit of their labor is seen in the fact that a nation-state by the name of Israel exists today.  It’s also believed by many Christians that rebuilding a brick-and-mortar Temple in Jerusalem—where the Muslim Dome of the Rock currently sits—will usher in the return of Christ.

Yet those who are still yearning for the earthly city are blind to the work which God actually is doing.  Why long for the Jerusalem who rejected God’s Christ, because He did not bring a kingdom on their own terms, a salvation that could be worked for, and He made it dependent completely on divine work!

Let’s return to the antiphon from the beginning of service: “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; that you may nurse and be satisfied at her consoling breast.”  Jerusalem is a picture of the Church, what we confess in the Creed as the Communion of Saints.  Rejoice where the Church is, where she gives birth to sons and daughters who are “born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” 

So if the present Jerusalem is a place of slavery, and the Jerusalem from above is free, who is our mother, where can we look for God in the world?

This we learn in the Feeding of the 5,000 which we heard from John 6 today.  This miracle appears in all four Gospels. It richly reveals Jesus as the fulfillment of the ministry of Moses, the presence and provision of the Lord amid His people, and it affirms that man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word which comes from the mouth of the Lord [Deut. 8:4].

Consider the miracle itself, though: He sees the large crowd, and tests His disciples by asking, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”  Philip gives the event-planner answer and says there isn’t a catering service or a budget in the world that could pull off suddenly feeding this multitude (Matthew tells us it was 5,000 men besides women and children).  In the wilderness which prefigured this, God made the bread to appear on the ground in the morning.  But where does the food come for this?  From a boy “who has five barley loves and two fish.”  He takes these, gives thanks for them and by these five loaves and two fish, He gave the people their fill.  Let the words of Isaiah echo in your mind, “that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.”  That God in Christ will provide for His people.

God is located not simply in city, but where He puts His Word and promises His presence: Where the Church gathers and is bestowing His forgiveness, “there I am among them” (Matt. 18:20).  Where disciples are born of water and the Spirit in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, “behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:19-20)  Where, not the sacrifice of bulls and goats, but the Lamb of God is feeding His redeemed people, we rejoice in this reality that is known to faith from Hebrews 12:

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:22-24)

All who believe in Christ, who hold fast in faith to God’s Word, are the true members of Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem.  We don’t yet see these things, which is hard when we are being called pretenders by the unspiritual and deceived.  Irish theologian J. Alec Motyer (1924-2016) explains:

Zion is looking forward to blessings still in store; to rejoice with Jerusalem is to share this forward look. To love her is to prize what she stands for: the city where the Lord dwells in holiness, mercy, and law. We are to live in the benefit of divine mercy, enjoy the richness of divine fellowship and fashion our lives in obedience to the divine word. To mourn over her is to lament the sins of the visible church, its shortcomings, its weakness and ineffectuality in the face of the world and the presence within of compromisers and apostates, but to do so as a fellow-sinner, longing for the blessings and the perfection yet to come.[1]

All these blessings are ours now, but our eyes will have to wait to see them.  That’s why we can rejoice even now!  Even under disappointments, suffering, and hoping for what is unseen.  Beloved in Christ, believe the words and promises of God, and be consoled as children of God, nourished with the pure spiritual milk at the bosom of your mother, the Church.  Your God will not fail to provide, and you will eat and be satisfied.  Amen.

[1] Motyer, J. Alec. The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction and Commentary. Intervarsity Press, 1993. pp. 537-38

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Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare) (John 6:1-15)

Bethlehem Lutheran & Bethel Lutheran Church, Lebanon & Sweet Home, OR
Fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare) + March 11, 2018
Text: John 6:1-15
 
The Lord provided for the Israelites in the wilderness with manna and quail. Moses reminded them of this in Deuteronomy 8: “2Remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers knotw, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:2–3)
 
Not long after manna and quail appeared from the Lord, Moses said to Aaron: Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” (Exodus 16:33) The Lord was seeing to it that the Israelites never forgot Who provided for them not only in Egypt, but also during their journey through the wilderness as well as in the Promised Land, even in the wilderness.
 
It is a fact that God provides.  Scripture tells us it’s true: “15The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season. 16You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:15–16 NKJV)  Our experience tells us it’s true, too.  Jesus holds up the example of the birds of the air.  Our own experience also includes what we see happen for other people.
 
But there are two places the truth that God provides fails.  One is circumstance, and the other is the state of our faith.
 
In John 6. Jesus has been teaching His disciples in the wilderness for a while. The wilderness is the best place to be taught about God’s providence because it’s free of earthly clutter, and you can see what you do have more clearly.  You couldn’t be farther from a place to purchase food and other supplies.
 
Being in the wilderness is one thing. Providing in the wilderness is another thing. Jesus knows what is on the hearts and minds of the Twelve. That’s why He asks Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” Jesus is testing Philip when He asks this question. He knows how Philip will answer. He knows that Philip’s answer is also our answer. Philip replies, “Two hundred denarii (almost seven months wages) would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” Andrew has a solution, but immediately discounts it: “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”
 
Circumstance.  Philip thinks this is a hopeless case. He is partially right. Left to his own ways, there is no way Philip can provide food for 5,000 men. This is the wilderness. There are no places to buy food. Philip can’t do it. Andrew sees a little possibility, but ultimately concludes the same thing as Phillip.  However, standing in front of Philip is the Man Who can provide food for 5,000 men. The question is whether Philip and Andrew actually believe Jesus can do it.
 
That brings us to the other place God’s providence fails to be true: in our faith.   God has shown that He provides—the manna in the wilderness, the Promised Land, a planet that is able to support billions of people at once, families with 10 kids or 2 kids or no kids.  God provides, regardless.  “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matt. 5:45)  He provides whether or not the recipients thank Him, whether they use it responsibly or squander it, whether they are generous or hoard it.  The Twelve disciples forget that Jesus is able to provide for temporal needs. They, like you and me, forget that Jesus not only takes care of sin and death, but also takes care of food, clothing, shelter, and other earthly things.
 
So, do you and I believe that God can provide?  That’s a good question. We call it being realistic because we’re facing the facts of circumstance.  But the wilderness teaches us that the facts are not the thing to have faith in; God is.  Man certainly does not live by bread alone. Yes, it may be that God doesn’t provide everything our greedy hearts desire.  You have to go without some things because the Social Security COLA doesn’t keep up with your property taxes or the prices at the grocery store. What do we actually need for daily living?  What can wait until next year? How much should I set aside for an emergency? These are questions asked also among younger generations. That cell phone upgrade your carrier is pushing is not necessary.  Having the best of everything on credit is certainly not necessary. What is necessary is a redefinition of what it means to be content.
 
You are content in Jesus Christ alone. That’s the secret to life that unbelievers cannot see. God provides for them as He provides for you, but they refuse to recognize or even believe that God opens His hand and He provides for every living thing. Saint Paul tells Timothy, “If we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” (1 Tim. 6:8) Contentedness does not depend on how much or what quality of stuff you have. Contentedness is trusting in Jesus Christ to provide for temporal and spiritual needs even in the most improbable circumstances.
 
If our Lord is able to feed 5,000 men with five barley loaves and two fish, if He is able to provide manna and quail, enough only for that particular day, then certainly He can and will support you in this body and life.  Circumstance does not overwhelm He who created heaven and earth.
 
It’s not the circumstances which need to change.  It’s our heart.  Our heart is filled with a bottomless hunger that daily bread can never satisfy.  What can be done?  Repent.  Let your sinful flesh be put to death; there’s no other way to fix our hunger.  The problem is not God; it’s us.  Only the One who provided in the wilderness can give us satisfaction—in the forgiveness of our sins.
 
We believe that Jesus provides forgiveness of sins and eternal life in His holy Word. For some reason, that seems to be the easy part of the Christian faith. But don’t take this as a small thing! Count the cost of the Savior’s death and resurrection! He bled and died a horrible, cruel death for you—in your place—that you might live with Him forever.
 
Jesus quickly disappears from the scene after the feeding of the 5,000 because He perceived “that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king.” Believing He is your Savior from sin and death does not mean that He will also give you a constant flow of earthly riches and earthly happiness. There will be hard times yet to come. You will die (unless our Lord returns first). Your things, no matter where you bought it or spent on it, will break. You will suffer illness, and the day will come when the doctors don’t have a solution. You will have to bear much bad news.
 
Yet, God is there through it all. He is there in His Word to bring to your remembrance that He is the One who cares for you in all circumstances. He is there with His Holy Spirit, to strengthen your weak faith.  He is there in your Baptism, where He daily drowns your sinful nature and raises you anew as His beloved child. He is there in Holy Communion, where Christ’s true Body and true Blood is your Living Bread that comes down from heaven. Where Christ is, there is your contentment, even in all the wilderness of this life. This is most certainly true. Amen.