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Kit 6 2003 - Pentecost 7 to Pentecost 13

July 27 Pentecost 7

2 Samuel 11:1-15, Ps 14, Eph 3:14-21

John 6: 1 – 21

This is a long section with a vast range of preaching possibilities.  One approach would be to see how each evangelist uses the story of the feeding of the multitude or the walking on the water.  John shows Jesus to be clearly in charge, with full knowledge of what is going to happen.  Both stories point to Jesus as the Christ.  He is the focus of the accounts and the events are told in such a way as to leave no doubt as to his relationship with God.

Another approach is to look at the way John sees the disciples.  Matthew uses the walking on the water as a chance for Peter to test his faith; both Mark and Matthew make it clear that Jesus is Lord of nature as well as the focus of the disciples’ faith.  John simply recounts the event.  It shows that in the presence of Jesus there is no need to be afraid.

Again, we could look at what we might think of as the “public reaction”.  How do the bystanders feel about what is happening?

In order to offer a different way of thinking about the readings, the first Sunday will focus on the intention and response of those who were present.  The second Sunday we will look at what the Evangelist intended to say to his particular community in the 2nd  Century.  On the third Sunday we will consider how 21st Century people might respond to the account.  The final section will be a summary of the passage.

The first thing we notice is that the crowd is not attracted by the teaching of Jesus.  They have followed him across the Lake because of the signs that he was doing.  It is important to note the John never refers to “miracles” – they are always signs of who Jesus is, indicators of his relationship to the Father.  This is a sign that Jesus is the Son, but we must wonder whether the people who followed Jesus saw him as anything other than a miracle worker.  We need to remember that miracle workers were not uncommon.  We tend to think of a miracle as proof of the fact that Jesus is the Messiah.  The people on the hillside that day would not have made any such link.

Right at the start of the account John points to the sacramental possibilities of this meal.  We need to remember that there is no account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper in John but there are meals where sacramental hints are given.  In this case it is the words “Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.”  Is John suggesting that in this shared meal where Jesus is the host we have a hint of the Eucharist?  Yet those who were present could have no such idea.  Even the disciples are treating this as a logistical and economic problem to be dealt with.  The crowd is huge and Jesus poses the logistical question as a test for the disciples.  Their response is economic.  No one has that sort of money!

This all seems to have the purpose of pointing those watching in another direction.  But misunderstandings abound -–in fact one might say the purpose of the story is to highlight misunderstandings.  After the meal the audience see it as a sign that Jesus is the coming prophet – nearer the mark, but still not right.  But the conclusion that he is the prophet leads them to want to make him king, thus turning a relatively minor misunderstanding into a very serious one.

One of the decisions the preacher must make is how he or she understands the event.  The feeding can be taken as a nature miracle; Jesus producing food for the hungry crowd as a sign that he is the Son of God.  At the opposite end of the scale it can be taken as a "miracle of sharing”.  We notice that Jesus did not start with empty hands.  Were there many people present who had food secreted away and were shamed by the generosity of the boy into sharing their own?  We have no way of telling.  In a sense it does not matter.  John recounts the incident not so that we might be overwhelmed by this proof of who Jesus is or even so that we might be shamed into sharing our own food, but as a sign that Jesus is sent by God.  If we want to make a point for modern people it would seem more relevant to say that the story is a sign that Jesus calls us to share than that he impressed his audience on that day by an extraordinary nature miracle.

When we focus on the understanding of the crowd, we immediately see the misunderstandings.  John appears to tell the story in such a way that the focus is on how Jesus is misunderstood, even by those closest to him.  It is clear that even the disciples do not expect Jesus to feed the people in the way he does.  He also makes the excessive generosity of Jesus very clear.  Jesus instructs the disciples to gather up the scraps.  What started with five loaves and two fish ends up with a satisfied crowd and twelve baskets.  One can only assume that the twelve represents the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles.  In other words, there is in Jesus enough to satisfy the religious needs of all.  Numbers in John are never accidental.

So the question for us is “how do we misunderstand Jesus?”  The crowd on the hill that day saw him as the prophet and wanted to make him king.  What an extraordinary misunderstanding!  Prophets and kings stand on the opposite side of a huge gulf.  But our own misunderstandings may be nearly as bad.  Do we seek to use Jesus rather than follow him?  Do we see him as either too divine or too human?  Do we try to put him in a box of our own shape and making and not allow for the fact that others see him in a different light? Do we fail to see that he calls all people and feeds all people without question?  These and other questions will come to the preacher considering this passage.

All shall be well

For the greening of trees
and the gentling of friends
we thank you, O God.

For the brightness of field
and the warmth of the sun
we thank you, O God.

For work to be done
and laughter to share
we thank you, O God.

We thank you and know
that through struggle and pain
in the slippery path of new birth
hope will be born
and all shall be well.

Kate McIlhagga

From “The Pattern of our Days”, Wild Goose Publications, 1996