A Hard Saying
John 6: 56-69

August 24, 2003

THE FEEDING OF THE 5000 WITH FIVE LOAVES AND TWO SMALL FISHES ON A HILLSIDE BY THE SEA OF GALILEE IS THE ONLY ONE OF THE MIRACLES ATTRIBUTED TO JESUS THAT IS RECORDED IN ALL FOUR GOSPELS. AS AN INDICATION OF ITS IMPORTANCE TO THEM, EACH OF THESE AUTHORS REMEMBERED THIS INCIDENT, OR WERE REMINDED OF IT THROUGH THE STORY-TELLING TRADITION OF THE TIMES, UNTIL THEY MADE THE OPPORTUNITY TO WRITE IT DOWN - IN THE CASE OF JOHN'S GOSPEL, THE LAST -WRITTEN, PROBABLY 80 YEARS LATER.

AND STILL, IN EACH WRITER'S CASE , IT WAS AN IMPORTANT MEMORY, AND AN IMPORTANT EVENT, AND IN FIDELITY WITH JESUS,AND THE DEVELOPING CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES WHICH FORMED THEIR READERSHIP, THEY EACH FELT IT NEEDED TO BE WRITTEN.

THERE IS A RISK FOR US, BECAUSE WE MAY BE JADED BY THE SPECIAL EFFECTS OF TELEVISION, MOVIES AND COMPUTERS; BECAUSE WE MAY FEEL SECURE IN OUR ACCESS TO SMOOTH-RUNNING AUTOMOBILES THAT CAN GET US TO THE NEAREST McDONALD'S IN MINUTES, DAY OR NIGHT; BECAUSE WE LIVE CONFIDENTLY THAT THROUGH OUR CELL-PHONES , IF NEED BE, WE CAN ALWAYS ARRANGE CATERING FOR UNEXPECTED GUESTS. THE RISK IS THAT WE MIGHT DISMISS THIS STORY AS "JUST" A FANTASTIC MEMORY, A PLEASANT RECOLLECTION FROM SUNDAY SCHOOL. THUS, THE FACT THAT IT HAPPENED, AND ANY SENSE OF WHY IT IS SO CENTRAL TO ALL 4 GOSPELS, WILL REMAIN FOR US AN UNRESOLVED MYSTERY.

AT THE TIME THAT THIS MIRACLE OCCURRED, JESUS HAD BEEN IN PUBLIC MINISTRY FOR A LITTLE MORE THAN TWO YEARS. HIS REPUTATION WAS GROWING, AND HE HAD ATTRACTED A FOLLOWING OF DISCIPLES (THE ACTUAL NUMBERS ARE NOT REALLY KNOWN), EXCEPT THAT THEY INCLUDED THE 12 APOSTLES THAT HE HAD, BY THEN, SPECIFICALLY CHOSEN FOR MORE INTENSIVE, DIRECT INVOLVEMENT IN HIS MINISTRY. WE ARE SHOWN, IN THE GOSPELS, AN ACTIVE AND POTENT JESUS , WHO HAS FOUND HIS "VOICE", AND HAS DEVELOPED A GROWING REPUTATION AS A PREACHER AND HEALER. OUR SENSE IS OF A JESUS WHO IS, IN MODERN TERMS," MANAGING HIS AGENDA" VERY WELL. HE HAS DEVELOPED HIS PEOPLE TO THE POINT THAT HE HAS RECENTLY SENT THEM OUT ON THEIR OWN, IN TEAMS OF TWO, TO CONDUCT THEIR OWN HEALING MISSIONS. IT IS, INDEED, JUST AFTER THEIR RETURN FROM THESE MISSIONS THAT, ACCORDING TO JOHN, THIS MIRACLE TOOK PLACE.

IT MAY INDEED BE THE CASE THAT THIS WAS A DAY THAT JESUS HAD INTENDED TO SPEND JUST WITH THESE DISCIPLES, DEBRIEFING THEIR MISSIONS, HONOURING THEIR SUCCESSES AND IN ANSWER TO THEIR CONCERNS, EXPLAINING WHY THEY HAD NOT BEEN AS SUCCESSFUL IN HEALING CERTAIN PERSONS, AND RELIEVING CERTAIN SYMPTOMS, AS THEY HAD SEEN JESUS BE IN SIMILAR SITUATIONS.

BUT, IT SEEMS THAT THEY ARE DISCOVERED BY SOME OF THE LOCAL PEOPLE EITHER AT THE PROPOSED MEETING PLACE, OR ALONG THE WAY. DETERMINING THAT THEY HAVE FOUND JESUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS, THE CROWD IMPOSES UPON THEM WITH THEIR NEEDS. THE DAY INSTEAD BECOMES YET ANOTHER ONE OF HEALING THE SICK, EXORCISING THEIR DEVILS, AND PREACHING - TO A CROWD THAT , BY WORD OF MOUTH THROUGH THE COURSE OF THE DAY HAD SWOLLEN TO 5000 MEN - NOT TO MENTION WOMEN AND CHILDREN LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN BROUGHT ALONG TO SEE AND PARTICIPATE IN WHAT WAS GOING ON.

(AS AN ASIDE WORTHY OF SOME REFLECTION -5000 PEOPLE IS A LOT. AND IT IS A HUGE NUMBER TO GATHER SPONTANEOUSLY IN A RURAL SETTING ACCESSED PRINCIPALLY ON FOOT, JUST ON THE STRENGTH OF REPORTS THAT SOMETHING SPECIAL IS GOING ON THERE! 5000 IS ROUGHLY THE JAM-PACKED EQUIVALENT OF THIS SANCTUARY, SEVEN TIMES OVER!)

AT THE END OF THE DAY, JESUS HAS COMPASSION ON THE CROWD, AND RECOGNIZES THAT THEY WILL NEED TO BE FED BEFORE THEY ARE SENT BACK TO THEIR HOMES . IN JOHN'S VERSION OF WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, JESUS ASKS ONE OF THE DISCIPLES "WHERE SHALL WE BUY BREAD THAT THESE PEOPLE MIGHT EAT?" HE IS TOLD THAT THE DISCIPLES DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO MEET THE CROWDS NEEDS (PRESUMABLY EVEN IF THERE WAS A STORE CLOSE BY), BUT THAT A YOUNG BOY IS WILLING TO OFFER UP HIS 5 SMALL LOAVES AND 2 SMALL FISHES. JESUS ISSUES INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT MANAGING THE FOOD DISTRIBUTION PROCESS, BLESSES THE 5 LOAVES, AND 2 FISH AND GIVES THEM TO THE DISCIPLES TO DISTRIBUTE. WHEN EVERYONE HAS BEEN FED, HE ASKS THE DISCIPLES TO GATHER UP THE LEFT-OVERS, AND 12 BASKETSFULL ARE TAKEN UP.

WHAT IS A MIRACLE?

THE REVEREND PETER GOMES OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY SUGGESTS THAT A MIRACLE " IS GOD'S EXTRA-ORDINARY MESSAGE IN THE MIDST OF THE ORDINARY; IT IS AN EXERCISE NOT IN THE SUPERNATURAL OR IN THE IRREGULAR, BUT IN COMMUNICATION. TO UNDERSTAND A MIRACLE IS THEREFORE TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING OF GOD. TO SEE A MIRACLE, THEREFORE, IS TO SEE SOMETHING OF GOD."

"THE ESSENCE OF A MIRACLE," HE GOES ON, "IS NOT IN ITS POWER, NOR IN ITS EXTRAORDINARY CAPACITY, NOR IN ITS ABILITY TO ATTRACT ATTENTION AND HIGH VISIBILITY, BUT RATHER IN ITS CAPACITY TO MEET AND TO SATISFY A NEED. A MIRACLE IS A RESPONSE TO WHAT IS MOST NEEDED; IT IS, AT HEART, AN ANSWER TO PRAYER."

FOR THIS CROWD OF PEOPLE, SPONTANEOUSLY BROUGHT TOGETHER DURING THE COURSE OF THE DAY BECAUSE JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES, OF WHOM THEY HAD HEARD SO MUCH, HAD BEEN DISCOVERED IN THEIR NEIGHBOURHOOD, THE MEAL AT THE END OF THE AFTERNOON COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE. BUT THE CORE OF THE CROWD, PERHAPS MOST OF IT - WE DON'T KNOW - COMPRISED PEOPLE WHO WERE ACTIVELY SEEKING AN EXPERIENCE OF GOD IN THEIR LIVES. THE GOSPELS TOGETHER DESCRIBE THEM AS PEOPLE WHO CAME THERE BECAUSE OF THE HEALING, AND BECAUSE THEY WERE HOPEFUL THAT THIS JESUS MIGHT BE THE PROMISED MESSIAH TO THEM, THEN, THIS WAS AN EXPERIENCE IN WHICH, AS PASTOR GOMES SAYS, THEIR "EYES WERE OPENED, AND THEY SAW JESUS AS HE WAS: GOD'S MESSAGE TO THE WORLD".

AND AT LEAST SOME OF THEM UNDERSTOOD THAT. JOHN WRITES "..THEN, THESE MEN, WHEN THEY HAD SEEN THE SIGN THAT JESUS DID, SAID 'THIS IS TRULY THE PROPHET WHO IS COME INTO THE WORLD'" JOHN'S CONCLUSION IS THAT THESE PEOPLE RECOGNIZED THAT THEY WERE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD - WHICH IN GOMES'TERMS IS THE ESSENCE OF THE MIRACLE.

BY THE NEXT DAY MANY OF THE SAME PEOPLE, HUNGRY FOR MORE, AND PROBABLY SOME NEW FOLKS AS WELL, CAUGHT UP TO JESUS IN CAPERNAUM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SEA. JESUS IS RATHER FORCEFUL WITH THEM AND SUGGESTS THAT THOSE WHO WERE BACK CAME SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THE BREAD, AND WERE SIMPLY LOOKING FOR MORE. HE THEN TELLS THEM THAT THE BREAD ITSELF WAS A TRANSIENT THING (IN A WAY, SAYING THAT HIS HOSPITALITY OF THE NIGHT BEFORE HAD NOT BEEN THE POINT), AND THAT PEOPLE WOULD DO WELL, INSTEAD, TO "..LABOUR FOR THE FOOD WHICH ENDURES TO EVERLASTING LIFE, WHICH THE SON OF MAN WILL GIVE YOU". TO THE QUESTION WHAT FORM SHOULD THAT LABOUR TAKE, JESUS REPLIES: "THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD, THAT YOU BELIEVE ON HIM WHOM HE HATH SENT". (REFERRING TO HIMSELF)

THE CROWD, WILLING TO ACCEPT HIS STATEMENT THAT HE HAS BEEN SENT BY GOD, ASKS FOR A SIGN, REMINDING HIM THAT THEIR ANCESTORS HAD BEEN GIVEN MANNA IN THE DESERT, AS A SIGN OF GOD'S FAITHFULNESS DURING THEIR YEARS OF EXODUS FROM EGYPT. JESUS PICKS UP ON THAT REFERENCE, AND REFERRING TO HIMSELF HE TELLS THEM, "THE BREAD OF GOD IS HE WHO COMES DOWN FROM HEAVEN, AND GIVES LIFE TO THE WORLD."

IN WHAT THE GOSPEL OF JOHN INDICATES AS A LENGTHY SPEECH, JESUS THEN CONTINUES TO USE THE ANALOGY TO BREAD AS SUSTENANCE IN TRYING TO GIVE THE PEOPLE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHO HE IS, AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT FACT, FOR THEM. BEFORE THE END OF THIS SPEECH, THERE ARE SOME RUMBLINGS OF MISUNDERSTANDING AND DISBELIEF EVIDENT FROM THE CROWD. JESUS CONCLUDES BY SAYING "MY FLESH IS FOOD INDEED, AND MY BLOOD IS DRINK INDEED.HE WHO EATS MY FLESH AND DRINKS MY BLOOD ABIDES IN ME AND I IN HIM."

WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF ALL THAT THEY HAD HEARD, ALL THAT THEY HAD BEEN TAUGHT AND COME TO BELIEVE, AND THEIR EXPERIENCE OF THE DAY BEFORE, SOME OF THE DISCIPLES FOUND THESE COMMENTS BEYOND THEIR UNDERSTANDING AND HENCE UNACCEPTABLE. AS JOHN NOTES, MANY OF THEM SAID "THIS IS A HARD SAYING..WHO CAN UNDERSTAND IT?"

ALTHOUGH JESUS, ATTEMPTS TO CLARIFY WITH THE DISCIPLES THAT HE WAS USING AN ANALOGY - "THE WORDS",HE SAYS , "THAT I SPEAK TO YOU ARE SPIRIT, AND THEY ARE LIFE" - THE GOSPEL REPORTS THAT "FROM THAT TIME MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES WENT BACK AND WALKED WITH HIM NO MORE". FOR THEM THESE WORDS, AND THIS EXPERIENCE STRETCHED THEM BEYOND THEIR SPIRITUAL GRASP.

THE GOOD NEWS OF THE GOSPEL IS, HOWEVER, THAT IN RESPONSE TO A QUESTION FROM A CONCERNED JESUS AS TO WHETHER THE 12 APOSTLES ALSO WANTED TO LEAVE, SIMON PETER, ANSWERING ON THEIR BEHALF, SAYS "LORD, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO? YOU HAVE THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE. ALSO, WE HAVE COME TO BELIEVE AND KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD."

THE ANALOGY TO BREAD, AND REFERENCE TO HIMSELF AS THE BREAD OF LIFE WAS A THEME THAT REMAINED WITH JESUS FROM THEN ON - THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE OF HIS LAST SUPPER WITH THE 12 APOSTLES, AND THROUGH HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. THE ANALOGY IS REMEMBERED, BUT GIVEN DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS BY VARIOUS SEGMENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, AS PART OF THE RITUAL ASSOCIATED WITH THE FEAST OF THE HOLY COMMUNION. THE REMEMBERANCE OF THESE WORDS, HOWEVER INTERPRETED, IN THE OBSERVANCE OF THIS HOLY MEAL, DOES HONOUR TO THE COMMUNICATION FROM AND WITH GOD, THROUGH JESUS, THAT THEY REPRESENT - AND THUS THEY OPEN US TO THE FEEDING OF OUR SPIRITS IN THAT CONTEXT, THE EXPERIENCE OF GOD IN THE COMMUNION SERVICE LINKS VERY CLOSELY TO THE MIRACLE INVOLVED IN THE FEEDING OF THE 5000.

PETER GOMES WRITES; "REMEMBER NOT ONLY THAT JESUS FED THE HUNGRY ON THE HILLSIDE WITH LOAVES AND FISHES, BUT THAT BY THAT ACT OF HUMAN CHARITY HE WAS REVEALED TO THE CROWD AS GOD'S MESSAGE OF LOVE TO THE WORLD. TO THAT WORLD HE OFFERS NOT SIMPLY SUSTENANCE, WITHOUT WHICH OUR BODIES CANNOT LIVE BUT SUBSTANCE, WITHOUT WHICH OUR SOULS CANNOT LIVE. WHAT HE OFFERS HE GIVES IN HIMSELF, AND THIS MEMORIAL THAST WE MAKE OF HIS BODY AND BLOOD ALLOWS US TO BECOME A PART OF THAT MESSAGE, A PART OF THAT MIRACLE, WHEREBY WE, WITH ALL THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS MAY YET BE FILLED."

AND WE ARE BLESSED WITH THE CONTINUING AWARENESS OF GOD AND JESUS IN OUR WORLD - ENCOURAGING US, SUSTAINING US, CHALLENGING US, CALLING US. WE ARE CALLED, I AM CONVINCED, THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE OF MIRACLES, COMMUNICATIONS FROM GOD IN OUR OWN LIVES - RECOVERY FROM DISEASE, RELEIF FROM PAIN, LOVE FOR AND OF ANOTHER PERSON, THE BIRTH OF CHILDREN, ACTS OF KINDNESS DONE TO US- WE ARE CALLED THROUGH THESE EXPERIENCES TO KNOW THE PRESENCE OF THE DIVINE IN OUR OWN LIVES, AND TO FEED ON THEM IN ANSWER TO OUR PRAYERS. AND BY THESE GIFTS OF GRACE, WE ARE FURTHER INVITED TO PERFORM THE WORK OF GOD.

AMEN.

Preached by Tom D. Stickland
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan