Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent - Judica - Jn 8:46-59

 

                                                                                    Lent 5

                                                                                    Jn 8:46-59

                                                                                    3/21/21

 

            The decision to become a Lutheran pastor was not exactly an unusual one for someone in my family.  My uncle was a Lutheran pastor and missionary.  Both of my grandfathers were Lutheran pastors and then seminary professors.  My great grandfather was a Lutheran pastor.  My great great grandfather and great great great grandfather were Lutheran pastors and seminary professors – in fact half of the quad at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis is named after them.  My other great great great grandfather was a Lutheran pastor who was sent from Germany to minister in the United States.

            This is certainly a rich heritage for which I am thankful.  At the same time, I have seen during my life in the Church that this kind of heritage can be a bad thing.  When everyone in the family has always been Lutheran, it can give rise to a kind of “cultural Lutheranism” – the comforting assumption that your history gives you a connection with the Church no matter whether you are really all that serious about practicing the faith. So if you show up to church at Christmas and Easter - and perhaps when there is a family baptism or confirmation – then you have everything covered.

            Worse yet, when tied to one particular congregation the fact that everyone in my family has always been a member of this congregation can turn the congregation into an idol.  The congregation can become a kind of club which exists to continue the existence of the club just as it is, instead of being about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And so when there is the possibility of people of a different background coming to church, this is viewed as a threat to the status quo, instead of a wonderful opportunity to bring more people to Christ’s Means of Grace. 

            In the Gospel lesson this morning, we hear the end of a confrontation between Jesus and some fellow Jews.  They are living in the heritage of being Abraham’s descendants.  Yet they are allowing this heritage to be an idol that prevents them from seeing what God is doing in his Son, Jesus Christ.

            Throughout this chapter, the topic of “father” continues to appear as source of debate.  Earlier, Jesus had said, “I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.”  This led the Jews to ask, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

            The Jews were not listening to Jesus, and in our text the Lord explains that there is a very simple explanation for this.  He says, “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”  The Jews were not of God.  Instead, they had their own ideas about how God worked, and these were all based in their heritage as the descendants of Abraham.

            Because of who Jesus is, he was the presence of the One who fulfilled God’s promises to Abraham, and yet was far greater than the patriarch.  Jesus said, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

            The problem that confronts every person is sin. Even if we only recognize it in part, we know that we do not love God as we should.  We know that we love ourselves more than our neighbor.   Jesus announced that he was the answer to sin.  He said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 

and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The Jews objected, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”

            Our Lord announced that apart from him, every person is a slave because every person commits sin.  Yet he added, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” The Son of God – the Word – became flesh in order to free us from sin.  Yet in order to receive this forgiveness, two things must happen. First, we must admit that we are sinners. We must confess the sin that is present in our lives. And second, we can only receive this forgiveness in the way that God has chosen to give it to us.  We must believe in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead.

            The Jews who confronted Jesus were unwilling to believe in him.  They were secure in their own heritage. It had become an idol to them and so they rejected what God was doing in Christ. Jesus said, “I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

            The Jews replied to Jesus: “Abraham is our father.”  But Jesus pointed out that if they were really Abraham’s children, they would not be trying to kill Jesus, a man who had told them the truth that he had heard from God.  Instead, by their actions, they were showing who their true father was.  Jesus said, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires.”

            There was a time when the devil was your father.  As descendants of Adam, you were conceived and born as sinful, fallen people. Jesus told Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  The flesh, fallen sinful nature, gives birth to more flesh – more fallen sinful nature. Left to ourselves, we were trapped in a cycle of sinfulness that we were powerless to break.

            But God broke through this by sending his Son into the world to die on the cross and rise from the dead.  He is the Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of the world.  As the risen and ascended Lord, he has sent forth the Spirit.  Now, you have been born again of water and the Spirit in Holy Baptism. You are a forgiven child of God who believes in Jesus Christ.

            In our text, the Jews are certainly not children of God.  Jesus says, “If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 

Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”  Their response was, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”  First, they accused Jesus of not being part of God’s people. Then, they said he was demon possessed!

            Jesus replied, “Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”  To keep Jesus’ word is first, to believe in Jesus.  Our Lord said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” 

            Second, to keep Jesus’ word is to live in ways that has taught us by his words and deeds.  Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.” The sacrifice of Christ for us becomes the model and pattern for the way we live in relation to others. 

            Because Jesus is the risen Lord, we know that his words in our text are true: “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” When Jesus said this his opponents responded, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, 'If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.' Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”

            Jesus knew exactly who he was and what he had come to do.  He answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’ 

But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word.”

            During the season of Lent we are preparing to remember that Jesus kept the Father’s word all the way to the cross.  He did this to take away the sin of the world – to take away your sin. And then on the third day he rose from the dead.  He has defeated death and reigns forever as the exalted Lord.

            Jesus did this as the fulfillment of all of God’s promises that he had spoken in the Old Testament.  In our text Jesus says, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” This prompted the Jews to object, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus replied to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

            This last statement affirms what John has said in the prologue of the Gospel about the Son of God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  As true God, Jesus is “I am”, he is Yahweh.  But he is God who become flesh in the incarnation in order free us from sin and death through his cross and resurrection.  He is the Son who carried out the will of the Father, and has now called you to faith through the work of the Spirit so that you will never see death.  Your life with God will continue even if you die, and our risen Lord will raise your body from the dead on the Last Day.

             

 

 

 

 

Mark's thoughts: A reminder of the incarnation and the cross

 

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. (Colossians 2:9)

 

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.  (Colossians 1:21-22)

 

In this pair of texts, the apostle Paul teaches about the incarnation of the Son of God, and about purpose of the incarnation.  In the first, Colossians 2:9, he says that the Son who is truly God in every way, dwells bodily in the person of Jesus Christ. A real man who lived in this world, he is also true God. This is the same truth that the apostle John teaches when after telling us that the Son, the Word, is God (John 1:1) goes on to say, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

 

In the second text, Paul says that through the death of his fleshly body (literally, “body of flesh”), Christ reconciled us to God.  By this death he has made us holy and blameless before God the Father.  In the incarnation, the Son of God took on a human nature. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary with a fleshly body, just like ours.  Though without sin, he was born with a body that could die – that could be killed.  In fact, he came in order to die.  Jesus said during Holy Week, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour” (John 12:27).  The purpose of the incarnation was for the Son of God to receive the judgment of God against our sin, so that we will never experience this. Paul wrote elsewhere, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

 

This year, the Church calendar brings together the celebration of these events in a remarkable way.  On March 25 we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord.  Nine months before Christmas, we celebrate the message that the angel Gabriel delivered to Mary as he told her that she would conceive and give birth to the Messiah.  When she asked, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”, Gabriel answered:  "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God” (Luke 1:34-35).  Then Palm Sunday follows three days later on March 28 as Holy Week begins. During that week we focus on the Passion of our Lord that culminates on Good Friday as he dies on the cross.  The Church calendar brings together the incarnation and the cross, and holds them together before us.  Our Lord was conceived and born with a fleshly body, in order to be nailed to a cross for us.

 

However, note how Paul expresses himself in Colossians 2:9 as he writes: “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”  The apostle speaks of the incarnation not as a past reality, but as a present and ongoing one.  The Son of God was not only conceived and born with a fleshly body in order to die.  He also did so in order to transform the fleshly body in the resurrection so that it can never die again. Paul says in Colossians 1:18, “He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”  On Easter, God raised Jesus from the dead. The Lord who rose and ascended into heaven and will return is still true God and true man.  The risen Jesus told the disciples on the evening of Easter, “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39).  Jesus has begun the resurrection of the Last Day, and we will share in this when Christ returns in glory. That is why Paul told the Philippians that we “await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (3:20-21). 

 

This year in the span of a little over a week, we will celebrate the incarnation, remember our Lord’s death, and then celebrate his resurrection.  Because the fleshly body of Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross in death, our sins are forgiven.  Because the fleshly body of Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, we will receive transformed bodies that can never die again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feast of St. Joseph, Guardian of Jesus

 Today is the Feast of St. Joseph, Guardian of Jesus.  St. Joseph has been honored throughout the Christian centuries for his faithful devotion in helping Mary to raise Jesus.  Matthew’s Gospel tells us that Joseph was a righteous man, who followed the angel’s instructions and took the already-pregnant Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:24).  In the Gospels, Jesus is referred to as “the carpenter’s son” (Matthew 13:55).  This suggests that Joseph had building skills with which he supported his family.  He followed the angel’s instruction in taking the Mary and Jesus to Egypt in order to escape Herod the Great’s murderous plot (Matthew 2:14).  Joseph last appears in Scripture when he and Mary faithfully take the twelve-year-old Jesus to Jerusalem for the Passover (Luke 2:41-51).  Joseph, the guardian of our Lord, has long been associated with caring parenthood.

Scripture reading:

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

(Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23)

Collect of the Day:

Almighty God, from the house of Your servant David You raised up Joseph to be the guardian of Your incarnate Son and the husband of His mother, Mary.  Grant us grace to follow the example of this faithful workman in heeding Your counsel and obeying Your commands; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

 

Sermon for fourth mid-week Lent service - Seventh and Eighth Commandments

 

                                                           Mid-Lent 4                                                                                                                 Seventh and Eighth Commandments

                                                           3/17/21

 

            In considering how to group the commandments for these homilies during Lent, I have placed the Seventh and Eighth Commandments together because the breaking of these commandments takes something from our neighbor.  Obviously, stealing takes some possession from a person.  But breaking the Eighth Commandment also takes something – it takes away their reputation.  Indeed, while items that have been stolen can be replaced relatively easily, a person’s reputation is a different matter. Once taken away, it is far more difficult to put in place again.

            The Seventh Commandment says, “You shall not steal.”  The Small Catechism explains the Seventh Commandment by saying that are not to “take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.”  As we consider the Seventh Commandment and those that follow, there are two Scripture texts to keep in mind. First, Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”  Our Lord teaches us that we are to treat others the way we want to be treated.

            The other text is found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians where he writes, “Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others.”  As those who are in Christ, our concern is not to be focused only on ourselves.  Instead, we are to be actively seeking to help others in their various affairs.

            Of all the commandments, the Seventh Commandment seems like it is the most straightforward and easily understood.  We know what stealing is – it’s taking something from another person. And while the Seventh Commandment certainly forbids this, it also includes more as well. The Small Catechism’s language of “get them in any dishonest way” takes in all our dealing with others – especially business interaction.  Luther says in the Large Catechism, “For as I just said, stealing is not just robbing someone’s safe or pocketbook but also taking advantage of someone in the market, in all stores, butcher shops, wine and beer cellars, workshops, and, in short, wherever business is transacted and money is exchanged for goods and services.”

            The Seventh Commandment teaches us to be fair in our dealings with others.   We are to treat others just as we would want to be treated. We are not to seek opportunities to sell something for far more than it is worth, or to buy things for far less then they are worth. This may be considered “good business” by the world, but God’s Word calls it what it really is: stealing. And in a similar way, when we are being paid for work, we are to do that work as we would want others to do it for us. Doing shoddy work or wasting time at work is stealing.

            As with all the commandments that occur as statements forbidding something, the Seventh Commandment also teaches what we are to do. The Small Catechism says that we are help our neighbor “to improve and protect his possessions and income.” We are to help and assist our neighbors to keep what is theirs.  Beyond that we are to do what we can to help them improve their situation. Luther comments in the Large Catechism that “we are commanded to promote and further our neighbor’s interests, and when they suffer want, we are to help, share and lend to both friends and foes.”  The last part of that statement reminds us that the keeping of the Seventh Commandment does not only apply to the people we like.  It takes in all people – even our enemies.

            The Eighth Commandment is, “You shall not give false witness against your neighbor.”  This commandment poses a continual challenge in our life, even though we find it easy to ignore. The Small Catechism explains this by saying that we are not to “tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.”

            We are not to tell lies about our neighbor. We are to speak the truth, but as we will see one can also break this commandment by speaking the truth to the wrong person for the wrong reason.  We are not to betray our neighbor. Those things that our neighbor entrusts to us in confidence are not to be revealed to others.

            The Eighth Commandment deals with a person’s reputation – with their good name. We are not to slander our neighbor or hurt our neighbor’s reputation. This brings us to the subject of gossip, and a truth about fallen human nature.  Luther says in the Large Catechism, “It is a common pernicious plague that everyone would rather hear evil than good about their neighbor.”  As fallen people we enjoy hearing and sharing information about our neighbors that reveal negative things about them.  Good news does not make for good gossip.

            The question here is not whether the information is true.  The determining factor is whether the sharing of it will help or hurt my neighbor’s reputation.  In the Large Catechism Luther makes the important distinction between the possession of knowledge and the authority to judge sin.  He says, “To avoid this vice, therefore, we should note that none has the right to judge and reprove a neighbor publicly, even after having seen a sin committed, unless authorized to judge and reprove.  There is a very great difference between judging sin and having knowledge of sin.  You may certainly know about a sin, but you should not judge it.  I may certainly see and hear that my neighbor sins, but I have no command to tell others about it.”  Only those who are in an office – a vocation in life – where they are charged to judge sin is to speak in a public way about it.

            When you hear or learn something negative about another person, you are not to share this with others.  You are to remain silent.  The only thing you may do, if you are in a position to do so, is to go and speak to that person about it privately. You can address their sin and errors in a way that seeks their good. But it must be done, just between the two of you.

            This is hard. The old Adam in us wants to share juicy information – information that is interesting because it says something bad about a person. Yet before we speak, we must consider whether this information will help or harm our neighbor. We must ask: If this information were about me, would I want others sharing it?  When put to this test, the answer is very often is a clear no.

            The Eighth Commandment also guides the way we receive information. Luther says in the Large Catechism, “Let this be your rule, then, that you should not be quick to spread slander and gossip about your neighbors but admonish them privately so that they may improve.  Likewise, do the same when others tell you what this or that person has done.  Instruct them, if they saw the wrongdoing, to go and reprove the individual personally otherwise to hold their tongue.” When people want to tell you gossip – bad information about your neighbor – as them whether they have spoken to that individual. If the answer is no, tell them to shut up.

            We do this because the Eighth Commandment leads us to defend our neighbor, speak well of our neighbor, and to explain everything in the kindest way.  Our goal must be to protect our neighbor’s reputation and speak well of our neighbor in every way we can.  We don’t lie in order to do this. Instead we share only what is true that helps our neighbor. We seek opportunities to build up our neighbor’s reputation by saying what is good about them.

            And when we hear things about our neighbor, or learn information, we explain everything in the kindest way.  We put the best possible construction on things. We assume the most benign explanation until facts clearly prove this wrong. And even then, this is not something we share with others.  Instead, where possible, we speak privately to our neighbor about it.

            Most likely, we don’t struggle all that often with the overt act of stealing. But there are certainly times we get things in a dishonest way.  We do not always work in the way we should.  And there are many occasions when we ignore the opportunity to help our neighbor improve and protect what they have.

            And when it comes to the Eighth Commandment we find that we sin all the time in this way. What James wrote is true of us: “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”  We slander our neighbors and gossip about them.. We hurt our neighbor’s reputation under the cover of claiming that we are only saying what is true.  We believe the worst about our neighbor, and don’t seek to defend him or her.

            During Lent we prepare to remember that because we do this, Jesus Christ the Son of God, allowed false witness to be spoken against him.  We heard about it in last week’s reading from the Passion of Our Lord according to St. Mark.  Mark tells us, “For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.” In the face of these charges, Jesus remained silent.  He did because his purpose and mission was to die on the cross. After predicting his death for the third time in the Gospel, he then went on to say, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

            Jesus came in order to accept the worst deal that has ever been made – one which completely benefitted us and cost him everything.  Martin Luther called it “the great exchange.”  Jesus received our sin and God’s judgment against it on the cross.  We received Jesus’ righteousness so that now we are the forgiven children of God.

            Jesus willingly submitted to this in obedience to the Father.  But then on Easter, God vindicated Jesus as the Christ by raising him from the dead.  He demonstrated that our Lord had carried out the great exchange in order to redeem us from sin, and that by his resurrection he had defeated death. Now we live in the confidence that through faith and baptism we are saints in God’s eyes, and that we will also be raised from the dead when Christ returns in glory.

            This means that we are forgiven for the ways we fail as we break the Seventh and Eighth Commandments.  Yet it also means that through the work of the Spirit we follow Jesus’ example by seeking the good of others in what we say and do. Because of what Jesus has done for us, we seek to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.  Because Jesus gave everything to help us, we now also look to the interests of others as we provide help and assistance.

           

 

           

                

           

           

 

Commemoration of Patrick, Missionary to Ireland

 

Today we remember and give thanks for Patrick, Missionary to Ireland.  Patrick is one of the best-known of the missionary saints. Born to a Christian family in Britain around the year 389, he was captured as a teenager by raiders, taken to Ireland, and forced to serve as a herdsman. After six years he escaped and found his way to a monastery community in France. Ordained a bishop in 432, he made his way back to Ireland, where he spent the rest of his long life spreading the Gospel and organizing Christian communities. He strongly defended the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in a time when it was not popular to do so. His literary legacy includes his autobiography, Confessio, and several prayers and hymns still used in the church today. Patrick died around the year 466.

Collect of the Day:

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Patrick, whom you called to preach the Gospel to the people of Ireland. Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns you You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent - Laetare - Jn 6:1-15

 

                                                                                    Lent 4

                                                                                    Jn 6:1-15

                                                                                    3/14/21

 

            Recently Amy and I met with the individual who is helping us do some financial planning.  It is our goal to see that college is paid for so that our children will not come out with any student debt. That is, of course, quite a challenge with four children.  Thankfully, our oldest son has been a tremendous help in this because his involvement in the National Guard and future career plans with the Army have great benefits in paying for education. Of course, he has certainly been earning it as he spent two of the previous summers at Ft. Benning, Georgia in basic training and AIT, and then most recently was deployed in the Persian Gulf region for almost a year.  Finding your way at night to a portable toilet in the middle of a sandstorm does not sound like my idea of a good time.

            And of course, further down the road, Amy and I do want to retire.  I hope that does not come as a shock. I love serving as pastor at Good Shepherd, but I am not going to do it forever. There will come a day when I will want to stop doing this and retire. The Lord will place another man to serve in his Office of the Ministry here at Good Shepherd, and Amy and I will actually be free to go away for a whole weekend whenever we want.

            It has been interesting to think about how much money we will need a year to live in retirement.  Life down the road is going to be far less expensive on many fronts. The first thing that came to mind is that with the house paid off, there will no house payment.  The very next thing Amy commented on was, “Can you imagine what our food budget will be like when it is just the two of us?”  Buying food for four children gets expensive.  The return of one large appetite after nine months away has definitely increased the food budget at the Surburg house, and reminded us of this fact.

            The cost of buying food is a central concern in our Gospel lesson for today.  Our Lord raises the question of how he and the disciples are going to feed a crowd of more than five thousand people. The obvious answer is that it’s not possible – it would be just too expensive. Yet then Jesus works a miracle by feeding them with five loaves of bread and two fish.  He works a miracle – a sign.  But the true understanding of the sign can only be received by faith in Jesus who came to give us what matters most.

            Our Gospel lesson begins by saying, “After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.” We learn that a great crowd was following Jesus because they saw the miracles of healing that he was doing. 

            John describes these miracles as “signs,” which is very important for the proper understanding of what this action by Jesus means. After telling about how Jesus turned water in wine at the wedding in Cana John says, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.”  Jesus miracles are signs that reveal his glory and call forth faith in Christ.  But as we will see, this faith can only be faith in the Christ that Jesus has come to be.

            John then adds, “Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.”  This is important background for two reasons. First, it helps to explain the size of the crowd.  There would have been many pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.  And second, it provides information about their attitude and mindset. The Passover celebrated how Yahweh had freed Israel from slavery in Egypt.  With the exception of about one hundred years after the Maccabean revolt, since 587 B.C. Israel had constantly been a conquered and ruled by foreigners: the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and Seleucids. Now the Romans were the conquering power.  The Passover always called to mind the hope that God would again free his people from foreign rule and oppression.

            Jesus saw the large crowd coming toward him and said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”  John tells us that Jesus said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.  Philip looked at the situation and gave the assessment that worked in the way of the world.  He said, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.”  A denarius was a day’s wage. This was a very large amount of money, and yet even this would not really be sufficient.

            Andrew, Simon Peter's brother reported, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish,” but then he immediately added the obvious point, “but what are they for so many?”  Yet Jesus had the people sit down.  We learn that there were about five thousand men, so if we add in the women and children with them, the crowd must have been far larger than that. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. Everyone ate as much as they wanted, and when it was all over their were twelve baskets full of left over bread.

            Jesus had worked an incredible miracle. In fact, this is the only miracle that is reported by all four Gospels. It was certainly a sign, and we learn that when the people had seen it they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”  First century Judaism had a number of different expectations about an end time prophet. What united all of them was that this individual was certainly going to be involved in freeing God’s people and bringing God’s judgment against their enemies.  In the setting of the Passover expectation, what happened next is not surprising. John tells us, “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.”

            The next day people from the crowd tracked down Jesus across the Sea of Galilee in Capernaum. They asked, “Rabbi, when did you come here?" But Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”  Jesus told them that their interest was no longer in the signs.  Their attention was no longer focused on the miracles that were means of revelation about Jesus – something that called people to faith.  Instead, they were thinking with their stomach.  Jesus had given them an easy meal, and they wanted more of that.

            Now before we look down on the people who came to Jesus, we need to be very honest about what we really want from him.  And many times, we aren’t all that different.  Our focus – what we want – is for things to go well. We want to be healthy and happy.  We don’t want any physical issues that limit or hamper life.  We want school or our job to go well. We want our plans for the future to work out – we want to advance and have success.  We want to be comfortable with all those material blessings that we consider to be essential.

            And we want Jesus to give these things to us. That’s what we really want. And we think that is what he should be doing. Now this orientation itself is wrong – it is sinful and breaks the First Commandment.  And then if things don’t go this way, we face the temptation to be frustrated with God, or to doubt God, or to be angry at God.

            Jesus said the people had coming looking for him because they wanted more bread. Then he went on to say, “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Our Lord told them that what really matters is the food that endures to eternal life. This is the food that he the Son of Man would give to them, because he had been sent by the Father.

            Our Lord told them that the work of God is to believe in him, the One God had sent. To this they responded, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Since Jesus had just fed more than five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, their demand for a sign bears witness to their unbelief.

            Jesus told them that “my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  When the people asked for this bread Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

            Our Lord teaches us to recognize what really matters.  What matters is life with God – eternal life.  What matters is the sin that stands in the way of this. Later, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

            Jesus came to give us life with God – real life - life that will last.  The Son of God became flesh in order to give his life amd win life for you.  He came to die as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world – who takes away your sin.  All of the signs in the Gospel of John point towards the cross where God’s love for us is revealed.  During Holy Week Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Then John adds, “He said this to show – literally, “to sign” - by what kind of death he was going to die.”

            But Jesus did not come to bring death.  He came to bring life.  Our Lord said during his ministry, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

            On Easter Jesus rose from the dead, as he began the resurrection life that will be ours.  Because Jesus died and rose from the dead, we already have eternal life now and we will share in his resurrection on the Last Day.  Jesus said to Martha at the tomb of Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 

and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

            God does provide us with daily bread, and many blessings that go far beyond that. But he never promised to make everything healthy and happy.  Instead, he has promised us life, and the peace that is found in that assurance. On the night he was betrayed Jesus told his disciples, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

            In our Gospel lesson we see Jesus work a great sign – a miracle as he feeds more than five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish.  This sign points us to Jesus’ cross and resurrection, by which he has won for us forgiveness and life.  Because of our crucified and risen Lord we have life with God – life that will have no end as we share in Christ’s resurrection. This is what we really need. This is what Jesus has given to us.