“Jesus Performed a Great Miracle and Avoided a Great Desire”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Dear fellow sometimes-confused observers of our Savior’s
paradoxical actions and teachings, grace, mercy, and peace from God the
Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. [Amen.]
“Feed Thy children, God most holy;
Comfort sinners poor and lowly.
As these gifts the body nourish,
May our souls in graces flourish.”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
774:1)
Gospel
Reading..........................................................................................
St. John 6:14-15
14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed
the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15Perceiving then that they
were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew
again to the mountain by himself.
Prologue: Contrasting elements are all around us. In fact, they’re
often so obvious that we don’t even notice them. Take, for instance, the
following contrasting elements: light and darkness, day and night, tall and
short, old and young, male and female, repentant and unrepentant, odd and
even, soft and hard, hot and cold, Christians and pagans, wet and dry, Law
and Gospel, salvation and damnation, and, well, the list could go on
indefinitely.
In today’s Gospel Reading there’s a contrasting element that
directly focuses our attention where it should always be focused, namely, on
Christ our Lord as we observe that …
“Jesus Performed a Great Miracle and Avoided a Great Desire.”
Think back to the Third Sunday in Advent a little more than three
months ago (since Christmas was a mere three months ago [today / yesterday])
when I explained why there was one lone pink Advent candle in the sea of
blue ones. Recall with me that it symbolized a Sunday of joyful praise
amidst the other three Sundays of somber repentant preparation to celebrate
Christ’s incarnate birth giving us a preview of that then-coming
celebration.
Well, this weekend we have a similar situation. [Tomorrow /
Today] is the sort-of middle Sunday in Lent, it being the fourth Sunday in
Lent’s six Sundays. The Introit for it from which we get today’s subtitle
“Laetare” which means “Rejoice” reminds us that joy still exists even in the
midst of our somber penitential preparation for the grand and glorious
festival celebration on Easter Sunday of our Lord’s resurrection from the
dead: “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her;
that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast. I was glad
when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” (Isaiah 66:10a,
11a; Psalm 122:1 ESV)
In addition, today’s Second Reading from Doctor Luke’s historical
account of the development of the early Christian church reported that the
post-resurrection Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
[doctrine] and fellowship [unity], to the breaking of bread [the Lord’s
Supper] and the prayers [worship]. And day by day, attending the temple
together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with
glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the
people.” (Acts 2:42, 46-47 ESV) And as if all that’s not enough, today’s
Old Testament Reading informed us: “Thus says the Lord: ‘In a time of favor
I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep
you and give you as a covenant to the people … .’ Sing for joy, O
heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For
the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his
afflicted.” (Isaiah 49:8a, 13 ESV)
So it is that on this “Laetare Sunday” of rejoicing, it’s a bit
ironic that the Gospel Reading tells us that …
I. A Great Problem Confronted Jesus. (1-7)
1After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which
is the Sea of Tiberias. 2And a large crowd was following him, because they
saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3Jesus went up on the
mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4Now the Passover, the
feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5Lifting 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?” 6He said this to test him, for he
himself knew what he would do. 7Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii
would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.”
Great, or at least seemingly great, problems confront us all the
time. A destructive tornado that disrupts an otherwise peaceful night,
aging health conditions that are robbing me of my foregone youthful vim and
vigor, a world that seems to be going down the immoral tubes, families and
congregations that are troubled by conflict, and worship forms that seem to
elevate personal “feel good” emotions above sanctified solemn forms that
comfort sin-troubled souls with the reassurance of Jesus’ never-ending love
for us are just some of the countless problems that drain away our time,
attention, and energy.
A huge problem that seemed insurmountable to His audience
confronted Jesus. The noise of hunger-mumbling and dissatisfied-grumbling
was most likely growing louder with each passing hour. And as if that wasn’t
bad enough, the small amount of money the disciples could scrape together
from among themselves couldn’t buy enough bread to give the people more than
a few crumbs each … if such an amount of bread was even available. It
seemed to be a hopelessly dismal situation. But the text tells us that
Jesus was using this problem to test Philip since in His divine omniscience
Jesus already “knew what he would do.”
Because life’s problems often stem from and open the door for
Satan’s attacks we pray in The Lord’s Prayer: “And lead us not into
temptation.” Martin Luther explained that petition this way: “God tempts no
one. We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us so that the
devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us
into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although we are
attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and win
the victory.” After all, “tempt” and “temptation” have two meanings in the
Bible: “A. The testing of our faith, which God uses to bring us closer to
Himself. [And,] B. The attempts of our spiritual enemies to lure us away
from God and His ways.” So it is that “We ask our Father in heaven to give
us strength to resist and overcome temptations” with which “The devil, the
world, and our sinful nature try to mislead us into false belief, despair,
and other great sins.” (Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation.
Copyright © 1986, 1991 St. Lois, MO. Pages 195-197.)
What do we hear in God’s Holy Word about all that? Let’s consider
and take to heart the following comforting, faith-strengthening, and
soul-sustaining passages. “Count it all joy … when you meet trials of
various kinds, for … the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”
(James 1:2-3 ESV) “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (St. Mark 14:39 ESV) “Be
sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith …
.” (1 Peter 5:8-9a ESV) And, last but by no means least, this wonderful
warning and reassurance: “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands
take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common
to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your
ability, but” now get this very important divine promise, “with the
temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to
endure it.” (1 Cor 10:12-13 ESV)
You see, in view of all that and more, we realize that the problem
that faced Jesus’ disciples was what we might call “a divine set-up” that
set the stage for when …
II. Jesus Accomplished A Gracious Solution. (8-13)
8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9“There
is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for
so many?” 10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much
grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.
11Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed
them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.
12And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the
leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up
and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left
by those who had eaten.
His disciples were not yet fully aware of and firmly trusting in
the fact that their leader, Jesus, was truly the omnipotent Son of God, the
Messiah prophesied of old, the Savior and Redeemer of sinful mankind. So it
was that they needed ongoing instructional reminders of His true
divine-and-human identity even as we do today. In the face of such, Jesus
gave them simple instructions on this occasion that led to a magnanimous
feeding of over 5,000 people from a meager “five barley loaves and two fish”
that a little boy had brought along for his meal. Now get this, they were
able to eat “as much as they wanted” … no limitations … no restrictions … no
diet constraints. And as if that wasn’t enough, there was an abundance of
leftovers!
You see, this Jesus was the same Person of the Trinity that
participated in the creation of all things including the barley plants on
day three from which the bread was baked and the fish on day five that had
been caught. Because of the divine unity of the Father and the Son as Jesus
testified when He said: “I and the Father are one.” and “the Father is in Me
and I am in the Father.” (St John 10:30 & 38 ESV) He possessed and exercised
the power to miraculously multiply what was barely enough for one young
person’s meal to fully satisfy the hunger of a vast multitude of people.
Their life-problem was solved beyond fullness by Jesus.
That’s what Jesus does for us today as well. Together with the
Father and the Holy Spirit, He solves our life-problems fully, completely,
and beyond! The Father and He provide our “Daily bread [that] includes
everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as
food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a
devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful
rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good
reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.” (Luther’s Small
Catechism with Explanation. Pages 189f.) In light of that a common
mealtime thanksgiving prayer is: “Oh give thanks to the Lord [Yahweh], for
He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!” (Ps 106:1 ESV)
But He even goes far beyond our temporal physical needs and wants
and provides our eternal spiritual necessities as well! Because by nature
we are sinfully depraved and spiritually destitute, we earlier confessed our
sinful and unclean condition … and pleaded for mercy, forgiveness, and
renewal. We then heard God declare to us through Pastor Marks’
at-the-same-time-sinful-and-sanctified voice the most wonderful liberating
absolution-message: “I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of
the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
That blessed gift of forgiveness that results in salvation and
eternal life with Jesus in heaven was won for us by Jesus here on earth. He
did so with His holy life, innocent suffering, and crucifixion death on
Calvary’s rugged cross … and validated it with His majestic resurrection
from the dead. He now reassures us of that merciful and gracious Good News
through reading and hearing His Holy Word, pondering our Baptism, hearing
absolution declared, and dining on Christ’s supernatural body and blood
hidden in the natural elements of unleavened bread and fermented wine, those
being the very elements Jesus used when He instituted that blessed
sacramental meal.
So, as the day rapidly approaches when I’m no longer your
Administrative Pastor and God blesses you with a new Administrative Pastor
(whose identity He already knows) it’s important that we prepare for such by
reconciling any relationships that I have damaged with offensive attitudes,
words, or actions. In order for that to happen I invite and encourage
anyone whom I have offended to inform me of such so I can confess my sin,
receive forgiveness, and we be reconciled. After all, that’s what we
Christians do: we drive that CAR of Confession, Absolution, and
Reconciliation because “God ... has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus
Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, ... God
was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself ... and has committed to us
the word of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:18-19 NASB)
I beg for us to do so in the context of today’s sermon text in
which we heard that …
“Jesus Performed a Great Miracle and Avoided a Great Desire.”
Through the performance of that great miracle and avoidance of a great
desire, Jesus reminded His audience then and us today that He came as our
heavenly King to provide for all our needs of body and soul … NOT to reign
as an earthly monarch. He accomplished for us reconciliation with our
heavenly Father and thereby reconciliation with one another. Let’s now
exercise that reconciliation with one another and anyone else with whom we
are conflicted, contemplating the fact that …
I. A Great Problem Confronted Jesus. (1-7) and gratefully celebrating …
II. The Gracious Solution Accomplished By Jesus. (8-13)
Let’s do so realizing the great benefit from such stated in today’s
Gradual: “Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!”
(Psalm 122:7 ESV) and fervently praying today’s Collect: “Your mercies are
new every morning; and though we deserve only punishment, You receive us as
Your children and provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant that we
may heartily acknowledge Your merciful goodness, give thanks for all Your
benefits, and serve You in willing obedience.”
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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