10 March 2020
Text: Mark 6:35-56
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
St.
Mark shares with us three miracles in one short reading: our Lord’s feeding of
the five thousand, His walking on the water, and His healing of many sick
people. None of these can be explained
by natural means. None of these can be
replicated by magicians or charlatans. And
it is clear that Jesus is demonstrating who He is and what He has come to do.
In
the feeding of the five thousand, our Lord shows His mastery over the elements.
For Him, creation is not a limitation,
but rather creation must bend to His will, for He is the Creator! From galaxies to electrons, all things are
under His command and function according to His divine purpose. It is our own rebellion from the Lord’s
ordering of the universe that has caused all discord in our world – including scarcity
and hunger. Jesus takes mastery over the
forces of chaos, places things in order, and shows His love and mercy of His
fallen creatures by feeding them!
When
the Lord walks on the water to be with His disciples, who were struggling
against the wind, He demonstrates His mastery over the forces of nature: by
walking on the water and by calming the winds by His command. The disciples are still reeling from the last
miracle. Jesus tells them: “Take heart;
it is I. Do not be afraid.” We need not fear even things of nature, for He
is the author of the laws of the universe, and He is merciful to us.
In
Genesaret, people all over the region bring their sick to Jesus. In curing them, He again demonstrates His
mastery over viruses, broken bodies, and other infirmities of the body. Jesus again teaches us that all of our
illnesses and griefs are not as creation was meant to be, and in forgiving sin;
in crushing the head of the serpent, that is, the devil; and in destroying death;
He has come to restore that which is broken: that which we, by our sins, have
destroyed.
And
the Lord knows that His disciples’ hearts are “hardened,” that our faith in Him
is lacking. He has come to demonstrate
who He is by signs, and also to make explicit that His incarnation is a mission
of mercy, and indeed, the ultimate act of love.
Let
us not harden our hearts, dear friends. Let
us look to the Word to inform us about our Lord and Master, who commands the
elements, the weather, and even diseases, who has come to restore the broken
and heal the infirm – and to do so at the cross, and at the empty tomb. Let us indeed heed the Lord’s gracious
invitation to “Take heart…. Do not be afraid.”
Let us rejoice in His salvation, and let us not fear, but believe! Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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