11 March 2018
Text: John 6:1-15
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
“Man
does not live by bread alone, but … by every word that comes from the mouth of
the Lord,” says Moses when he preached about Manna to the children of Israel.
And thus says our Lord Jesus when He preached about stones to the devil.
And
the children of Israel were certainly vexed by the devil as their flesh got the
best of them in the desert. Their growling bellies made them irrationally yearn
for their former bitter days of slavery, forgetting the signs and wonders given
them by the Lord’s prophet Moses.
The
Lord heard their pleas, and literally rained bread from heaven upon them. Even
in their unbelief, He reminded them to believe. Even as they complained against
His prophet, the Lord commanded His servants Moses and Aaron to oversee the
feeding of the Lord’s people.
Every
year, at Passover, the children of Israel would call to mind their escape from
Egypt under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. This memorial took the form of a
meal, a meal in which the sacrificial lamb’s blood brought about the passing
over of the angel of death. A meal in which blessed bread and blessed wine were
consumed.
And
it is as Passover approaches that our Lord took bread, “And when He had given
thanks,” broke it, gave it to His disciples, and invited the five thousand to
sit on the grassy hillside and eat with Him. This miracle was a kind of a
memorial of Passover, though the people did not realize that the Passover Lamb
Himself stood in their presence, that the One who is the Word of God, the very
One through whom all things were made, the One who sustains us not only by
bread, but by His every Word – was Himself distributing miraculous bread
through His ministers, bread that combines with the Word of God to nourish,
strengthen, and give life.
Like
the Manna and like the Passover, this feeding of the multitudes was a great
sign of something better to come, a foretaste of the real feast. That later
Passover feast would be the day before the Passover Lamb to end all Passover
lambs would be sacrificed, that He would once more take bread, give thanks,
break it, and give it to the disciples saying: “Take, eat,” giving His flesh
for the life of the world. He would also give them the cup of the New
Testament, saying: “Take, drink,” giving His blood for the forgiveness of sins.
It
is through this miracle, the feeding of the five thousand, that our Lord would
proclaim Himself to be the bread of life. And it would be through this
proclamation that the Lord would explain that in eating the bread of life, we
are eating His flesh – given for the life of the world. Indeed, unless we eat
His flesh and drink His blood, we have no life in us.
Our
Lord, in His mercy, doesn’t only feed the five thousand because they were
hungry, but also because we are hungry – not merely for earthly food, but for
supernatural food. For we live not by bread alone. The Word of God that
creates, also forgives, also re-creates, also makes new, also gives eternal
life.
And
just as not everyone in the days of Moses would receive this blessing, refusing
to heed the words of the Lord’s prophet, seeking to hoard, acting without faith
in the Lord’s providence, so too we see such rebellion in the days of our
Lord’s earthly sojourn. For after using the feeding of the five thousand as a
lesson of the Eucharist to come, one third of our Lord’s followers would
abandon Him, refusing to accept and trust in His Word that we are to eat His
flesh and drink His blood unto eternal life.
And
we see a similar lack of faith in these last days. Many of our brethren in the
Christian Church refuse to believe our Lord’s clear words that “this is my
body” and “this is my blood.” Many in our own communion believe these words,
but attach greater importance to turning worship into entertainment, measuring
“success” according to numbers. And even if we confess the Lord’s presence in
the sacrament, and even if we profess it to be of the highest importance, and
even if we strive to do so reverently - our lives do not bear out this
confession and profession.
Too
often we ponder things earthly minded instead of the Lamb of God who has taken
away the sin of the world. Too often we find other priorities competing for our
time on those days when the Lord’s ministers are distributing the miraculous
bread of life and the holy blood of the New Testament to starving sinners who
trust in these words: “given and shed for you.” Too often we see the liturgy as
a show of reverence that comes to an end when the final chord of the postlude
sounds, and when we leave the sanctuary and return to our secular vocations.
And far too often, we, like the Israelites in the days of Moses, grouse and
complain, gripe and moan, rant and rave – all in the face of the Lord’s abundant
and boundless mercy.
And
like the multitudes that wanted to make Jesus a king by force, we too depend on
our own means, seeking to take the will of God into our own hands – rather than
humbly submitting to Him and to His will.
How
often do we try to make the Kingdom of God into our own image? What kind of
faith is shown when we think we have all the answers, when we try to impose our
vision of the kingdom of God into others instead of, as Luther said, letting
God be God.
The
Christian life is about submission and surrender, about putting our faith and
trust in Him by whose every Word we live. He will give us this day our daily
bread. He will not let us starve in the wilderness. He will feed us according
to His own means and measure. And look at His measure! None of the children of
Israel lacked food in the form of daily provisions of Manna. And when the True
Son of Israel provided bread for those who came to hear the Word of God, twelve
baskets of this miraculous bread were left over!
Dear
children of God, “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who
love her; that you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her
bosom.”
Let
us receive the Bread of Life Himself. Let us commune with the Word of God, from
whose mouth comes “all that we need to sustain this body and life.” Let us
continue “steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking
of bread, and in prayers.” Let us repent of our complaining and lack of faith.
Let us joyfully receive the good gifts of the Lamb of God, who gives Himself
for us, “for us men and for our salvation,” “for the life of the world.” Let us
continue “daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to
house,” eating our daily bread “with gladness and simplicity of heart.”
And
“let us give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endureth
forever.” Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Amen.
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