2nd Passiontide
March 15, 2015
John 6: 26 -35
When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off over the sea for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the sea; and they were terrified. But he said to them, "I AM, have no fear" Now when they wanted to take him into the boat, immediately the boat was at the land, at the place where they wanted to go.
The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"
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| Feeding Five Thousand, M. Woloschin |
Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, the truth I say to you: You are seeking me not because you saw signs of spiritual power, but because you ate of the bread and were satisfied.
Do not work for the food that spoils, but create for yourselves the nourishment that leads to imperishable life, which the Son of Man will give you because he is totally permeated by the being of the Father God [upon him the Father has set his seal].
Thereafter they said to him, “What must we do in order to learn to do deeds which endure [that our deeds may work with the working of God]?
Jesus answered, “The working of God is [already in] this: that in your whole being there begins to stir trust in him whom he has sent.”
And they asked further, “What sign of the spirit can you perform in order that we see and therefore come to trust in you? What effect do your deeds have in the present time? Our fathers ate manna in the desert, as it says in scripture: ‘Bread from the heavens he gave them to eat.’”
Jesus said to them, “The truth I say to you, it was not Moses who gave to you bread from the heavens, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from the heavens. The bread from the world of the spirit is he who descends to you from the heavens; he gives himself as the true, unceasing life of the world.”
Then they said, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I AM the bread of life. He who finds the way to me will hunger no more, and he who comes to me in faith and trust will nevermore thirst.
2nd Passiontide
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| Jesus Walks on the Sea, Ivan Aivazovsky |
March 15, 2015
John 6: 26 -35
Today’s gospel reading takes place right after the feeding of the five thousand. The disciples are in a boat, rowing hard in stormy darkness. Christ comes toward them, a shining beacon. “Have no fear,” he says. “I AM.” His earlier feeding of them has awakened in them a capacity to see and distinguish Him elsewhere, when they are at sea in the darkest storm. When they take Him in, they are immediately where they need to be.
In our lives there are of course also times of stormy darkness, where efforts are needed to keep our souls from capsizing. To us too, he says, Have no fear. He has nourished and fed us at the altar. We have taken him in. When we remember this with all the strength of our trust in Him, we take him into our soul-ship with us, and we are where we need to be.
Indeed, to the crowd the next day Christ points out that they have sought him because of spiritual nourishment, because they had eaten of the spiritually strengthened bread and were satisfied. And He urges them, as He urges us, to search for such spiritual nourishment; to search for Christ Himself, who is the Bread that supports the eternal life of our souls. He urges us to recognize Him, He who approaches us always amid the storms of life. We can pray in the spirit of the Lord’s prayer:
Grant what we need each day in bread and insight.*
*Neil Douglas-Klotz, Prayers of the Cosmos: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus
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