July 28, 2024 at St Peter the Apostle in Naples, FL
2 Kings 4: 42-44 + Psalm 145 + Ephesians 4: 1-6 + John 6: 1-15
Every time we pick up any of the four Gospels, we must remember that the Gospels are Theology. They are not history. So, this weekend we begin a series of readings from the Sixth Chapter of John’s Gospel, and we will stay with it until September. For six weeks we are being called to dig deep into John’s theology on the Bread of Life. And so, it begins with a story about food and an incident reported in all four Gospels. In fact, it is so important that Mark and Matthew write about this twice.
John’s Gospel has no miracles. He never uses the word. His Gospel is arranged around a series of signs each of which responds to a human need. Miracle stories are provided as acts that show the of power of Jesus, a power that establishes the kingdom of God against Satan’s power. This action we have today is not about power. It is a sign given to teach us something about Jesus and about the community or the church he is forming through his ministry.
There is concern here about a human need, hunger. There is a sense of hospitality as he has them sit down in the grass, not in the dirt or on the rocks, but in a soft, cool, and comfortable place. The memory of a Shepherd who leads his flock to green pastures is called to mind as well as the memory of Israel being fed in the desert. It all points to the future and the hospitality of the Kingdom to come suggesting that God will treat us as honored guests at the banquet of eternal life.
In John’s Gospel, it is Jesus who raises the question about how the people are to be fed not the disciples. There is no doubt in his mind that they must be fed. The concern is where it will come from. With that, a little mini-hero of the story emerges, a small boy with no name. He has what is needed. It may not look like much, but in the hands of Jesus Christ it becomes way more than enough. With that the theology unfolds both by word and by deed. The words are unmistakable: he takes, he gives thanks, breaks, and distributes. It is a eucharistic message, a eucharistic sign, and in John’s Gospel, it is Jesus who feeds. He does not have someone else do it. Jesus Christ is the one who feeds us, and as the Gospel continues, he will soon declare himself to be the food, “I Am the Bread of Life.”
We should go home today with some thought about that little boy because that detail draws us into this mystery. Like him, what we have to offer may not ever seem like much and hardly enough in the face of this world’s needs. On the human side of things, it is impossible. On the divine side of things, there is no limit to what God can do with what we have. In fact, it is really beyond our imagination.
There is hunger in this world, and God still wants to satisfy human needs. There is hostility everywhere that spoils hospitality as though the Kingdom of God were for the privileged. The theology of this Gospel says otherwise. The hungry and the homeless will be treated with respect and welcomed with a kind of hospitality we should expect in the Kingdom of God. Those who have followed Jesus gather up the fragments left over for one reason, to continue the work of Jesus as a sign that the Kingdom of God has come and we are welcome to live in it if we take up the work of Jesus seeing and responding to people’s needs with gentle, sincere, loving hospitality in our church in our country, and in our hearts. This is when we shall know the Kingdom of God is at hand. John wants us to know that, and he gives us the signs.