Why Look to Jesus? - John 6:22-35

 

John 6:22-35 NIV

²² 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. ²³ Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴ 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.

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

²⁸ Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

³⁰ So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

³² Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Why Look to Jesus?

This passage of Gospel is a transition of dependence on God. How’s that? Jesus has just fed the people with a few loaves of bread and a few fish. Something that on the surface of all is impossible. Jesus didn’t just feed a few people. No, He fed thousands of people with more left over than what they had to begin with.

So, here we have God in Jesus feeding people, in what they believed was a physical feeding. It was a feeding that was needed to sustain physical life. But was it really? Jesus blessed and broke bread and people were satisfied. Many people were satisfied. But how many really looked beyond the physical?

It reminds me, once again, of my catechism teaching from the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. This is a prayer in which Jesus teaches his disciples, and all people how to pray.  Here it is:

The Fourth Petition

Give us this day our daily bread.

Luther’s explanation:

What does this mean?

God indeed gives daily bread to all, even unbelievers, without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that he would help us to recognize this so that we would receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.

What is meant by daily bread?

Daily bread includes everything required to meet our earthly needs, such as food, drink, clothing, home, property, employment, necessities; devout parents, children, and communities; honest and faithful authorities, good government, seasonable weather, peace, health, an orderly society, a good reputation, true friends and neighbors, and the like. (End of Luther’s Explanation)

You see, how Jesus had just met the needs of the crowd of thousands with daily bread? But Jesus has met this need not only in a physical sense as we witness in Luther’s Explanation.

This passage of scripture leads us to see how Jesus feeds us in ways beyond our physical needs. Even in Jesus moving to another location, is difficult to understand physically. We witnessed just this past week how Jesus walked on water to get into the boat with His disciples to cross over and continue in ministry to the crowds of people in need.

In this Gospel lesson for this week, we witness not a physical feeding of bread, but also a spiritual feeding of the “Bread of Life.” What? Yes, this “Bread of Life,” IS Jesus. And this Jesus feeds us salvation.

Jesus real purpose was not just to fill our guts, and heal our illness, but to save souls. Jesus shows us in the Gospel passage that life is more important than physical needs. Jesus shows us the “Bread” that we need for new life.

In this Gospel passage we see how Jesus begins and how we respond in the end. What did Jesus do when he fed the thousands on the other side of the lake?

He gave thanks to God for the food freely given to feed the thousands? Jesus gave thanks! Giving thanks for a celebration of a supper freely given to us all at this Lord’s Supper in front of thousands. This giving thanks and this celebration is the very meaning of Eucharist. OK, big word for most of us. What? Well, that is the same feast we celebrate that Jesus celebrated with his disciples before his suffering, death and resurrection. This is what we today commonly call Communion.  Many churches commune with Jesus in bread and wine, which are also the body and blood of Christ, receiving Jesus’ nourishment into body and into soul as well.

And in this is the bridge of this Gospel reading between the physical and the spiritual needs we all have in God.

Look at the passage. At the beginning… Where did Jesus go? The crowds surely had to ponder this. Only one boat and Jesus didn’t get into that boat. Where did Jesus go and how did He get to the place that they found Him?

Well… Jesus had fed the bodies of the thousands… Now… Jesus feeds the souls.

There’s that transition again….  Body to Soul… Physical to Spiritual.

So, the people are looking for Jesus.

Why do we today look for Jesus?

Do we look for Jesus so that we can get all hyped up? If so, I don’t think that would impress Jesus. Jesus doesn’t need my over-the-top expressions of how great He is.

Do we look for Jesus to sustain us? Come on! Jesus doesn’t need that from me. He already has given me all that I need.

Do we look for Jesus to give us BIG numbers in the church in which we attend? Big deal! Jesus doesn’t care about our attendance, that’s peanuts!

I really think that we may hurt Jesus when we come to Him for material issues or comforts, or our own prosperity even. God didn’t send Jesus into this world for my comfort or your comfort. In my opinion, for what that is worth, I think, Jesus is disappointed by my coming to Him for my selfish material needs.

What difference does all this stuff in my life or your life make?

Why not come to Jesus for something different? Something more to the point. All this material stuff and selfish need ranks low compared to what we really need.

We are a pitiful lot as we press forward for more food, more money, more power, more influence, more this, that, or anything else that may satisfy us for the moment or a moment longer.

Look back at Luther’s Explanation to the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer… Give us this day our daily bread. --- God gives daily bread to ALL --- Even unbelievers!

So, the question is back. Why look to Jesus?

Look to Jesus for much more than daily bread. Look to Jesus for eternal food, eternal bread, and eternal water.

How?

Consider… What are we here for?

We are here to glorify God. To glorify God in Jesus.

How?

Look at what Jesus has done. Think about what God has done through Jesus. Believe that Jesus was the Bread sent by God to give all people everlasting life. Yea! That’s life beyond the physical needs and life in spirit with God in Jesus.

We use the faith God freely gives to us and believe in Jesus’ salvation for ALL people.

That’s why we look for Jesus. We need Jesus to live.

We move from food for the soul to doing God’s work. Receive this “Bread” from heaven, this Jesus, the gift of faith, AND believe!

Look beyond the needs of the body to the needs of the spirit. Manna from heaven fed the Israelites for a moment. Bread feeds us today for a time.

But here and now God gives Himself in flesh, in Jesus, to give us all we ever need, forever and ever.

All of this? Direct gifts from God for body and soul.

Look back at verse 35. Jesus makes it bluntly clear. This transition from God meeting our physical needs to our spiritual needs.

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Did you see that? Jesus said I AM! It’s Jesus that is the Bread, the Manna, sent to us from heaven. Jesus IS the “Bread of Life.” Jesus is the ONE that gives eternal life. You can count on Jesus. So, why not, turn and believe?

Why look to Jesus?

In Jesus we see God’s gift for all the world.

 In Jesus we see God’s grace for all the world.

 In Jesus we see God’s love for all the world.

In Jesus we see God’s salvation for all the world.

In Jesus we see God’s communion with all the world and with each one of us.

In Jesus we receive God’s Bread of Life.

In Jesus we see God’s I AM.

This is the Great Thanksgiving, the Eucharist, the Communion with God in which we take and eat and believe!

Yes, crave nothing else! After all, there’s nothing else to crave that matters anyway.

Lord, in the midst of my selfish grumbling, You feed me Your Bread. You open your hands and give me what I need, when I need it. You feed me Jesus. Jesus is enough for all my needs. Thank You God, that Christ descended to make me and all those who turn to you ONE with you and in communion with one another… today… tomorrow… and forever. --- Amen

As I pondered Communion, this YouTube music video, spoke to me.

Enjoy…

Bread of Life and Cup of Hope

It Gets Personal at Times - Mark 6:45-56 - Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

 

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

 

Mark 6:45-56 NIV

⁴⁵ Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

⁴⁷ Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. ⁴⁸ He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, ⁵⁰ because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, ⁵² for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

⁵³ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. ⁵⁴ As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵ They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

It Gets Personal at Times

It’s been leading up to this, the past few weeks. Things that lay heavily on your mind. Things that just crop up, like the wind. Where did that come from? I can figure out the direction and sometimes the storm that brought this wind, but I really don’t know why it came when it did.

So, in the last few weeks of these “Pointing to Jesus” episodes, I find myself, a simple layman, that loves to study the Word and look to Jesus, right in the midst of this message, that is read above. Not only has Jesus come to rescue imperiled disciples, Jesus has come to rescue me as well. I’ll explain as we go along. And guess what? Jesus rescues you as well, just ponder a little bit about it as we go along here, from your own personal perspective. I feel like God plopped me right in the middle of that boat, along with the disciples in my life at this time.

In this passage, Jesus goes off alone to pray. He dismisses the crowd of people that He had just fed, and he sends off his disciples in a boat to Bethsaida. I like how he “makes” them go. It’s like, Jesus really needs this alone time.

Alone time is important for all disciples and people of God. We need to pause in the hustle and bustle of our day to hear God speaking to us. Prayer is not done in a vacuum though. Jesus uses His mountain time prayers to call out to His Father. I remember hiking, alone to a high place in the Smoky Mountains in the morning to pray. It was a place where the atmosphere is a little thinner, a place where I felt closer to God. It was a place of prayer where I could reach up to God and reach out in prayer. I reach up to pray to God and I reach out to pray to God for those God has set in my life. I kind of feel like Jesus was doing this as well. The scripture doesn’t say this, but I think Jesus does this each day for us, even now.

I’m going to weave in and out of this reflection, my personal experience of late. So, bear with me. Perhaps, a couple of months back, when I go to get my infusion that helps me with Crohn’s disease, they took a blood sample. They always do this prior to giving me the medicine. It takes three hours for the drip to go into my blood stream, and after that another three days for my body to change. The first day after an infusion, I’m tired, the second day, I feel a little like I have a slight touch of the flu, and the third day I start to feel the goodness of the drug. I’ve been doing this for decades now and it keeps my Crohn’s disease under control. This is a good thing, since several years ago, I had an operation that removed some key parts of my intestinal tract. The doctors, the nurses and the medicine, have all been a blessing to me. So, don’t get the idea that I’m looking for sympathy. All of this is a gift from God to me.

Anyway, the blood test caused the Gastroenterologist to be concerned with my low platelet counts. He didn’t think any of this was a result of the medication. So, he ordered a fibro scan of my liver and an ultrasound of my liver, to hopefully rule out any liver concerns. The fibro scan came back with concerning results, of F4 and S4. Basically, F5 and S5 are the top of the scale for fibrosis and fatty liver.

Now, back to prayer. I asked for prayer from some key people in my life. It was kind of like the praying up and the praying out that I just told you about above. I prayed out to God for help, and I asked for prayer from others to reach up to God on my behalf.

Then the Gastroenterologist had me go to have a liver biopsy taken at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. And he wanted me to go to a Christ Hospital Hematologist/Oncologist to have my blood work reviewed.

Well, the liver biopsy was much more than I expected. During the biopsy, which only takes about 20 minutes, they put you in a sedated state. Ok, that was easy. Afterwards I had to be observed and my pain needed to be managed for four hours in the hospital. Once again, I had wonderful gifted care.

To make it simple, the results of all this is that I have a badly damaged liver and blood that needs to be closely monitored for any adverse changes. OK, I have a life that has been aided by surgery and medicine. I’m in a body of decaying flesh after all. I can deal with this.

Please stay with me. I hate all this talk of myself, but in the end, I will, without a doubt “Point to Jesus.”

Back to the scripture passage. The disciples are in the boat, in the middle of the lake, and Jesus is on land. Jesus sees the disciples straining at the oars and begins to walk to them. On water! Jesus’ compassion and love goes beyond the physical limits that we see in this world in which we live.

God’s love is like that.

Job 9:8 NIV

⁸ He (God) alone stretches out the heavens
    and treads on the waves of the sea.

Psalm 77:19 NIV

¹⁹ Your (God’s) path led through the sea,
    your way through the mighty waters,
    though your footprints were not seen.

Isaiah 43:16 NIV

¹⁶ This is what the Lord says—
    he who made a way through the sea,
    a path through the mighty waters,

Face it. God created the water and rules over all water and creation. And God uses the water with His Word to bring salvation to all people. Think of baptism today, it is water with Word that brings us the gift of salvation. Water that God gives to us along with the Word, that God provides, to save us, without our having to do one tiny little thing. Wow!

So, here Jesus sees the disciples, me and you too, straining at the oars, fighting a storm of wind that comes from who knows where. Kind of like I was straining against the initial blood test. I didn’t know where that blood count came from. I didn’t expect that wind to blow my way. I couldn’t predict the low platelet count. Why? Where did this come from? I’m sure you too, as well, have had some wind in life, blow your way that you didn’t know why it entered into your life. Think about it.

Sometimes the winds of life are too much for us. Sometimes we are caught straining at the oars in the wind.

But Jesus knows us. He sees you and me and the disciples struggling at the oars and comes to us. Jesus comes to us, to me, to you, in power. Jesus comes to us even in power over the physics of water and walks right up to us. Jesus comes in the power of his compassion and care, while we are in the midst of our distress and need. Jesus comes to us at our desperate hour, even if it’s the middle of the night.

Jesus reaches out to us in our struggles, with His prayer and His presence. Jesus is sympathetic to our need.  Sometimes struggles are for the good, in our life.

Think back to the past few weeks of these episodes of “Pointing to Jesus.” I have been going over miracles of Jesus. I came to the realization, with the help of some learned people, that miracles are accompanied by faith. Faith given to us from God. Sometimes, I want a miracle to happen without faith. Sometimes I want an issue to, just go away. But I now realize with this passage of scripture, how personal Jesus can get with me, sometimes there is a miracle accompanied by God given faith that is not what I expected. More of this as we go along here.

At this point in the scripture passage above, and my entry into this scene of the Bible, personally; Jesus gets personal. Jesus walks up on the water to the struggling disciples at the oar, and to my, and our struggles, with whatever issue in life; and declares, “It is I!”

Yea! The Creator of all things, the Giver of all life, walks up to us on the water and tells us, “It is I.” I like to think that Jesus walks up and says I AM. Kind of like when God spoke to Moses about who He was. God is I AM. The One and Only God.

And when we hear this “It is I.” When we hear this in the faith God gives to us; fear is driven out. The wind is no longer a problem to strain against. The blood count becomes smaller, the used-up liver is not such a big deal anymore. Whatever your problem in life may be; when you realize that Jesus is with you and He declares, “It is I.” All your problems, although still present, melt into a puddle of nothing. Fear subsides. Why? Because now, with Jesus, you’re living with an irrational hope. A hope beyond all hope, that doesn’t make a bit of sense in this world, but makes all sense in the world in which we live with Jesus.

And next? And next, Jesus gets into the boat with the disciples, with you, and with me. And what happens? The wind calms down. The fear, the worry about tests results and next steps, fades into the background of life. In a wonderful way the prayers of friends and the prayers of my own have been answered. A miracle has just occurred in my very own life that I can hold onto and grasp. Through the faith God gives, along with the mighty powerful presence of Jesus in my boat, a miracle happens.

You see, Jesus uses us weak, fearful beings in his ministry of salvation.

So, what was the result of all this prayer? My prayer and the prayer of those I reach out to? We all spent time alone with God, reaching up and reaching out. I especially spent time alone while I was on my “windy sea of life.” And the result? Jesus comes! Jesus comes on the stormy waters of my life and steps into the boat in which I am in. And…

Think about this for your own storms in your own life as well; Jesus communes with us. This is a communion with God on the stormy seas in the winds of life. The results of our life here on this earth may still be death, but that’s not the end. We are with God.

And then, look at what happens next in the passage.

The boat comes to shore and there is yet another call for the disciples and for Jesus. Ministry continues in love for all the people in the midst of their own life struggles.  Beyond the troubles of our own life, we bring the people to Jesus.  As the people touch the fringe or tassels of Jesus cloak, there is healing, grace, love, compassion, and salvation.

Now, there is some awesome, “Pointing to Jesus!”

God’s steadfast love endures in creation. Yes, in the rainbow, God gives an eternal bond between Him and His creation. For now, we know, as Jesus walked upon the water and stepped into our boat of fear, that the love of Christ surpasses all knowledge and understanding, today…. tomorrow… and forever! Thanks be to God as we “Point to Jesus,” upon the water and in the boat! What a miracle!

Pause and enjoy this YouTube music by Chris Tomlin --- Nobody Loves Me Like You

Nobody Loves Me Like You

But Wait! There's More! - Mark 6:30-44 - Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Mark 6:30-44 NIV

³⁰ The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. ³¹ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

³² So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. ³³ But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

³⁵ By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. ³⁶ Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷ But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

³⁸ “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

³⁹ Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² They all ate and were satisfied, ⁴³ and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴ The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

But Wait! There’s More!

Wow! All I can say, which is way too little, is, wow! This passage of scripture and my studies this past week, go way beyond anything I ever expected. This passage gave me a personal message of comfort and relief to continue on in this world. I know now, without a doubt that Jesus is with me through it all. So, here goes. May this message Point To Jesus!

A couple of weeks back, we read in the book of Mark how Jesus sent out His disciples in pairs to teach repentance, to forgive, to heal and to be with the people. And they did just this, coming back tired. Here, Jesus gives his disciples rest.

As you read and hear the Word above; we discover nourishment and teaching. We witness compassion of God in and through Jesus. God is abundant, for sure, as we witness the reading and hearing of this passage of Mark.

God has always been abundant. Look back to Jeremiah 23:1-6. You can read for yourself. In this passage we find the Israelites out of exile. We can look to our own life journey, in the wilderness of life, and ask, “What now, am I to do, as I struggle?” Well, look to the righteous Branch. Look to Jesus. He has always been with you. Follow, listen and serve Jesus in life. As we struggle at the “oars” of life, fighting the stormy seas, Jesus walks to us and gets into the boat with us and calms the storms of illness, death, addiction, poverty, hunger, and on and on. Yes, God feeds His people and loves and cares for them and all of us.

In Exodus 16:14-35, we witness how God took care of the need of hunger. He fed the Israelites, in the wilderness, manna, or bread from heaven. God gave the people just what they needed in the amounts they needed. Yes, God loved them and fed them all they needed.

In the desert of our own wilderness, God feeds us all that we need.

This same love of God is remembered in the book of Nehemiah…

Nehemiah 9:15 NIV

¹⁵ In their (The Israelites in the wilderness) hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.

Jesus wants us and His disciples to take time to rest in a desert or lonely place. Jesus, like the 23^rd Psalm teaches us… “He makes me lie down.” See that? Makes me! God doesn’t just request this but makes us. And I think this is at least daily.

Just yesterday, as I visited the Columbus Zoo with my wife Sue and grandchildren Kaiya and Bubs, we saw this rest taking place with the animal kingdom. Lions, tigers, bears and many of the creatures, were taking rest. In the heat of the day, they took rest. God gives His creation rest when needed. I believe this is one of those gifts given to us from God. And if we don’t take that rest, God will make us lie down.

As we rest in this desert place, this lonely place, that God gives us; we come to see ourselves and we see God. So, rest! Take time each day to draw near to God. For you have been brought near to God by a great price. What price? You have been brought near to God by the blood of Jesus. And in and through the blood of Jesus, we need not fear the evils of this world, the sin, the death, the illness, the addiction, and on and on. Why? Because God IS with you. God IS with you in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. No doubt about it. Rest, reflect, open the Word, pray and be near in rest. Not because you have to encounter God, but rather because God MAKES you! God makes you; this isn’t about your efforts or you being a goody goody, this is about God taking care of You!

Let’s move along in this reading. So, a crowd tracks Jesus and the disciples down. A crown invades this quiet time. How does Jesus respond to this break in His schedule?

Jesus is compassionate with the crowd. I would have been irritated that this selfish crowd destroyed MY time alone with Jesus!

But Jesus didn’t have my selfish vision of the people, as I would have had with my eyes and heart of irritation. Rather Jesus was concerned with the needs of the crowd. Beyond Jesus’ own need for rest; Jesus sees into the heart of the people. WOW! Think of that! Jesus, our Lord, our Savior, our King… yes, THE King, looks beyond His own need to the needs of others.

God in Jesus IS compassionate.

But the response of myself and the disciples is something far different.

The disciples, and my guilty self, say, as I paraphrase, “Send them away!” “Let them take care of themselves.”

But NO! Jesus tells us to meet the needs of the crowd. How? Through Faith the need is met. Through this same Faith that Jesus gives to all people.

But, come on, Jesus! I don’t want these people to take my stuff? Let them feed themselves! Let them earn what I had to earn on my own! Send them away!

But Jesus tells us NO! This crowd, these needy people, are YOUR responsibility!

YOU give them something to eat!

What are your resources?

Forget about what is impossible, and move along with what you have.

Seek what IS possible with 5 loaves and 2 fish.

And then, give all of your resources to Jesus!

You see, the need of hunger is met when we let God take care of the resources. And that goes beyond hunger, to the many needs we encounter in our walk in this wilderness of life… perhaps illness, addiction, death, temptations, greed, selfishness…

And here we go back again. Not only with Jesus and His disciples, but also with this hungry crowd. The crowd is to lay down in green pastures. Kind of like Psalm 23 again. Be fed by Jesus.

Let’s view this “green” in a new and different way than we think of “green” today. In this “green” we think of Passover, the spring of new life. Yes! Think of Easter!

This very thing was predicted years earlier and continues on today.

Ezekiel 34:15-16 NIV

¹⁵ I  myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶ I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

That’s Jesus! In this passage and today and forever!

And then it happens once again, just like we have witnessed in the last few weeks of Jesus actions with the people.

Faith accompanies the miracle of God in and through Jesus.

And this and this alone, is all we need. It’s way more that we need to give life to the crowd and to all those God gives to us each and every day.

Jesus takes what we give to Him and makes a miracle out of it, feeding all the people. It was never about our doing, or our generosity. It was always about what Jesus does for us, the crowd and the world.

Look at it!

We handed Jesus a cross. What did Jesus give back? Jesus handed back to us, from the cross, forgiveness, salvation and everlasting life.

When we give to Jesus all of our resources, Jesus makes way more! It’s not about our giving that makes this happen. No! It’s about what Jesus gives through faith. And to this, what can we say? Thanks be to God!

And now, Jesus, looking up to heaven, as in a table prayer of thanksgiving, blesses and breaks the bread. Why? This is a feeding of a New People… Forever!

Feeding more than a measly few thousand people, with a little bit of food; Jesus gives life and sustains us all for daily living. Jesus gives us not only food, he gives us all the faith we need to believe in Him and God, now and forever.

And… more was left over than what they began with. This is a Divine bounty.

In the midst of our wildernesses of life; whatever they may be, and in whatever shape you encounter your own hunger, Jesus is with you. Jesus feeds you and gives you all the faith you need to believe in Him.

With all those leftovers of compassion, love, service and giving and faith. Believe and GO! Go out in faith to love and serve and have compassion on all those God gives to you each and every day. And God will take all of this and make a miracle for all the world… today… tomorrow… and forever! You can believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… always. --- Amen

Please enjoy with me this YouTube song... God bless you this week and always!

I Lift My Hands