Pastor’s Corner – July 28, 2024
For the past few Sundays, we’ve witnessed Jesus and his disciples going from village after village, engaging in healing ministry. The crowd that followed him grew, and the news about him continued to spread widely. This Sunday we witness Jesus feeding five thousand people (not counting women and children in the scripture, which means many times more.) Jesus saw the crowd and wanted to feed them. So he turned to Philip and asked, “Where are we to buy bread to feed them? Philip’s answer was basically it’s too much, we can’t afford it. Then Andrew brought with him a boy with two fish and five loaves of bread. And we know the rest of the story.
This popular story is in all the gospels, with slightly different versions. But I like John’s version. Because of the narrative flow and the context in which the story is placed, this was a sign that Jesus was the messiah – the one they’ve been waiting for as the prophet of old. Moreover, the story ends with the crowd wanting to make Jesus their King by force. They witnessed the healing ministry of Jesus and when they were hungry they were fed. If you think about life expectancy at the time – around thirty, no middle class, mostly peasants on the verge of starvation and living in abject poverty – having their full meal with leftovers is more than enough to want to make Jesus a King. But Jesus withdrew to the mountain. He will have no part in the power of the world. The feast of Passover was near where he would have his last supper with his disciples.
I suspect that Jesus knew his mission was coming to an end, his journey to Jesusalem and what awaited him. The disciples will learn that the power of Jesus’ mission is not to dominate and beat down others for greater power, like the empire builders then and today, or to gain power whether through political or popular personality cult. The most important aspect of his mission was to lift up the forgotten, feed the hungry, heal the sick and bring human dignity. I suggest our gospel lesson be a commentary to our nation’s power struggle and those who would do anything for power. Jesus’ example was to wash his disciples feet, and to teach them not to be afraid, but serve one another as he has served.
Pastor Dae