Word to the Wise
Friday, April 16, 2021 - 2nd Week of Easter - Fri
[Acts 5:34-42 and John 6:1-15]Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" He said this to test him because he himself knew what he was going to do. [John]
One of the characteristics of the portrait of Jesus in the Gospel According to John is that Jesus does not react to situations as much as he directs them. He is in charge from the beginning "because he himself knew what he was going to do." The scene begins on a mountain with Jesus seated - a sign of authority. (cf. a similar detail at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel According to Matthew.) Jesus then asks a rhetorical question which the disciples misunderstand (again, a Johannine characteristic) and take literally. When Jesus takes the bread and blesses it, it is HE who distributes it, not the disciples, as in the other three gospel accounts. In short, Jesus is in charge and manages the scene. This scene will serve as the introduction to the "Bread of Life" discourse, which will be the focus of the gospel scriptures next week.
The power of the Gospel According to John, at least in my humble estimation, lies in its dramatic presentation of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. From the Prologue to the "Appendix (Chap. 21), Jesus is presented as the one whom God has sent and he is acting in accord with his relationship to his Father. The "encounters" can draw us in and challenge us to look at our own reactions. What "discourse" could we write as a result of our own encounter with Jesus? How is this impacted by the other gospel portraits or the portraits of faith in the New or Old Testament? At least in the Gospel According to John, we can be in the position of the temple guards who could only say, "Never before has anyone spoken like this man." AMEN