On Line Bible Study - For the Week March 26-April 1, 2012

Lesson 529

John 6:1-14

We will think about three words as they relate to John's telling of the feeding of the five thousand: Gratitude: Giving: Gathering.

These are three qualities that relate to our celebration of The Lord's Supper, or The Eucharist, or Holy Communion.

Gratitude: When Jesus is with his disciples at the 'Last Supper', he 'gives thanks' over the cup in Matthew, Mark and Luke. He offers thanks over the bread only in Luke.

When the crowd is with Jesus and he feeds them, he first takes the bread and fish and 'gives thanks'. Each of the gospels records this moment of 'thanksgiving'.

Gratitude is a hallmark of Christian gathering around the table, whether with family and neighbors in a social setting, or around the altar in a liturgical setting. First, we give thanks.

Giving: One of the interesting differences in the story of the feeding of the five thousand, as mentioned in the previous study, is the fact that Matthew and Mark both speak of 'compassion' as one of the motivators for Jesus to feed the crowd. This emotion is missing in Luke and John when they tell the story. Do we give out of compassion, or out of necessity - because it is the right thing to do?

Only in John's telling of this miracle story do we read that Jesus himself 'gives' - or distributes - the food to the people. In the renderings of the 'Last Supper', it is Jesus who gives the bread and cup to his disciples. John keeps this eucharistic imagery in his telling of the feeding of the crowd. Perhaps this symbolizes the fact that Jesus offers himself - it is he himself that does the 'giving'. The Eucharistic invitation is for us to receive; it is also for us to give.

Gathering: All four gospels record that twelve baskets of leftovers were collected. One of the strong eucharistic themes in the writings of the early church has to do with 'gathering the Church up from the four corners of the of the earth into your [God's] kingdom. What is scattered will be collected and accounted for. The feeding of the multitude has this imagery of a God who gathers together, who bring us in. Our Communion Table must be open, it seems to me, for in some sense, we are all waiting to be 'gathered' to God and brought into fellowship.

These simple, common acts - of Gratitude, Giving, and Gathering - are at the center of John's account of this miracle. It is a 'sign' - a script, if you will - telling us what God is about.

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On Line Bible Study - For the Week March 19-25, 2012

Lesson 528

John 6: ¹ Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), ² and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. ³ Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. ⁴ The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

⁵ When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

We are looking at one of the stories - and the only miracle from Jesus' public ministry - that is contained in all four gospels. You can read the entire story by clicking on the above text. We will consider two aspects of this story.

First, there are eucharistic components - Jesus "takes", "gives thanks" (eucharistein), and "gives". There are ancient drawings on Christian catacombs depicting the feeding of the multitude as a symbol of The Lord's Supper. An interesting detail has to do with the loaves of barley. Bread made of barley was the food of the poorer class of people. Jesus makes use of what is available to do the mighty work of God.

Second, in John's telling of the story there is a mention of Jesus potentially being carried off and made a king. He resists this action. This is reminiscent of the text in John 2: 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. ²⁵ He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person. Jesus does not trust the human impulse to catapult him into a position of political power or influence.

Unlike in Matthew 15:32 where we read that Jesus had compassion on the crowds, the story in John makes no mention of compassion. Rather, the emphasis is on this story as being a "sign" Jesus performed - a sign that suggested to some of the people that Jesus was "the Prophet who is to come into the world." Perhaps the text harkens back to II Kings 4:38-44. The prophet Elisha takes 20 loaves of barley bread and feeds 100 men, collecting the leftovers. Does the evangelist intentionally make this connection?

This story in John is layered with complexity. It's placement in the gospel itself, and the various parts of the story that are specific to John raise a number of questions that are beyond the scope of our study. We will have the opportunity to explore the story a bit further in our next lesson.

On Line Bible Study - For the Week March 12-18, 2012

Lesson 527

John 5: ³¹ “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. ³² There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true.

We will focus on John 5:31-47. The complete text is available by clicking on the verse above.

There are two things I'd like to consider. First, the more 'nuts and bolts' question with regard to the "testimony" concerning Jesus. We know from Deuteronomy 19:15 that there must be at least two witnesses before a person can be convicted of a crime. But in this case, the witnesses are called upon not to convict of a crime, but to confirm a testimony. Father Raymond Brown points to four witnesses offered by Jesus.

First, there is the witness of John the Baptist:

John 5: ³³ “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. ³⁴ Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. ³⁵ John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

For a time John was very popular, a prophet "whose light [they] chose for a time to enjoy."

Then, there is the testimony of Jesus' miracles - what he calls his "works":

John 5: ³⁶ “ ... the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me."

Implied in this second witness is a third witness - the witness God:

John 5: ³⁷ And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.

A fourth witness is the Scriptures:

John 5: ³⁹ You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me.

This appeal to the Scripture is an appeal to the very heart of the tradition the people held dear. Would these "witnesses" be sufficient to confirm the mission and ministry of Jesus?

The second thing to consider from this passage has to do with the nature of belief itself. What is it that inspires you to believe something or someone? What does it take to confirm your suspicions about someone? Jesus appeals three things - to reason, to Scripture, and to experience. People can read about him as foretold by Moses; they can reason from the Scriptures about him; and they are experiencing his "works".

I am reminded of the text in Mark 9:24 - "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

What will it take for you?

On Line Bible Study - For the Week March 5-11, 2012

Lesson 526

John 5: ¹⁶ So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. ¹⁷ In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” ¹⁸ For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

The text under consideration for this lesson is John 5:16-30. (Click on the link for the entire text.)

Recalling the healing that took place at the beginning of chapter 5, we head into a Father Raymond Brown calls "one of the most exalted discourses" in the Gospel of John. We are going to consider two things.

First, Jesus claims to be acting on the authority of God. In Verse 19 Jesus may be referring back to something Moses said in Numbers 16:28. In the text from Numbers Moses has to defend his commands and actions by indicating that he was acting under the direction of God. In that story, a divine manifestation of power undergirds Moses word. It may be that Jesus is calling up that story when he says to the religious leaders:

“Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

This gets to the question: Who said you were boss? Or ... What gives you the right? Jesus is operating, according to John, out of the same line of authority as Israel's great prophet, Moses.

There is a second way - perhaps less obvious - in which the evangelist is making a case for both the authority and the divinity of Christ. Consider Verse 17 above. Does God truly rest on the Sabbath? The Rabbis had discussed and debated this question and had come to the conclusion that, given the fact that people were born and died (and thus, judgment was needed as they passed from this life to the next), and the natural world continued to function (suggesting that God's love and power were still in operation, for had God truly 'rested', everything would have stopped), God must be at work on the Sabbath.

By making this statement, Jesus is aligning himself with God. In other words, by virtue of the fact that Jesus was working, this indicates his divinity - only God works on the Sabbath.

It may be subtle to our ears. It was like the roar of a freight train to the ears of First Century Jewish leaders. It is left for us to decide what we are going to believe.