Wilderness Food

Perhaps it could be the brush strokes, or the particular pigments used, or the relative sizes of the canvases, or how the artist signed his name, or whatever...

A few years ago, I was privileged to be able to visit the Prado, the great museum in Madrid.

They had gathered from various collections all over Europe a series of works by Rembrandt.

It was a massive crowd of persons who came to view the display.

Because of that, one could not get close to many of the paintings.

But even standing back and looking from one to another around the room, I was struck by how Rembrandt had captured and focused light in all of the paintings, no matter what sort of subject.

The inner illumination was spectacular, and something that prints of the paintings in books do not fully convey.

In the teaching scene from today's Gospel, is the crowd so busy with the details that they miss the overall theme of what is happening?

Jesus' admonitions in the initial verses in this lesson about the true bread from heaven seem to be saying that the folks in the crowd are so busy grabbing the bread and fish that they miss the sign-value of the meal, that which shines through the teaching and the actions.

I've long thought that the RSV and other translations have done us a grave disservice with the rendering of Luke 9:31, in the transfiguration scene, where the evangelist says that ...Moses and Elijah appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem.

The word is exodus, and how much clearer it would have been to leave that word alone and not change it into departure.

The use of the untranslated word exodus would immediately bring up for us associations with the time that our ancestors in faith were brought out of Egypt, and were sustained with manna and that which they needed for survival in the wilderness.

Oh! That is what Jesus is doing with the crowd.

He is not out for a country stroll and rustling up a little snack.

He is with this crowd in another kind of barren place, the wilderness of sin and separation from God, and he is intending to offer them the wilderness-food which they truly need, the manna which perdures forever.

It brings back to mind the other things that happened in the wilderness:

--It was the place of covenant-giving, headed with the promise I am the Lord your God.

--It was the place of testing and falling away, and also the place of healing.

--It was the place where the people recognized more than elsewhere that their existence depends on the Lord God.

He is the source of food and drink, of guidance and instruction, of mercy and forgiveness.

Yes, let's remember all of that, and recognize that Jesus is leading his people through that again, and this time with success.

It is about the persistence of God who is determined to have his way with us.

Our hard-headedness and hard-heartedness get in the way.

--Jesus has just given them a sign in the wilderness feeding, and they ask for a sign.

--He has given them a sign in the healings done in the name of God, and they ask “Who is this?”

--He continues to teach, in ways beyond the other teachers they have known, and they say “What is this, a new wisdom?”

From the gospel of Mark we get the idea of the Messianic Secret, that people should not talk about the nature of Jesus because they cannot understand him until they encounter Jesus' cross and resurrection.

Before that, Jesus can be regarded as merely a captivating speaker and wonder-worker.

But the gospel of John presents the matter just a bit differently.

Jesus speaks openly in the gospel of John, saying who he is and what he is about, but the hearts and minds of his auditors are shuttered and they do not understand.

It is the gift of faith that makes it possible to see what is in plain sight and hear what has been truly said.

In chapter 1 Jesus had announced that the focus of all creation is upon himself.

Instead of a building, or the foundation stone from Jacob's dream, the community envisioned by God is established on and from the person of Jesus.

In chapter 3 Jesus taught that mere genetics is not an automatic ticket to the kingdom of God.

The covenant given by water and word through the action of the Spirit in Holy Baptism is the crucial thing.

Now in chapter 6, Jesus redirects the enthusiasm of the people.

They were anxious to make him a king over their little corner of the Middle East but Jesus is already king of the universe!

In the feeding of the 5,000 he announces that this new age is now breaking in with himself as the manna.

Some turn away from Jesus, while others ponder and wonder.

It is still the same wonder and challenge today.

There are many who scoff now as there always have been.

“This is a hard teaching” they exclaim, ”how could we believe that?”

And the “that” list grows and grows: the signs, the teaching, the claim of who he is, the way of the cross as the story of salvation, just for starters....

There is plenty of ammunition for scoffers all through the gospels.

But by the end of this chapter 6 of John, Peter gives the right analysis of it all.

He says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

All of the other alternatives may be tempting for awhile, but they all end in death, oblivion.

The old spiritual has it right:

Oh, when I come to die, You may have the world, Give me Jesus.

Where else can we go? What else can we do?

And we realize that there is no other food which endures.

In this wilderness of sin and death, there is food only here, offered freely through the gift of faith.

Our task is clear: it is one beggar telling another where to find food.

Let all who know this is Good News say Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.