Matthew 16:1-12 and Mark 8:11-26

In discussing the feeding of the 4,000 in the area of the Decapolis I had wondered yesterday who might those people be who came from “far away”. We learn this morning that some in this “far away” crowd were Pharisees and Sadducees: And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Him they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. (Matthew 16:1) Here they are, on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, far from both Jerusalem and any cities in Galilee, and they continue to follow Jesus. But their interest is only in testing Him, not listening to what He says.

The last item in today’s Mark reading has Jesus using His spit to cure a man’s blindness (Mark 8:23). It’s easy to gloss over the fact that this is the second time in two chapters where Jesus used His spit as a curative (see Mark 7:33). There is one other occurrence of Jesus using His spit, again curing a blind man in John 9. I don’t know what to make of it, but if you are interested in this topic online commentators have a lot to say.

See also: June 3 / Matthew 16:1-12; June 4 / Mark 8:11-26

Matthew 15:32-39 and Mark 8:1-10

Jesus speaking: …and some of them have come from far away. (Mark 8:3b) According to both Matthew and Mark (if they were writing chronologically) Jesus and His disciples are on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. So I wonder about those who … have come from far away. I first thought of Galilean Jews who would have had to walk the perimeter of the Sea or sailed across the Sea to get to Jesus. They would have “come from far away”. But I also imagine Gentiles from other cities and villages in the region of the Decapolis. They might have lived closer than the Galilean Jews, but still would have “come from far away”. But I wondered at their coming at all. The Galilean Jews had a reason to follow Jesus, having seen all that He had done and possibly seeking more healing or more teaching.

But Gentiles…? What’s the point? Another “magician”…? Another “sorcerer”…? Another “scheister”…? Or none of these…? Gentiles genuinely seeking this Man who was accomplishing great things…? I would like to believe this last item, especially today, that people would come to Jesus from “far away”. And “far” not necessarily in miles, but possibly in heart. Far from God because they had wandered so far away. People who grew up with the truth, then sought after other gods? Our friends? Our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, nephews and nieces…??!! Jesus knows that some of these could “come from far away”. He would like our help in bringing them closer.

See also: June 1 / Matt. 15:32-39; June 2 / Mark 8:1-10

Matthew 15:21-31 and Mark 7:24-37

Holy Week this year is Spring Break week for our Avanza kids. Normally we try to tie our Avanza Bible lessons to our church calendar, but we will be a week early in covering Jesus’ crucifixion since we won’t meet the kids during Holy Week. To set the stage for Jesus Passion, we’ve been focusing on Jesus’ humanity – His love of people, His sympathy with their distresses, His willingness to be interrupted while on a particular mission. It’s a shame that today’s reading about the Syro-Phoenician woman is not one of the stories covered in our Jesus Storybook Bible. It shows Jesus’ most human side (in my mind, tied with Jesus and the woman with the 12-year hemorrhage). This Gentile woman first begs something from Jesus, then argues with Him when He refuses her request, then receives her request when He gives in and relents – the woman’s daughter is healed. This story comes to mind regularly for me just before Communion at Sunday services when we pray the following prayer: We do not presume to come to this Your table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in Your abundant and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under Your table… We gather up the crumbs under His table as we live our lives this day and every day, knowing that great riches, great glory await us when we see Jesus face-to-face. But today’s crumbs are a veritable gold mine for those of us who know Him!

See also: May 30 / Matt. 15:21-31; May 31 / Mark 7:24-37

Mark 7:1-23

Jesus speaking: You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. (v. 8) Yesterday the pope signed off on a Vatican decree stating that priests could not bless same-sex unions. One article that I read on this topic had this response from someone opposed to the pope’s position, that it is “hard for a lot of people to understand just how far removed the church is from human rights advances that are being made in the rest of society.” (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/pope-same-sex-unions-licit/2021/03/15/8c51ee80-8581-11eb-be4a-24b89f616f2c_story.html) This statement seems to say exactly the same thing that Jesus was saying 2000 years ago! It’s the same argument, that “human rights advances that are being made in the rest of society” are supposed to overrule “traditional, historical Christian teaching”? Are we surprised? Maybe not: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

See also: May 28 / Mark 7:1-13; May 29 / Mark 7:14-23

Matthew 15:1-20

The Isaiah quote (Mt. 15:8-9) caught my eye. Surprisingly, it was the Isaiah quote that I noticed two years ago. Those of you who were raised in the Catholic faith or some other denomination, see if you agree.

Today, something different in that quote… This time I went back to the Isaiah text; here’s the quote: And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, while their hearts are far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment taught by men…, (Isaiah 29:13) Jesus leaves off the next verse: therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” (Isaiah 29:14) With this second verse the Lord is telling the Jewish people that He is going to do something wonderful and that wonderful thing is silencing their leaders who are misleading them! Jesus does not say anything about silencing the Jewish leaders. But He is fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy by His own words in the next many verses – His words silence the Jewish leaders!

My Study Bible pointed out a small item. In the first few words of the Isaiah quote the Lord refers to “this people”. That is, “this people”, not “My people”… Interesting!! I hope and pray that our Father thinks of us as “His people”.

See also: May 27 / Matt. 15:1-20

John 6:41-71

Today we have one of the “I am” verses from yesterday’s list: I am the living bread that came down from heaven. (v. 51) Jesus had earlier said in verse 48, “I am the bread of life.” To me there is something different between “bread of life” and “living bread”. I think of the former as “bread that gives life” and the latter as “bread that is alive” – that in the latter sense Jesus is walking, talking, breathing, living bread, and that as we feed on Him and His teachings we are fully nourished. In the end there’s probably little difference in the two phrases, but their differences caught my eye.

Another item that caught my eye was Jesus “foretelling” the Last Supper and His institution of our Communion celebration. He says it twice: Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day… {and} … Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. (vv. 54, 56) We speak it explicitly each Sunday just before Communion: “Grant us, therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of Your dear Son Jesus Christ and to drink His blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by His body, and our souls washed through His most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in Him, and He in us.” When we speak those words at church, it somehow seems much more graphic than just reading Jesus speaking those words. I wonder, is there a hidden message there?

See also: May 25 / John 6:41-59; May 26 / John 6:60-71

Matthew 14:34-36, Mark 6:53-56, and John 6:22-40

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life… (v. 35a) My Study Bible alerted me to other verses in John’s gospel where Jesus said “I am…”. I decided to look them up and print them out for all of us to see. Please read on:

• Then Jesus said, “I am He [the Messiah]—I, the one talking to you.” (John 4:26)
• I am the living bread that came down from heaven. (John 6:51)
• Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. (John 8:12a)
• Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!” (John 8:58)
• As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. (John 9:5)
• So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. (John 10:7)
• …I am the door. (John 10:9a)
• …I am the good shepherd. (John 10:11a)
• …I am the good shepherd. (John 10:14a)
• Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life… (John 11:25a)
• Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. (John 14:6a)
• Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. (John 14:11)
• …I am the vine; you are the branches. (John 15:5)

And here’s a bit of text about these “I am…” verses that you might find interesting: https://www.gotquestions.org/seven-I-AM-statements.html.

Finally, the ending of today’s reading from John’s gospel has special meaning for me – and I hope for you. Please read my comments in the third link below from two years ago.

See also: May 22 / Matt. 14:34-36; May 23 / Mark 6:53-56; May 24 / John 6:22-40

Matthew 14:22-33, Mark 6:45-52, and John 6:16-21

But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” (John 6:20) The Gospel writers in all three readings today quote Jesus with the exact same words. Another “divine echo” for us, in that we’ve got FEAR as the topic for our St. Andrew’s Sunday sermon series during Lent. Thus far we’ve had “worship and fear” and “faith and fear”. Today’s readings seem to be about the natural world – not about His healing ministry, not about His multiplying food or making wine, but about Him and His control over Earth’s natural elements, in this case, His authority over water together with the disciples’ inherent fear of the same. So while our sermon fears tend to focus on our “fear triad” of the economy, politics, and COVID, the natural world item in this threesome is COVID. But I’m not sensing much fear at St. Andrew’s over COVID. I think that from the beginning we’ve stayed on top of the pandemic, following CDC and Kentucky guidelines and restrictions – masking. ZOOM’ing, videotaping, and limiting attendance. And to this date I have not heard of anyone at St. Andrew’s who has even tested positive for COVID. We’ve had some emotional and financial hardships, but we’ve persevered, even through our Rector’s sabbatical and resignation. So if today’s reading and our sermon series are both about fear, Jesus’ words quoted above stand out: “It is I; do not be afraid.” I am SO looking forward to us all getting back together again!!

See also: May 19 / Matt. 14:22-33; May 20 / Mark 6:45-52; May 21 / John 6:16-21

Luke 9:10-17 and John 6:1-15

I keep thinking about feeding the 5,000. What is Jesus’ message for us today? One U.S. farm today feeds 166 people annually (American Farm Bureau). So it would take 30 farmers to feed 5,000 for one year. Backing that off for one day – 30 farmers over 365 days means 1 farmer could feed 5,000 every 12 days, or every two hours of one farmer’s time could feed 5,000 for one day. That’s what Jesus did for an evening meal, using Holy Spirit power for His production and twelve men for His distribution system!

But back to that one farmer… In the 1930s that one farmer produced enough for only four people, basically just his family. Now that farmer is feeding 40 families! Our agricultural progress is a miracle in itself!

But I’m evading the question. What is Jesus’ message for us today? What do we do to feed those 5,000?

See also: May 17 / Luke 9:10-17; May 18 / John 6:1-15

Matthew 14:13-21 and Mark 6:30-44

…and taking the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing. (Matthew 19b) Looking forward to the Last Supper…?? Mark is even more explicit: …He looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves… (Mark 6:41b) And further in Mark: As they were eating, He took bread, blessed and broke it… (Mark 14:22a) In Cana at the wedding feast Jesus turned water into wine. So these miracles by Jesus earlier in His earthly life are also looking forward to His Passion week. Touching…!

See also: May 15 / Matt. 14:13-21; May 16 / Mark 6:30-44