The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost | 28 July 2024 | John 6:1-21 | Beth Schlegel |

Text: English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles (or other version)

^{After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”}

^{15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.}

^{Jesus Walks on Water}

^{16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.} 

BELIEVE IN JESUS AND LIVE

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Believe.

From the beginning of his earthly ministry, Jesus extends the invitation to believe.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”Mark 1:15

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life. John 3:16

The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16

The evangelist John concludes his Gospel with these words:

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹ But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31

Just as the Lord God of Israel did great signs and wonders among the people so that they might believe in God, staking their very lives on God’s Word, so Jesus demonstrated God’s mighty power so that people would believe in him as God’s promised anointed Savior.

What would make you believe someone is God?

Would you believe it if he made the Great Wall of China disappear like David Copperfield?

Would you believe it if he pulled a rabbit out of a hat?

Jesus did not do parlor tricks or great feats of illusion.

Being a magician, or a psychic, or an illusionist is not being God.

Jesus demonstrated power in ways unique to God.

Jesus did as God has always done – bringing life from death.

• Sick people were dying until Jesus healed them.
• Sinners were perishing until Jesus forgave them.
• The disciples in the boat were scared to death until Jesus spoke his divine name “I AM” and brought them safely and miraculously to shore.
• The multitudes were starving until Jesus fed them.

Bringing life from death is something only God can do.

We can kill ourselves, but we cannot conceive or birth ourselves.

Only God gives life. There is no other source of life.

Where life is present, God is present.

And where God is present, life happens.

Giving and sustaining life is uniquely God’s work.

Thus, to extend the invitation to believe in him, Jesus does what God has always done to create faith: bring life into being.

In a sense, what Jesus does is not new:

Through the prophets, God has healed people before, forgiven people, and even raised the dead.

We heard a story today about the prophet Elisha feeding a hundred people with a small amount of food with some left over because the Lord said, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’ 2 Kings 4:43

In this case, it was not Elisha who did the sign, but the Word of the Lord.

Elisha was not God.

Jesus invites people to believe in him as God.

He is Immanuel, God with us.

Unlike Elisha, Jesus demonstrates his Godness by doing the very sign;

• effecting it in himself.
• giving thanks and breaking the bread and distributing it.
• And finally, multiplying the food to fill twelve complete baskets after all had eaten and were satisfied.

This meal gave life and gave it abundantly to thousands of people.

God is at work here.

And those people began to believe: When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.”

I wonder what they did after they went home that night?

I wish the Bible would tell us more details about how people’s lives changed after such encounters with Jesus as God.

One thing we do know is that people wanted more of what Jesus was offering – more healing, more food.

But believing in Jesus is more than just clamoring for his riches.

It is trusting him for life itself.

To believe in Jesus as God is to be open to receiving the humanly impossible.

Remember the story of Jairus whose daughter was gravely ill?

Jesus said to him, “Do not fear, only believe.”

At Jesus’ command, the girl got up from her deathbed and lived.

Jairus was open to receiving the humanly impossible.

Before he raised Lazarus from the dead, Jesus told Mary and Martha, Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? John 11:40

To believe in Jesus as God is to be open to receiving the humanly impossible.

Like many people, I struggle with this aspect of faith.

There are times when I pray for something, but at some level, I don’t think God can do it.

• Sometimes, I don’t think I am worthy of that blessing.
• Sometimes, I am just downright skeptical.
• Sometimes, I am afraid that God’s will is not what I want.
• Or I think I am asking too much –
• or that it is too petty a thing for God.

I often find myself praying the prayer of the blind man’s father: “Lord, I believe – help my unbelief!”

Remember, it is Jesus who said, “for God, all things are possible.” Mark 10:37

To believe in Jesus as God is to be open to receiving the humanly impossible.

• Long ago, Jesus fed a multitude of thousands along the Sea of Galilee.
• Today, Jesus feeds 2.4 billion Christians with his Body and Blood.
• Today, Jesus raises the dead with forgiveness and heals the sick with mercy.
• Today, Jesus invites us and all people to believe in him,
  • risen from the dead to multiply life
    • in us,
    • among us,
    • and through us in our world.

Let us watch each day for evidence that Jesus is present with God’s abundant life.

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

—

© The Rev. Beth A. Schlegel, STS

pastorschlegel@live.com

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church

York, Pennsylvania, USA