8/21/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 2. 5-6)

“Then they were willing to take Him into the boat and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.” (John 6.21)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Mark, the author of the gospel given his name and who was the amenuensis of Peter, is not the only gospel-teller who presents an “immediately” when speaking of Jesus’ intentions. Mark carries this dominating theme to relate the urgency and straight-forward thinking of Jesus accomplishing His Father’s will. There was no time to waste and nothing would prevent Him or delay Him to do what His Father intended for Him to do. Even when He learned of the death of Lazarus, His dear friend, and scripture said “He delayed,” it was with a sense of immediacy that He did so. The purpose of Lazarus’s death was to prosper the knowledge of God’s power over it. Death was not to be the vast gulf fixed between every person and God. For the believer, death was but a moments rest only to away refreshed, renewed and revived in the Kingdom of God. In the gospel of John, we find this sense of immediacy following an apparent delay as we are transitioned from the Feeding of the Multitude to the disciples struggling to get to the other side. In this instance it was a struggle to get to the other side of the lake. Now whether the feeding happened near Hippus, Tiberias, Bethsaida or Magdala, we do not know. It would be easy to say Bethsaida and make the connection to the healing story in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate near the pool named Bethesda (or Bethsaida in some translations.) Easy is not always better. What we do know is that wherever it was, it lie opposite Capernaum at least three to five miles. We can say this because what happened after the feeding took place on the Sea of Galil following three or four miles of rowing.

What happened? As the crowds pressed more on Jesus and the Twelve with the miracle of “manna from heaven” where it must have rained fish as well, Jesus moved away as dusk approached. He went up further on the mountain and there found a place to pray and spend time with God, His Father. In His delayed return, the disciples decided to set out for Capernaum. It would seem strange that they would even consider leaving Jesus alone, especially in the dark. There were already those who had been plotting against Him. With some sense of assurance, the disciples must have felt confident enough to make the trip across the lake. They would have taken the straightest route. They may have seen the storm coming and believed they could leverage the winds in their sails to hasten their arrival. The Word does not say and thus it is not important. What is important is the fact they were not able to outrun nor out maneuver the storm. They lost their supposed advantage and began to struggle against the wind and the waves. It was then that Jesus appeared to them. It looked to them as is He was walking on the water. As He approached they became very afraid. In Matthew’s version of this story (which includes Peter walking on the water to meet Jesus), the disciples declare “It is a ghost or a harbinger of death sent to collect them.” Jesus calls out through the storm “Here, I AM. Don’t be afraid.” It was only then that they dared to let Him into their boat. It was what John reported next that gets straight to the heart of the story. As soon as Jesus stepped into the boat, they were “immediately” at the shore where they intended to head.

Focused on the storm and their struggle against it, they had taken their eye off the goal. Obviously, Capernaum would not be visible at night in the heart of the storm. Miraculously, Jesus appears in their hour of need. It is as much a miracle of provision as “five loaves and two fish” on the other side of the lake. By the way, the crowd remained in place until the next morning. They probably trusted their fate was safer in the storm sheltering in place than wondering alone the shore or on the water. It is not surprising that their first words when they saw Jesus was about food. Their minds went straight to the stomach. His mind went straight to the soul. But, in all of this, the message is clear: Jesus is God’s provision of hope and life in this world and in the next. The key to the kingdom here is: believe in God and believe in the One whom God has sent. Faith works wonders in those who will life by faith and not by sight (whether it is bread or an apparition on the water.) Where will our faith take us, mighty ones of God, and what will sustain us on our jounrey to get there?

TODAY’S PRAYER IN LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD:

Father, You have revealed to us best in Jesus the Christ. By Him and Him alone shall we gain the eternal life and our place in eternal rest, living for You always. Show us more and by Your Holy Spirit instruct us in the way we should go, the truth we should reveal and the life we shall live with you forever. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.