The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 12 - 29 July 2012
II
Kings 4:42-44
Psalm
145:10-19
Ephesians
3:14-21
St.
John 6:1-21
Background: Bread
Since we are in the midst of the series of
Gospel readings all pointing to “the Bread of Life”, it might be a good time to
talk about the bread of Israel and the bread of Jesus. The appearance of the Hebrews in the area of
Palestine dates from the 12th Century – 10th Century
BCE. These tribes brought with them the
bread of the Mesopotamian cities, and the bread born of nomadic life in the
wilderness. The landscape of the Levant
was altered so that bread might be made from the grains grown on the newly
terraced hillsides of Judea. The basic
foods of Israel consisted of locally grown and produced bread, wine, and
oil. In fact these three products are
mention as the divine provisions offered by God to God’s people (cf. Hosea
2:23-24). Indeed, so important were these
foods that they become a part of the ritual life of Jews, and then Christians.
The Word for bread, Lehem (thus Beth-lehem is “the house of bread”), also indicated
food in general. Bread is so important
in that culture that there are nearly a dozen words that the Hebrew uses to
describe bread. Bread often composed
from 50% to 70% of an individual’s daily consumption of foodstuffs. Bread was first baked from barley flour, later
from the flour of Emmer Wheat, and even later Durum Wheat. Each household produced daily its own bread
including the production of wheat flour (which was a three-hour process each
day). Various ovens were used – the
jar-oven, the convex dome oven, the Persian tanur oven (cf. Tandoor) and
finally the Roman furn.
2 Kings 4:42-44
A man came from
Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty
loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, "Give
it to the people and let them eat." But his servant said, "How can I
set this before a hundred people?" So he repeated, "Give it to the
people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD, `They shall eat and have some
left.'" He set it before them; they ate, and had some left, according to
the word of the LORD.
In the midst of a period of want and famine comes this miracle story not
unlike some Gospel stories with the same effect. Elisha has other experiences of want and need
of bread, most famously the story of the “Widow and the Oil” which parallels
the Elijah story about the “Widow of Zarephath” (I Kings 17:7-16). In both stories, abundance flows from the
jaws of want. In today’s story, a man
from Baal-Shalishah (a place whose name means either “the third idol [Baal]” or
“the lord of three things”) comes to offer “first fruits” to the “man of God”
(Elisha). In the Talmud, this place name
is identified with the earliest place for fruits to ripen. Elisha follows his orders to his servant with
a common formula for prediction/fulfillment stories, “Thus says the Lord.” The people are fed and are satisfied
“according to the word of the Lord.”
Breaking
open Jeremiah:
- What “first fruits” do you offer to God?
- Do you hunger?
- How do you deal with those about you who hunger?
Psalm 145:10-19 Exaltabo te, Deus
All your works praise
you, O LORD, *
and your faithful
servants bless you.
They make known the
glory of your kingdom *
and speak of your
power;
That the peoples may
know of your power *
and the glorious
splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom; *
your dominion endures
throughout all ages.
The LORD is faithful in
all his words *
and merciful in all his
deeds.
The LORD upholds all
those who fall; *
he lifts up those who
are bowed down.
The eyes of all wait
upon you, O LORD, *
and you give them their
food in due season.
You open wide your hand
*
and satisfy the needs
of every living creature.
The LORD is righteous
in all his ways *
and loving in all his
works.
The LORD is near to
those who call upon him, *
to all who call upon
him faithfully.
This is a praise psalm, and the only one thus dedicated with “A David
song of praise.” Its latter verses have
found their way into many a table grace and are thus familiar to most. It is an acrostic psalm, only missing the
letter nun. The author exalts God for all God’s acts, and
at verse 10 exalts God for provisioning all the creatures of the earth. It is universal in that regard. There is not
provision for just a certain people, or for only humans, but for all. God thus does “satisfy the needs of every
living creature.” It is these sentiments that link this particular psalm to the
readings for this day.
Breaking
open Psalm 145
- For what do you exalt God?
- How is God faithful to your enemy?
- What does the psalm mean by “every living creature”?
Ephesians 3:14-21
I bow my knees before
the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I
pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be
strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ
may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in
love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints,
what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of
Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the
fullness of God.
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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all
generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Paul signals to his readers the earnestness of his prayer by
kneeling. The prayer posture in ancient
times was usually standing, but here Paul kneels in a heartfelt prayer. Paul puns on the name “Father” pater and the word for “household” patria.
For Paul the agency of this unity of humankind and God was Jesus the
Christ. Through Christ all are made into
one body. He uses a stoic concept to get
the point across by noting the “breadth, length, height, and depth” (in
Stoicism the unity of the universe) of the love of Christ. Christ is the universal actor for Paul. This understanding surpasses all knowledge
(read gnosis – the philosophical
understanding of all things so sought for by the Greeks). This doxology of praise and realization
exists both in the Church and Christ, for both are extensions of the other.
Breaking
open Ephesians;
- What or whom do you regard as your household?
- Who is the head of your household? Why?
- How is the church a household?
John 6:1-21
Jesus went to the other
side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberius. A large crowd kept
following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus
went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover,
the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd
coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for
these people to eat?" He said this to test him, for he himself knew what
he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy
enough bread for each of them to get a little." One of his disciples,
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has
five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?"
Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of
grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus
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. When they were
satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so
that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up, and from the
fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled
twelve baskets. 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."
When Jesus realized
that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he
withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
When
evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started
across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to
them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed
about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near
the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, "It is I; do not
be afraid." Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately
the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
This
reading from the Gospel of John consists of a large (second only to the Passion
Narrative) section on the Bread of Life theme.
In these sections, John closely follows the synoptic Gospels, especially
Mark. Naturally, though, John does find
his own way in these stories.
In
setting the stage for his version of the Miracle of the Loaves John provides a
highly symbolic setting to enable us to see the theology of the story he has
chosen to relate. We are in a semi-arid
area, on a mountainside. If Moses should
come to mind we are right on track. John
has the multitude hungry, anxious to see Jesus, and preparing for a holy moment
of which they are unaware. If Sinai
should come to mind, you’re on track.
That the Passover should be mentioned only fortifies these associations,
and provides for a new Eucharistic association as well. Jesus takes the loaves and “gives thanks” eucharistesas. Here it is not the disciples that
distribute the bread, but rather Jesus himself.
Here we ought to be reminded of the upper room, where he again will
share the bread. John designates this
action as a “sign”, a point in the life of Jesus in which the people begin to
perceive the promise, and at the same time miss-understand. Jesus is aware of this and removes himself
from the situation.
If
Jesus is the new Moses in the story of the bread, then he is more than Moses in
the next pericope where he walks on the waters of the lake; they need not part
for him. What is the point? Just as the people waver in their
understanding of Jesus so do the disciples.
They are “terrified” to see Jesus as he is, and he explains, “It is
I”. That should be sufficient for them. It is not clear as to whether Jesus enters
the boat with them; the importance is the recognition or vision of Jesus as
“the prophet” and what that really means.
Breaking open the Gospel:
- How does God provide for you?
- How do you provide for others?
- What is the symbolism around your daily meals?
After
breaking open the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is
strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with
you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we
lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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