Trinity 7
When we think about Jesus and meditate on Him we have to do it in a balanced way, otherwise we get a skewed image of Him and that leads to false belief which can destroy faith. Our Gospel account is an example of that. What do we have? --Jesus feeding the 5000, the only miracle like this that all 4 Gospel writers record. With what did Jesus feed the 5000, a number that 200 days wages couldn’t feed? Jesus fed them with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. Not only did all of them eat and were satisfied but there were leftovers--twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. Here, in a wondrous and miraculous way, the loaves of bread and fish multiplied in His hands as He kept giving pieces to His disciples to set in front of them. Just think about that for a moment! That’s something that shouldn’t have happened--but it did, at Jesus’ will and command. Who is this Jesus? He is the very God Himself; He is the very God who took on human flesh and blood and became one of us and lived among us. Think of that--God lived among us. He is not far off distant, removed from us but He is with us. And He still is--as He said right before His ascension: I am with you always to the very end of the age.
This and every miracle is “scary”. Like when Jesus calmed the storm, St. Mark records about the disciples in the boat: and they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” Pondering Jesus and His miracles should instill in us a bit of fear and wonderment --here is God! It should arouse in us wonder and awe of Jesus--He is God almighty. As we will find out in the Gospel readings for the next few Sundays, the crowds that ate the bread and fish Jesus miraculously provided, tracked Jesus down and heard His preaching--and eventually left Him. Why? They wanted to make Him their king--their bread-king. St. John records [6.15]: Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king. They didn’t let the miracle “soak in” and reflect that it was God in their midst. They only saw Jesus as a miracle worker who could feed them. Later, after they track Jesus down, He says to them [Jn 6.26]: Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Many people look to Jesus as one they think can do things for them--things they want. They will give Jesus lip service as long as they think He can act for them, do for them what they want.
But look at Jesus and the signs and miracles that He did that are recorded in Scripture, and there see God! Let us have a full and complete picture and understanding of Him. May we never trivialize Jesus but may we see and reflect upon who He is and what He is saying to us. As Luther points out, may our hearts always both fear and love Him.
As we especially examine the first part of today’s Gospel, may we get that full and complete picture and understanding of Jesus. May we not only recognize Him as the true and almighty God who provides for us and works great wonders, and so rightly fear Him, but let us also see His great compassion toward us and so moved by His love and compassion toward us first, may we then love Him. In fact, it is our Lord’s compassion that draws us to Him.
The background to the beginning of our Gospel goes to the beginning of the chapter [vv.7, 12, 13]: And Jesus called the twelve to Him, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them. And it was from that missionary journey that we read today: The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all that they had done and taught. What great joy these disciples had! They had experienced the power that Jesus had given them. They saw that the word they preached was true and was confirmed by the miracles that they did. Not only did others certainly hear and believe their word, but they themselves were certainly strengthened in their faith. And here Jesus gave them a foretaste of what they would later experience as they would go into all the world as His apostles. What great spiritual joy filled their hearts and what did they do? --They went to Jesus in great joy. Place yourself in that scene; what do you see? --Certainly the apostles, all in a good sense bubbling over with joy, jostling for position to tell what they saw and experienced; each trying to “one up the other” with their accounts of the Lord working through them.
Yes, they were certainly awed by all that the Lord worked through them; they certainly experienced and came to know that Jesus is the true God who gave them that authority and power. And yet knowing that they were in the presence of Jesus, the almighty God Himself, did not stop them from approaching/ drawing near to Him in joy. And that’s the same way with us. In our joy and thanksgiving as we look over our lives and see the Lord’s wondrous working, don’t we/ shouldn’t we go to the Lord full of joy and thanksgiving like the apostles here did? Of course! Our joy in and praises of the Lord is what should mark our lives as Christians and our prayers as we go to Him. And here we see our Lord’s great compassion. Not only does He give us reason to go to Him with our prayers of thanksgiving, but even though, like He did with the disciples, He knew exactly what we would say, He still hears our praises and thanksgivings; He still hears and wants to hear us. That’s His compassion. He doesn’t brush us away. First, His compassion toward us gives us cause to rejoice; and that joy draws us to Him to thank Him and in His compassion He receives our prayers.
Also the reverse is true-- it is also precisely because of our Lord’s compassion and mercy that draws us to Him/ that we go to our Lord--not only in joy, praise and thanksgiving, but also in confession and in times of trial and trouble. In times of trial, we know He is merciful and compassionate and that He will help us in the way that He knows is best for us. When we sin and our sins bother us, we know that compassion is the basis of all His dealings with us, and so we are bold to go to Him with our sins in confession. In His grace, He forgives us our sins. After all, it was His love of and His compassion toward us sinners that led the Son of God to become man and to die on the cross for the sins of the world and so bring about our forgiveness and peace with God. In His mercy, He wants to give us the forgiveness of sins. He doesn’t turn away the penitent sinner. As we know this by faith, it is His compassion toward us first that is drawing us to Him.
After the apostles [had] gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all that they had done and taught, [Jesus] said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” As joyful and wondrous as this time of a mission journey was, it was still strenuous. The apostles needed time to rest and recover; they needed a little while in quiet and undisturbed time with Jesus. But it wasn’t happening there as there were so many people coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat. With all that coming and going, Jesus was never alone; He and the 12 were so busy that neither He nor the 12 had time to eat, let alone for quiet conversation. And so [Jesus] said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” Jesus had compassion on the 12. He knew how strenuous it all was for them--even though it was a great joy for them. And in His compassion, He wants to spend time alone with them for their spiritual good and strengthening. That’s how thorough and full His compassion is. That’s how much He’s concerned for our spiritual lives today. Jesus knows how difficult it is to live out our lives as Christians in this world. He knows we are fighting against sin; He knows the devil and his allies: the world and our own sinful nature are all out to attack and destroy our faith. So Jesus doesn’t just give us the gift of faith and send us on our way. No! Instead, He says to us: “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” That’s His compassion on us as He invites us to Himself by our study of Scripture, our reading sound devotional books, meditating on a passage of Scripture, and especially as He invites and draws us to Himself in church around His holy word and Sacrament. Church/ the Divine Service is that secluded place away from the rest of the world. It is where Jesus in His compassion gathers us to speak to us in His holy word; it is the place where we, like the disciples did that day, in great joy give Jesus our praises and thanks; it is the place where we gather around Jesus and He feeds us His very body and blood, forgiving our sins, giving us eternal life, uniting with us. They went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Here, only in church, in this deserted place, do we gather with our fellow Christians and receive Jesus in this unique way--physically--where He unites with us and opens to us the storehouses of heavenly goods and gives us His body and blood, the true food and nourishment for our earthly journey on the way to heaven. Being in His presence, being forgiven our sins and enjoying His heavenly graces and blessings, here in church is a foreshadow of our heavenly rest.
How great is our Lord’s compassion on us poor sinners, as we read in our text: When Jesus stepped out of the boat, He saw a large crowd. His heart went out to them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He began to teach them many things. This is why Jesus has compassion on us and draws us to Himself! When Jesus gets out of the boat, He doesn’t just see a mass of humanity. He sees the heart; He sees/ knows the spiritual condition of these people. And that’s what roused His compassion. These people had not been taught the truth. They had not been taught to know the true God aright and His promised Messiah. They had been taught all sorts of humanly devised rules. They were not looking for the Savior from sin but some sort of earthly king, some sort of bread king.
What do you suppose Jesus sees when He looks at our world today, at the sea of humanity and sees into their hearts/ sees their true spiritual condition? Certainly He sees people that have a god--but not the true God; certainly He sees people pursuing the gods of money, pleasure, power; certainly He sees people trying to fill up the emptiness they feel in their hearts with all sorts of things--be in material things, busyness, or trying to drown or obliterate that emptiness with alcohol or drugs; certainly He sees people who try to make their heaven on earth; certainly He sees people following all the different philosophies and “wisdoms” of the day. And what is His response? Is there anger so that He pours out His wrath on them and destroys them right away? He saw a large crowd. His heart went out to them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
He has compassion on them--just like He has compassion on us! Thanks be to Jesus for His compassion otherwise where would we be? Like He had compassion on us to draw us to Himself, so He has compassion on this sea of lost humanity. And so what does He do? Like the crowd that day: He began to teach them many things. In compassion Jesus taught the crowd that day; He, in compassion, taught us and in that same compassion He will today teach them many things. How does Jesus, in compassion, draw and teach this large crowd of people to Him/ people that are all around us? He does it as He always has--through His holy word. And He wants to use you and me to bring His holy word into this world to those who don’t yet know Him but on whom He has compassion. Dear Christian, may we have compassion on others just as Jesus had on us and so tell them the Good News About Him. Let us joyfully be instruments of Jesus’ compassion. INJ