Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 12): 30 July 2006.

2 Samuel 11:1-15 or 2 Kings 4:42-44

Psalm 145:10-18 or Psalm 14

Ephesians 3:14-21

John 6:1-21

"Give us this day our daily bread." With these words, two thousand years' worth of Christians have called upon God's providence to supply one of the few truly absolute needs for human life. More precisely, as Luther put it in his Small Catechism, "In fact, God gives daily bread without our prayer, even to all evil people, but we ask in this prayer that God cause us to recognize what our daily bread is and to receive it with thanksgiving" (Kolb/Wengert, Book of Concord, p. 357).

So just what is "our daily bread," and what does it mean "to receive it with thanksgiving"? Today's lessons both challenge and guide us, as we seek answers.

The three verses that make up the Old Testament lesson (2 Kgs 4:42-44) relate the miraculous feeding of a hundred from twenty barley loaves and fresh ears of grain (a biblical-era "loaf" was considerably smaller than the 24 oz. variety to be found in today's markets). The lesson establishes a number of elements that will recur in the far more familiar Gospel account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand: (1) a small supply of food is at hand; (2) Elisha directs that a large group be fed with that supply; (3) a servant objects that the supply is insufficient; (4) the distribution proceeds anyway at Elisha's direction; and (5) there is enough to feed the group, plus leftovers.

While Elisha is often viewed as a lesser light to Elijah (even at the time: 2 Kgs 3:11), and some of his acts parallel those of his master (e.g., an unending oil supply for a widow [2 Kgs 4:1-7//1 Kgs 17:8-16] and raising the son of his hostess [2 Kgs 4:8-37//1 Kgs 17:17-24]), Elisha establishes himself as a distinct and even superior "man of God," as an advisor to kings (2 Kgs 3:13-19; 6:9) and mentor to prophets (4:38-41; 6:1-7), and as the performer of unique miracles, including this one. The careful reader of John's Gospel, from which today's Gospel lesson is taken, will observe similar differentiation and establishment of superiority of Jesus vis-a-vis his predecessor, John the Baptist (1:19-42; 3:22-30). Second, it is noteworthy that the "small supply of food" in Elisha's miracle is presented to him as a Pentecost offering, as provided in Lev 23:15-21. This suggests that the miracle was in keeping with the spirit of that festival: the blessing of the growth and harvest to come (just not usually this fast!). By contrast, as we will see, Jesus performs the corresponding miracle at Passover, with different connotations.

We turn then to that "corresponding miracle" recorded in John 6. The elements of the miracle (or "sign," to use the Johan-nine term) are the same as in the OT lesson but in a slightly different order and with greater elaboration. In fact, the miracle is heightened in a number of ways. The first is literally so: Jesus goes up a mountain, where both ancient Near Eastern and biblical tradition experienced encounters with the divine (e.g., OT Sinai and Zion and NT Golgotha). Second, Jesus feeds not 100 but 5,000. Third, the text advises us that Jesus raised the issue of feeding the multitude with his disciples even before the small supply of food appeared and that he did so "to test [Philip], for he himself knew what he was going to do." As always in John, Jesus is unambiguously in control. And there are twelve baskets of leftovers, as one wag put it: "One for every disciple who said it couldn't be done."

Then there is the change from Pentecost to Passover. In John's Gospel, this is the second of three Passovers during Jesus' ministry (cf. 2:13; 18:28); in fact, these three Passovers are the chief source of the tradition of a three-year ministry for Jesus. The other two find Jesus in Jerusalem, but for this one he is in Galilee. The exegetical effect is to give this chapter special prominence (as the Year B lectionary has done with a vengeance) and to place Jesus' words and acts in this chapter in the context of redemption, in keeping with the chief theme of Passover. Specifically, vis-a-vis the other two Passovers in John, chap. 6 is thereby laid alongside the events of chap. 2, where Jesus declares his body to be the temple (or dwelling place) of God, where God and God's people were reconciled via the sacrificial system, and those of chap. 18f., where Jesus is shown on the cross to be exactly what John had called him, "the [Passover] lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" (1:29). In this light, and given the discourse that follows, "when he had given thanks" (6:11) may simply reflect the Jewish practice of prayer before meals ("Blessed are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth"), or it may be an allusion to the Eucharist (cf. the Words of Institution). One suspects that Jesus' act has some special significance for the evangelist, as v. 23 calls special attention to it once again.

A second event follows in the Gospel lesson, and it ought not be ignored. Jesus withdraws after the Feeding, lest he be conscripted as a "bread king" (cf. the Roman emperors' "bread and circuses" and the first temptation of Jesus in Mt 4:3f. and Lk 4:3f.). He then crosses the Sea on foot, while his disciples are rowing across. As in Mk 4:35-41, this certainly demonstrates Jesus' Lordship over the sea (see comments on Pentecost 3 Gospel), but it is also the occasion for the second of many "I am" ('[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) sayings by Jesus in John's Gospel.

What Word of God can one bring from these lessons? Preachers should not overlook the obvious: God wants people fed! As a life's challenge to most Americans, that would be "dukedom large enough" (Shakespeare, Tempest I.ii). But both lessons build on that point to make others. Some are again obvious, e.g., that God's overflowing plethora of gifts is no occasion for waste. Others are more subtle, e.g., that the line between the creative and sustaining acts of God and God's redemptive acts is no more hard and fast than the distinction between physical and spiritual "daily bread." Reflection on and thanks for the one leads naturally and seamlessly to the other.

A brief comment is in order about a feature of the Year B lectionary that I have mentioned a couple of times now, namely, the inclusion of five consecutive Sundays' worth of Gospel lessons from John 6. Since the three-year lectionary's promulgation, more than a few preachers have found it a challenge to bring a fresh and distinct word from God for so long a period, when the subject matter remains so similar. Three words of counsel may be helpful.

First, the preacher does well (even more than usual) to consider texts and themes for several Sundays out beyond the next. Second, even granted the dominance of the Bread of Life idea, there are differences among these lessons, so that the preacher might take the hearers through a purposeful sequence of angles or facets, perhaps by considering the Gospel lessons through the eyes of the disciples, the crowd, "the Jews" (a problematic translation of [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]--see discussion in BDAG, p. 479), and even Jesus himself. Third, remember that all three lessons are potential texts.

Finally, the Epistle lesson (Eph 3:14-21) continues Paul's unrelenting praise of God's grace and glory in Christ. Verses 14-19 report Paul's prayer on behalf of his hearers, that they would grow in their faith and in their knowledge of God, all the while conceding that knowing the love of Christ (both as received and as shared) ultimately surpasses human capacity (cf. Phil 4:7). These verses stand as a model of prayer for pastors on behalf of their people and, indeed, for all Christians on behalf of one another.

The final two verses contain one of the great Pauline doxologies (cf. Rom 11:33-36; 16:25-27). As in Romans 11, Paul appears moved to high and heartfelt praise upon reaching the limits of human language as he expresses himself on the immediately preceding topic. It is "indeed right and salutary" to remind all Christians (but especially ourselves as theologians) that God's grace in Christ is finally beyond not merely our comprehension but even our expression, as Paul Gerhardt put it well:

What language shall I borrow
To thank thee, dearest friend,
For this thy dying sorrow,
Thy pity without end? (LBW #116, st. 3)

So it is with our ability to grasp the full nature and quantity of our "daily bread" and fully to thank God for it. Yet here, too, God is ready to help in a way especially appropriate for this Pentecost season: "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom 8:26).

That's "synergism" that even a Lutheran could love. GCH