John 6-9Today we finally hear the "REAL" feeding of the 5,000 story--the one that we know is true because it is the one that we were taught in Vacation Bible School! This is the story where the little boy brings his lunch to Jesus--well, actually Andrew found him and brought him and the lunch to Jesus. Growing up I heard the story about how his mother had prepared his lunch for him as he was going out to hear Jesus, knowing that it would be a long day. It was one of those Christian Mishnah's that has become so much a part of our faith.
And yet, we still don't really know the story! In this telling, Jesus is the one who takes the initiative to care for the people--almost with a gleam in his eye he begins the process. And then there is that interesting line (at least for someone who lives on the coast) "they had all the fish they wanted." Talk about a miracle! Can you really have that much fish? Obviously weren't serving steamed oysters, or shrimp!
And then Jesus retreats, runs away, because the people wanted to "make him king by force." How different is that from our world--where people start running for president years before election day. Here is one who is running away from election, from coronation. Just another interesting insight into his character, and how different he is from our world!
One issue that started to arise in this section (and I will confess that it is one of the reasons I don't rank John high on my list of gospels) is Jesus beginning to sound like a philosophy professor. There were times when I was forced to pull out a Bible and read along, just because I couldn't grasp what he was saying. This is hard stuff, because Jesus is not speaking 21st Century. When was the last time that you had a conversation about bread from heaven, or devils, or genealogy and it's impact on your salvation?
But in the midst of all of this the question kept arising for me, "Why do we seek Jesus?" The people were coming for bread and signs. What are we coming for? What is it that we want, expect, need from Jesus?
This section also gets a bit gory, didn't you think with all the talk about eating my body and drinking my blood? You can understand why one of the early charges lodged against the church was cannibalism!
The tension is rising already in this gospel--even within Jesus. (What do you do with the part where Jesus says he is not going to the festival, and then goes to the festival? Did he lie?)
Finally (due more to time restrictions on my part, not that this anywhere near deals with all the issues that this section raised for me) Jesus is called a Samaritan! I had never heard that before! In that day, in Jerusalem, could you call someone anything worse? It would be like someone accusing me of being a Tar Heel fan! Gross! But what are the ways that we try to denigrate those who are different from us? The words that we throw around--we say they are descriptive, but how often do they come with such venom.
Even in the midst of dense words comes a blow to me! What is hitting you?
2 comments:
There really is a LOT to deal with in this section. Something has been bothering me as we listened to the gospels, and I think you hit it on the head with the idea of "Christian Mishnah." The stories we've told each other and ourselves about the stories in the Bible become so ingrained we think they're in there, then it's jarring to learn that they're not. More and more I've been wondering where is the Jesus I'm so familiar with, and the reality is, he's not here, at least not completely. What hits me, and hits me hard, is that I have been recreating Jesus in my own image -- not as someone like me, but as someone that I wanted him to be that it turns out, at least in these accounts, he may not be. That's pretty tough to take.
Your question of "Why do we seek Jesus?" is a great one. For me, as I said in my sermon, the best answer I've come up with still is Peter's answer when Jesus asks the twelve if they are going to leave him: "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have come to know and believe that you are the Christ." Okay, that's the Stacy paraphrase, but you get the gist. Even with all my discomfort and all my wrongheadedness about who Jesus might be, for better or worse (and I think it's mostly better) there is no one else like him. There is something utterly, incredibly unique about him, so different from anyone before or since. I may not always be able to put my finger on it, but something in me says that whatever the unspoken and unspeakable needs of my soul may be, Jesus is the one who can meet them. That's why I seek him, and will keep on seeking him, even when it feels like a wild goose chase or a game of blind man's bluff.
I hadn't remembered that Jesus was called a Samaritan either. Drunkard, glutton, Samaritan, friend of sinners. I wonder, what derogatory labels would be used to smear him today?
As I listened to this section, I kept picturing all the red print in the book of John - we hear much less of the narrator and much more directly from the mouth of Jesus in this gospel. I was struck by how much he said that we never even try to deal with in the church; maybe because he wasn't speaking 21st Century, but I still would expect these passages to have been interpretted and put into a more contemporary context - there is some deep "stuff" here that we seem to ignore!
In my personal faith journey, I've made an effort to sift through what is actually said by Jesus and what I've been taught it means - this probably began in my "prove it to me" teen-aged years, and it has continued because I've worshipped in different church traditions - even had my sons educated in a Catholic high school! I am amazed at how much of Jesus' direct teaching is NOT part of a Sunday School curriculum. I feel like there is so much there I've missed.
Why do we seek Jesus? I agree with Stacy - because we believe he has the answers to the most difficult questions - the questions we all ask - about life and death and what it all means.
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