2 KINGS 4:42-44

THE BACKGROUND

The prophets Elijah and Elisha were prophets for the people of Israel.  They lived during a time when the Israelites were tempted to worship the Canaanite god Baal instead of the Hebrew god Yahweh.  This bible passage is one of the miracle stories of Elisha.  At this point in the narrative, there is a famine in the land.

THE DETAIL

  • A man brings his “first fruits” thank offering to Elisha.  Normally, this should be presented to a priest and not a prophet. Why he did this is unclear.  Perhaps Hebrew priests were scarce in this region. Also, the text says that he is from Baal-shalishah.  The region of Shalishah is in Ephraim, just north of Jerusalem.  Prefixing the name Baal to it might indicate that there was a worship center for Baal in this area.  The fact that this unnamed man brought an offering to Elisha indicates that there may still be a few devout Israelites remaining in that area. Elisha orders the man to distribute the offering to his retinue of 100 followers.  (v. 42)
  • The man protests—there is not enough to feed 100 people.  Elisha repeats the order, adding that the Lord says there will even be some left over.  (v. 43)
  • The man does as he is told, and sure enough—there is some left over, just as the Lord said.

THE TAKEAWAY

The miracles of Elijah and Elisha were given to demonstrate the superiority of Yahweh over the false god Baal.   In today’s gospel reading, Jesus feeds a large crowd with a few loaves and fish, presented to him by a boy.  This miracle signals to those around him that Jesus is also a man of God, just like these two great prophets.
 

 

EPHESIANS 3:14-21

THE BACKGROUND

Paul is at it again! Today’s reading contains some rich and beautiful expressions.  But they are all crammed into a small space, making them difficult to understand. It’s like that can of condensed soup I talked about earlier.  This time, I’ll try to pick the meat out from the vegetables.  I am going to skip past the “vegetables”, which are also good, to focus on the real meat of his message.  I’ll list the yummy veggies at the end.

THE DETAIL

  • This passage begins with “for this reason”.  Paul is writing the Ephesians from prison.  He does not want them to be discouraged because of his suffering for them. For this reason, he bows his knees in prayer.  (v. 14)
    1. Paul prays that their (and our) inner being be strengthened (v. 16)
    2. He prays that Christ may dwell in their (and our) hearts.  (v. 17)
    3. Finally, he prays that we may receive the power to comprehend the enormity of the love of Christ.  (v. 18)
  • Verses 20 and 21 are a doxology, or statement of praise.
  • As promised, here are the “vegetables”:
    1. Every family in heaven and on earth take their name from God the Father (v. 15)
    2. We are being rooted and grounded in love, through faith in Jesus Christ. (v. 17)
    3. The love of Christ surpasses all knowledge.  (v. 19)
    4. Jesus’ love fills us with all the fullness of God. (v. 19)
    5. God’s power is at work within us.  (v. 20a)
    6. God’s power is able to accomplish far more than we can imagine. (v. 20b)

THE TAKEAWAY

Paul provides us with a very good list of things to pray for.  In spite of our suffering for our faith in Jesus, we must continue to pray for inner strength, the ability to comprehend God’s gift of love in Jesus, and that Jesus dwell in our hearts forever.
 

 

JOHN 6:1-21

THE BACKGROUND

Today’s gospel lesson is the miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand.  In John’s version, he simply calls it a large crowd.  As we discussed many times before, Jesus performed miracles to demonstrate that he was no ordinary person.  In addition, those who knew their bible would make the connection to the miracle story of Elisha.  This would challenge his followers to wonder who Jesus really was.

THE DETAIL

  • We all know this story well, so I won’t drag us through the story verse by verse.  Here’s my Readers’ Digest version.  A large crowd is following Jesus, mainly because he is healing people.  Keep in mind that the field of medicine back then was very crude and ineffective. Having somebody who could actually cure people was unheard of.  They are hungry.  A boy brings a little food, which Jesus has distributed amongst the crowd.  It is enough to feed everybody, with plenty left over!  (vv. 1-13)
  • The crowd is astonished at this miracle.  They realize that Jesus is a prophet.  They want to do something.  They want to “take him by force to make him king”.  (vv. 14-15a)
  • Jesus had to go. This is not what he came to do; to become a political king like David.  He manages to slip away to a hilltop or mountain.  (v. 15b)
  • What follows is John’s version of Jesus walking on the water and calming the storm.  (vv. 16-20)   

THE TAKEAWAY

For those Jews familiar with the miracle story of Elisha, Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand would make them stop and think.  “Who is this guy—a prophet like Elisha?”

 

God sent Jesus to earth for a twofold mission.  God did not send Jesus to be a political king like David.  Jesus was sent, of course, to die on the cross for our sins.  But he was also sent to us to teach, and to “write the law within our hearts”.  People followed Jesus not for the teaching, but for the healing.  When he fed them miraculously, they wanted to make him a king.

We are no better than they were.  We claim the cross for our salvation, but we often ignore his teachings.  In our own way, we want to “take him by force, and make him king”!  Think I’m all wet?  How are we doing, when it comes to obeying these teachings/commandments of Jesus:

  • Love your neighbor.
  • Love your enemies.
  • If you have extra things, don’t hoard, but give them away.
  • Care for the lost “sheep”.
  • Feed Jesus’ “lambs”.
  • Turn the other cheek.
  • Forgive one another.

As long as we hoard our stuff; allow people around us to go hungry (one in five go hungry); continue to hate Muslims, Asians, Mexicans, etc.; we are no better than the people that Jesus ran away from.  We are the same as they were.