Proper 13 / Pentecost 11 / OT 18
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
... the disciples came to him and said ... send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.
-- Matthew 14:15
Since we are the contemporary disciples of Jesus Christ, we note the role of the disciples in this event with special interest. Note that it was the disciples who first noticed the hunger of the crowds. Their natural compassion caused them to want to respond before the hunger of the crowd became a serious concern. They brought their concern to Jesus. It was natural for them, and us, to bring the concerns noted in the world to Jesus. It is Christ who is head of the church and should guide our response. But the disciples did not just bring a concern. They also offered a very practical and pragmatic solution to the problem. They suggested that Jesus send the people away into the villages so that they might buy food for themselves to eat. This was not a heartless act but a practical solution. There is no indication that the people lacked the ability to purchase their own food. We do not know why Jesus did not accept the disciples' solution. There was no suggestion of a rebuke from Jesus. He simply suggested another solution to the problem. He told the disciples that they should provide for the crowd. The disciples immediately gave voice to their concern. They had only five loaves and two fish. It was barely enough for them, let alone for the entire crowd.
The church is a naturally compassionate community, but it often measures its response in terms of what it sees as the limitations of its resources. The disciples did not hold back but gave what they had to Jesus who blessed it and gave it back to the disciples. It was the disciples who had the stewardship responsibility to use their resources on behalf of the needy. Trusting in Jesus, they responded by giving away what could have been used to meet their own needs. When they did that, it multiplied, and they had twelve baskets left over. The disciples, by acting in faith, discovered that they not only had enough but they had an abundance for themselves. "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). The unsettling message for the church is to discern when pragmatic thinking needs to be replaced with a response of faith that trusts in the abundant grace of Christ.
-- Matthew 14:15
Since we are the contemporary disciples of Jesus Christ, we note the role of the disciples in this event with special interest. Note that it was the disciples who first noticed the hunger of the crowds. Their natural compassion caused them to want to respond before the hunger of the crowd became a serious concern. They brought their concern to Jesus. It was natural for them, and us, to bring the concerns noted in the world to Jesus. It is Christ who is head of the church and should guide our response. But the disciples did not just bring a concern. They also offered a very practical and pragmatic solution to the problem. They suggested that Jesus send the people away into the villages so that they might buy food for themselves to eat. This was not a heartless act but a practical solution. There is no indication that the people lacked the ability to purchase their own food. We do not know why Jesus did not accept the disciples' solution. There was no suggestion of a rebuke from Jesus. He simply suggested another solution to the problem. He told the disciples that they should provide for the crowd. The disciples immediately gave voice to their concern. They had only five loaves and two fish. It was barely enough for them, let alone for the entire crowd.
The church is a naturally compassionate community, but it often measures its response in terms of what it sees as the limitations of its resources. The disciples did not hold back but gave what they had to Jesus who blessed it and gave it back to the disciples. It was the disciples who had the stewardship responsibility to use their resources on behalf of the needy. Trusting in Jesus, they responded by giving away what could have been used to meet their own needs. When they did that, it multiplied, and they had twelve baskets left over. The disciples, by acting in faith, discovered that they not only had enough but they had an abundance for themselves. "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). The unsettling message for the church is to discern when pragmatic thinking needs to be replaced with a response of faith that trusts in the abundant grace of Christ.
