Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen!
In the name of God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, One True God. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus
When we look at the liturgical calendar, the whole Christian community is celebrating a period of time with Jesus from His resurrection from death to His ascension to heaven to be seated on the right side of the Heavenly Father, with a promise that He will come again. During this time, the Church Fathers of the Indian Orthodox Church have prescribed the reading from the Gospel of St John 6:16-29 to be read on the evening of the Third Sunday after Easter. This portion is apt for our meditation in our current situation when the whole world is fighting against the pandemic Covid 19.
When we look at the Gospel portion, we are well aware of the instance that the Gospel writer is talking about. It is about the incident of Jesus walking on water. Let us look at the portion in depth. We find that after Jesus fed the crowd of more than 5000 people, the crowd was considering of making Jesus their king by force and Jesus perceiving their thoughts went away from them to be in prayer. As per the Gospel of St. Matthew, (Matthew 14:22) Jesus instructs His disciples to go ahead of Him to cross the sea and go towards Capernaum. While still miles away from the shore, during the dead of night, there was a storm with great winds and waves buffeting them such that the disciples were scared and afraid that they might die. But we find Jesus coming to them, walking on the water and as soon as He was invited to come aboard the boat, the storm stilled and the disciples reached their destination.
The Hebrew word for water is ‘mayim’, which comes from the root word ‘mah’ meaning chaos. The connotation is derived from the time of the Old Testament when the people of Israel had to cross the chaotic Red Sea while fleeing from the Egyptian army. Here, the disciples have been sent ahead of Christ into the chaotic world around them to be His ambassadors. In like manner, when we look at ourselves, we too are sent out into this chaotic and sinful world as ambassadors of Christ. But many a time, we do not have Christ in our lives and during those times, just like the disciples, we find ourselves buffeted by the great winds and high waves of the chaotic world, which would submerge us. Just like the trained fishermen the disciples were, we try all our best to fight the storm buffeting us and soon find that whatever we do, all our efforts are to no avail and soon we lose confidence.
We find that Jesus, Who being with the Heavenly Father from the very beginning and through Whom the whole creation was made, has absolute control over all the chaos of this world and He is able to override all the problems in this world. Just like the disciples, who when they saw Jesus walking on the chaotic waves, were afraid and thought that He was an imagination of their troubled minds, do we not find ourselves questioning about the presence of Christ in our lives when we face the storms of our life? Do we not question the ability of Christ to strengthen us in our times of trials and help us to overcome our worries and problems? So when Jesus confirms that it is really Him in His physical form, that the disciples invite Jesus aboard their boat. And as soon as Jesus boarded their boat, we learn that the storm calmed around them and they immediately reached their destination.
In the same manner, when we find ourselves amidst the storms of our life and we call onto Jesus, we find that Jesus has come to us, but are we willing to invite Him into our life or are we trying to keep Him away? The disciples on learning that it was Jesus Who came to them walking over the water amidst the storm, wanted Him in their boat and with them. We also need to learn that we do not need to fear the great storms of our life, because Jesus has come to deliver His people and He being the Good Shepherd will not let His sheep scatter. We also need to remember another point. The author says that the disciples were still miles away from the shore, but as soon as Jesus boarded their boat, they reached their destination safely and immediately. Think about this: Jesus who was far away from them on the other side of the sea, He came to deliver the disciples by overcoming the chaos around them and with Jesus in their midst, the disciples found safe passage to their destination. Jesus has come so that nothing will be lost. He has come to save. He has come to deliver and those who receive Him will not be lost. Jesus abides and remains with those who receive Him.
The story now turns to the next day of their passage through the sea. The crowd of 5000 who were listening to Jesus and ate of the five loaves and fish started searching for Jesus. The crowd knew that the disciples had gone ahead of Jesus and crossed the sea and they also they also knew that Jesus was not in the boat with His disciples, yet somehow Jesus was not there with them. So searching for Jesus, they find Him in a synagogue in Capernaum. When they ask Jesus on when did He come over here, Jesus knowing the hearts of the people following Him tell them that they are not following Him because they saw the signs He performed but ate their fill of the food that was provided to them. They were not coming to Him because they understood the signs He performed and grasped the meaning of the signs, but they were coming to Jesus to meet their physical needs. They did not see Jesus as Immanuel – God with us; they did not see Jesus as the light in the darkness of their lives. Rather they were acting just like Israel while crossing the wilderness. They will follow God when it is beneficial for them. If you are going to give me something, then I will follow you. Their enthusiasm is not for who he is, but for what he gives.
When we look into our own lives, do we question ourselves, why do I follow Christ? If we do, what would be the answer that we would find? Do we follow Christ for the healing He provides? Do we follow Him for what He will do for me? Do we follow Him to satisfy our needs? Do we follow Him to fulfill our desires and meet our expectations? Do we follow Him to gain prestige in the society?
There is a great difference between wanting Jesus and wanting what Jesus gives. Let us understand this with couple of illustrations. Do we want our spouse to love us because of who we are or do we want our spouse to love us because of what we can give them? Do we want our children to love us for who we are or do we want them to love us because we are able to give them good gifts and provide for their physical needs?
Is it really love if we want to be with someone expecting something in return from them? Is it not selfishness? Today, many of the marriages fall apart because we are not committed to the person, but are committed to receiving what the other person does for us. That is not love. That is complete and utter selfishness. What one gives cannot be the object of our affection. This truth becomes paramount when it comes to Jesus. It is our selfishness if the only reason we are following Jesus is for the materialistic blessings in this world. Thus Jesus pointing out to the crowd that they were not following Him for who He is, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.
Jesus does not seek our selfish love, but He desires our submission and our love that seeks more than our physical needs and desires. Jesus wants us to come to Him seeking what we truly need and what we truly need is a reforging of our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Love Him for He is our loving Saviour and Lord.
Jesus amplifies His teaching by saying, “Do not work for the food that perishes”. What are we working for in this life? What are we trying to get out of this life? Are we working for the physical? Stop focusing on the physical. Stop focusing on the material. What is our quest in life? What is our focus? What is our life purpose? Jesus’ walking on the water fits into our story because we are to see that we need Jesus and readily and joyfully receive Jesus into our boat. But we will not truly receive Jesus if we are focused on the physical.
Stop working for the bread that perishes. That food is empty and it does not satisfy the desires of our soul. It does not give us what we need. It does not fill the God-given void in our souls. The materialistic gains of this life do not provide us with what our soul needs. So do not be driven by our occupations. Do not be driven by making more money. Do not be driven by our comforts. Do not be driven by positions of power. Do not be driven by lust. Do not be driven by our weekends. Do not be driven by retirement. We need to recognize that these things are food that perishes. The fact that we do not need these things changes everything about us. It transforms how we think and how we live!
Instead, work for the food that endures to eternal life. There is only one food that will truly satisfy your needs and it is given to you by Jesus, the Son of Man. Only Jesus gives that food. God the Father has authenticated Jesus as the giver of eternal life. He set His seal on him, marking him and declaring His approval of Him that He is the only one who gives eternal life. This point was made in John 5:26.
“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.”
John 5:26
God the Father has authorized that life comes only through Jesus and from no where else.
When Jesus said that they must stop working for the food that perishes and work for the food that endures to eternal life, the people ask an important question, that we too must ask of ourselves. “What must we do to do the works God requires?” (John 6:28 NIV). Listen to the answer that Jesus gives:
This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent”
John 6:29
It is a wonderfully worded statement which says the message of the Holy Bible in a crux. We are not able to do anything that gives us eternal life. That is given by God. God is the only one who can accomplish such a great work. But how are we working with the work of God? Jesus says you must believe. The work of God, what God requires, is faith.
Standing before them, and us, is the great Lord and Savior. If we do not see Him for who He is and love Him for who He is, there is no amount of work that we can possibly do to have eternal life. Jesus must be the one we treasure. If we do not love Him for who He is, then we do not truly believe in Him. We may be like so many that we have read in this gospel who see the signs but are unmoved to come to Jesus as the Savior and have everything in their lives changed. We must believe that Jesus is the one who gives eternal life which will radically change us. If we do not grasp who Jesus is, then all our work is in vain. All that we are doing is for nothing if it does not come from the knowledge and love that this Jesus is precious and he is all that we need.
We should labor for Jesus and not for the food of this world that perishes. He is the Savior, the one sent by the Father who gives life to all who will come to him. The disciples on the Sea of Galilee saw Jesus as the Savior and received him into their boat and they arrived at their destination. The crowds saw Jesus as a means to the fulfillment of their physical desires and therefore did not have true saving faith in him.
John 1:12 says that believing in Jesus is to receive Him into our life. Jesus told Nicodemus that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). In the context of that chapter Jesus is describing being born again. We must have a spiritual birth, being born from above, to have eternal life. Only when we see Jesus for who He is will we truly receive Him into our lives, and by receiving Him into our lives will we experience the new birth that leads to eternal life from the Son.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, as we prepare ourselves for the ascension of Christ and as we struggle in our fight against the pandemic, let us remember that it is only through Jesus that we are strengthened to reach our port of destination in spite of all the struggles of our life, and it is only through receiving Him as who He really is, that we would gain eternal life.
Your brother in Christ Jesus
Jobin George
Enjoining your posts on the Jesus Prayer very much!
Jeff
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