Podcasts about genessaret

A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Trinity by Matthew Colvin As you know, our family lives in Port Alberni. When we first moved there, I met some guys on the tennis court, and when I told them I was new to town, their immediate question was, “Do you fish?” I said no. “Then what are you doing here?” — as though it were inexplicable why anyone would live in Port Alberni without catching fish. And sometimes, because the Barclay Sound is so pretty, and because I have enjoyed a cruise down the Alberni Inlet on the MV Frances Barclay, and because all my friends own boats, I say to my wife, “Maybe we could get one.” And then she reminds me that I hate doing maintenance on things, and that a boat is a hole in the water that you throw money into. But maybe the biggest objection, for me, comes from Psalm 107: “They that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters; These men see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For at his word the stormy wind ariseth, which lifeth up the waves thereof. They are carried up to the heaven, and down again to the deep; their soul melteth away because of the trouble.” (107:23-26) That is why I am a landlubber from the fishing capital of Canada. Unlike St. Peter. We have already met Peter in chapter 4 of Luke, because Jesus has healed his mother in law from a fever. And we know, also, that Peter and Andrew his brother were looking for the coming of the Messiah. Jesus's preaching has been in synagogues in Nazareth and in Capernaum in chapter 4. But now, he has a larger audience, and the venue is moved outdoors: the crowd first surrounds him and is “pressing in upon him” — not the last time we will see crowds behave this way: remember the reaction of his disciples when the woman with the bleeding comes up behind Jesus and touches his robe. “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?'” This is the behaviour of crowds also in our own day in the presence of someone they have come to see. Jesus at first is standing by the shore of Genessaret, but he then finds a solution to the crowding problem: by getting into a boat, and putting out from the land a little bit, he is able to continue teaching, in his usual seated posture that he had taught in also in the two synagogues, but now with a boundary of water between him and the crowds. In the event, it will be those who are with him in the boats who become his followers, as though they were with him on the other side of the waters of baptism. One might wonder why there is mention of two boats, not just the one that Jesus sat in. This is what we call a narrative seed. Some of you may have heard of the term “Chekhov's gun.” The Russian playwright Anton Chekhov said, “If you say in the first act of a play that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, then in the second or third act it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there.” In this case, the second boat will be needed in verse 8 when there are too many fish for the one boat to handle. If you've ever seen a stage magician, you'll recall how they always take pains to demonstrate how difficult the trick is: they'll cut a watermelon with the sword they're about to use on the lovely assistant; or fan the cards to show that the deck isn't rigged; or bring up a burly member of the audience to demonstrate how the chains the magician is going to escape from are really strong. God or Jesus isn't a stage magician, of course. But he does like to demonstrate the difficulty of his miracles. Remember Elijah pouring water three times over the altar before the fire of God fell from heaven to burn it up in front of the prophets of Baal? Or Jesus choosing to heal, not a man who had recently become blind, but one who was more than 30 years old and had been blind from birth? Or Jesus pointedly asking the disciples to show him the five loaves and three fish first before proceeding to feed the five thousand with them? In the present story, we are told that “the fishermen had got out of the boats and were washing their nets.” This tell us that they were using trammel-nets, made of linen, which needed to be washed after use. If the linen nets were not washed and dried promptly after use they would rot from the various organic matter stuck in them after use. Further, this washing was invariably done in the morning. Why? Because until the introduction of modern nets made of transparent nylon, fishing with linen nets had to be done at night. During the daytime, the fish could see the nets and avoid being caught by them. So Jesus has found Peter and his partners at precisely the wrong time to catch fish: not only are they done for the day, not only are they already washing their nets, but the sun has now risen, which means it is not possible to catch fish with nets now. Jesus also isn't concerned with fishermen's timetables.  When does he tell them to let down their nets? Nothing to do with with daylight or the schedule of net-cleaning. No, “When he had finished speaking.” At his convenience. Jesus appears to think he is “the main character,” as the kids say these days. Because, well, he is. Put yourself in Peter's shoes. You've been working all night. Fishing is hard. You're in a boat with probably three other men. You have to pull in heavy nets; you may have to dive into the water to wrestle them or unsnag them from something. You are drenched, weary, and have caught nothing. You have washed your nets, maybe mended them if they broke. You're done for the day. And now this Jesus fellow tells you to start all over, and drawing on his vast knowledge of …carpentry? — he tells you to start fishing in the daytime, when you know, from years of experience on the sea, that you will catch nothing. All of which makes Peter's address of Jesus a little more amusing. He calls him ἐπιστάτα. The ESV says, “Master,” but it is probably best translated “boss.” “Boss, we have toiled all night and caught nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” “Boss” – the Greek means literally the one who is stationed over something, has authority over it. In this case, the something over which Peter acknowledges Jesus's authority is Peter's boat and indeed his entire business, his profession of fishing, a matter to which he was likely born and bred – like his business partners James and John, whose father Zebedee was with them in the boat, Peter is trained in a thousand little details of skill and technique: the behaviour of fish, the tides, the weather, the use and care and washing and repair of nets; the handling and maintenance of boats; and likely also the salesmanship required to sell his fish, if not to those who would eat them, then to fishmonger middlemen. This was his life, deeply embedded in the community of his town on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Sea of Tiberias, or Lake Genessaret, depending on who you asked for its name. Indeed, we know from the Talmud that "throughout inland Palestine, Tiberias was the only place where wholesale trade in fish was conducted, and (2) that this wholesale trade in fish was in season in Tiberias probably in the months that were most suitable for the loading and export of fish." So Jesus is there at the Port Alberni of Palestine, boldly giving a command to fishermen who have grown up and make their living catching and selling fish from this lake. And the command that Jesus gives Peter is, quite frankly, absurd: to dirty the nets again after already cleaning them; to let them down in the daytime, when the fish will have no trouble seeing them, rather than at night, which every fisherman knows is the right time to catch fish; and to do it, moreover, in the same location where, as Peter explains to him, “we have laboured all night and have caught nothing.” So why does Peter obey him? Because he accepts his authority, which is not the authority of an expert. The thousand details of the fisherman's trade are indeed matters of expertise, but Jesus does not urge Peter to cast in his nets on the basis of his expertise. The authority of expertise, if you stop and think about it for a moment, is an authority that makes no claims upon our sense of ourselves and our authority to decide things: it rather submits itself for our consideration, as having knowledge of particulars that we could have too, if we invested the effort. No, Peter's faith is not faith in expertise. Rather, it is the same faith that we will see later, in what might well be the same boat, certainly on the same sea, in awe at Jesus's authority: “Who is this, that even the wind and waves obey Him?” It is faith in the Messiah. It is loyalty to Israel's God. More than any disciple, his personality shines out in the gospels: he is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve, ready, out of love for Jesus, to undertake bold actions and to follow Jesus: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water”; “Even if all forsake you, yet I will not.” “Lord, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tents.” But at the same time, he is not always able to see through his bold beginnings to their end: so we will see him swearing he doesn't know the man; weeping when the cock crows; beginning to sink in the waves. But this is not one of those moments of weakness. Here, he recognizes in Jesus the holiness of the Lord: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” Peter does not know that Jesus is Israel's God yet. But he knows that He is at least close to Israel's God. Here we recognize the attitude of the prophets of old, for instance, Isaiah 6:5: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" This is the moment when Peter makes a sudden break with his past life. We recall Elijah calling Elisha by throwing his cloak over him while he was plowing. There, too, the master called his pupil in the middle of his work at his job; there, too, the disciple experienced a complete upending of his life. In both cases, the disciple will see His master taken up into heaven; both Elisha and Peter will then be filled with the spirit of their teacher; and from that point, they will show complete fearlessness and boldness. Yes, Peter stumbles several times. Sometimes he is overcome by fear – of the waves, or of persecution and death. Other times, he stumbles because of his deeply ingrained respect for, and assumptions about propriety: as when he rebuked Jesus for saying that He would be rejected and killed ("Lord, this will never happen to you"); or when he objected to Jesus washing his feet; or when, in Acts, he was told to sacrifice and eat a giant picnic blanket of unclean animals and replied, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." (Acts 10:14) But none of these stumbles is permanent. Why? Because Jesus tells him, “Simon, Simon. Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And when you have returned, strengthen your brothers.” Jesus has just demonstrated that if he wanted to, he could make Peter and the sons of Zebedee into fishing millionaires, the tycoons of the Lake of Genessaret. And because of this, they trust him to the end. But not, notice, in order to get rich: having received the demonstration of Jesus's ability to provide wealth in the context of their business as fishermen, they now leave that business. Later, in the story of the rich young ruler, after that man goes away sad because he had great possessions, Peter pipes up, “Lord, we have left everything to follow you.” And they have. After they saw the demonstration, they didn't care about getting rich as fishermen. They saw what their hearts had longed for. They wanted to be with Jesus. Peter does not treat Jesus as a way to get rich. We read in Acts 3, when Peter heals the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, that the lame man first looked at him, hoping to receive something, “But Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" (Acts 3:6) No, Peter is not concerned with silver or gold or catching fish anymore. Jesus has demonstrated that to him a second time when he asked about the Temple Tax, and Peter found a coin inside a fish. Perhaps earlier than any other disciple, he understood well that he should “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” — that is, God's faithfulness to keep his promises to His people, especially the promise to send the Messiah and to forgive their sins — “and all these things shall be added unto you.” Jesus tells Peter two things: first, “Do not be afraid.” Second, “from now on, you will be catching men.” The verb for “catching” is a little bit misleading, since we usually think of “catching” men as something that kidnappers do, or the police with a fugitive. But that's not the connotation of the Greek word ζωγρῶν, literally, “catching alive.” It is not usually a fishing word, though it is an accurate enough description of the usual methods of catching fish: nets and hooks, that result in live fish flopping around. It's not a word you would use for throwing dynamite in a pond or poisoning all the fish. But its usual usage is in contrast to killing: in the Iliad, it's the word used for Diomedes or Achilles sparing an enemy warrior's life and taking him captive for a ransom instead. But in Jesus's usage here, in connection with the net, it is a vivid metaphor: Peter's concern now is to seek the coming kingdom of heaven, which Jesus in Matthew 13 says, “is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.” (I have a running joke with my daughter about how many gross and disgusting things there are in the sea. But Jesus here means the wicked.) At any rate, Peter does indeed “catch men.” He preaches more boldly than anyone in the book of Acts; and he is the means by which Gentiles are first brought into the church. Peter, thus, trusts Jesus after this demonstration of his ability to provide in a single night the catch of a week or more. He and his fellow fishermen will all be martyrs, after all; yet to them applies Jesus's promise that they will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. In the end, Jesus will eat fish with them again, likewise on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, but this time without the crowd, after his resurrection. And then we will see him in the book of Acts boldly telling the Sanhedrin to judge whether it is right to obey them or to obey God. We will see him stretching out his hands and going where he does not want to go — to prison at the hands of a king named Herod, awaiting execution during Passover week, like his Lord Jesus. In Peter's case, we see the truth of George MacDonald's statement: “The Son of God suffered unto the death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings might be like His.” And no one more than Peter. In him we see the truth of Ignatius of Antioch's words in his letter to the Philadelphians around 100 AD: “For my own part, I know and believe that He was in actual human flesh, even after His resurrection. When He appeared to Peter and his companions, He said to them, ‘Take hold of me; touch me, and see that I am no bodiless phantom'. And they touched Him then and there, and believed, for they had had contact with the flesh-and-blood reality of Him. That was how they came by their contempt for death, and proved themselves superior to it. Moreover, He ate and drank with them after He was risen, like any natural man, though even then He and the Father were spiritually one.” Have you thought about why we love Peter? It is because he is so understandable, so relatable. And he stands forth as these things because God chose him and made the gospel writers depict him for us — not as the infallible Pope, but as the fullest example and pattern of the discipleship of a follower of Jesus. In Peter we see the longing for the kingdom of God, the fierce loyalty and sense of propriety (Lord, you will never wash my feet!), the wrongness and error that beset us all, but also the gentleness of Jesus in dealing with Peter, in restoring him; and then the mature disciple in the book of Acts, who has fully comprehended Jesus's teaching and his resurrection, and is able to do great things, including suffering for the name. Let us pray. Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Jesus said in John 6:41-59 “I am the bread of life.” The crowd murmured in disagreement. But that didn't stop Jesus from teaching truth. What did this statement mean to the Jewish people and what does it mean for us today? Join Julie Jenkins today as we unpack this together  ****** Last week we focused on the blessing after the miracle – that is, Jesus using the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 to point to the glory of God. Now Jesus moves from the area of Genessaret to teach in Capernaum, his home base and a prosperous town of about 1000 people. The lesson He shared is difficult for us to understand TODAY, but if we put ourselves in the shoes of the Jewish people who were contemporaries of Jesus, we can barely begin to imagine the difficulty they would have had with His words. Which is why John states in chapter 6 verse 41 as written in the New Living Translation… 41 Then the people[a] began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” I can hear it now…What was that He said? Some translations say that the people “grumbled” which can give us a different picture…my dad would have called that “bellyaching” … and that can make us think that the crowd may have even been speaking belligerently; but the correct interpretation, I believe, is that they were all kind of whispering to each other, a bit shocked and in unbelief, not knowing what to make of this statement that was said openly in the synagogue. “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” To give you some background, after the Israelites left Egypt, and as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, God provided them manna every single day. The actual word manna means “what is it?” – because the people didn't know what it was! They quickly learned that manna was bread from heaven that would keep them alive if eaten daily but would only last for a single day. They were to gather what would sustain them for the upcoming 24 hours – or 48 hours if it was the day prior to the Sabbath. If they collected more than that, it would rot in a disgusting way. So they had to trust that God would provide more for them every single day. Later, the Jews were taught that when the Messiah came, He would also bring manna, or bread, that was capable of giving them life. So now Jesus said, not “I BRING the bread of life,” – which is what they would have been expecting from the Messiah… but “I AM the bread of life – sent down FROM heaven.” What could this mean? Instead of trying to understand Jesus' words, however, they simply dismissed Him by attacking His character. Verse 42… 42 They said, “Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven'?” They didn't understand what Jesus said, so their response was to dismiss His authority. As WE study the Bible and apply it to our lives, there are certainly going to be things we don't understand. Our job is to keep seeking God's answer and to trust Him AS the authority even when we don't understand. Have you ever heard a word from God, and then questioned whether you heard it at all? Any relationship counselor will tell you that the key to a good relationship is listening. If something confuses you about God or the Bible, keep seeking…keep listening…keep asking questions. Our God is not a God of confusion, and He knows better than we do how we learn and grow. We can always trust His timing and revelation to us. Jesus didn't answer their murmurs that dismissed His authority. Instead, He told them to focus in…He wasn't done explaining. Verse 43… 43 But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. 44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. Anyone who hears about Jesus or feels the pull of faith in Jesus, does so because God has had them in His sight since the beginning of time. We cannot draw ourselves to God – that is one of the reasons we marvel at how gracious and loving He is! Just like the Israelites could do NOTHING to make the manna that would sustain them fall from the sky, we cannot bring God closer to us. On the contrary, God has positioned HIMSELF in our lives – He has OFFERED Himself – our job is to say yes. To accept the manna and ingest it…to receive Jesus, THE bread of life, into our very lives. But unlike manna, which lasted only 24-48 hours, the one who openly receives Jesus, receives life eternal. Jesus is THE bread that will sustain us for ETERNITY. Jesus backs up this bombshell with the news that He is now their direct access to God the Father. Isaiah and Jeremiah both had prophesied that a time would come when the people would have a direct connection with God … something they had always had to rely on the high priest for…and Jesus is saying that HE is now that direct contact…verse 45 45 As it is written in the Scriptures,[b] ‘They will ALL be taught BY God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me...

Jesus said in John 6:41-59 “I am the bread of life.” The crowd murmured in disagreement. But that didn't stop Jesus from teaching truth. What did this statement mean to the Jewish people and what does it mean for us today? Let's unpack this together. ****** Last week we focused on the blessing after the miracle – that is, Jesus using the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 to point to the glory of God. Now Jesus moves from the area of Genessaret to teach in Capernaum, his home base and a prosperous town of about 1000 people. The lesson He shared is difficult for us to understand TODAY, but if we put ourselves in the shoes of the Jewish people who were contemporaries of Jesus, we can barely begin to imagine the difficulty they would have had with His words. Which is why John states in chapter 6 verse 41 as written in the New Living Translation… 41 Then the people[a] began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” I can hear it now…What was that He said? Some translations say that the people “grumbled” which can give us a different picture…my dad would have called that “belly aching” … and that can make us think that the crowd may have even been speaking belligerently; but the correct interpretation, I believe, is that they were all kind of whispering to each other, a bit shocked and in unbelief, not knowing what to make of this statement that was said openly in the synagogue. “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” To give you some background, after the Israelites left Egypt, and as they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, God provided them manna every single day. The actual word manna means “what is it?” – because the people didn't know what it was! They quickly learned that manna was bread from heaven that would keep them alive if eaten daily but would only last for a single day. They were to gather what would sustain them for the upcoming 24 hours – or 48 hours if it was the day prior to the Sabbath. If they collected more than that, it would rot in a disgusting way. So they had to trust that God would provide more for them every single day. Later, the Jews were taught that when the Messiah came, He would also bring manna, or bread, that was capable of giving them life. So now Jesus said, not “I BRING the bread of life,” – which is what they would have been expecting from the Messiah… but “I AM the bread of life – sent down FROM heaven.” What could this mean? Instead of trying to understand Jesus' words, however, they simply dismissed Him by attacking His character. Verse 42…  42 They said, “Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven'?” They didn't understand what Jesus said, so their response was to dismiss His authority. As WE study the Bible and apply it to our lives, there are certainly going to be things we don't understand. Our job is to keep seeking God's answer and to trust Him AS the authority even when we don't understand. Have you ever heard a word from God, and then questioned whether you heard it at all? Any relationship counselor will tell you that the key to a good relationship is listening. If something confuses you about God or the Bible, keep seeking…keep listening…keep asking questions. Our God is not a God of confusion, and He knows better than we do how we learn and grow. We can always trust His timing and revelation to us. Jesus didn't answer their murmurs that dismissed His authority. Instead, He told them to focus in…He wasn't done explaining. Verse 43… 43 But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. 44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. Anyone who hears about Jesus or feels the pull of faith in Jesus, does so because God has had them in His sight since the beginning of time. We cannot draw ourselves to God – that is one of the reasons we marvel at how gracious and loving He is! Just like the Israelites could do NOTHING to make the manna that would sustain them fall from the sky, we cannot bring God closer to us. On the contrary, God has positioned HIMSELF in our lives – He has OFFERED Himself – our job is to say yes. To accept the manna and ingest it…to receive Jesus, THE bread of life, into our very lives. But unlike manna, which lasted only 24-48 hours, the one who openly receives Jesus, receives life eternal. Jesus is THE bread that will sustain us for ETERNITY. Jesus backs up this bombshell with the news that He is now their direct access to God the Father. Isaiah and Jeremiah both had prophesied that a time would come when the people would have a direct connection with God  … something they had always had to rely on the high priest for…and Jesus is saying that HE is now that direct contact…verse 45  45 As it is written in the Scriptures,[b] ‘They will ALL be taught BY God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.  And Jesus gives them further revelation, saying… 46 (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.) This was huge! The process of meeting with God prior to Jesus was extreme. God is so holy that a strict prescribed protocol had to be followed for the high priest to enter the holy of holies, where the ark of the covenant was kept and God resided. And that could only happen one time a year. And yet Jesus states that not only is He the Bread of Life sent from God, but He has actually seen God. I imagine the murmuring was hushed as He underscored this revelation…vs 47 47 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.” 52 Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked. 53 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. There is little doubt in my mind that the Jewish people did not understand these puzzling statements. I say that because it is difficult for us to understand, and we've had 2000 years to digest and analyze them. In hindsight and in view of history and the rest of the Bible, it is evident that Jesus was referencing His upcoming death and crucifixion as an offering of His body and blood. Life was considered to be in the blood, and flesh represented humanity. Jesus, as a human, died, giving up His flesh and His blood. We assume that death is a part of life – what's that saying…the only sure things in life are death and taxes, right? But death is only a given because of sin. When God created humankind, His purpose was that we would spend eternity with Him. Life was perfect. The earth was perfect. But then man sinned, and the effects of sin ushered in not only death, but disease, corrosion, pain, suffering, rain … I could go on and on. The penalty for our sin is our death. We sin. So our death IS sure. But JESUS lived a perfect, sinless life, and should have never died. He gave up HIS life, in payment for ours. And He rose again, that we might be resurrected if we accept the gift of salvation that He offers us. Remember that I said that like manna that fell from the sky through no effort of the Israelites, God comes to us through no effort of our own? God CHOOSES to come to us. Jesus CHOSE to come to us. Though no effort of ours, Jesus died for us. Our role is to believe – to accept the gift of His body and blood as a sin offering. Jesus' body is our true food, that can bring us eternal life. Jesus' blood is our true drink that will keep us from thirsting for eternity. Jesus reiterates beginning in verse 56…  56 Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.” We must receive Jesus to live. As complicated as it seems, it really is that simple. There have been theologians throughout the years who use this passage to say that to receive salvation, Christians must literally eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus via communion where the bread and wine miraculously become the flesh and blood of Jesus. There are others who also believe that salvation hinges on communion, but consider communion as a symbolic ingesting of the flesh and blood of Jesus. But there are many, and I am in this camp, who believe that this teaching is separate from the teaching of communion. At the last Passover supper, Jesus told His disciples to eat and drink in remembrance of Him, but nowhere linked the physical eating and drinking to attaining salvation. Instead, receiving communion is an act of worship and praise as we remember all that Jesus has done for us. In this passage, however, Jesus was teaching that to receive the true bread of life, we must repent and surrender our lives to Jesus. We must live by faith, believing that Jesus died for our sins. To eat the bread of life is to accept Jesus into your life and to live with the Holy Spirit inside – guiding you, directing you and sustaining you. We live in a sinful world, and our bodies will die. But when we yes to Jesus, we begin living a life that will last forever – just as God originally intended. Our commitment seals us to Him as wedding vows seal a bride to her groom. And Jesus will walk us into God's presence on His arm – from now until eternity. Jesus is the Bread of Life. The only sustenance our souls will ever need. Will you pray with me… Dear Most Holy Jesus…we come to you today repenting of our sins and giving our life to you. You are the Bread of Life – your promise to sustain us into eternity is sure – we just need to hold out our hands to you. God help us to surrender. Help us to listen in faith when we don't understand. Help us to trust your perfect timing when we think we know the best way. Help us to always cling to you. Quiet our murmurs and help whatever unbelief we still hold in our hearts. We give you our lives and trust in your ways. In Jesus mighty name, I pray. Amen.  

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.' For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.When they had crossed over, they came to land at Genessaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized Jesus and rushed about that region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard that he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.It didn't used to be this way, but when I read this bit of Scripture nowadays, I'm not so impressed by the crowds. I'm not drawn to the way they recognized Jesus or how they chased him around Galilee, like a rock star. I'm not even moved by his compassion for those crowds or for the sick people he healed or even for the great faith it takes to believe touching his cloak would work a miracle, let alone that those sorts of miracles apparently happened. For good or ill, we've come to expect that from Jesus, right?So, what gets my attention these days is how it seems like, maybe, Jesus was trying to avoid all of that some of the time.See, the disciples show up – sometime after he's sent them out to share the good news and heal diseases and cast out demons and whatnot – and they start to tell Jesus all about their exploits. And I imagine they're more than a little proud and excited about all they've been up to. I wouldn't be surprised if these former fishermen had traded one sort of “big fish” story for another, if you know what I mean. Like, what used to be a competition about who caught and sold more or bigger fish out on the lake, now had likely become a chance to one-up each other about who'd converted the greatest number of new believers; or who had cast out the most demons; or who had forgiven the most sinful sinner; or who had healed the grossest case of leprosy, or whatever.Now, I'm sure Jesus was proud of his protégés. I imagine he was pleased with their progress, if their reports were true. I suspect he was impressed with their enthusiasm and their faith and all of their hard work. But – again – what gets my attention these days is that Jesus tells the disciples to stop; to step away from all of that; to go to a deserted place, by themselves, and rest for awhile. And I think maybe Jesus does this because he has as much compassion for his closest friends and followers, as he does for all of those crowds, who were like sheep without a shepherd, looking to be healed.And the truth is, Jesus' disciples weren't any different, or better, or worse, than the crowds who followed them around. They needed healing, too. And the same is true for you and me. We are no different, or better, or worse, than those with whom we live our lives of faith out there in the world.And sometimes we need to step away from all we're up to in order to remember and to recognize and to receive the rest we need and that God longs for us to experience. Sometimes we need to stop looking outside of ourselves at the needs surrounding us and start looking in the mirror for the needs that are ours. Sometimes we need to be quiet and still long enough to hear something other than our own voices or the noise of the world. Sometimes we need to listen for what God has to say about what we need most, rather than what the world out there is trying to convince us is so important.And that's hard, right – the stillness and the solitude and the listening, I mean? I was reminded about it at our last “Wild, Wacky, Wonderful Wednesday,” with the kids. I did my best to talk with them about prayer and meditation. And we talked about the difference between praying – where we do all the talking and ask God for all the things we'd like God's help with – and meditation – where we sit still and be quiet and listen for what God might be trying to tell us. Some of the kids got it and played along – or at least pretended to. But several others hated it. I know because they told me so … out loud … in front of the group! They couldn't do it. They couldn't stand it. Wouldn't do it. And it made them want to go home.Which is as funny as it is frustrating. And it's not unique to kids. I've had adults tell me the same thing – that it's hard, frustrating, impossible, even, to be still and quiet in prayer and meditation for too long. And I struggle to make time for it, too, to be honest.So, I think this Gospel is a perfectly-timed message for us – not just because it's still summer and those of us governed by the school calendar have a couple of weeks left before another school year – and all that that means. But this is good timing for all of us as we continue to wonder about what Fall will look like post-pandemic – out there in the world and in our lives together at Cross of Grace.I thought of something I've seen Social Worker and Professor, Brene Brown, get credit for saying – that we shouldn't long so much for a return to whatever “normal” was just for the sake of it. She says, “Normal never was. Our pre-corona existence was not normal other than [that] we normalized greed, inequality, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate, and lack. We should not long to return, my friends. We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.”Now all of that doesn't apply to all of us. But it begs the question for me. “What will ‘normal' be for us?”Will we fill our schedules, calendars, and agendas with all of the things that were there before – just because? Have we already started to do that – and why? Or will we be thoughtful and deliberate and faithful about engaging what matters? Will we say “yes” to what does matter? And might we practice saying “no” to what doesn't? Might we schedule more time away – to stop – in deserted places, by ourselves to pray and listen and plan to live more deliberately? And will we be kind and gracious, forgiving and compassionate toward those who have the courage and faith to say no – or to do differently – in the days to come?I hope so. Because I think this is what Jesus is calling his disciples to this morning. And by extension, of course, this is our call as followers of Jesus, just the same.What time apart and time away, in deserted places, means to do for us is to give us rest and refreshment, yes. It allows us to stop and relax. It replenishes our energy and restores our enthusiasm and builds our strength and increases our stamina. Personally, it has a knack for getting my creative juices flowing in new ways. All of this is called Sabbath, remember, and it's one of God's Top Ten commandments. And when we get it right, it forces us to stop relying on ourselves and on our own accomplishments, and reminds us to rely on God more often, instead.And this takes faith, because we have to let God be God in those moments when we dare to stop doing, producing, accomplishing, proving and distracting ourselves with all we have on our respective agendas. And it takes humility because it reminds us that our value, as far as God is concerned, comes from simply being, merely existing – nothing more and nothing less – and that is a lesson in grace, for sure.And when we practice that kind of Sabbath well… when we put away our busy schedules and our big fish stories (unless they actually involve some fishing, I suppose) and the pride that goes along with them… when we stop filling our calendars and our schedules and our lists of things to do… we will start to see that value and that worth and that kind of grace in the mirror, for ourselves, apart from our ability to “do” anything about it.And when we learn to see it in the mirror, we'll begin to see it in the world – in friends, family, neighbors and more. And then we might normalize – and prioritize – things like grace and patience, humility and each other, instead of what was “normal” before. And when that happens, our compassion will be stirred, like Jesus' was way back when. And we will begin to live and move and breathe and serve in the world, with joy, more meaningfully, beside still waters, perhaps, and mindful of our place in the midst of what all belongs to God, and resting assured in God's grace to care for every bit of it – and even for us, in the end.Amen

In this episode from the Sonrise Morning Show, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Holy Land tour leader, describes what it is like to sail on the Sea of Galilee and to look down upon it from the mountains and hills upon which Jesus prayed.  Surprising details about this body of water, also known as the Lake of Genessaret, that explain how sudden and violent storms can often arise that can catch even experienced mariners like Peter and the apostles off guard.

(1Kgs.8:1-7,9-13;   Ps.132:6-10;   Mk.6:53-56) “Let us enter into His dwelling, let us worship at His footstool.” “Advance, O Lord, to your resting place, you and the ark of your majesty.”  Yes, in our first reading, “the elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes” come to bring the ark of the Lord into the temple Solomon has built in Jerusalem.  “For the occasion [they] sacrificed before the ark sheep and oxen too many to number or count.”  When the ark was in its place in the holy of holies, “the Lord's glory… filled the temple” in the form of a cloud.  The Lord's presence had come to rest in this “princely house.”  But this shall not be a dwelling “where [He] may abide forever,” as Solomon says; for the eternal Temple is Jesus. In our gospel “crowds scurried about the adjacent area and began to bring in the sick on bedrolls” when the Lord and His disciples tied up their boat in Genessaret.  Here as everywhere He went “they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged Him to let them touch just the tassel of His cloak.”  Mark tells us, “All who touched Him got well.”  Here is the true Temple at work, a place where prayers are answered, where healing is known.  As the ark was placed “beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary,” so the Father has the angels spread their wings over His Son, guarding and blessing His every step.  As when the ark is brought in to the holy of holies, the Lord's glory fills the temple, so when He comes to us, when we but touch Him, we are filled with His presence and made whole.  As the Israelites crowded into the temple to offer sacrifice, so now all in need surround the Lord to share in the holy sacrifice of His Body and Blood. Here is the Temple not made by human hands, brothers and sisters.  Here is the Lord's eternal dwelling place.  Here is Jesus, the Son of God.  In all the tabernacles of all the churches throughout the world He rests, His presence abides.  Let us flock to Him.  Let us receive Him into our hearts and bodies.  Let us know His healing touch upon our souls.  Let us pray with our psalmist, “May your priests be clothed with justice; let your faithful ones shout merrily for joy.”  For here is His holy presence; here is the glory of the Lord.  Here He hears our prayers as we call upon His Name and worship before Him each day.  Here He enters in and makes His home with us, and so we, too, become temples of the Lord. ******* O LORD, may we but touch your Son and be healed, your cloud of glory filling our souls. YHWH, your Word has become flesh; the Law you inscribed on the two tablets of stone now walks among us in the Person of Jesus.  Here is the true Temple, your dwelling where you abide forever.  To Him should we come in praise and worship to find healing that we might rest with you. O LORD, make us holy as He is holy; let us enter your sanctuary, the wings of your angels spread above us for protection.  Yes, let us become as the Body of your Son as we partake of His Word and Sacrament here in your House.  To your Temple let us come that we might be temples ourselves. What should we not sacrifice to your glory?  What should occupy us but finding your Presence in our midst?  Should we not lay our sick souls at Jesus' feet; should we not seek to enter His tabernacle?  O let us enter your dwelling place and make our home in His flesh and blood!

(1Kgs.8:1-7,9-13;   Ps.132:6-10;   Mk.6:53-56) “Let us enter into His dwelling, let us worship at His footstool.” “Advance, O Lord, to your resting place, you and the ark of your majesty.”  Yes, in our first reading, “the elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes” come to bring the ark of the Lord into the temple Solomon has built in Jerusalem.  “For the occasion [they] sacrificed before the ark sheep and oxen too many to number or count.”  When the ark was in its place in the holy of holies, “the Lord's glory… filled the temple” in the form of a cloud.  The Lord's presence had come to rest in this “princely house.”  But this shall not be a dwelling “where [He] may abide forever,” as Solomon says; for the eternal Temple is Jesus. In our gospel “crowds scurried about the adjacent area and began to bring in the sick on bedrolls” when the Lord and His disciples tied up their boat in Genessaret.  Here as everywhere He went “they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged Him to let them touch just the tassel of His cloak.”  Mark tells us, “All who touched Him got well.”  Here is the true Temple at work, a place where prayers are answered, where healing is known.  As the ark was placed “beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary,” so the Father has the angels spread their wings over His Son, guarding and blessing His every step.  As when the ark is brought in to the holy of holies, the Lord's glory fills the temple, so when He comes to us, when we but touch Him, we are filled with His presence and made whole.  As the Israelites crowded into the temple to offer sacrifice, so now all in need surround the Lord to share in the holy sacrifice of His Body and Blood. Here is the Temple not made by human hands, brothers and sisters.  Here is the Lord's eternal dwelling place.  Here is Jesus, the Son of God.  In all the tabernacles of all the churches throughout the world He rests, His presence abides.  Let us flock to Him.  Let us receive Him into our hearts and bodies.  Let us know His healing touch upon our souls.  Let us pray with our psalmist, “May your priests be clothed with justice; let your faithful ones shout merrily for joy.”  For here is His holy presence; here is the glory of the Lord.  Here He hears our prayers as we call upon His Name and worship before Him each day.  Here He enters in and makes His home with us, and so we, too, become temples of the Lord. ******* O LORD, may we but touch your Son and be healed, your cloud of glory filling our souls. YHWH, your Word has become flesh; the Law you inscribed on the two tablets of stone now walks among us in the Person of Jesus.  Here is the true Temple, your dwelling where you abide forever.  To Him should we come in praise and worship to find healing that we might rest with you. O LORD, make us holy as He is holy; let us enter your sanctuary, the wings of your angels spread above us for protection.  Yes, let us become as the Body of your Son as we partake of His Word and Sacrament here in your House.  To your Temple let us come that we might be temples ourselves. What should we not sacrifice to your glory?  What should occupy us but finding your Presence in our midst?  Should we not lay our sick souls at Jesus' feet; should we not seek to enter His tabernacle?  O let us enter your dwelling place and make our home in His flesh and blood!

To get where we are going today in the latter half of chapter 15 we have to go backwards to go forwards. First let me show you on a map where these things take place then we can take a look at what Matthew is trying to share with us. Matthew and in fact Jesus leaves a trail of bread crumbs that bring us in the end to the momentous question posed by Jesus that forms the heart of this Gospel. Bread in fact forms the theme of this section of Matthews writing. The trail begins outside Bethsaida (5000 fed), moves to Genessaret (confrontation with the Pharisees over bread), moves to Tyre (Canaanite woman), Decopolis (4000 fed), Magadan (second confrontation), Bethsaida (the meaning of the circuit). So let’s look briefly at each crumb and then at the conclusion that is so important to us.

We continue in our study of Matthew’s Gospel with the 3rd of his stories on fear vs faith. It happens on the heels of the last. If you remember the disciples have had a really tough day. It started in Capernaum where they worked to near exhaustion and continued in the wilderness outside of Bethsaida where they witnessed and participated in the feeding of the 5,000. Mathew says immediately after that miracle Jesus “made the disciples get into the boat” and begin rowing toward Genessaret just southwest of Capernaum where they started. The journey would be one of about 4 miles – but it turned into a much longer journey.

Fr. Evan discusses Jesus healing in Genessaret and His contention with the Pharisees and Scribes.

The end of the sixth chapter, Jesus heals in Genessaret, start of chapter 7 and introduction to chapter, Jesus contends with Pharisees and Scribes.

01.) "You're Not Moving The Way You're Supposed To" - The Homosexuals 02.) "Teen Age Riot" - Sonic Youth 03.) "Over You" - The Soft Boys - - - - - 04.) "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley * - - - - - 05.) "Fake Palindromes" - Andrew Bird (album of the week) - - - - - 06.) "Genessaret (going out over 30,000 fathoms of water)" - Anathallo * - - - - - 07.) "Age Of Consent" - New Order 08.) "I Melt With You" - Modern English 09.) "Cut Dead" - Jesus & The Mary Chain 10.) "Disorder" - Joy Division - - - - - 11.) "Be Gentle With Me" - The Boy Least Likely To * - - - - - 12.) "See No Evil" - Television 13.) "Navvy" - Pere Ubu 14.) "The 15th" - Wire - - - - - 14.) "Eleau" - Tom Ze * - - - - - 15.) "Raised By Wolves" - Voxtrot 16.) "Hounds Of Love" - The Futureheads - - - - - 17.) "Chosen One" - The Concretes * - - - - - 18.) "Grass" - Animal Collective * - playlist songsThe 1980's: The time people thought they had reached technology's height, their hair styles were higher, cubes were cool, and music was romantic again. Savage synths, deep drums, lorn lost love lyricists, and angular guitars galore, 8o's popular music created a style in it's own. Hearts on headbands, it was a carthartic time.Listen Here