Isaiah 49:1–16
St. John 6:1–15
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
So, how are you doing? Really, how did this week go for you? You’re probably stuck at home, and maybe there’s a bit more tension. Maybe you have bigger worries about when you’ll be able to get back to work, when things will get back to normal. Or let me also ask this: how is this Lent going for you? How are your prayers going? ARE they going? How about your fasting? How about your giving? To your church or to others in need? Really, how are you doing? Do you feel like you’re in a wilderness yet? Is your prayer life stagnant? Is your patience dried up?
Jesus was in a desolate place, with an enormous crowd. They were in the wilderness, no place to get food. They were tired, they were hungry. They were like sheep without a shepherd. But Jesus had compassion on them (Mark 6:34). He gave them refreshment. He revived them, sustained them. He gave them what they needed with even more left over.
The Son of God became Man, and even though He is without sin, He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He knows what an empty belly feels like. He knows what it feels like to be tempted to worry, to doubt, or to be afraid. Jesus knows what we need better than we do. And He gives it. During the wilderness of Lent, we have this Sunday for rejoicing, for a bit of refreshment. During life in this desolate world, Jesus still provides refreshment, a reason to rejoice and carry on. He provides the food and the strength to rejoice and carry on. You may be getting by with a bit less these past days. You may have to get by with even less in the days to come. But Jesus knows your weakness, and He will provide what you need.
But having gotten their miraculous bread for the day, that crowd wasn’t satisfied. Like all sinful men, they got a taste of something good and just wanted to stuff themselves with more. And they didn’t want more of Jesus Himself. They just wanted more bread—easy bread, free bread. They wanted full bellies so that they could forget about life and death, and act like this life on earth is all there is. That’s not why Jesus came. He was their king, but not in the way they wanted a king. There is more to life than bread and fish. There is more to life than this earthly existence. Real life is found somewhere else.
Perceiving then that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself. He wasn’t going to let them control Him or make Him into just another earthly king for this earthly life. He had come with a very different job to do, a very different throne and crown and kingdom.
But Jesus didn’t retreat only to get away from the crowd’s greedy and sinful demands. In Mark’s Gospel, it says that Jesus left the crowd and went up on the mountain to pray (Mark 6:46). Jesus often did this. Sometimes He took His disciples, and other times He went by Himself. Although Jesus is true God, He is also true Man, and He did not always use His full divine powers. Jesus got exhausted. He also needed rest and refreshment. Jesus went away to pray to His Father, to commune with His Father, to meditate on His Father’s Word. Even for Jesus, His real food, His real life, came from receiving it from His Father—hearing His Father, and speaking to His Father.
Jesus also wants to provide this same kind of refreshment for you. He will feed you and clothe you, to be sure. Your heavenly Father knows you need all those things. But the greatest food, the greatest comfort, the thing that will take away worry and fear—that is rest with Jesus, communion with Your Father—hearing the Words He speaks in the Scriptures, and speaking back to Him in prayer.
This is refreshment that gets you through the dry times. When all other helpers fail and comforts flee, the Help of the Helpless is our Lord Jesus Christ who gives us His never-failing Word and His never-ending access to our Father. It’s only natural, and all too common, for sinners like you and me to feel like we are failing in our prayers, our devotion to God, or in so many other areas of our lives. We didn’t plan for this, we haven’t done enough about that, and we can’t possibly know what’s going to happen next. All these worries and failures will just keep piling up the more we try to solve them on our own with our own power.
Instead, go find rest with Jesus. Put the worry, the need in His hands. Ask your heavenly Father for what you need, not only for your earthly goods, but for that life of peace and joy that He provides through His Word and Sacrament. Go ahead and ask Him, that no matter what happens, that He would be with you, that He would sustain you, feed you, give you strength to meet whatever comes next. He has promised to answer that prayer. It’s there for the taking.
But also realize that this is not the same as asking God to make your life go back to normal. He will give you strength and peace and faith, but that doesn’t mean He will simply fix or remove every obstacle you face. It may be He is giving you a cross to bear, a test to undergo. But that means it’s also good for you, because it comes from your Father. We are so earthly minded, we must always be reminded that our hope is not that things would go back to the way they were.
We may all be struggling in different ways right now. But for the most part, we are being given a very small test. Yes, there are many inconveniences for most of us. And there is a great deal of uncertainty with how long this pandemic will last or what it will mean for the future. My heart especially breaks for those in our nursing homes—they’re lonely, they can’t see their families or their pastor. And there are many people in our country who have already lost their jobs. So, I don’t mean to make light of any of this. But when you compare this sickness and quarantine to the great challenges people have faced in other generations, you can see that this is a pretty small test from God. And then you can also see that our big reaction to this test shows just how small our hope really is.
Our hope cannot be for this world and this life only. Jesus was not content with just keeping the bread and fish coming. He was not content with being their king when they felt like it, or for what they wanted. He left them, to be refreshed with the true spiritual food from His Father, and to go on from there, to do something far greater than feeding several thousand people. If we have faith and hope in Jesus then our hope must be for something better, something greater as well.
This test that we are undergoing as a nation, as a community, as a church, as families, this test is telling us, no matter who are: repent. We are distracted by bread and fish and a comfortable life. This sickness and all of its awful consequences is a sign of God’s judgment. So it’s time to confess our sins, and realize where our true life is found. And then also hear the gracious words of our Lord and Savior: “I forgive you. I came that you may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). In Jesus you will find the refreshment you need. In His Word and in prayer, He will sustain your life in ways that go beyond any tests or trials, worries or doubts.
You need the Word of God and prayer. And don’t hear that in a “you better do this” kinda way. But, really, “You’re gonna love this. It’s going to be so good for you.” It’s like giving you free tickets for a vacation—you need this. Hearing Jesus and His Father and the Spirit speaking to you in the Word, and then speaking back in prayer… that’s good for you in ways you don’t know or can even expect.
The crowds didn’t know what better thing Jesus had in store for them. They could only see as far as their next meal. We can’t see our whole lives either. The fact is, we don’t know what normal will really look like in a month or two or six. But that’s okay, when you’ve got Jesus. You just keep working at those good disciplines He’s teaching you: fasting when you need to fast; giving what you can to those who need it; and praying to your Father all the time. You chip away at those, and your God will work out the details. He can bring you to a new normal that you never would’ve imagined, but will also be that much better.
I’ll leave you today with the promise we get from the Lord in the Old Testament Reading. Israel was saying, “God has forgotten us. He doesn’t care.” “No way,” says the Lord Jesus. “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Yeah, sometimes even mothers forget their children, or even abandon them. Yet I will not forget you,” says Jesus. “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands.”
That’s the better thing Jesus had to do, better than making more bread or curing every sickness. That’s how He is and remains your true King, with a cross for His throne, thorns for His crown, nail marks in His hands. There’s His love for you, engraved forever in His wounds. And He welcomes you into this far greater kingdom, where He provides everything you need, now and forever.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
Preached for YouTube Service at Immanuel, Charlotte, IA & on the radio in Clinton, IA
