DAILY GRACE
April 27, 2020, Monday in the Third Week of Easter
Scripture: John 6:22-29
The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”
Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation
“. . . Rabbi, when did you come here?”
Have you ever asked someone a question only to receive a reply that just didn’t fit? That’s what happened to the people questioning Jesus. They asked a straightforward question: “When did you come here?” If I had asked that question I would have been looking for an answer like, “6:00 a.m.” Wouldn’t you?
But Jesus’ response? “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” If I had heard that, I would have scratched my head and thought “What?” To a simple question we get a solemn “Very truly” response — a response that says, “What I am about to say is so true that I’m willing to swear to its veracity.” Translation: Jesus knows why we came here in the first place. We don’t really want to know what time he came here. But we would like some more bread.
Jesus continues by encouraging the people to work for food that “endures for eternal life.” Then they ask him: “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus again gives an interesting response: believe in the one whom God has sent.” But that’s not doing anything —- not accomplishing anything at all! What kind of response is that?
This dialogue mimics our own dialogue with God. Sometimes when I’ve asked God questions, the answers didn’t seem to fit. But then I discover that, strangely enough, the response satisfies me . . . when I approach it with openness and belief. I have to believe that the Person to whom I have put my question is not only ready to swear to the veracity of the response —- but also that that Person is Truth itself.
Prayer
Lord, I struggle at times with the responses that I receive to the questions I ask you. Sometimes the responses I receive don’t seem like responses at all, but only lead me into asking more questions. Other times the responses just don’t seem to fit. Grant me your Spirit’s gift of understanding, so that I may see that your responses answer the questions I was really asking in the first place —questions I didn’t have the courage to either acknowledge or direct to you. Amen.
Contemplation
Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.