{"id":19,"date":"2014-05-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/2014\/05\/07\/sunday-july-29th-2012-bread-of-life-1\/"},"modified":"2014-05-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-07T00:00:00","slug":"sunday-july-29th-2012-bread-of-life-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/2014\/05\/07\/sunday-july-29th-2012-bread-of-life-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday July 29th 2012 &#8211; Bread of life 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"imgPusher\" style=\"float:left;height:0px\"><\/span><span style=\"z-index:10;position:relative;float:left;;clear:left;margin-top:0px;*margin-top:0px\"><a><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theword-this-week.weebly.com\/\/uploads\/4\/1\/5\/2\/4152650\/934093.jpg?366\" style=\"margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; border-width:1px;padding:3px;\" alt=\"Picture\" class=\"galleryImageBorder\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: block; font-size: 90%; margin-top: -10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;\">Mosaic of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. Photo \u00a9 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pbase.com\/dosseman\/istanbul_kariye\">Dick Osseman. <\/a><\/div>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<div class=\"paragraph\" style=\"text-align:left;display:block;\"><font size=\"3\"><strong><strong>The Word This Week:<\/strong><\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n<ul style=\"\">\n<li style=\"\"><a title=\"\" style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=212#hebrew_reading\">2 Samuel 11:1-15<\/a> and <a title=\"\" style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=212#psalm_reading\">Psalm 14<\/a>\u00a0 <em>OR<\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"\"><a title=\"\" style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=212#hebrew_oth_reading\">2 Kings 4:42-44<\/a> and <a title=\"\" style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=212#psalm_oth_reading\">Psalm 145:10-18<\/a>\u00a0 <\/li>\n<li style=\"\"><a title=\"\" style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=212#epistle_reading\">Ephesians 3:14-21<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0<\/li>\n<li style=\"\"><a title=\"\" style=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu\/texts.php?id=212#gospel_reading\">John 6:1-21<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span><\/span><font size=\"4\"><strong>Thoughts on the Word:<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"3\"><strong>John 6:1-21     <\/strong><\/font><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><strong>After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to  Philip, \u201cWhere are we to buy bread for these people to eat?\u201d He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, \u201cSix months\u2019 wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.\u201d One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter\u2019s brother, said to him, \u201cThere is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?\u201d Jesus said, \u201cMake the people sit down.\u201d Now there was a great deal of  grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed  them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they  wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, \u201cGather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.\u201d So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley  loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, \u201cThis is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.\u201d <br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span><br \/><span style=\"\"><\/span>When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by  force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on  the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, \u201cIt is I; do not be afraid.\u201d Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>The reading for this week takes us into the 6th chapter of the Gospel according to St. John.\u00a0 The 6th chapter of John is an interesting read &#8211; and is better read as a whole chapter<\/span>, however in following the lectionary we will do it in 5 parts over the coming weeks.<br \/><span><\/span><br \/>The multiplication of the loaves and fishes is a miracle that serves two purposes.\u00a0 First it demonstrates to us the importance of sharing what we have with those in need &#8211; and how our own small offering can be multiplied manifold by God.\u00a0 It is something we often hear said &#8211; I am but one person what can I do.\u00a0 Well here in this story we see just one small boy with a basket of loaves and fishes to offer.\u00a0 He gives them over to Jesus, and through a miracle that can only be the work of God incarnate, this small and almost insignificant offering is multiplied and feeds a hungry crowd of 5000 people.\u00a0\u00a0 Likewise when we give of ourselves, our time and treasures to serve the kingdom of God, they are multiplied manifold.\u00a0 Never doubt the importance giving your time can have in the lives of people, ten minutes of listening to someone is only ten minutes to you &#8211; but it can mean a lot more to that person. Giving what you can in the plate at church each week, may be small in the scheme of things, but it contributes to saving the eternal lives of countless people through the work of the church.\u00a0 God can use whatever we can give, no offering is to small to be used by God who is capable of doing the greatest good with the least of what we give. <\/p>\n<p><span>The second purpose this story serves is to tell us something very important about Jesus.\u00a0 When we read this portion in conjunction with the rest of John 6 we see that the whole discourse is geared to tell us something about Jesus.\u00a0 It begins with today&#8217;s reading &#8211; Jesus asks Phillip where they could buy bread to feed the crowd &#8211; Phillip responds as you would expect most people would to such a question &#8211; he simply refers to the extravagant cost of such a suggestion.\u00a0 It would cost 6 months wages to feed this many people! His implication is of course that it simply can&#8217;t be done.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Jesus though wasn&#8217;t really concerned with how they would feed the crowd &#8211; he knew that he could provide for their physical nourishment.\u00a0 What he was hoping to get from Phillip was an answer something akin to &#8216;<\/span>you are all they need Jesus!&#8217;.\u00a0 As we will see over the coming weeks Jesus was wanting people to understand something &#8211; that he was and would be the source of all nourishment for humanity. He wanted people to understand that he would provide himself as the life giving bread, the bread that gives eternal life.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p><span>As we continue our journey over the coming weeks, I ask that you consider deeply the 6th chapter of John as a whole, as well as in the separate parts we read each week.\u00a0 There is a very special message in this chapter &#8211; Jesus is truly the bread of life, he is the source of our hope, our future and our eternity, and he offers himself to us for our spiritual nourishment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>God Bless You<\/span>!<br \/><span>Daryl.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/div>\n<hr style=\"width:100%;clear:both;visibility:hidden;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mosaic of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. Photo \u00a9 Dick Osseman. The Word This Week: 2 Samuel 11:1-15 and Psalm 14\u00a0 OR 2 Kings 4:42-44 and Psalm 145:10-18\u00a0 Ephesians 3:14-21\u00a0\u00a0\u2022\u00a0 John 6:1-21 Thoughts on the Word: John 6:1-21 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/2014\/05\/07\/sunday-july-29th-2012-bread-of-life-1\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Sunday July 29th 2012 &#8211; Bread of life 1&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewordthisweek.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}