2130AFC072321 – Jesus would go
Read it online here, please. And please, when you visit there, use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
John 6:13 – 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.
May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Today I want to give you a bit of Local History along with biblical greatness.
Pictured above is the double-hull voyaging canoe called Hokuleʻa. The word Hokuleʻa translates as “Star of Gladness.” The man shown here is Eddie Aikau. He was born on Maui and later moved to Oʻahu. In 1968, Eddie was the first lifeguard posted to the North Shore of Oʻahu. During his tenure there not one life was lost, and Eddie saved at least 500 people. He would go out to rescue even in the worst conditions, sometimes swimming through or over waves twenty-feet high to save a life. He was also an exceptional surfing champion and was well-known for challenging the biggest of waves when other surfers decided to just watch the surf rather than ride it. Sometimes when watching big wave, people would say, “Br’ah (pidgin for Bruddah, Brother), that’s too big for me, but ‘Eddie would go.'” In 1977, he won the esteemed Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship. In 1976, the Polynesian Voyaging Society successfully completed a 2,500 mile journey from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti. The objective was to show that the trip could be made in a canoe based on an ancient design and guided only by the stars, the sea, and the animals in and above the sea. There were no “modern” navigational instruments aboard. (That is still the case today.) In March of 1978, another voyage to Tahiti was planned, but early on in the journey, one hull started leaking. There was also a powerful storm. The canoe soon capsized, turned over, and began to break up about 7 miles off the coast of Maui. Eddie volunteered to paddle out on his surf board to get help on Maui. A coast guard plane later spotted the wrecked canoe and the other crew members were rescued. Eddie was never seen again. “Eddie would go” took on an even deeper meaning. Eddie never backed down from the tough challenges when it came to using his formidable skills to save a life. And that is why I want you to understand how I mean it when I say “Jesus would go.”
In Sunday’s Gospel reading, we have the story of the feeding of the five-thousand (plus women and children). The Gospels record 37 of Jesus’ miracles, and this is the only one that is in all four Gospels. You can find the accounts of this miracle in Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:31-44, Luke 9:12-17, and John 6:1-14). In Matthew, Mark, and Luke the narrative says that Jesus took “the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.” (See Matthew 14:19) Jesus went to them with food for their journey, and the Disciples participated in the miracle.
Jesus and the Disciples were tired and hungry after another long trip across the Sea of Galilee. Somehow people had figured out where they were headed and they got there before him. The Apostle John mentions that the eight-day Passover Festival was near. When Jesus and his Disciples disembarked, Jesus saw the vast crowd and realized he would be going up the mountain to help them. In this account, he also asks Phillip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” Jesus already knew what he was going to do, but Phillip’s answer shows that he thought feeding that vast crowd would be as impossible as scraping up a year and eight months worth of wages to buy bread – in short, impossible.
The mention of the Passover is important, because Jesus knows he is now on his way to Jerusalem. Awaiting him there was a tidal wave of suffering and death. The Disciples did not understand this. As the journey continued, he told them how he would be captured, tortured to death and die, and then return to them on the third day. They still did not understand. Someone needed to face the most horrifying, painful, degrading death for the completion of God’s plan of Salvation, and Br’ah, Jesus would go. It was too much for any of them … then. Later on, they all were martyred with the possible exception of the Apostle John.
No matter how tired, or hungry, or cold, or hot, or wet, or dry or any such thing, Jesus would go to bring the Good News. And, up until that night in Gethsemane, so did the Disciples. His path was too big for them, but Jesus would go. Even though he knew what was coming upon him, he went. We’ve often said here, “There’s no Easter without Calvary.” The question we might want to ask ourselves would be “Will I go?” Can I make it all the way to Calvary without chickening out? Can I be baptized with the baptism Jesus and his Disciples received? Will I go when I am needed? And here’s another important part of that discernment: Will I be a participant in the miracles along the way?
Double-check the Key Verse for today. What happened to the loaves and fishes? There were 12 basketsful left. How much is a basketful? Well, based on the Greek work used – κόφινος kophinos {kof’-ee-nos} – it would be a small- to medium-sized basket like one would use for a shopping bag or picnic basket. This is in contrast to another type of basket in Scripture called a σπυρίς (spuris) {spoo-rece’} which is a large flexible basket used for carrying provisions on a journey, perhaps lashed to a donkey. It is the type of basket used to help the Apostle Paul escape from Damascus when the Disciples lowered him over the wall. There was a twelve-fold blessing on that day. God had often promised a ten-fold increase, but twelve is significantly more. It also represents the Twelve Tribes of Israel, all of whom can be “fed” in spirit by the atonement of Christ.
You may recall that in another miraculous feeding, there were 4,000 fed, and there were seven loaves with a few small fish. The leftovers filled seven baskets full. See Matthew 15:32-39 and Mark 8:1-13 for the details. In this miracle, Jesus has preserved for us the distinction God was planning to reconcile together in Jesus through his death. The seven baskets represent the seven Gentile nations who would also be “fed” in spirit by the atonement of Christ. Thus, in these two miraculous events, we see that Christ has gone forward toward his death in Jerusalem, and along the way he has provided for the entire world to be strengthened in his Spirit by receiving his Body and Blood. God also provided for the Disciples to be participants in that. In the same way that they took the miraculously- multiplied food and passed it forward to the crowds. Personally I believe that in the groups of families seated on the grass in both occasions, family members shared the bread and fish with each other.
It is exactly what we are supposed to do with the Gospel: Be fed and feed others by passing it forward. Belovéd, there will be a 12-fold blessing for that. When we do such things, when we have compassion for others and act to relieve their suffering, to redeem their lives from the waves of death, destruction, and destitution, then we are like Eddie. It’s not too big for us. Eddie would go. Jesus would go. Fill in the blank here with your name: “________ would go.” Will you, will I, will we be the one? You know it’s not just “the other” that needs to be saved through heroic compliance. We have responsibilities for ourselves in our service to God.
We know that God promises an increase when we honor him with our tithes. Let’s look at Malachi 3:10 – 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing. What is the purpose of this tithe? God says, “so that there may be food in my house.” We give of our lives so that others can be fed. Your church-offering envelope is the gift wrap for your gift back to God and his community – you congregation, your Parish, your church on Earth. 
Do you remember this one? Part of our mission is to provide for others to be fed – spiritually, of course, but also mentally, physically, and emotionally. We feed not just ourselves, our family, or our “church family. We are to feed (and clothe and shelter and safeguard) GOD’S FAMILY. WHEN (if?) we do that, God blesses us with an increase 10-, 12-, 30- or even 100-fold. Now folks, that’s a bargain! But wait! There’s more!
What we get back is measured out with unsurpassed generosity! We will go to Luke 6:38 for an example. Jesus said, “38 give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” Just think about the times when, at Jesus’ command, others would go. Here’s one I particularly love. It’s in Luke 5:4-7 – 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. Jesus not only told the Apostle Peter to “keep on fishing,” but also told him “Go farther into the deep water.” Peter did not say, “Br’ah, that’s too far and too deep for me.” Instead he did as Jesus commanded. Jesus said “go,” and obedience brought blessings beyond measure. That is the wage of obedience – Life. We also know the wage of disobedience. Here are two verses that show us how that works out: Romans 6:23 – 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 Thessalonians 2:15c-16 – they displease God and oppose everyone 16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they have constantly been filling up the measure of their sins; but God’s wrath has overtaken them at last. Remember, as with the measure of graces for obedience, the bigger the measure used for sin an even greater measure will be returned. You might ask, “Is that really the way it goes?” Here’s one more for us: Proverbs 11:24 – 24 Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due, and only suffer want. When God says, “GO,” we must go where and how he sends us; when we do all ends well as in Deuteronomy 1:8, 11 – 8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land that I[a] swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.” 11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times more and bless you, as he has promised you! But we all know what happened. Aaron chickened out and gave into the murmuring mixed multitude by creating the odious Golden Calf. A journey that should have been only eleven days long (from Egypt to Canaan) became a 40-year excursion that wiped out a rebellious generation. Instead of going forward in faith and charity, they basically lost everything except the Love of God and his promise to provide for them in the end.
Their chastisement should be a lesson for us. What is the measure of the sin in our lives, in the lives of our Nation, in the lives of our World? Jesus would go where God commands. Who’s next to step up, dive in, and go? What wealth of blessings will come from going?
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
