Again?

• Second Sunday of Easter

With Matthew 15:29-39 and Acts 4:32-35

• Last week Easter message about God’s power and desire to make all things new.
Today’s passage sounds like a re-run of the feeding of the five thousand, narratively just a few days ago in chapter 14.

• There are some “take-home points” but first…

• Robert Frost poem 1936 

    I turned to speak to God                   God turned to speak to me
    about the world’s despair                  (don’t anybody laugh)
    but to make bad matters worse         God found *I* wasn’t there
    I found God wasn’t there.                  at least not over half.

I find this poem both funny and haunting.
A person asked God
Why is there suffering/hunger/poverty/injustice, God?
Why do you allow it to happen? 

God’s response: Yes, why DO you let it happen?

• There’s a partnership God invites us into / expects of us / designed us for. And what Jesus has to offer is so compelling that people go hungry just to be near him.

• Last time disciples said send them away.
This time Jesus takes initiative: compassion.
The disciples have opportunity to remember or to demonstrate faith (here’s our bread, Lord, will you bless it?) but they question, instead. Jesus does not reprimand but nurtures, encourages…

And the Eucharistic formula is seen again, Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it, gives it, and the people eat and are satisfied. By the way, Matthew is telling us here that people who strive to follow Jesus (go hungry for) will be satisfied.

• And I don’t want to go too hard on the disciples – God knows there are plenty of times *I* need to be told something more than once – but we are also witnessing the disciples blooming… sneak peak ahead: in chapter 16 confession of Jesus as Messiah.

• 4K fed, 7 baskets of leftovers. Some commentators have suggested that the numbers 5K and 12 are numbers signifying the Jews, and that 4K and 7 signify the Gentiles, and that the retelling of the story demonstrates how Jesus came for all, but that’s more of an interesting possibility than main take-home point.

• Last little tidbit here… Last week was Easter, and every Sunday is a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. We need reminded, and we need to re-proclaim, just like we wear our school colors on a weekly or daily basis… Disciples needed a reminder from Jesus just a few days after feeding 5K that he was Messiah, that in him the lame walk, the blind see, the mute speak, the crippled are made well, and that in him and in partnership with him, the impossible happens. And so we sing Christ is Alive…

• Hymn 318 Christ Is Alive

Matthew 15:29-39        (CEB)        Second Sunday of Easter 04/12/15

²⁹ Jesus moved on from there along the shore of the Galilee Sea. He went up a mountain and sat down. ³⁰ Large crowds came to him, including those who were paralyzed, blind, injured, and unable to speak, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. ³¹ So the crowd was amazed when they saw those who had been unable to speak talking, and the paralyzed cured, and the injured walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

³² Now Jesus called his disciples and said, “I feel sorry for the crowd because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry for fear they won’t have enough strength to travel.”

³³ His disciples replied, “Where are we going to get enough food in this wilderness to satisfy such a big crowd?”

³⁴ Jesus said, “How much bread do you have?”

They responded, “Seven loaves and a few fish.”

³⁵ He told the crowd to sit on the ground. ³⁶ He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish. After he gave thanks, he broke them into pieces and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ³⁷ Everyone ate until they were full. The disciples collected seven baskets full of leftovers. ³⁸ Four thousand men ate, plus women and children. ³⁹ After dismissing the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.

Acts 4:32-35        (CEB)        Second Sunday of Easter                      04/12/15

³² The community of believers was one in heart and mind. None of them would say, “This is mine!” about any of their possessions, but held everything in common. ³³ The apostles continued to bear powerful witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and an abundance of grace was at work among them all. ³⁴There were no needy persons among them. Those who owned properties or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds from the sales, ³⁵ and place them in the care and under the authority of the apostles. Then it was distributed to anyone who was in need.