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Text of the page (random words):
relates to a miraculous meal today s lesson begins immediately after the end of that meal of barley loaves and fishes in last week s lesson jesus had been trying to find some solitude some away time so that he would be able to spend some time in prayer and communion with his father and also to have some time alone to grieve the loss of his cousin john the baptist who he had just found out had been murdered by herod but an enormous crowd of people had gathered jesus had compassion on them and spent the entire day healing the sick and eventually miraculously feeding that crowd of 10 000 or more people and we spoke about how jesus incorporated the disciples in every step of that miracle which is something that we will spend a little more time with later when our reading tells us that jesus made the disciples get into the boat it doesn t convey the force of the greek text strong s tells us that the word that matthew used is ἀναγκάζω hahn aaghn kà zo which means to force by threat or persuasion i don t think the disciples actually wanted to get on that boat without jesus but jesus commanded it in no uncertain terms likewise the word that matthew used to describe jesus sending the crowds away was the word that the ancient greeks used for divorce and so that was a forceful sending also and finally after a day s delay after sending everyone away jesus was able to get that solitude that he so seriously needed while jesus was alone praying our story tells us that the disciple s boat was a considerable distance from land when they began to be buffeted by waves because the wind was against them john s gospel tells us that they had rowed 3 to 4 miles before the storm arose and i ve spoken before about the geography of the sea of galilee and how storms can arise very quickly for such a relatively small lake the sea of galilee can have disproportionately fierce storms with strong winds that are intensified as they pass between two mountain ranges and these winds can produce up to twelve foot waves on that little lake in 1992 a storm on the sea of galilee caused 50 million worth of damage to the town of tiberius so some of these storms can be quite severe and even though several of the disciples were experienced fishermen these storms could be dangerous even for them and in the midst of this storm while the disciples are fighting the wind and trying to get to shore they look up and they see someone walking towards them on the water terrified they assume that it is a ghost but jesus immediately calls out to them saying take courage it is i don t be afraid but there is more to this statement than just jesus reassuring the disciples that it s him english syntax requires us to translate the greek into the words it is i but in the greek jesus words were ἐγώ εἰμι ego eye my which is literally i am and were we to translate those words into the hebrew we would end up with yahweh the name with which god identified himself to moses at the burning bush this wasn t so much jesus identifying himself as it was jesus making a declaration jesus was telling the disciples that in spite of appearances to the contrary they were safe in god s hands now the story of peter asking to come out and walk on the water is a pretty well known story but i think that a lot of times when we read this we are thinking that peter is testing jesus that peter is frightened and is asking for proof that it really is jesus who is walking towards them if you are really jesus let me walk towards you but peter s words would better be translated since you are jesus let me walk towards you here osborne paraphrases peter s comment as since you are lord over creation tell me to participate in your miraculous power 1 and interestingly when peter says this to jesus the word he that chooses that we are translating tell me is actually a greek word that was used to describe a proclamation that was made by a king peter is recognizing the authority of jesus to command him to do something impossible something miraculous my lectionary commentary says peter does not so much ask for supernatural powers as he asks to recognize that whatever jesus commands jesus makes possible the commands of jesus taken seriously create miracles they open an incredible reservoir of divine resources 2 peter along with the rest of the disciples had just been participants in something that was unmistakably a miracle the feeding of 10 000 or more people with five barley loaves and two fishes and so here we have peter who was probably still processing what it meant or how it felt to have jesus miraculous power working through him and peter very possibly wanted to see the limits of what god was capable of doing through him and here is where peter s failure becomes a powerful lesson for us our story tells us that peter initially does walk on the water that he is initially empowered to do the miraculous but as he walks on the water he sees the wind and the waves and he begins to sink and for the third time in our reading today we see that word immediately as jesus reaches out to save him and once again our english words fail us as jesus appears to reprimand peter for his lack of faith but that is not at all what jesus really did when jesus said you of little faith why did you doubt what jesus was saying really wasn t a rebuke you of little faith is from the greek ὀλιγόπιστε ooli gó peace tōs which is a compound word containing the words oligos which means low in quantity and pistis which means faith so jesus isn t commenting on a deficient faith from peter he is saying that peter s faith is still small not yet big enough to utilize the extent of the power that jesus will eventually through the holy spirit show through peter let s not forget that jesus once said that faith the size of a mustard seed could move mountains and let s face it peter did have enough faith to step out of that boat next when jesus asked why peter doubted jesus wasn t accusing peter of doubting him again the greek word used and i apologize for the abundance of greek lessons today but the word used was διστάζω dee stáh zo and διστάζω literally means to think two things at the same time strong s describes it as shifting between two positions or uncertainty at a crossroads peter was caught between an exercise of faith where he honestly believed that he could do anything that jesus commanded and the reality of the fact that what he was actually doing was flat out impossible he was walking on the water for goodness sake and not only that but don t forget that the storm was still raging and peter may have been contending with waves that were twice his size the break in his concentration was fully understandable but was also the reason for his sinking osborne says in the feeding miracle jesus wanted to involve the disciples in his authoritative act and this continues here when peter asked to walk on the water that was the response that jesus was looking for as long as peter focused on jesus he was able to take step after step on the water however when he turned to consider the earthly situation he failed and began to sink into the depths the entire new testament builds on this as victory over sin and temptation is completely related to the degree to which we are centered entirely on christ peter is the model disciple even in his failure he is an all too human figure struggling with his growing awareness of christ as do we all 3 as jesus led peter back to the boat and they both got in the storm subsided as quickly as it had begun and our story tells us that the disciples in the boat worshiped jesus saying truly you are the son of god we don t discover who jesus is in a day or a month or a year jesus revelation to us of who he is requires a lifetime of abiding in him but bit by bit experience by experience and miracle by miracle jesus reveals himself to us as the divine son of god and as we begin to understand who jesus is jesus will begin to use us he will begin to work through us he will begin to incorporate us into god s plan and the miracles that will result from that the miracles of changed lives the miracles of healed souls and bodies the miracles of compassion and kindness and generosity and justice will happen through us saunders asks us if we can sustain the imagination of god s new world 4 are we able to imagine what it is that god is capable of doing through us and if we can are we willing to let god use us as a part of his quest to reconcile the world to himself twice in the last two weeks we have read about things that were done that should have been impossible to do and yet they were done and the truly amazing thing is that they were done through the disciples jesus started with five loaves and two fish and then he empowered the disciples to hand out the bread and the fish and to keep handing out the bread and the fish until 10 000 or more people had eaten all that they could eat peter stepped out of a boat and walked on water in spite of gale force winds and waves that were breaking far over his head paul wrote to the church at philippi i can accomplish all things through christ who strengthens me all things the holy spirit is waiting waiting for us to ask god to incorporate us into his will waiting for us to believe that god can accomplish miraculous things through us waiting for us to imagine ourselves as a part of god s new world with god s power working through us to bring his love his peace his hope and his justice to the world let us make ourselves available to god let us echo the words of isaiah who said here i am lord send me 1 grant r osborne exegetical commentary on the new testament matthew pg 575 2 brueggemann cousar gaventa and newsome a lectionary commentary based on the nrsv year a pg 441 3 brueggemann cousar gaventa and newsome a lectionary commentary based on the nrsv year a pg 578 4 stanley p saunders preaching the gospel of matthew proclaiming god s presence pg 147 148 https jazzmancf wordpress com 2026 08 09 that sinking feeling feed 0 520 jazzmancf you give them something to eat https jazzmancf wordpress com 2026 08 02 you give them something to eat https jazzmancf wordpress com 2026 08 02 you give them something to eat respond sun 02 aug 2026 16 31 45 0000 http jazzmancf wordpress com p 518 matthew 14 13 21 august 2 2026 there is something unique about the miracle in this week s story something you may or may not ever have noticed before and if you haven t noticed don t feel bad it s something that i just discovered this week myself so let me set the stage immediately prior to our reading today we read that jesus cousin john the baptist had been imprisoned by herod antipas who was the tetrarch of judea essentially the king it seems that herod fell in love with his half brother philip s wife herodias and convinced her to divorce her husband so she could marry him according to jewish law this qualified as incest and was strictly forbidden but herod did it anyway as mel brooks once said it s good to be king but john the baptist took loud and persistent exception to this enraging both herod and herodias and so john was arrested herodias wanted herod to execute him but herod was afraid to do that because the people believed john to be a prophet nevertheless through some well known trickery herodias forced herod to execute john and just prior to the start of today s reading jesus had been notified of his cousin john s death our story opens with jesus climbing into a boat to try to escape the crowds so he could have a little solitude almost certainly due to his grief over losing his cousin but the crowds of people seeing where jesus was sailing went on foot and arrived at jesus destination before he did when jesus arrived our story tells us that he saw the crowds and had compassion on them actually the word that matthew uses is σπλαγχνίζομαι splock néws o my which means to be moved in one s bowels remembering that first century thought regarded the bowels as being the seat of the emotions in other words jesus was experiencing genuine anguish over the suffering confusion despair and spiritual lostness of those around him 1 and so instead of reacting with annoyance at the intrusion of the crowds upon his desire for solitude jesus responded with love healing all who were in need as it grew late in the evening the disciples were concerned about the crowds the time for the evening meal had come and gone and the people hadn t eaten the disciples had very little food among themselves and they knew that even if they could find a place to buy food feeding a crowd this size would probably cost a year s wages or more and so they approached jesus and advised him to send the people away so the people could go somewhere to find something to eat jesus answer to them was they don t have to go anywhere you give them something to eat and here is where the part of this miracle that is unique in all of the gospels begins to take shape at every point in this miracle it is not jesus who is doing the actual work it is the disciples it s the disciples who come up with the idea that the people need to eat it s the disciples who jesus commands to feed the people it s the disciples who come up with the five barley loaves and the two fishes it s the disciples who distribute the food which jesus has blessed and it s the disciples who gather up twelve baskets of leftovers after everyone has eaten all they could eat and so from start to finish the disciples played a critical role in this miracle jesus immersed the disciples in this miracle because he knew that the disciples had a valuable lesson that they would be able learn from their experience and this is a lesson that can speak to us today as well the lesson that the disciples learned is that it wasn t they who fed the multitudes it was they who had been empowered to feed the multitudes on their own 5 loaves and 2 fishes wouldn t even have fed the disciples themselves much less the 10 000 or more people who were there once you counted the women and children and yet with jesus blessing they got to see how a little became way more than enough how many times have we faced problems in our lives when we thought that there was just no possible solution to the problem how many times have we seen something that has moved us in spirit causing us to wish that we could do something anything to help and yet we feel paralyzed because the issues just seem to be insurmountable far too much for one person to be able to do anything of consequence to help it happens right it s just like trying to feed 10 000 and some people with five loaves and two fishes some things in this world poverty hunger homelessness illness loneliness are problems that are so pervasive that more often than not all that we may feel able to do is to despair over the fact that we lack the resources to do anything that really will make a difference or do we because maybe just maybe the solution to those kinds of problems can be found in 5...
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