Laetare Sunday, The Fourth Sunday in Lent, 2020
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Hymn #21 Jehovah Let Me Now Adore Thee (by Crasselius)
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #316 O Living Bread from Heaven
Moses Foreshadowed Jesus
The Communion Hymn #388 Just As I Am (Elliot)
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn # 50 Lord Dismiss Us
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| By Norma A. Boeckler |
Prayers and Announcements
- Treatment and recovery - Rush Limbaugh, Kermit Way, Christina Jackson. Recovery - John Hicks.
- In the last stage of cancer and heart disease - Tom Fulcher, Diane Popp's brother-in-law.
- Surgery - Randy Anderson, Andrea's father.
- Two brothers, both with health issues.
- Pray for our country as the major trials begin.
- Wednesdays are Vespers at 7 PM, followed by The Gospel of John in Greek, starting slowly for newcomers.
- Pastor Palangyos started on enclosing the chapel and hiring the welding crew, but no vehicles can move now.
KJV Galatians 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
KJV John 6:1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. 5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
Fourth Sunday In Lent
Lord God, heavenly Father, who by Thy Son didst feed five thousand men in the desert with five loaves and two fishes: We beseech Thee to abide graciously also with us in the fullness of Thy blessing. Preserve us from avarice and the cares of this life, that we may seek first Thy kingdom and Thy righteousness, and in all things perceive Thy fatherly goodness, through Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God world without end. Amen.
Background for the Gospel Sermon, John 6
The Old Testament is chiefly there for laying the groundwork for the New Testament. The Fourth Gospel is my favorite example but we can also cite Matthew, which has five clear divisions, like the Five Books of Moses, the Torah, and is clearly reflective of the Old Testament prophesies.
Hebrews and Revelation are also highly reflective of Old Testament themes, or to be more direct - the Old Testament was written especially for those works.
Moses, the Exodus and John
- Exodus 3 - God is I AM. John 8 - Jesus says, before Abraham was I AM.
- The blood of the lamb was spread on the doorposts to keep the angel of death away, before the Exodus.
- The passover meal is still centered around the spotless lamb sacrificed for the meal, fulfilled in the crucifixion.
- The Son of God followed the Exodus.
- Moses struck the rock and brought forth water, not unlike the living water spoken of by Jesus in John 4.
- Moses brought down bread from heaven to feed the Israelites, the theme of John 6 - Jesus as the true bread from heaven.
- Moses had the serpent lifted up to heal the Israelites. Jesus cited that example to show He is the fulfillment - lifted up in a similar way.
Old and New Testaments are truly woven together, because one is directly related to the other. Modernist scholars scoff at this, but they are no different from the crowds who saw the miracles and demanded more. Jesus' crowds did not believe His Word, then said, "Make us believe You with another miracle." Unbelievers do not see miracles, and miracles happen all the time. They are examples of God doing something that leaves human reason, science, and all past experiences wondering.
Unbelievers see this miracle and say, "But I do not believe it." And that is the issue. They cannot give God credit for millions of intricate engineering marvels they see in front of them, in the soil, in the flowers, in the human body. A mechanic fixed the surgeon's car and said, "I do a lot of work just like yours. I fix leaks. I replace parts. I should get paid like you." The surgeon said, "Fine, let me watch you do that with the engine running."
What God reveals to build our faith will blind and harden those who obstinately refuse to see it. As the atheist says in Pilgrim's Progress, "I have studied religion all my life, and I am more against it than ever before." The statement - on its own - is a funny revelation.
Every detail in the Old Testament is there to build our trust in God and His mercy through His Son Jesus Christ. The more we know the Old Testament, the more we appreciate the New Testament and see those veins of gold in the ancient books of Judaism.
Moses Foreshadowed Jesus
KJV John 6:1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
Jesus and the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee in a boat. Instead of dispersing, the crowd followed Him, working their way around the sea. They followed Him because of the miracles He performed on the sick.
This is an important aspect of this chapter in John's Gospel - what did they believe and what caused them to follow Jesus? The healing of the sick was a great attraction. Who would not want to continue in the hopes of seeing a member of the family cured?
As the chapter explains, these were the first cafeteria Christians. They did not want the entire message. Instead, they wanted to pick what was appealing to them - great, astonishing miracles from God - but not what He was teaching. Both went together, which is still a challenge today. They believed the miracles they saw with their own eyes, but rejected the teaching which came from the same source, the Son of God acting in concert with the Father. Today, people believe the teaching - or claim they do - and reject the miracles, in spite of countless affirmations of the power of God over the centuries since then. In addition, we have the testimonies of many great men and women about the power of the Word.
Yesterday I asked my Old Testament class, since we are discussing hymns, "What happened to the Methodists? They were known for their great hymns of faith. Now they are paying the conservatives $25 million to leave." Each era and tradition has left behind great hymns of faith because of the struggles of the time.
John Wesley and his brother Charles were not sure of their salvation, though both were ordained pastors and trained at Oxford in theology.
“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans."
Charles wrote a hymn about his conversion -
5 No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th'eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bartholomaeus Crasselius, #21 for today, wrote a hymn that is sung around the world - "Jehovah, Let Me Now Adore Thee." He was a student at Halle, so he belongs to the era of Pietism, which inspired a great number of new hymns. Many references to this hymn are found on YouTube - from Japanese Christians.
The conclusion of this miracle in the desert is many "disciples" rejecting Jesus because of His "hard saying."
60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
60 πολλοι ουν ακουσαντες εκ των μαθητων αυτου ειπον σκληρος εστιν ουτος ο λογος τις δυναται αυτου ακουειν
3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
This is His third passover, his third year in His public ministry. Because they arrived by boat, they had time to rest and watch the large crowd walk along the shore toward them. They were higher up and could see them easily.
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
This is an interesting contrast. Jesus was well known for healing people, and that is what moved people to follow Him. In listening to His divine Word, they also believed in Him as the promised Savior, Messiah, Son of God. But what does that imply? Jesus challenged or tested Philip by asking him about miraculous food. Surely the One who healed could also feed. He asked Philip to give us a public statement of his disciple's rationalism.
We are in exactly the same kind of era. Many have all the signs of Christianity associated with them - churches, hymnals, Bibles, even a streaming video account. Some ELDONA people asked about video, so I explained the basics - a camera, a computer, and an Internet connection. A pastor said, "But that costeth money. Who therefore shalt be able to afford such?"
7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
Philip's answer is in line with the objection to streaming God's Word around the world for a pittance. Philip is being entirely reasonable and not foolish.
As Jesus said in another situation, "Count the cost." Calvinists have a tradition of applying human reason to the Word (which leads them into explaining away the miracle). I have never heard of a financial committee in a parish giving a positive report. Even in Midland, Michigan, where pay was exceptionally high, I felt obliged to call them "The Bad News Bears." Someone observed that if the finance committee gave their report first at council meetings, everyone would always be too depressed to suggest anything.
Pastor and Mrs. Palangyos started with the idea of taking the Gospel to their own people in the Philippines, in their own language. They began with nothing. Some land was donated. Funds allowed the start of a chapel. That is not how denominations start missions in America. Denominations start with the idea of spending $1 million or more on choice land plus a generic building. The whole property later sold for a large profit for the denomination. There is little room for faith - that is a business deal.
The Philippine mission is an example of faith in the Word first, the practical benefits following. Now the world virus situation prevents the most basic travel, so work is paused. And yet we can see their proclamation work continuing because they did not say, like Philip, "How is that possible to even do a little?"
Lenski, Gospel of John, p. 431
He had not forgotten by any means but had purposely waited until this time, when at last something had to be done. And he had purposely waited until the disciples could keep still no longer, until they felt that they must take the initiative. But now that they do so, none of them musters faith enough to think that perhaps Jesus himself intended to feed these people and that for this reason he had taught and healed until so late an hour.
We have to sympathize with the disciples. They had traveled a distance. They began to feel the hunger and to worry about sending the crowd away in time for individuals to seek food. We worry in this age of instant solutions, because everyone being fearful at once has led to imagined shortages. They cordoned the paper aisle at Walmart and people stood in line waiting for their quota. I asked if they needed two photo IDs and a thumbprint.
The fact is, we are fearful and anxious at times, and those doubts are easily fueled by a constant din of bad news, news without hope or even imagination.
In perspective, our imagined shortages are like a warehouse to people with far less. As someone observed, all it took was news of shortages and our stores began to look like the ones in old Soviet Russian - empty shelves and long line.
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
Andrew, chairman of the parish audit sub-committee, spoke up, "We have a little, but not enough for so many." At this point, the crowd seems to have a lot more faith than the disciples. If they were filled with dread about lack of food, they would head back to civilization.
I mentioned before that we had seven people in the van, driving across the barren desert landscape of Arizona when the gas gauge dropped near empty. Villages are far apart and many are too small to have their own gas stations along Route 66. We had driven up to stations with large signs seen at a distance, only to find them closed. I was bathed with sweat when we finally reached one with gas.
We can see how this miracle is the perfect teaching for a world crisis. Just as the disciples wondered and worried about food, so people worry about those things they cannot control - supplies, debt, taxation, and more.
Luther:
1. In today’s Gospel Christ gives us another lesson in faith, that we should not be over-anxious about our daily bread and our temporal existence, and stirs us up by means of a miracle; as though to say by his act what he says by his words in Matthew 6:33: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” For here we see, since the people followed Christ for the sake of God’s Word and the signs, and thus sought the Kingdom of God, he did not forsake them but richly fed them. He hereby also shows that, rather than those who seek the Kingdom of God should suffer need, the grass in the desert would become wheat, or a crumb of bread would be turned into a thousand loaves; or a morsel of bread would feed as many people and just as satisfactorily as a thousand loaves; in order that the words in Matthew 4:4 might stand firm, that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” And to confirm these words Christ is the first to be concerned about the people, as to what they should eat, and asks Philip, before they complain or ask him; so that we may indeed let him care for us, remembering that he cares more and sooner for us than we do for ourselves.
10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
Norma A. Boeckler's art for this miracle is striking because they are on grass, as John described. There was plenty of water, so that was not an issue. But what is water on an empty stomachs? - it reminds us of how empty our bellies are.
They sat down in an orderly way for counting and distribution. Jesus gave thanks to God first and then distributed the loaves, the fish the same way.
Thanksgiving to God comes before the miracle, because faith trusts in God to provide what is needed. Jesus was and is human and divine, both natures in One Person. His faith is our example. He was tempted in every way we are (Hebrews 4) and He was also hungry, but through faith He took care of everyone and the disciples.
In the distribution, food multiplied. They were not - in shame - getting out their hidden food, as the blind rationalists imagine. They were following Jesus too long to have anything left except this little bit. There is always the temptation to explain why something can happen because we have reduced God's action to our level of understanding. But God operates at a level far beyond our comprehension. The more we trust that, the more miracles we see.
This was a motley crew. Some wanted to make Jesus the king, at this time. They were not seeking the Kingdom and its righteousness but the political dreams of the past - to drive out the pagan rulers. Others, after being fed so well, wanted a miracle to top Moses. In John 6, Jesus said in every possible way - "I AM the Bread of Life come down from heaven. If you have Me, you have everything else as well."
What is more important - being fed with bread and fish for the moment? or having forgiveness and eternal life?
12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
When they were filled
This miracle began with the disciples thinking they should send everyone home to eat, then saying the little bit donated was not enough to give each person scraps and crumbs.
As Lenski observes, this clause in blue should focus our attention. Jesus is not stingy with His miracles. The loaves and fish were continuously distributed until everyone and the disciples were completely satisfied. When people have worked hard in the heat, their bodies crave a lot of food to satisfy the deficit and make it safe to go home. In the Grand Canyon, people bring water but forget to take food for the body's demands in heat, even if it is a dry heat.
that nothing be lost
The abundance is verified by the amount leftover after the vast multitude is completely satisfied, along with the disciples - full stomachs and full baskets, more food that they began with. How can that be, apart from sharing in shame their hidden food? This is God's miracle, not a morality tale about the miracle of sharing. Jesus already knew what He would do and let that need build up until He could show them what God can do and still does in miracles.
14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
Jesus was already their king, as the blind acknowledged near Jerusalem, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." Jesus understood the intentions of those who wanted to force Him into their kind of kingship, so He slipped away from them. Faith means trusting in Him, not forcing Him.
Jesus comes to us by pure grace, through the Means of Grace, not from force or demands. Whenever people insist on a Savior to suit themselves, they shrink the King of Kings into their bond-slave, though He already gave up everything for our salvation, benefit, and great blessings.
