John 6.1-20
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, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" He said
this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered
him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get
a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to
him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But
what are they among so many people?" Jesus said, "Make the people sit
down." 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, "Gather
up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." 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, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into
the world."
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, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they wanted to take him into
the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were
going.
Reflection
Two paragraphs, two miracles. Oh my. The Jesus we meet in
this text is extraordinary. His very presence transforms reality in
unimaginable ways. I believe that is the point of these miracle tales; to make
it crystal clear that being in the presence of Jesus changes everything. Being
in relationship with Jesus gives us access to dimensions of reality that are
truly beyond reason – in other words - miraculous. For who can reasonably
explain satisfying five thousand people’s hunger with a mere five loaves and
two fishes? And even a four year old knows that people do not walk on water. So what is going on here?
I believe these miracle stories are examples of God working
through created nature to reveal a dimension of non-ordinary experience that is
aligned with God’s own true and unlimited nature. And I believe that every human person has
access to this non-ordinary experience of reality in relationship with God. And yes, it is astonishing.
The thing is when it comes to being in relationship with God
we are talking about a kind of experience that surpasses human understanding.
We are talking about a kind of experience that is not bound by the laws of
general relativity and quantum mechanics, not constrained by the fundamental properties of matter and
motion, not explained by the principles of reason and logic. We are talking
about astonishing, radical, life changing, consciousness expanding experiences.
Regardless of whether you read the miracle stories as literally
true, as signs, as prophetic revelations or as allegories, the bottom line is
this; reason is not sufficient to describe the experience of being in relationship
with God. That said, it is not surprising
that the great religious traditions of Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism
and Hinduism all use miracle stories to describe non-ordinary experiences
aligned with DIvinity. All of these religious traditions use miracle stories to
describe that which reason cannot grasp because at the root of all of these
great traditions there is the experience of knowing that which cannot be known.
++ The image from the Hubbell Telescope is described: “Colliding galaxies make love not war.”
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