Podcast: Play in new window
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More
Preparation
O Lord, open our lips
and our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Praise
Risen Christ,
you filled your disciples with boldness and fresh hope:
strengthen us to proclaim your risen life
and fill us with your peace,
to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
Psalm 31.1-5, 16
In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.
Incline your ear to me;
make haste to deliver me.
Be my strong rock, a fortress to save me,
for you are my rock and my stronghold;
guide me, and lead me for your name’s sake.
Take me out of the net
that they have laid secretly for me,
for you are my strength.
Into your hands I commend my spirit,
for you have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.
‘Make your face to shine upon your servant,
and save me for your mercy’s sake.’
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.
Reading
John 6.30-35
The crowd said to Jesus, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’
Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’
Reflection
What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you?
Following Jesus’ resurrection there was much fear and uncertainty? Many questioned all that they had witnessed during Jesus’ earthly ministry. That uncertainty began long before the events of Holy Week and Easter. We see it in today’s reading. As I mentioned yesterday, these events are immediately preceded by the feeding of the five thousand and Jesus walking on the storm tossed waters of the Sea of Galilee. We may well think that these two events provide evidence enough that great and miraculous things were occurring, but not so. Yesterday Jesus told us of the call to believe in him whom God had sent. Today, the crowds go on pressing for signs that might convince them. Furthermore, they ask: What work are you performing?
It would not seem unfair for Jesus to throw up his arms in despair at this point. The crowds are asking for signs, and they are asking what work he is performing! From the moment of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan there have been so many signs, so much healing and teaching. What is it that the crowds want to see? What is it that we want to see? What stands in the way of our human capacity to have faith in God? However, Jesus does not fall into the depths of despair, rather he tries another way of developing the understanding of those crowds, and us.
The crowds speak of the ancient history of the Jewish nation. The crowds speak of the time when those journeying through the wilderness received the miraculous manna from heaven. Jesus responds by saying that they are being fed anew, with a new and living bread, a bread that will sustain them for ever more. The crowds are being offer the bread of life which is Jesus himself.
Many human beings have developed an inbuilt scepticism that prevents them from ‘letting go’ of their own mistaken certainties. Instead, they prefer to hold on to myths, legends and superstitions. Even when they are confronted with the blindingly obvious they express feelings of doubt and uncertainty. They go on demanding a level of proof that takes away the need for faith. However, such proof cannot be forthcoming because it is our faith in God that will ultimately bring us into the certainty of the eternal life won for us through the earthly life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Let us pray that we may find the courage to set aside the frailty of our human logic, and that we might live our lives as those who truly believe in the glorious resurrection of Jesus, our Lord and our Saviour.
Prayers of Intercession
Let us pray to the Father through whose Son we have grace to do his will.
Bless your faithful people with the peace and unity by which we are sealed in the Spirit. Empower the ministers of your Church, that they may bring the true bread of life to all who seek.
Grant to a troubled world the stability and firmness of purpose that only you can bring. Reveal your will to each member of your human creation, that all may serve you according to the gifts that you have given.
Give grace to us, our families and friends, that in our words and deeds we may show the sincerity of our faith. Make us pure in our motives, never looking for material benefit when we are called to work in your service.
Have mercy on those who seek you in ignorance, not knowing the reality of their search. Satisfy their hunger and thirst for salvation.
May Jesus Christ, who descended into the depths to bring new life to all, receive the souls of the departed. We pray that the bread of heaven shall feed them evermore.
Trusting in Christ, the true and living bread, we offer our prayers in his name.
Prayer for the week
Eternal God, in whom is all our hope
in life, in death, and to all eternity;
grant that, rejoicing in the eternal life
which is ours in Christ,
we may face whatever the future holds in store for us
calm and unafraid,
always confident that neither death nor life
can part us from your love in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
The Grace
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with us all evermore. Amen.
Hymn
Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
to guide the future as he has the past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake,
all now mysterious shall be clear at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
his voice, who ruled them while he dwelt below.
Stille meine Wille, dein Jesus hilft siegen
Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel (1697–after 1768)
translated by Jane Laurie Borthwick (1813–1897)