Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 4:1-22; Acts 17:1-34; Acts 16:23-40

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Sometimes, I read a passage of Scripture, and it’s so familiar to me that I struggle to hear it as if it were the first time. Does that ever happen to you? Sometimes, we’re afflicted by an “I already know how this one ends” attitude. One of the things I’ve found helpful over the years is to zoom in on the details of a familiar account, not losing sight of what the main point is, but giving special attention to the way the Spirit moved the authors to tell their story. Today, we take up Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000. It begins with Jesus inviting the disciples to join Him in a desolate place that they would reach by boat. The crowds had been intrigued by Jesus, and it seemed as if Jesus was trying to give His guys a breather. But the crowds followed them anyway…into a place where there wasn’t any food. Jesus cared for them the way a shepherd cares for sheep, showing compassion. After a back-and-forth conversation about who should give the folks something to eat, Jesus instructed them to give them something to eat. “200 hundred days’ wages couldn’t feed this mob of people!” They replied. “What have you got?” He asked. He gave thanks over the five loaves and the two fish…and then the disciples distributed them so that everyone had their fill. There were twelve basketfuls of leftovers, one for each disciple. Just like the disciples, we get worked down by the circumstances of this life. We are hard-pressed on every side. But Jesus has not left us alone nor desolate; like a shepherd, the Good Shepherd, He has compassion on us. He gives us more love than we can even fathom. His forgiveness and provision know no bounds. And the desolate place turns out to be the place called the Skull. How can there be life in such a place as this?! Look to the cross—to the place where the Shepherd lays down His life for you. Flowing from that innocent death are life and salvation, life overflowing into eternity. The Lord provides. Taste and see that He is good! Or, better put: take and eat, take and drink. This Shepherd’s Body and Blood are yours as a guarantee! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

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