Devotion - Monday, April 4

We are beginning the fourth week of Lent. The events of Holy Week are drawing ever closer. There was a line in yesterday's opening hymn which reminds us that "the sheep rise against their shepherd." The crowds which seem to always be around Jesus will cease to sing Alleluias and call for his crucifixion.

This morning I was reading John 6:1-15. It is John's account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Near the end, we have this notation: "Perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountains by himself."

Jesus wanted no part of their kingdom; he has in mind the Kingdom of God. He knows that the kingdom they have in mind is self-serving; later he will confront them with whether they came to him to hear the Good News or because they ate their fill of the loaves.

"The crowd" in the biblical story is us. The crowd is what we tend to be. Jesus has compassion on this crowd. He heals their diseases and he feeds them. There is this continual hope that they will come to see. But in so many ways they do not. They come, when there are loaves and fish to be shared. But when the time comes for true change, they turn from Jesus and call for his death.

Life lived as a follower of Jesus is the best of all possible lives. It overflows with grace and abundance. Sharing in the life of Christ, we are united with God and assured that God is united with us. It is a life lived with a purpose. That purpose is to share the Good News and to invite others into this way of living. There is abundance for all - which creates the opportunity for a greedy person to slip in and begin to hoard. When this happens, the community which seeks to live as Jesus begins to crumble. After time, hoarding seems normal and everyone starts to do it.

One spin to put upon the shift between the mood of the crowd in John 6 and the mood on Good Friday is to think of it as the result of hoarders tipping the balance. Rather than receiving what it is that Jesus came to offer, they begin to seek fulfillment for their own desires. They wanted a King of their own making.

Jesus would have no part of this. Their disappointment turns to frustration and their frustration turns to hatred and their hatred leads to murder.

The mood of the crowd changes quickly. Only a few remain faithful throughout. It takes perseverance to remain firm. Forty days is too short a time to be fully prepared.