What to Do When Jesus Leaves–John 6: 1-15, 30-36
By Rev. Dr. Fritz Ritsch
John 6: 1-15, 30-36
July 29, 2012
St. Stephen Presbyterian Church
Fort Worth, TX
Last week (and the week before–someone this morning commented that anybody who preaches the same passage three times is bound to get it right eventually!) I preached on this same story as it’s told in Mark. I pointed out that though the disciples advise Jesus to send the crowd out to get food, Jesus says no. He knows they’re sheep without a shepherd, and he has compassion for them, because he knows that what they really need only he can provide. They need the assurance of God’s love and the spiritual nourishment of staying together as the Beloved Community, united by their certainty that God loves them. These are things only Jesus can provide, and He provides them.
Then the Gospel of Mark says, Jesus “immediately” sent the crowd one direction, the disciples another, and himself left to pray. (Mark 6: 45)
He was the glue that held them together, but then He left and exploded the crowd after all, the very thing He’d not wanted to do at the beginning.
What do you do when Jesus leaves?