Hebrews 13,1-3. 7. Trinity

Hebrews 13,1-3          4420 

7. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 052

Anna, grandmother of Jesus

26. Juli 2020

1. O Father of lights; grant us patience, strength and comfort, so that we can do all things in Christ who strengthen us.  Amen. (Starck 194 ¶ 2) 

2. »Let brotherly love (φιλαδελφία) continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.« 

3. Last week we heard Jesus teach that our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. To believe in Jesus is to have this righteousness. Today we hear how Jesus exemplified this righteousness by feeding 4000. 

4. The Epistle to the Hebrews exhorts us to let brotherly love continue, and to show hospitality to strangers. In Mark 8 Jesus tells His disciples: »I have compassion on the crowd.« But the resources on hand were unable to satisfy the need, for the disciples only had 7 loaves and a few small fish, and they rightly calculated that 7 loaves and some fish would not come close to feeding 4000 people. 

5. In Mark 6, Jesus had miraculously fed a crowd of 5000 Jews. In Mark 8 He miraculously fed a crowd of 4000 Gentiles. In Mark 8, Jesus is in the Decapolis, the 10 Cities, that were east and northeast of Galilee; these cities were a center of Greco-Roman culture in a predominantly Jewish province. The Gentiles receive the abundant blessings in Jesus’ visitation (Voelz 499). 

6. Jesus provides, as He always provides. He takes the bread and fish, give thanks and passes out the food. At the end of the feast, the disciples gather up 7 baskets full of bread. Each basket held 50 loaves, so Jesus started with 7 loans and finished up with enough bread equivalent to 350 loaves! When Jesus provides, He abundantly and miraculously provides. This is a great indication of Jesus his generosity, particularly to the Gentiles in the pericope (Voelz 501). Jesus’ grace is sufficient in our lives. 

7. That is the way Jesus works: He takes what is at hand, blesses it and gives it out. What is given out is significant, but what is received back is plenteous. That is how it is with Yahweh’s grace; Jesus desires that nothing or no one be lost. Even the Gentiles are blessed by Jesus’ mercy. 

8. This feeding is a foretaste of the consummation of the age to come and points to the final feast with Yahweh at His fully implemented reign and rule (Voelz 429). We partake of this feast each time we celebrate and receive the Lord’s Supper. In both feasts Jesus gives thanks (εύχαριστήσας) for the bread, and in the Lord’s Supper the bread is His body given for us for the forgiveness of our sins. This forgiveness is for all the world, both Jew and Gentile, and results in eternal life and salvation through Christ. This is why Mark begins his Gospel by writing: »This is the preaching of the gospel about Jesus Christ the Son of God« (Mark 1:1). Our response to this preaching of the gospel is to receive it and to give thanks. 

9. Jesus shows us brotherly love (φιλαδελφία) here in the feeding of the 4000 and through His vicarious sacrifice on the cross, for Jesus Himself likewise partook of our flesh and blood so that through death He might destroy the Devil who has the power of death (Hebrews 2,14). Jesus provides for us both temporally and spiritually. Next week we will hear Jesus proclaim those who do the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter the reign of heaven.  Amen. 

10. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, from the rising of the sun to its setting Your Name is praised; pour out Your Providence upon us, so that each day we are fed by Your hand.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. 

Starck, Johann. Starck’s Prayer Book. Copyright © 2009 Concordia Publishing House. 

Voelz, James. Mark 1:1–8:26. Copyright © 2013 Concordia Publishing House.