Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Exodus 16,2-3.11-18. Trinity VII

Exodus 16,2-3.11-18 4124

Trinity VII 53

John Bonaventure, Bishop of Albano, Italy, ✠ 1274

14. Juli 2024

1. ℣ All ye nations, clap your hands:

℟ Rejoice with a voice of exultation to God (Psalm 46,2 vul lxx).

Omnes gentes, plaudite manibus: iubilate Deo in voce exultationis (lxx).

Omnes populi, plaudite manibus: iubilate Deo in voce laudis (mas).

O Father of lights, strengthen, help and comfort us to do all things and that the cross will not be too heavy for us, so that we rely on Christ who strengthens us to do all things [Philippians 4,13]. Amen. (Stark 250; English transl. 194).

2. »And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them: „Would that we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.“ And Yahweh said to Moses: „I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them: ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’“ In the evening quail went up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another: „What is it?“For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them: „It is the bread that Yahweh has given you to eat. This is what Yahweh has commanded: ‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take two liters,according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.’“ And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with two liters, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.«

3. »Our Gospel pericope tells the miracle of feeding a crowd. Jesus does this several times throughout the Gospels. In Mark 8 He miraculously fed 4000 people with 7 loaves of bread. After the meal, His disciples gathered up the leftovers and they had more bread than they started with! They filled 7 baskets with the remaining bread (7:4000:7).

4. God abundantly provides for His people. Every day in the wilderness, Israel had enough manna to eat for the day. The manna was the type, and Jesus is the antitype. He is the Manna from heaven, and He provides so much more than we need!

5. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees were constantly asking for a sign from Him to prove He was sent from God the Father. In Mark 8,11, right after Jesus had fed the crowd, the Pharisees approached Him and began to question (συζητειν: argue, discuss) Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven to test (πειράζοντες) Him. The feeding of the 4000 should have been the sign they needed, for the Pharisees should have made the connection between the miraculous manna in the wilderness and Jesus’ miraculous feeding. Only Yahweh can provide this manna, therefore Jesus must be Yahweh or one sent by Yahweh.

6. The the Pharisees are spiritually blind. They know the scriptures, but they cannot interpret nor understand those scriptures. The Apostle John described them well: »The True Light was in the world, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own people, and they did not know or receive Him.« (John 1,9-11)

7. People are no different today. Jews and gentiles still do not see who Jesus is more understanding. They create all sorts of false interpretations of him. We are well skilled craftsman who easily make our own idols (Martin Luther’s Theology 177). Non potest homo naturaliter velle deum esse deum, Immo vellet se esse deum et deum non esse deum. A person by natural cannot want God to be God, but rather he/she wants to be a god and does not want God to be God (WA 1,224 Th. 17; AE 31,10 Th. 17). We forget God’s promise to us, pervert it or simply refused to believe it. (Martin Luther’s Theology 178). We prefer our own heartfelt gods, false though they are. We cannot verify ourselves, nor can we realize ourselves (Theology the Lutheran Way 159). God is the one who verifies us; we are passive in the sense that we receive our verification from God alone (Theology the Lutheran Way 159).

8. The tragedy of sin is that God made us in His Image and Likeness (imago Dei); we were created to be in communion with Him, and to understand Him. But our fall has perverted all this and severed us from our Creator.

9. Into this fallen world severed from Him, God the Father sent His Only Son to be the Bread of Life. Christ Himself is the Very Manna (Cyril of Alexandria III,VI,363). He is the True Manna, the Bread from heaven, given to the whole rational creation by God the Father (Cyril of Alexandria III,VI,364). Through this are we strengthened unto all endurance and courage and obtain that we fall not through infirmity into those things we ought not. The Spiritual Manna therefore, that is, Christ, was strengthening us before too unto piety (Cyril of Alexandria III,VI,365). The Bread from heaven which strengthened our heart [Psalm 104,15] (Cyril of Alexandria III,VI,366).

10. Jesus said: »I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the Bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of It and not die. I am the Living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever. And the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. This is the Bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this Bread will live forever« (John 6,35.40.49-51.54-56.58). Jesus is your Bread of Life and the Ox who bears your sinful burden so that you now have full forgiveness, righteousness and eternal joy.

11. „[Christ] feed us with eternal food. It is then we will be fully sated, when we awake in His image (Psalm 15,15). He will nourish us with the rich treasures of His house and infuse us with joy as from a great river (Psalm 36,90. This will be His supreme shelter, secure rest, serene happiness, gladsome eternity and everlasting bliss in joyous contemplation of the Holy Trinity. These are the 7 loaves with which Christ will nourish us in eternity. By His grace may He grant this to us“ (Gerhard 85).

12. All other food and drink are in vain,

Christ is the Bread of Life to gain:

No hunger afflicts those who partake of You,

We forget all sorrows, too.

Kyrie eleison.

The Living Source Thou art,

To whom we place the chalice of our heart;

With Your consolation let it overflow,

Then will be well our souls.

Kyrie eleison.

(Herr Jesu Christe, mein getreuer Hirte elkg 232,2 2021 Johann Heermann 1630)

This is most certainly true.

13. Et pax Dei, quæ exuperat omnem sensum, custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras in Christo Jesu. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

14. Let us pray. Watch Thou, dear Lord, with those who wake, watch or weep this day, and give Thine angels charge over those who sleep; tend Thy sick ones, O Lord Christ; rest Thy weary ones; bless Thy dying ones; soothe Thy suffering ones; pity Thine afflicted ones; shield Thy joyous ones; and all for Thy love’s sake. Amen. (Trinity VII, Vespers Collect 2. The Daily Office.)

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sunday, July 14, 2024

Exodus 16,2-3.11-18. Trinity VII

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