“Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down’ “ (NRSV, John 6:10)

The distance south from the Lake of Galilee to Jerusalem is about 80 miles, but whereas the Lake is more than 600 feet below sea level, Jerusalem stands at a height of 2,600 feet above sea level.  So whether one went to the Holy City by way of the central highlands through the unfriendly territory of Samaria, or took the pilgrims’ route along the Jordan valley, there was a good deal of uphill travelling to be done.

But when the pilgrims arrived at their destination, it was worth more than all the journeys in the world, for was not Jerusalem the City of God, the City of the Great King of which the prophet Ezekiel had written, “…the name of the city…shall be, The Lord is There”? (NRSV, 48:35).

And it was to Jerusalem that the Passover crowds were making their way that spring morning in Galilee in around the year 29 AD, for only in Jerusalem could the Feast of the Passover be celebrated.  They had come, as St Mark tells us, from all the towns of the district, to that lonely spot on the north-east shore of the Lake where Jesus was withdrawing with the intention of spending the day there quietly with the Apostles.  And when Jesus saw the great crowd, “he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things” until the evening came (NRSV, Mark 6:34).

It had been a long day for them and now they were weary, hungry, restless.  And the next day would also be long and tiring as they continued their pilgrimage to the City of the Great King.  And Jesus knew and understood their need for rest and refreshment.  Rest to get over the rush and bustle and jostling of the day, refreshment for the day ahead.  And he gave them both.

“Make the people sit down“ (NRSV, John 6:10), and when they had done that he fed them with all the food there was – five barley loaves and two small fishes – but by the power of God it was miraculously multiplied, so that it became enough, and more than enough, for the 5000.

That is an incident which has much to teach us.  First, life for the Christian is no haphazard affair of rushing now this way, now that.  It is a purposeful pilgrimage in which we know, love and serve God and finally come to the end for which every human being has been created, which is to see our Creator and to share his life for ever.

Yet for many a Christian the pilgrimage itself is full of restless activity which seems to be more of a hindrance than a help in pursuing that purpose and direction and goal.  Are we not often conscious of that as we review each day and each week as it comes to an end?  So much rush and bustle, so much attempted, so little achieved, and so much waiting to be done.

And we become so weary.  And not only wearied with the bustle of the world, but wearied too with the constant conflict between our conscience and our will; wearied with the never-ending struggle against temptation; wearied with our falls into sin; and all the time there is the temptation to give up in despair.  And perhaps at times we even wonder if Jesus really knows and understands and cares.

And then we hear his call, “Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you…and you shall find rest to your souls” (Douay-Rheims Bible, Matthew 11:28,29, our emphasis, see note below).  Yes, however varied may be the needs of those who follow Jesus, he knows all and he has compassion on all.

Rest and refreshment – that is what Jesus offers to us – and it is in the Eucharist that he does so.  “Make the people sit down”, was what he said that day by the Lake, and at once the restlessness and the bustle was gone as they waited for the food of the miracle.  And at every Eucharist we, too, wait for the food of the greater miracle of the Blessed Sacrament, until we come to the moment of our Communion, the eye of the hurricane where all is still whatever storms there may be around us.

“Peace be with you” was and is, the greeting of the Risen Lord to his disciples, and as then, so now he is known to us in the breaking of bread (NRSV, Luke 24:36) (see also Luke 24:30,31,35).  “Be still”, says Our Lord within our inmost being, “Be still, and know that I am God!” (NRSV, Psalm 46:10).  And so, under the forms of bread and wine he gives himself to us in his Risen and Ascended Body, so that we may dwell in him and he in us.

Rest and refreshment – the refreshment that is needed for the next stage of our pilgrimage, in which endeavour and an uphill struggle are inevitable.  For he gives us his Risen Self in all his fullness to be our supernatural food so that we may be strengthened to continue our heavenly journey, whatever difficulties and disappointments may lie ahead, until at last we reach our true journey’s end and see the King in his beauty (see Isaiah, 33:17).

We are reminded of an incident in the life of the prophet Elijah, which in a deeper sense is repeated in the life of each faithful and persevering communicant.

Elijah’s life had been one long struggle and, as he thought, one long failure, and he had given up in despair.  He trudged a day’s journey into the wilderness and sat down under a broom tree.  He’d had enough and he asked God that he might die.  Weary and at the end of his tether he fell asleep.  But he was awoken by an angel who told him to get up and eat.  And there by him was food and drink: a freshly baked cake and a jar of water.  “Get up and eat”, said the angel, “otherwise the journey will be too much for you”.  And Elijah got up and “ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God” (NRSV, 1 Kings 19:7,8, our emphasis).

And so at the end of the Eucharist we thank God for the supernatural food we have received and we commit ourselves to him and his service as we leave the church on the next stage of our pilgrimage:

Almighty God,
we thank you for feeding us
with the body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ.
Through him we offer you our souls and bodies
to be a living sacrifice.
Send us out
in the power of your Spirit
to live and work
to your praise and glory.
Amen. (1)

Note

Quotation from the Douay-Rheims Bible is available from:
http://drb.scripturetext.com/matthew/11.htm (Accessed 07 July 2012) (Internet).

Reference

1.© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England (2000) Holy Communion Order One, Prayer after Communion.  Available from:
http://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-worship/worship/texts/principal-services/holy-communion/orderone.aspx (Accessed 07 July 2012) (Internet).