The Collect for the Seventh Sunday After Trinity
Lord of all power and might, who is the author and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of Your Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of Your great Mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle Romans 6:19-23
19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Holy Gospel of Mark 8:1-9
8 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.”
4 Then His disciples answered Him, “How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?”
5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
And they said, “Seven.”
6 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. 7 They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. 8 So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. 9 Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.
Bishop Ian’s Thoughts
Today's Epistle Reading is taken from the Epistle of St Paul to the Romans Chapter 6, Verses 19-23.
This portion of St Paul's Epistle to the Romans continues with the theme raised in last week’s reading from St Paul’s same letter.
Paul tells us that when we were living in the time before we came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, we were in bondage to sin. During this time we gave ourselves over to more and more evil deeds without any thought of where such a lifestyle would take us:
“19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.“
Evil thoughts and deeds have a way of snowballing in a similar way that the use of illicit drugs commences with relatively small doses of weaker drugs and once the initial feelings of euphoria, or “highs” have been experienced, addicts then crave stronger drugs which give them greater and longer lasting feelings of euphoria.
Unchecked increased drug usage, to obtain a greater degree of euphoria, will inevitably end in the addict’s death.
Paul goes on to tell us that when we were living in our sins we were free from the control, or guidance, of righteousness and the brakes were off, so to speak, so that we would eventually roll ever faster down the road to eternal damnation and punishment.
Paul then asks the question:
“21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of ?”
Paul’s answer is short and to the point:
"Those things result in death! "
Our reward would have been death, both physical and spiritual.
Now that we are set free from the control of sin and Satan, we are now bonded to God, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and what we gain is Righteousness before God, that leads to eternal life:
“22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”
Without being clothed in the Holy Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ we would be doomed for eternity.
It is essential to fully understand that the Holy Righteousness that we gain has nothing to do with our own thoughts and actions, but rather the Righteousness we gain is the Holy Righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was born without inherited sin and Who committed no actual sin during His Earthly Life, and so was Holy and Pure unto God.
When the Lord Jesus Christ bore the punishment, on the Cross of Calvary, for our sins, which punishment was rightly deserved by us, His Holiness, His Righteousness, and the Forgiveness of God, was freely given to all of us, who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, believe in the life and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This gift of Christ’s Holiness and Righteousness gives us Eternal Life in God’s Everlasting Kingdom.
The theological term, used by New Testament Scholars, to describe the Righteousness that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to us, by Faith, is "Imputed Righteousness."
This "Imputed Righteousness" comes from outside of ourselves, but it’s benefits are given, or reckoned to us, as if it was our own righteousness.
It is no surprise that two thousand years before the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, God dealt with Abraham in the same manner regarding faith, as recorded in the Old Testament Book of Genesis Chapter 15, Verses 6:
"6 Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness."
St Paul reminds his readers of this very same fact in his Epistle to the Roman Church Chapter 4, Verses 2- 3:
"2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Abraham believed God’s Word and Promises.
Abraham was pronounced righteous by this faith in God’s Holy and Solemn Word.
St John opens his Holy Gospel by telling us that God’s Word is the Lord Jesus Christ.
"1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
This is the core of the Holy Gospel. It is the first Great Work of God (by the Lord Jesus) and is known by theologians as “Justification by Faith.” It is best described as:-
God’s Work for us in Christ
Never forget or misunderstand that this Righteousness, and Eternal Life which accompanies it, is God’s gift to us, and it cannot be earned in any way by our own worthless efforts.
What we do, after we believe and accept The Lord Jesus Christ’s Righteousness, as God’s gift, is the continuing work of God through His Holy Spirit.
Actually, the work of the Holy Spirit, in us, begins before we believe, by leading us to the Lord Jesus, and moving us to acknowledge, and confess our sins, and so receive forgiveness and Eternal Life.
The Holy Spirit’s work continues throughout all of our earthly life, as He directs and leads us day by day. Prayer is the communication that God uses to allow us to speak to Him, discussing our problems and to make our requests.
Prayer enables us to discern God’s response in providing for our daily needs and concerns.
Prayer also allows us to praise and thank Him.
This is the second Great Work of God (through the Holy Spirit) and it is known by theologians as “Sanctification.” It is best described as:-
God’s Work in us by the Holy Spirit
It is essential that we never allow Satan to deceive us into confusing the two Great Works of God, as this will lead us to spiritual calamity.
Paul concludes our Reading from his Epistle with the blunt statement:
“23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Let us always thank our Gracious God for His Wonderful, Priceless, Gift of the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and let us always remember that we, through the Lord Jesus' Death and Resurrection, are clothed in the His Perfect Righteousness, so that on the Day of God's Great Judgement we will be able to stand guiltless before God as He will Judge us not on our own merits but by the Perfect Merit of His Only Begotten and Beloved Son. Amen.
Today's Holy Gospel Reading for today is taken from the Holy Gospel of St Mark Chapter 8 Verses 1-9.
In this portion of his Holy Gospel St Mark tells us of the Miracle performed by the Lord Jesus Christ in feeding the crowd of four thousand:
This is one of two Miracles describing the provision of food, by the Lord Jesus to large groups of people. The first Miracle is known as the feeding of the five thousand and the second Miracle is known as the feeding of the four thousand.
All four Holy Gospels report the first Miracle of feeding the five thousand (St Matthew 14:13-21, St Mark 6:31-44, St Luke 9:12-17 and St John 6:1-14). This first Miracle is sometimes referred to as the Miracle of the five loaves and two fish.
Only the Holy Gospels of Matthew and Mark report the second Miracle of feeding the four thousand (St Matthew 15:32-39 and St Mark 8:1-9). The second Miracle is sometimes referred to as the miracle of the seven loaves and a few small fish.
St Matthew’s account of this Miracle, in his Holy Gospel, tells us “those who ate were four thousand men besides women and children.” We are also told that "all who ate were fully satisfied and that they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over." (St Matthew 15:37-39). It is quite possible that the number of people sharing the meal could have been double the four thousand.
We learn in today’s Reading that a large crowds of people had been following The Lord Jesus for about three days listening to his teaching, and hearing His answers to questions posed by some members of the crowd. We are also told that the teaching was in a remote place described as “the wilderness.”
The Lord Jesus shows His compassion for the people by telling His Disciples that the crowd was very large and had been following Him for three days without anything to eat. The Lord Jesus sought a solution, from His Disciples, to the implied question of providing food for the people:
“1 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.”
The Lord Jesus was very concerned that if He ended His teaching and sent the people home many might faint and possibly suffer more severe health problems, as a number of the people had come from great distances:
“3 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.”
The Disciples responded to the Lord Jesus’ implied question with an unhelpful question:
“4 Then His disciples answered Him, “How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?”
The Lord Jesus then asked His disciples how many loaves they had:
“5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
And they said, “Seven.”
The Lord Jesus began to work His Miracle:
“6 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.“
St Mark then reveals they had a few small fish which the Lord Jesus also made use of.
Taking the fish the Lord Jesus lifted His eyes to Heaven and gave thanks to His Father in Heaven, as both the loaves and the fish belonged to God, who had graciously given them to be food, for the sustaining of His people:
“7 They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.”
The people were heartily satisfied by the Miraculous meal:
“8 So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. 9 Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.”
The act of giving thanks to God for our daily meals is a way of honouring His provision and generosity to us. In this modern day and age when much of our food comes from supermarket freezers and shelves, it is easy to forget that the food, before it is harvested and packed, comes from the bounty of God who has provided sun and rain to grow our crops, and Who gives life to the oceans of the world.
It is important to note that the Lord Jesus did not care who was in the crowd, they were all people coming to hear His Words. It is not too much of a leap of mind to imagine that there would have been Jewish religious scholars, farm workers, fishermen, labourers, craftsmen, merchants, sailors and perhaps some soldiers and foreigners together with many loafers, layabouts, and criminals who tagged along to see what all the fuss was about.
The Lord Jesus did not prevent any from partaking of His feast, nor did he forbid any from eating as much as they wanted. It is God’s nature and plan that His people should receive His blessings in as full and abundant manner as possible. God’s provisions and gifts are “a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over and poured into your lap” as St Luke tells us in Chapter 6, Verse 38, of his Holy Gospel. That is what our gifts to other people, both friends and strangers must be like.
Meanness in any Christian person is a most unpleasant attribute, and not pleasing to God.
It is interesting to note that the Lord Jesus chose to Miraculously multiply bread and fish, when He could have provided any type of food. Bread and fish were two of the basic foods of all people who lived in the areas around the wilderness where Jesus was teaching.
After the great multitude of people was fully satisfied by the food Miraculously provided by Jesus, the broken pieces that remained were collected and they filled seven large baskets. The Greek word for these large baskets is the same word used to describe the type of basket that St Paul was lowered from the wall of Damascus to escape from a plot, by the Jews, to kill him. This plot is recorded in the Book of the Acts Chapter 9, Verses 23- 25:
“23 After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him. 25 But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.”
St Mark informs us that there was seven large baskets of leftovers. This number of baskets distinguishes this miracle of feeding, from other feeding of a large crowd, as that Miracle, involving the feeding of the five thousand, had concluded with twelve smaller baskets (hand baskets) of leftovers.
No doubt, in both of these miracles, the leftovers were shared by the Lord Jesus, His Disciples, and the others who assisted distributing the food.
Today’s Holy Gospel Reading teaches us a number of God's Holy Truths.
It first and foremost shows the Lord Jesus’ Love and Compassion for the people who came to Him to learn, and in learning, placed their faith and trust in Him. We also learn of the Lord Jesus’ desire to provide those who came to Him with all that they needed to sustain them.
We also learn of the quality of God’s gifts, generosity being the key feature. God does not do things “by halves” or “on the cheap”. It therefore is certain that we, in a like manner, must always ensure that our giving to others always follows the example given by the Lord Jesus.
The Holy Gospel Reading also reveals that the Lord Jesus did not discriminate in providing food for all kinds of people irrespective of their social status or background. The Apostle Paul tells us that in Christ there is no distinction between people that come to the Lord Jesus and place their faith in Him, as recorded in his Epistle to the Galatians Chapter 3, Verses 26-29:
"26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
St Paul reveals to us, in the third Chapter of his letter to the Galatians, Verse 29, that if we place our trust in the Lord Jesus and His Holy Gospel we are certainly Abraham's Seed according to the promise made to Abraham, by God, many centuries ago:
"29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Let us always give thanks to our Loving and Generous God who never provides for us in a meager and ungenerous manner. Let us always thank Him for giving us generous provision, shaken and pressed down, and always fulfilling our needs far beyond our immediate requirement.
Let us also never forget that God’s Greatest Gift is the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, which bestows upon us Eternal Life with God in Heaven.
May the Love of God and the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all, now and evermore. Amen.
Bishop Ian