This has to be ‘the prophet’ who is supposed to come into the world.

 

Thursday, July 20, 2023


Psalm 48

2 Samuel 2:1-17

John 6:1-15


Observances: Margaret of Antioch, martyr (c. 4th C AD); Bartolome de las Casas, apostle to the Indies (d. 1566)


This has to be ‘the prophet’ who is supposed to come into the world.


Have you ever been in the unhappy situation where, in the midst of a conversation on one of your favourite interests, you are asked what you like most, and immediately lose all memory? If someone came out of nowhere and asked me what my favourite food was, it would take me a moment to realise that yes, I do indeed enjoy eating food. Uh, jam toast?


Reading these accounts of the wonders Jesus performed in John can feel like that sometimes. Why did His disciples come to trust in Him when He turned water into wine at the wedding at Cana (John 2:11)? Why here, on the hills overlooking the lake, after being fed, did the people come to realise that Jesus was the prophet promised by God through Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15? If I were to walk through your screen and ask you right now, what is the thing about Jesus that makes you love Him so desperately, is the first thing that comes to mind just as seemingly bizarre as miraculously produced wine or bread?


Loving Jesus is almost like a reflex. We can fill our heads with theology; we can read the omens for miracles in our own lives. But to truly love the Lord is as natural as breathing. We need no justification for our love. Perhaps the answer to the question “why do you love Jesus” is “how can I not?”

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