Today’s Lectionary Texts: Psalm 103 & 119:145-176; Isaiah 55:3-9; John 6:15-27; Revelation 3:1-6
In today’s Gospel reading from John, we are given what I feel is an essential detail about the way in which Jesus approached life. It’s a detail that’s easily missed by many folks. Let me set that detail up for you. Today’s passage from John begins by culminating the account of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000. It then goes on to characterize the crowd’s response to Jesus’ work. We are told “Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king” (John 6:15 – The Message). And what was Jesus’ response to the crowd’s enthusiasm? Did he hang around to soak up their adoration and praise? No. Instead, the Gospel tells us that Jesus “slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself” (John 6:15 – The Message). That simple element of the story tacked on at the very end reminds us just how important it was for Jesus to spend time alone connecting with God. It challenges us – Jesus’ followers – to do the same. In a hectic world that pulls us in so many different directions, this is perhaps one of the most challenging one of Jesus’ examples to put into practice. And yet I believe it a completely necessary practice to adopt. Today, I invite you not to start planning to set some time aside to do this – I encourage you to actually do it! Enjoy your time alone with God today. Til next time…
In today’s Gospel reading from John, we are given what I feel is an essential detail about the way in which Jesus approached life. It’s a detail that’s easily missed by many folks. Let me set that detail up for you. Today’s passage from John begins by culminating the account of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000. It then goes on to characterize the crowd’s response to Jesus’ work. We are told “Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king” (John 6:15 – The Message). And what was Jesus’ response to the crowd’s enthusiasm? Did he hang around to soak up their adoration and praise? No. Instead, the Gospel tells us that Jesus “slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself” (John 6:15 – The Message). That simple element of the story tacked on at the very end reminds us just how important it was for Jesus to spend time alone connecting with God. It challenges us – Jesus’ followers – to do the same. In a hectic world that pulls us in so many different directions, this is perhaps one of the most challenging one of Jesus’ examples to put into practice. And yet I believe it a completely necessary practice to adopt. Today, I invite you not to start planning to set some time aside to do this – I encourage you to actually do it! Enjoy your time alone with God today. Til next time…
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