Abundantly Blessed

The reading for today is the feeding of the five thousand from the Gospel of John, the only one of the miracle stories that appears in all four Gospels. We are using this sixth chapter of John for a sermon series to explore parts of our own communion service – the blessing, breaking, and the giving of bread – to explore the bread of life. Today we’re considering the blessing of the people. In John, the throngs have come seeking healing, and Jesus, although he knows the answer, asks the disciples how they’re going to feed all these people. The answer is that a little boy has a small lunch, and Jesus blesses the lunch before having the disciples distribute it until all the people are filled, and there is much left over. It testifies to God being a God of abundance and God’s desire for everyone to have enough.