There are so many elements of the Gospel that speak to us about the Divinity of Christ Jesus. The last two lines of today are most striking. In regard to those who followed Jesus, namely the Apostles and other disciples it says, "They had not understood the incident of the loaves. On the contrary, their hearts were hardened." Why were their hearts hardened? They had witnessed a miracle in the feeding of so many thousand people after being afraid it would cost them too much to feed the people, yet they did with just five loaves and two fish. Now they witnessed Jesus come down from the mountain and walk across the water to them when they are fearful in turbulent waves and calm them and the waves down. Again, why were they hardened against him?
Both today's Gospel and its paired reading, (1 John 4:11-18) challenge us to consider the meaning of love and fear. Love and fear seem to go hand in hand. John reminds us today, "Beloved, if God so loves us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us." Have we considered how vulnerable we must make ourselves to allow ourselves to love and be loved? In order to reciprocate love shown to us we must make ourselves open to being hurt rejected by the one that we share our intimate selves with whether it is a spouse, a friend, a brother, a sister, or a parent. Perhaps it is also a fear of losing those we love and so we hide ourselves away from that pain and them so that we don't have to suffer. It is that intimacy of love that connects us and binds us.
In the Gospel the disciples are fearful as God approaches. God is love. They also fear love. It was fear that led Peter to deny Jesus, led the disciples to flee at the crucifixion, and it is that same fear that can make it difficult for us to remain in the love, in God. John assures, "There is no fear in love, put perfect fear drives out fear." May we continue to try to love perfectly and so remain in God.
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