{"id":159,"date":"2018-10-10T16:28:43","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T16:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/?p=159"},"modified":"2018-10-10T16:28:43","modified_gmt":"2018-10-10T16:28:43","slug":"prophet-come-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html","title":{"rendered":"The prophet in this world"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The prophet come into this world<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reading the Gospel of John<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\u2018This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.\u2019<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

This passage from John 6:1-29 is included in the revised common lectionary provided by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. The text is from the NRSV. <\/em><\/p>\n

You can hear a recording of this passage here<\/a><\/u><\/em><\/p>\n

Reading the Gospel aloud<\/em><\/strong> invites the audience to experience human encounters with the divine as revealed in the Bible. We can leave interpretation and meaning to members of the clergy and other scholars. What we are most interested in as lay readers is the human experience found in the narrative.<\/em><\/p>\n

First Impressions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As you reading through the passage the first time, listen for the voices. Who is speaking?\u00a0 Who are these people?\u00a0 Here we have the voices of Jesus and two of his disciples. Jesus ministers to the crowd, but he speaks with and listens to his disciples. Two key relationships stand out in the passage: Jesus to the crowd and Jesus with his disciples.<\/p>\n

What is really happening here?<\/p>\n

Two separate \u201cmiracles\u201d are recounted in this passage. I put miracles in quotes because to those present they are indeed experienced as miraculous. But in this passage, Jesus \u201c\u2026himself knew what he was going to do.\u201d <\/strong>Jesus does not purposefully put on a great show of miracles. What he does is simple, easy and seems natural: what needs to be done. Afterwards, when we see how much food was left over and when the disciples arrive at the shore after wanting to take Jesus into the boat, what just happened seems miraculous. How were those things possible? These are transforming events for those that experience <\/strong>them. The experience of them is key.<\/p>\n

They seem miraculous because what happens is entirely unexpected. The disciples are at first baffled as to how they might provide 5,000 people with a Passover meal and later terrified by the appearance of someone walking across the lake. “Do not be afraid. It is I,” Jesus tells them. Jesus is walking on the water<\/strong> and they want to \u201ctake him into the boat.\u201d\u00a0 Clearly, he doesn\u2019t need to be in the boat, in the usual place.<\/p>\n

Reacting to what we read<\/h3>\n

This is where I think humor is to be found in the Gospels. The disciples respond normally to the breathtakingly unexpected. Ask the crowd to sit down? Sure, no problem. Feed 5,000 people? Really? And we have 5 loaves and 2 fish?\u00a0 Quick, get into the boat!\u00a0 In retrospect, you have to laugh. I don\u2019t know how he did it. It was truly a miracle! You have to understand what it was like to be with him<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Miracles are intended to impress, and so are recounted in the Gospels. But Jesus seems to resist and turn away from personal recognition. He \u201cwent to the other side of the Sea of Galilee\u201d where he \u201cwithdrew again to the mountain, by himself.\u201d Yet in turning his attention to the needs of others, he can\u2019t seem to avoid providing evidence that he is indeed the prophet who is come into the world.<\/p>\n

Text Analysis<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The declaration and proclamation, \u2018This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world,\u201d is the cornerstone of this reading. All that surrounds is evidence and proofs that this is true.<\/p>\n

The many descriptive words in this passage and attention to detail make the accounts real and vivid. There\u2019s a \u201cyou are there\u201d quality to the reporting.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • also called the Sea of Tiberias<\/li>\n
  • a large crowd<\/li>\n
  • up the mountain<\/li>\n
  • There was a boy<\/li>\n
  • Simon Peter’s brother<\/li>\n
  • Passover, the festival of the Jews<\/li>\n
  • was a great deal of grass in the place<\/li>\n
  • it was now dark<\/li>\n
  • a strong wind was blowing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The sequence of events is also important. They sit down. They give thanks. They serve and share a meal. The disciples go out in the boat, they row for a long time, the weather is forbidding. There is a careful and deliberate unfolding of the evidence.<\/p>\n

    The voices are between Jesus and his disciples. A behind the scenes look. Again, the focus is on understanding what it was like to be there, to be with him.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0Reading this passage aloud<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world” has to be read so that everyone, young and old,\u00a0 hears it and everyone understands it.<\/p>\n

    The events are truly miraculous, but they are recounted in a clear and calm voice.<\/p>\n

    There may be a slight desperation in the voices of the disciples. You can almost imagine them thinking, \u201cIt \u2018s really hard to keep up with all this.\u201d\u00a0 But Jesus knows what he is going to do. His voice is sure.<\/p>\n

    This is not a dispassionate reporting, it\u2019s a sharing of experiences in full and careful detail and in a way that communicates the wonder of them. It\u2019s specific and \u201cOMG, I can\u2019t believe this happened\u201d, both at the same time.<\/p>\n

    Take your time but also convey what happened in what seems, in retrospect, like a rush.<\/p>\n

    What do you hear in this passage?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Reading the Gospel of John \u2018This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.\u2019 This passage from John 6:1-29 is included in the revised common lectionary provided by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. The text is from the NRSV. You can hear a recording of this passage here Reading the Gospel aloud invites…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":621,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe prophet in this world - Hear the Gospel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The prophet in this world - Hear the Gospel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Reading the Gospel of John \u2018This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.\u2019 This passage from John 6:1-29 is included in the revised common lectionary provided by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. The text is from the NRSV. You can hear a recording of this passage here Reading the Gospel aloud invites…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hear the Gospel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-10T16:28:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/files\/2018\/10\/John-6-1-21-300x182.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Theodore May\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The prophet in this world - Hear the Gospel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The prophet in this world - Hear the Gospel","og_description":"Reading the Gospel of John \u2018This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.\u2019 This passage from John 6:1-29 is included in the revised common lectionary provided by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. The text is from the NRSV. You can hear a recording of this passage here Reading the Gospel aloud invites…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html","og_site_name":"Hear the Gospel","article_published_time":"2018-10-10T16:28:43+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/files\/2018\/10\/John-6-1-21-300x182.jpg"}],"author":"Theodore May","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html","name":"The prophet in this world - Hear the Gospel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/files\/2018\/10\/John-6-1-21-300x182.jpg","datePublished":"2018-10-10T16:28:43+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-10T16:28:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/#\/schema\/person\/c9e5892a8128aa67c63807b1c7d6b181"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/files\/2018\/10\/John-6-1-21-300x182.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/files\/2018\/10\/John-6-1-21-300x182.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/10\/prophet-come-world.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The prophet in this world"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/","name":"Hear the Gospel","description":"What it means to really live in a world inhabited by the living God","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/#\/schema\/person\/c9e5892a8128aa67c63807b1c7d6b181","name":"Theodore May","description":"Ted May speaks with no authority other than the fact that he has served as a lay reader for more than 50 years in multiple churches, spanning multiple denominations, and feels the call to share what he has learned from that experience with others. After a successful corporate career, he\u2019s now an executive presentation coach who works with business professionals and students in the greater Washington, D.C. area. He and his wife live in Northern Virginia, where they raised three children.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/author\/tmay"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/621"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}