Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 16:10-21; Romans 7: 1-12; John 6: 1-15

How Powerful and Mighty Is Our Lord

In the Book of Jeremiah, the people ask the Lord why he has decreed such a great disaster upon them. Just as we ask ourselves today why bad things happen; what wrong have we done to deserve this? The Lord answers them that it is because their fathers forsook him. They made idols and served and worshipped them. Even after they were released, the Israelites did not keep God’s law and they behaved even more wickedly than their fathers had done by following the stubbornness of their evil hearts, instead of obeying God. So the Lord said to them, “I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.” (v 13)
At the end, we see how merciful our God is; he promises to restore the land of their forefathers.

In Romans we read how the law has authority over a person only for as long as he lives. We should remember that we died to the law through the body of Christ, through him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. We read that the law is not sin, it is through the law we discover what sin is, for we would not know what coveting really was if the law had not said. But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived.... So the Bible says: the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

In John we read how great and miraculous our Savior, Jesus is. After he crossed the Sea of Galilee he saw a crowd following him. They were all hungry and he knew exactly what he was going to do, but still he tested Phillip. We read that there was a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish. Jesus took them, prayed and there was enough food to feed five thousand people. Jesus told his disciples to gather the leftovers and they filled twelve baskets. After that people began to say, “This is the prophet who is to come into the world!” But Jesus didn’t want to be made king by force, so he withdrew.

Prayer: Dear God, thank you for restoring our forefathers to the land. Thank you for Jesus who suffered because of our sins. We know he is seated just next to you, at your right hand. Amen.