Readings, 2 Samuel 7:1-14a and Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Image, Christ in the Wilderness – the Hen, Stanley Spencer (1938) We begin with a question: When someone – in a state of stress or exhaustion – exclaims something surprising, is that a moment of unguarded truth or do we note the external factors and assign it as ‘out of character’? If, at the end of one of those weeks, I am walking through the house and trip on an errant toy left in the middle of the kitchen, and I reactively exclaim “how can anyone live with such slobs!” Is this a moment revealing my true feelings long hidden away? Or is this simply stress searching desperately for one point of blame and doesn’t reflect my actual feelings? Perhaps as pain temporarily blocks conscious considerations unconscious truth slips through, it may be out of character, it may surprise even me, but does it nonetheless reveal unguarded truth? There’s clearly no uniform answer. Sometimes it is one, sometimes the other, and likely we discern this based on our relationship and experience with the person. It may be that we realise, that while this isn’t an accurate expression of their beliefs, it names a simmering frustration which should have been articulated earlier. In such cases the flashpoint provides an opportunity, through apology and honesty, to address unspoken issues. Jesus is regularly tired in the gospels. He routinely seeks places to rest either alone or with his disciples. And yet, time and again he is hounded by the crowds, let down by his friends, challenged by opponents, and pressed to move on. And sometimes Jesus grows frustrated. Sometimes Jesus chastises his disciples, bemoans the crowds, and upbraids his opponents. I take some comfort in this… it really does emphasise that Jesus was fully human. That Jesus really experienced the full gamut of what it is to pitch a tent in the midst of the human experience. It is Jesus’ exasperation and exhaustion as much as anything that proves the great line from Hebrews: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. In the same breath, I take comfort in what emphasises Jesus as fully divine. That even when his rest is cut short by crowds following him from place to place, Jesus looks on them and has compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. This comfort is only amplified in the final verse of our gospel reading: And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the market-places, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed. Such is the power of Jesus’ divine nature. Whatever he might be feeling in these moments, whatever day he might be facing, whatever toll might be paid by his mortal flesh and finite patience, his nature is such that even the fringe of his cloak can be make us well. Like the haemorrhaging woman, reaching for his cloak in the crowd, Jesus’ lifeforce and divine power bursts forth without decision. He does not need to know who has approached for their approach to be rewarded. Jesus, as fully God, simply is compassion and healing, simply is consolation and joy, simply is the light and life of the world, simply is love. Even moving into his presence moves us into the presence of love, light, life, joy, consolation, healing and compassion. There is no hidden nature, no truer feelings repressed beneath the surface, no ulterior motives lurking out of sight. Jesus is life, Jesus is freedom, Jesus is salvation, and this is revealed not only in the compassion displayed for the needy crowds at the end of a long day (for this could just be the proof of saintliness, of an exemplary display of human compassion). No, the nature of Jesus as hope and healing for a weary world is revealed in the restoration and salvation that occurs simply through his presence as Emmanuel (God with us). It is this divine nature which flows through Christ to the world without even needing him to turn his gaze, that proves the following verse of that Hebrews passage: Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We get pretty adept, as humans, of knowing when to approach others to ask a favour. And the more we know a person the better we are at reading the signs of their mood and sensing the tactical moment to approach. We may even cultivate these moments: quietly moving in the background to remove points of stress, biding time from one request to another, or striking when the iron is hot off our own benevolent favour granting. This may be a necessity of human relations, but this is not the relationship of the flock to the shepherd. This is not how it is for the Christian and their High Priest. Because though the human Jesus - bound by the limits of appetite and sleep - grew weary and frustrated, the risen Christ is the ascended one. And if the weary Jesus saw the crowds and was moved by compassion, how much more may we trust the loving response of the one who has now been given all authority over heaven and earth? If Christ, who as Incarnate had no place to lay his head and yet proved time and again to be rich in love, how much more will the one who sits on the throne of heaven pour forth compassion and tenderness for those who approach his presence? If the fringe of his cloak could heal, how much more restoration might be known through the unbound presence of the cosmic Christ? This is the good news: since we know that even when tested and tried Jesus could not give up on those who reached out for help, how much more might we trust in the ascended and unencumbered Christ who is by nature simply the full force of compassion, faithfulness, peace, and love. There is nothing contradictory to be revealed, however many toys we leave out. Christ simply is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, calls us by name, and leads us into life.
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