• "Miracles are Signs That Point to Something More Important"
• Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent
• March 21, 2004
• The Reverend Stephen C. Scarlett

John's gospel, from whence our gospel (6:1f.) today comes, is sometimes referred to as the "signs" gospel. In John, Jesus performs certain miracles that are described as signs-visible things that point to something greater. The gospel today tells us that a crowd followed Jesus because of "the miracles he did on them that were diseased." The word miracles, here, is literally "signs."

When John calls a miracle a sign, he implies that it has a deeper meaning. The point of the miracle is not the miracle, per se. The miracle is a sign that points us to the one who performed the miracle. It reveals who he is and what he came to do.

For example, in John's gospel Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana and raised Lazarus from the dead. If these miracles are taken at face value, the conclusion might be that Jesus should always be invited to parties and funerals, for he will make sure both have a happy ending.

But, if these miracles are signs, they point to something more important: namely, who Jesus is. Jesus was able to govern the processes of nature so that water could be turned into wine at his command. This reveals him to be the creator who has control over these things. Jesus was able to raise the dead. This reveals Jesus to be the One who has power over death.

Peter understood this point with regard to the miraculous catch of fish that marked his call to be an apostle (Luke 5:1f.). He had fished all night and caught nothing. Jesus told him to let down his net again. Peter obeyed and caught more fish than the net could hold. Now, if Peter had not understood the sign, he might have said something like, "Jesus, would you mind coming by here every morning about this time?" But Peter understood the sign and it caused him to give up fishing altogether.

The Feeding of the Multitudes in today's gospel was meant to be a sign. It is a sign that Jesus explains for us in John's gospel. Today's gospel ends at John 6:15. To understand the feeding miracle, we need to read the rest of John 6.

The feeding miracle so moved the crowd that John tells us "they were about to come and take him by force and make him king." Jesus, therefore, fled the scene. But the people followed in hot pursuit and found him a day later. Jesus greeted the pursuing crowd with these words:

"You seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you" (6:28 NKJV).

In other words, the people only understood the miracle on the surface; they did not get the larger meaning. They saw Jesus as a source of perpetual free food. They did not perceive, in this miracle of nature, the presence of nature's God. They sought the miracle itself, not the One to whom the miracle pointed.

Jesus then made the point explicit: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst" (6:35). In other words, the miracle of feeding, through which Jesus filled hungry stomachs, is a sign that points to Jesus as the One who can fill hungry souls.

One who knows and communes with Jesus experiences a satisfaction of desire that far transcends the absence of a growling stomach. Physical hunger points to spiritual hunger. Jesus, in miraculously satisfying physical hunger, points to himself as the fulfillment of the deeper need.

Those who live on a merely physical level, who see life primarily as a mere pursuit of money, pleasure and power, cannot accept and believe in Jesus because he did not come to give us any of these things on a merely physical level. We can only accept and believe in Jesus inasmuch as we see the things of this world as signs of eternal things; inasmuch as we see our desire for the things of this world as a sign of our desire for greater eternal things.

As 2 Corinthians says, "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

The sign of the feeding miracle points us to the Eucharistic. In the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus multiplied bread to feed hungry people. In the Eucharist, Jesus multiplies his own presence to feed hungry souls. As Jesus said in John 6:54, "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed."

The Eucharist itself is a sign that points to the great wedding feast of heaven. Here we are given a taste of the meal that we will then enjoy in full. As Revelation says, "They shall neither hunger anymore, nor thirst anymore...for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and shall lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (7:16-17 NKJV).