Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Elisha Feeds the People

⁴² A man from Baal Shalishah came to Elisha, bringing him twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ·harvest [fruits]. He also brought fresh grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.”

⁴³ Elisha’s servant asked, “How can I ·feed a hundred people with so little [^Lset this before a hundred people]?”

“Give the bread to the people to eat,” Elisha ·said [repeated]. “·This is what the Lord says [^TThus says the Lord]: ‘They will eat and will have food left over.’” ⁴⁴ After he gave it to them, the people ate and had food left over, ·as the Lord had said [^Lin accordance with the word of the Lord].

The Love of Christ

¹⁴ So [^CPaul begins again the prayer he started in v. 1] I ·bow in prayer [kneel] before the Father ¹⁵ from whom ·every [or the whole] ·family [^Ca play on words, since the words “father” and “family” are related] in heaven and on earth gets its true name. ¹⁶ I ask the Father ·in his great glory [or from the treasures of his glory; or out of his glorious riches] to give you the power to be strong ·inwardly [^Lin the inner person] through his Spirit. ¹⁷ I pray that Christ will ·live [make his home] in your hearts by faith and that your life will be ·strong in love and be built on love [^Lrooted and grounded in love]. ¹⁸ And I pray that you and all ·God’s holy people [^Tthe saints] will have the power to ·understand [comprehend; grasp] the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. ¹⁹ Christ’s love is ·greater than anyone can ever know [beyond comprehension/knowledge], but I pray that you will be able to know that love. ·Then [^L…so that] you can be filled with the fullness of God.

²⁰ ·Glory be to God, who can [^LNow to the One who is able to] do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine through his power working in us. ²¹ To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all ·time [generations], forever and ever. Amen.

More than Five Thousand Fed^(A)

6 After this, Jesus went ·across [to the other side of] ·Lake [^Tthe Sea of] Galilee (or, Lake Tiberias). ² Many people followed him because they saw the ·miracles [^Lsigns; 2:11] he did ·to heal [^Lfor; on behalf of] the sick. ³ Jesus went up on a ·hill [or mountain] and sat down there with his ·followers [disciples]. ⁴ It was almost the time for the Jewish Passover Feast [^Cthe annual festival that celebrates God’s rescue of Israel from Egypt; Ex. 12; John 2:13].

⁵ When Jesus ·looked up [^Lraised his eyes] and saw a large crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip [^Cone of the twelve disciples; 1:43], “Where can we buy enough bread for all these people to eat?” ⁶ (Jesus asked Philip this question to test him, because Jesus already knew what he ·planned [was going] to do.)

⁷ Philip answered [^Lhim], “·Someone would have to work almost a year to buy enough bread [^LTwo hundred denarii worth of bread is not enough; ^Ca denarius was a unit of money worth about a day’s wages] for each person to have only a little piece.”

⁸ Another one of his ·followers [disciples], Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹ “Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish, but ·that is not enough [^Lwhat are these…?] for so many people.”

¹⁰ Jesus said, “·Tell [^LMake] the people to sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, and about five thousand men sat down there. ¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, ·thanked God [^Lgave thanks] for them, and ·gave [distributed] them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, giving as much as the people wanted.

¹² When they ·had all had enough to eat [^Lwere filled/satisfied], Jesus said to his ·followers [disciples], “Gather the leftover ·pieces of fish and bread [^Lpieces] so that nothing is wasted.” ¹³ So they gathered up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left from the five barley loaves [2 Kin. 4:42–44; ^CJesus’ miracle surpasses that of Elisha].

¹⁴ When the people saw this ·miracle [^Lsign] that Jesus did, they said, “He must truly be the Prophet [1:21; ^Cprobably the “prophet like Moses” of Deut. 18:15–18] who is coming into the world.”

¹⁵ Jesus knew that the people ·planned [intended; were about] to come and take him by force and make him their king, so he ·left [withdrew] and went into the ·hills [or mountains] alone.

Jesus Walks on the Water^(B)

¹⁶ That evening Jesus’ ·followers [disciples] went down to ·Lake Galilee [^Lthe lake/sea]. ¹⁷ It was dark now, and Jesus had not yet ·come to [joined] them. The ·followers [disciples] got into a boat and started across the lake to Capernaum. ¹⁸ By now a strong wind was blowing, and ·the waves on the lake were getting bigger [^Lthe sea/lake rose up]. ¹⁹ When they had rowed the boat about ·three or four miles [^Ltwenty-five or thirty stadia; ^Ca stadion was about 600 feet], they saw Jesus walking on the ·water [sea; lake], coming toward the boat. The ·followers [disciples] were afraid, ²⁰ but Jesus said to them, “It is I [or “I am”; ^Cthere could be an echo here of Ex. 3:14]. Do not be afraid.” ²¹ Then they ·were glad [or were willing] to take him into the boat. ·At once [Immediately] the boat came to land at the place where they wanted to go. [^CThe sea often stands for chaos, and God controls it.]