Monday 5 May 2025 - The work of God

Monday 5 May 2025

Today is Monday the 5th of May, in the 3rd week of Eastertide.     Nick Chambers sings, ‘It Is Good To Be Here With You’. Is it good for you to be with the Lord today as you begin to pray? If so, let Him know!    When you bring me up the mount,  Into the brightness of the cloud   Even when I cannot stay,  when I don’t know what to say.  It is good to be here with you, with you.    When I hear the voice above  “This is my Beloved Son”  When I’m shaken by the sound  With my face pressed to the ground  It is good to be here   It is good to be here with you, with you.    With your touch, I hear you say,  “Rise and do not be afraid”  When I look it’s only you  The face that I thought that I knew   It is good to be here   It is good to be here with you, with you.  Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John.    John 6:22-29  The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the lake saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.  When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’    This crowd is determined to find Jesus. Through the gospel writer’s eyes, we can appreciate the lengths to which the people go to reach Jesus. The chase is quite comical, isn’t it? But Jesus welcomes them with a reality check: they’re complicating His message of simple belief. Do you ever take a roundabout, convoluted route to approaching Jesus and His message?  What might it be like if you took a more direct route, starting by just being yourself and Jesus simply loving you?  Jesus refers to Himself as ‘the Son of Man’.  Is there something about identifying with us all as human beings in that name?   How does that affect you?  Listen to the passage again and notice what comes up for you.    John 6:22-29  The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the lake saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.  When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’    Spend some time pondering in these closing moments...  You might want to think about how you would like to address God the Father, or Jesus, the Son of Man.  Ask the Holy Spirit to be present to you. Gently allow your prayer to form.  Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.   As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be  World without end  Amen