A Meditation for Wednesday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent

By The Very Reverend B. Townsend Waddill, III, ‘08

“Now [the disciples] had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:14-21. ESV)

Do you ever wonder if Jesus, during his time on this earth, mastered the art of the face palm? Sometimes, it really clear the disciples were dense. They just didn’t get it. And you can often hear the almost exasperation in Jesus’s voice when it came to his disciples. Really guys? You’ve been with me how long and you still don’t get it?

In our Gospel lesson today from St. Mark (Mark 8:14-21), the disciples are having one of those days. They are travelling with Jesus and they realize that they forgot to bring bread. Oh, what are we ever going to do?

Now remember that, up to this point, Jesus had shown his disciples some amazing miracles. Remember that, in Mark chapter 6, Jesus fed 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish. And if that wasn’t enough, earlier in chapter 8, Jesus also fed 4,000 with just seven loaves of bread. So, Jesus had just literally fed 9,000 people from a total of 12 loaves of bread and two fish, and they even had 17 loaves of bread left over. These disciples are complaining? They are overly concerned about what they don’t have? How quickly they have forgotten the grace and mercy of Jesus, and his provision for them in their ministry.

Jesus has a heartfelt, almost pleading response to them. “Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you no hears?” But I think the next question he asks is the key question: “And do you not remember?”

This concept of remembrance is one of the biggest keys to living out our faith in Jesus Christ. When God instituted the Passover meal in the book of Exodus, God did not merely instruct Moses in what to do to prepare for the passing over of the Israelites by the angel of death. He also instructed them to make the Passover an annual feast, so that the Israelites would always be reminded of how God, in miraculous fashion, delivered them out of the hands of slavery in Egypt.

Fast forwarding to the New Testament, another great example of remembrance is the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist, which we celebrate regularly as a Church. On the night before he was crucified, Jesus instituted the Eucharist when he celebrated the Last Supper with his 12 apostles. The Words of Institution that we hear every time the Eucharist is celebrated always concludes with the words “Do this in remembrance of me.” Every time we come before the altar at the Holy Eucharist, it is a very important participation in the remembrance of what was accomplished in the Paschal Mystery, the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. It is a constant reminder to us that, through Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the Cross, and his subsequent Resurrection from the dead on the third day, we are washed clean of our sins in the Blood of the Lamb and restored to wholeness and given the gift of everlasting life.

One of the other words that figures prominently in the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist, besides remembrance, is the word thanksgiving. In fact, the Greek word eucharistos, of which Eucharist is derived, means thanksgiving. I believe that remembrance and thanksgiving go hand in hand. God wanted the Israelites always to remember what he had done for them so that they could be ever thankful. Jesus wanted his 12 apostles to “do this in remembrance of me” so that they would be ever thankful for what he had done for them. Always thankful. Never forgetting.

And Jesus was making the point to his disciples that remembrance was the salve that would soften their hardened hearts. If they would be ever mindful of all the things Jesus had done for them, they would not have the same problems with lack of faith and lack of trust that they were experiencing.

And Jesus has the same lesson for us as Christian disciples. It is so very easy for us to forget all that he has done for us. Sure, he has done amazing things, and worked miracles in our lives. If we look closely, we can see them. But if we don’t remember them, and we move from an attitude of gratitude to a focus on what we don’t have – what is lacking – then that’s how we find ourselves in the predicament that the disciples are in.

My brothers and sisters, I exhort you always to be mindful of everything that God has done in your life. When you go to the Eucharist every Sunday, if not more, don’t fall into the trap of letting it become rote. The Eucharist is a celebration of all that Jesus did in the Paschal Mystery, and all that he continues to do in our lives. Always remember. Always be thankful. Always tell your story about what God has done in your life. And may we all, with remembering, thankful hearts, go forth into the world, reaching forth our hands in love, so that we may bring those who do not know Jesus to the knowledge and love of him. Amen. 

The Very Reverend B. Townsend Waddill, III, is Rector of St. Michael the Archangel Anglican Church in Fresno, California, and Dean of the Central Deanery in the Diocese of San Joaquin. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Florida, an MBA from Rollins College, and an MDiv from Nashotah House. He is married to Lisa, a middle school educator in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno. They have two sons, Benjamin, who serves in the U.S. Navy as a submariner, and William, who is a sophomore at San Joaquin Memorial High School. The readings for the preceding devotional may be located here from Forward Movement.