BELIEVE
Throughout the Resurrection appearances Jesus is encouraging his disciples to BELIEVE. With each appearance he encourages and challenges them to believe that what he told them has come to pass.
He challenges them to believe the witness of their own eyes when what they see before them seems truly unbelievable. In last Sunday’s gospel he tells Thomas to move on from his doubting, saying to him:
“Doubt no longer, but believe.”
It’s a call to believe that he is the Christ, the Messiah, the son of the living God that’s echoed in today’s gospel. His popularity has increased as a result of the feeding of the five thousand.
Jesus knows that the crowds have been attracted by the food producing miracle rather than by faith in his message. Vital as that is he calls them to go deeper, seeking beyond the surface for the real meaning of his action, that brings life and hope. He says to them:
“Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.”
His words carry a particular challenge for us. In our world that endlessly promotes image with little concern for truth it can be hard to discern what to believe. There is an answer to that dilemma in Jesus’ response to the crowd:
“You must believe in the one God has sent.”
The risen Christ invites us to BELIEVE in him even though, in our broken and damaged world, that is not always easy. He calls us to BELIEVE that he is with us, offering us new life in the midst of our brokenness.
How is the risen Christ inviting you to deepen your belief in him this Eastertide?