Room 101 features in George Orwell’s novel ‘1984’. It’s a torture chamber within the Ministry of Love, one which is effective because it is particularly designed to torture an individual with their own worst fears. The Party, which investigates and spies on every citizen, is in a unique position to know the things which an individual fears the most, and so the torture chamber is attuned to each person. As O’Brien says, ‘the worst thing in the world varies from individual to individual. It may be burial alive, or death by fire, or by drowning, or by impalement, or fifty other deaths.’ For Winston, the worst thing in the world is to be in a confined space surrounded by rats. This is enough to break him, to cause him to betray his beloved and to become aligned with the evil plans of a government which do not allow individuality or freedom to flourish.

All of us have ‘worst fears’, things which affect us adversely, and as O’Brien points out, these things may well not even cause a flutter of anxiety in someone else. Fear is not rational, and so it is hard to understand how some people may fear some things. But there is no doubt that fear can be triggered by some creatures (a fear of spiders, birds, insects and other animals, for example) and that the harm done by these things can be very real.

Revelation 9 taps into our worst fears by introducing demonic creatures released to torture those who have not been sealed by God. The images used to describe these creatures are of creatures which may well cause fear (locusts, scorpions), but these creatures are like nothing ever seen before. The locusts have gold crowns and human faces (Rev 9:7), with long hair and teeth as fierce as lions’ (Rev 9:8). They wear armour and have stinging tails. (Rev 9:9-10) This is like a horror movie, with no escape possible. Whether we interpret these creatures literally or see a more allegorical twist (as in modern warfare machinery, for example), the outcome is one that is enough to strike fear into any heart.

Yet it is worth remembering that this fifth trumpet comes to those who have deliberately and persistently rejected God. (Rev 9:4) God’s people do not have to fear this kind of judgment because Christ has taken all the judgment that we deserved. God has given people numerous opportunities to repent and escape these judgments, but as the end of this chapter makes clear, they ‘still did not repent of the work of their hands.’ (Rev 9:20) Rather than being paralysed by fear, God’s people are told that perfect love drives out fear. (1 John 4:28) We are told that the only one we should fear is God. (Matt 10:28) When we do that and change our lives in accordance with His word, we do not have to live in fear of anything the world can throw at us (even Room 101!) Our lives are safe in God; those who must face these judgments do not wish to change.

John 6:1-5 tells us the story of the feeding of the five thousand, the fourth of the ‘signs’ recorded in John’s Gospel and a miracle that features in all four gospels (see also Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44 and Luke 9:10-17). Once again, we see how the miraculous is earthed in the ordinary (one boy’s five loaves and two fish going on to feed five thousand men),rooted in thankfulness (there are no magic incantations used by Jesus, simply thankfulness to God and trust in His provision). This miracle of provision defies our usual understanding of mathematics (five and two just don’t ‘go into’ five thousand!) and shows us not only what God can do, but who Jesus is, for He goes on to teach that He is the bread of life who satisfies all our spiritual (as well as our physical) needs. (John 6:35)

The miracle shows us that Jesus had compassion on the crowds, despite having wanted to escape from the crowds to grieve the death of John the Baptist privately. Even though He would have preferred to have time alone to process what had happened, He put the needs of others before His own and stretched His disciples’ faith by asking them where they could find food for the large crowd. The disciples were unable to see beyond the impossible, but as we are repeatedly discovering, every miracle arises from an impossible situation. The generosity of one boy is multiplied by Jesus and all are not only fed but satisfied.

This miracle reminds us not only that God is our provider; He is our provision. He meets our daily needs (see Matt 6:25-34, Phil 4:19), but Jesus then goes on to explore the crowd’s spiritual needs. We need to understand that God cares for us both on a practical and spiritual level and expects us to do the same (see Matt 25:31-46, 1 John 3:17-18) Jesus said, ‘For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:40) We have to care for people’s spiritual needs as well as meeting their practical needs, because that is the Jesus way.

Dave spoke this morning from Matthew 14:22-33, where Jesus (and subsequently Peter) walk on water. Trusting Jesus was essential for Peter to walk on water. So often, we think that trusting God means having no problems or difficulties, but in actual fact, faith is often proven and tested in the storms of life. Here, immediately after the feeding of the five thousand (a miracle which must have seen the disciples’ faith grow), they face a storm on the lake and are startled to see Jesus walking on the water towards them. Peter surprises himself by asking to do the same, and while he keeps his eyes on Jesus, he actually walks on water himself. Once his attention is on the wind and the waves, however, he becomes like a sinking rock, going down, down, down!

Life is full of both adventure and accidents, good things and catastrophes, but we can trust Jesus to bring us through both. In the challenges and difficulties of life, will we learn to trust God? Peter experienced the impossible when he walked on the water; with God, all things are possible. We have to let go and let God do what He can. It is so much easier to doubt God and wonder if He really wants us to do things, but even in difficult times such as we are experiencing at present, we must learn to trust God to do what only He can do. He will be us through it all.

We might assume that Jesus was universally popular; after all, what can be criticised about healing someone who had been paralysed for 38 years? John shows us, however, that the healings Jesus did often aroused criticism and ultimately persecution from religious leaders, largely because they so often happened on the Sabbath day and were construed by them as unnecessary work. They could not see beyond the letter of the law and failed to understand Jesus’s actions.

In John 5, Jesus went on to describe what is truly important (“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” John 5:17) and taught about His relationship with the Father. This enraged the Pharisees even further (‘For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.’ John 5:18) All of this discussion came about because of what Jesus did in healing a man on the Sabbath.

We might ask why Jesus chose to heal so frequently on the Sabbath, knowing how it would antagonise the religious leaders. I think the answer lies in the fact that Jesus always responded to the needs around Him, and those needs would not fit into a Monday to Friday schedule! He used every opportunity He had for God, just as we are called to do, and then He used every opportunity He had to teach. The healing was not only an opportunity to help a man who had suffered for thirty-eight years. It was an opportunity to teach about the Father’s heart, about the Son’s relationship with the Father, and about the nature of God’s work on earth. Jesus took these opportunities and taught that life was ultimately found in Him. (John 5:39-40) He used every opportunity wisely and well; we are called to do the same. (Col 4:5)