Matthew 14: Jesus Feeds 5,000
Many of you have read this account of Jesus feeding the 5,000
before, indeed I have read it many times before, but something in it caught hold
of me this week. Many of us have been
part of a team and I am sure at one point or another we have all been a
follower on that team. As a team member
you allow the burden of problem solving to fall on the shoulders of the
leader. That is what is happening here
with the disciples. We see that Jesus
expects us to take action, he challenges the expectations of the disciples, and
then compassionately cares for the people.
Our excerpt today begins in Matthew 14:13, but just prior to this
the death of John the Baptist is recorded.
John the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin and in verse 12 we read that John’s
disciples told Jesus of his death. In
verse 13 we begin, Jesus after hearing of the death of John withdraws to a
place of solitude in a boat. So Jesus jumps
in a boat and finds a lonely shore to get away for bit and be alone. It continues saying that the crowds followed
him around the shore on foot from the towns.
I think most of us can relate to what Jesus was trying to do after
finding out that his cousin had been killed, but in verse 14 we Jesus do
something that runs counter-intuitive to what most of us would do. In verse 14 it says that Jesus saw the crowds
approaching and he had compassion upon them and he healed their sick.
There is no indication of how long Jesus spent healing their sick
and attending to them, but verse 15 states that night had come and the
disciples desired to send the people away so that they may find food for
themselves. It is here where the story
caught by attention, verse 16 says that Jesus told them that the crowd did not
have to depart and that the disciples should feed the people. Mark 6:37 and John 6:7 give us insight into
the response of the disciples which was utter desperation about how to handle
it. They asked Jesus how they were to
afford to buy bread for all the people.
The text says there were 5,000 men; this did not count women and
children that were present. Estimates
place this crowd to be somewhere in the range of 9,000 people or more. The text tells us that the disciples thought
it would take around 200 denarii to buy enough food, this was the equivalent to
200 days wages. Obviously they did not
have enough for that and they were at a loss on how to handle it. Of the twelve disciples only Andrew took
action, he told Jesus that there was a boy who had brought 5 loaves of bread
and a few fish (John 6:8-9). Andrew
wasn’t sure how that would help, but he was bold enough to offer it to
Jesus.
In many ways I find this silly that they disciples did not
immediately assume that Jesus could make anything work. Mark 6:7-13 which precedes this account
reminds us that not long before this the disciples had been sent out in pairs
to do miracles. How quickly they forget
all that they had seen and done at Jesus’ side.
I can’t fault them by any means, because I too forget how God has shown
up in my life. The more time that goes
by our confidence that God will be there again for us wanes, this is why in the
Old Testament we see people like Abraham build an altar after every encounter
with God, so that there is a physical daily reminder when they pass it. It reminds them that God was there and he did
this. This is similar to what photos do
for us because our memories and experience fades.
Jesus knew before he told them to feed the people what he would
do. Andrew showed that though he didn’t
know how to solve the problem, he knew that Jesus might be able to do something
with the little amount of food that was there.
The disciples were not callous in their regard for the crowd by desiring
them to be sent away; in fact they knew that these people must eat. They knew that they had nothing to feed them
and could not afford the amount of food required, so they asked Jesus to cut
short the healing so that they could eat.
Jesus flipped their concern around on them, saying, “Okay, you want them
to eat, you get them something to eat.
Go ahead…” I picture him waiting until they came to him without any
options or solutions. The reality is
that the nearby towns likely had no ability to handle the volume of the crowds
and could not meet their needs. Jesus
knew this as well.
Do we take action when we see a need? Do we honestly search if we can fulfill the
need? Maybe you have the means to
fulfill the need or maybe we need to bring what we have to Jesus and ask him
how it can help. Either course is a
course of action set on meeting the need.
We need to lean on Jesus and seek to have compassion through action. Underlying this whole story is Jesus meeting
the needs of the group in the midst of his own sorrows. Out of his pain he ministered to the people,
caring for them. Likewise he asked the
disciples to minister to the people out of their own lack. When they came back to him and told him that
they couldn’t do it, he provided the means for them to accomplish the task.
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If we believe that Jesus came as God incarnate and died on the
cross and rose again, then what does that prompt us to do? It should prompt us to offer grace,
compassion, and love upon others sharing with them the great news of redemption
through Jesus. Like the disciples we
should recognize the needs of the people, like Andrew we should come to Jesus
and ask how we can meet the needs of others with what we have. If you answer the question ‘Do you believe?’
with a yes, then it should not only drive you to your knees, but to your feet
into service for others. Jesus came to
serve others, no servant is better than his master, are you serving? Are you being driven to action?