Bring It On! - Matthew 14:13-21 - Tenth Week after Pentecost

 

Matthew 14:13-21 NIV

¹³ When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

¹⁵ As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

¹⁶ Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

¹⁷ “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

¹⁸ “Bring them here to me,” he said. ¹⁹ And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ²¹ The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Bring It On!

So, right off the bat, we wonder, what Jesus had heard that happened. What happened that caused Jesus to want some privacy?

Jesus had just received the news of John the Baptist’s death and beheading at the hands of Herod Antipas. John was the prophet that prepared the way for Jesus. What happened to John would be a lead in to what was coming for Jesus. So, Jesus wanted to pray and speak with God the Father. Jesus withdrew to a place by the Sea of Galilee.

But, guess what? The crowds figured out what was going on, and pursued Jesus. The crowds wanted healing and were willing to hunt Jesus down for His healing.

As Jesus stepped out of the boat, He saw the needy crowd. So much for a bit of privacy in prayer! Anyway, with that, Jesus saw the need of the people, and cared for them. Jesus loves people in need. Yea, that’s for me and you too.

It seems the prayers of the people are answered by Jesus. So, think about that. When we are in need, have the faith, and believe, that God can, and does heal. Jesus hears our needs, and forgives us, and heals us, if not physically, on this earth, He heals us for life with Him in His Kingdom.

Somehow, I think of how Jesus’ need to pray was substituted by my own prayerful needs. That’s love and compassion!

Evening is the time, in Jewish custom, when one day ends and another day begins. Many times, in Jesus’ ministry, He would teach or heal during the later hours of the day. But the concern here is that, these people are out in a rural area, away from many resources needed for food and such.

So, the disciples, as expected, often turned to Jesus for guidance and direction. The disciples were concerned for the crowds well being at this time of day. But Jesus has compassion on this crowd, as He has from the beginning of this account. He doesn’t want these people to fend for themselves. So, Jesus extends a call to the disciples to serve the crowd. But how?

Jesus’ answer to the disciples, at first glance, seems way too simplistic. You guys give these people something to eat. Well, that was a challenge beyond the earthly capabilities that the disciples currently possessed. They didn’t have enough food to meet the need, not near enough. And that’s where, I think, Jesus wanted this whole thing to turn anyway.

Do we people of God, ever have all that we need? Well, I think sure, but we don’t have, what we would like to have. And in this was the dilemma for the disciples. This was a big crowd, in the wilderness, without enough resources to feed them sufficiently.

But God is abundant in His gifts. This event is a bit similar to what we encounter in Communion, or in the case of the disciples, the Last Supper. God’s forgiveness and salvation is way more than we ever need to live our lives in this place and time, here on this earth. And now in this place, God’s provision will, once again, take on earthly elements and display a heavenly solution, to the needs of the people. And in the wilderness, as well. Think of how God cares for His people in, and through, the wilderness, the physical wilderness, and the spiritual wilderness as well.

So, when Jesus calls us to serve, in what seems to be impossible situations, our duty is not to question, but to be obedient to that call to serve. We may not understand the plan, but we can be obedient to the call of God in our lives.

And it’s when the resources are low, that when called upon by God; we need to put the faith God gives us in action. It’s God’s work after all, so don’t get in the way, even when it all appears impossible!

Jesus wants us to bring our resources to Him. Even if we think our resources or gifts from God are small and insignificant. Jesus can deal with that. Our insignificant resources pale in comparison to what God can do with them. This is our temporal thinking, compared to God’s eternal thinking.

As Jesus takes the bread and the fish, He orders the crowd to sit and rest. This is now in God’s hands, and nothing is impossible. As Jesus comes to us in the Bread and the Wine of Communion, it is in the hands of God. Hands that reach out to His people with His Body and Blood, to offer salvation. This is God’s gift of being One with Him eternally in His Kingdom of Heaven.

In this gift of food, and refreshment, comes satisfaction. Not only satisfaction of hunger, but more a satisfaction of life from Jesus in an eternal sense.

God provides in abundance. Yes, even with meager offerings, God gives in abundance with much left over, to spread to more and more people. This is His special spiritual nourishment. Yes, even given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting in the Love of God.

Jesus, even in Your time of need, You have compassion for me, and come to me. And You show up by the waters of Galilee. And you show up at the waters of the Jordan, to be baptized by John the Baptist, who You now mourn. And You show up at the waters of my very own baptismal waters, to grant and freely give me new life. I love You, Jesus! How could I not?

When the work seems impossible; give thanks to God. God provides all we need, even in the face, of what we think, are impossible situations.

I give You thanks and praise that You have abundantly reached out to feed me, Your food of life. Even though I’m not a Jew, You have grafted me into Your source of Life, Love and Fellowship, with You, and all Your people. Thank You, Lord Jesus!

As I thought about this passage this week, I couldn’t help but to drop back and away from this scene. I thought about how the news of the death of Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, must have made Jesus mournful and sad. Did Jesus think about the sin that has entered into this world? The sin that had John the Baptist, the one who pointed to Jesus as the Messiah, the sin that overcame John’s earthly life in such a jealous and evil manner, that John was beheaded at a party. Surely as Jesus wanted to escape and ponder sin and evil, He realized the power of how His mission on this earth and in heaven was about to unfold.

And then with the presence of evil in mind, and the evil of powerful people; Jesus encounters a poor, sick, crowd, who absolutely want Jesus to heal them, and save them from the effects of sin upon this world, and upon their lives.

Jesus mission to commune with the common people of the day stood out in my thoughts. How this man, this Savior, this Messiah, comes to these people and gives them life-giving bread to eat, and to lead them on towards a heavenly kingdom beyond the earthly need to satisfy an earthly hunger.

Here is the Man born in Bethlehem; a city referred to as “The House of Bread,” coming to a people in need of bread. Here is the Man who will feed His disciples then, and for centuries to come, Bread and Wine, His own Body and Blood, that they, and we too, may receive the forgiveness of sin, and salvation, through Jesus own suffering, death, resurrection and ascension into His heavenly kingdom.

And guess what? There was an abundance, of left-overs for ALL God’s people.

That’s a love that gives up the need to pray about the death of a cousin, to give life to a crowd of needy people. Needy people, exactly like you and I, who need the Bread to live into eternity in communion with a God that has loved us from the start.

From the death of Adam and his return to dust, to the death of Jesus, and His empty tomb, we see full cycle the love of God which comes to us. Comes to us in Bread. Overflowing Bread. Bread that invades our sinful bodies to give us life.

How could I not be inspired to give my life to the Man that gave His life for me?

How could I not love Jesus, and love the crowds around me, to offer His message of the Bread from Heaven, to, and for, all those God places in my life, here, now, today, tomorrow and forever?

Yes, I see Jesus break away from His need for prayer, to give, His own Bread and life to meet the needs of people. All in a miraculous way, that is beyond human understanding.

In this I exclaim boldly… Thanks be to God, in Christ Jesus, my Savior, my life-giving Bread, and Messiah!

I leave you with this beautiful hymn as presented on a YouTube Music Video – “I Am the Bread of Life”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gADDeVUH4uc&list=RDgADDeVUH4uc&start_radio=1