|
Matthew 14:13-21
Now when Jesus heard this, he
withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by
himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on
foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great
crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.
When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said,
“This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send
the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and
buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need
not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied,
“We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he
said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds
to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the
two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the
loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples
gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and
they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve
baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand
men, besides women and children.
Today’s text is a familiar one for many of
us, but I firmly believe that it has a message for us
today. The feeding of the 5000 from just five loaves of
bread and two fish from the lunch of a little boy (according
to the gospel of John) is the story of the extreme
compassion of Christ. By the way, this story is included in
all four gospels, so clearly the gospel writers thought it
was important.
Let me give you a little background into the
text as to what has just occurred. Verse 13 begins “When
Jesus heard this news, he withdrew from there in a boat to a
deserted place by himself.” What had he heard? What made
him want to withdraw from the crowds and travel by boat to a
deserted place by himself? If we look at Matthew 14: 1-12,
we find that Jesus had just been told that Herod had just
beheaded John the Baptist. John the Baptist, the son of
his mother’s cousin Elizabeth, the one who proclaimed that
Jesus was the Son of God, the one who proclaimed that people
needed to repent for the kingdom of God was at hand, the one
who baptized many for their repentance including Jesus.
John the Baptist, Jesus’ friend and contemporary, was dead.
What were the events that led up to his
beheading? He was in prison at the time for proclaiming
that it was not lawful for Herod to take his brother
Philip’s wife (Herodias) for his own wife. John the Baptist
followed God’s leading and was not afraid to proclaim the
truth. So why was he beheaded? The daughter of Herodias
danced so well at Herod’s birthday party that he vowed to
reward her with whatever she might ask for. Prompted by her
mother Herodias, the daughter asked for the head of John the
Baptist on a platter. Herod, afraid to go back on his word
in front of his guests, reluctantly granted her request.
Can you imagine the anguish Jesus must have felt when he
heard of his friend’s senseless and awful death? Herodias
didn’t want to hear John’s proclamations anymore about her
marriage to Herod, so she wanted him dead. Jesus had
just heard this news and was filled with grief.
That’s why he attempted to get away from the crowds in a
boat.
But the crowds heard too, and they followed
Jesus on foot. Verse 14 says, “When he went ashore, he saw
a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured
their sick.” That is extreme compassion! He just
wanted some time alone to be with his own grief, but instead
he reached out to the crowd, healed their sick, and put his
own feelings aside. Their needs came first.
Jesus
always puts us first. And when his disciples urged
him to send the crowds home, he exhibited his compassion for
them again. Who knows how far they had travelled from home
to hear and see him? Who knows how far the next town was
and if it would it be able to sustain all their needs for
food? Jesus knew all this. Jesus knew that there was a
lesson for the disciples and for us in his refusal to send
the crowds home, and it wasn’t just the miracle of feeding
5000.
His reply to the disciples was simply “You
give them something to eat.” Can you imagine the disbelief
that was going through their minds? “Jesus, are you crazy?
There must be at least 5000 men, not counting the women and
children! Where are we going to get that kind of money to
buy such an enormous amount of food?” That would have been
my first thought if I had been one of those first
disciples. But the disciples replied, “We have nothing here
but five loaves and two fish.” So Jesus asked them to bring
what they had. He told the crowd to sit down and he looked
up to heaven and blessed the loaves and the fish and gave
them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the
crowds.
Jesus, in his extreme compassion, took what they had and it
was not only adequate, but “all were filled” and they had
twelve baskets of leftovers. Jesus used what they had and
blessed it. Jesus can use what we have and bless it, too.
Jesus, in his extreme compassion for the people, fed 5000
men plus women and children with the gift of five loaves and
two fish. What can he do with what we have?
There is a new ad on TV for AARP, which
talks about superheroes. A young boy talks about his
grandmother as a superhero, saying that her superpower is
“Giving.” His grandmother has compassion; his grandmother
is known for her acts of kindness, not just for giving
presents, which I’m sure she does, but for giving her time
and her talents, and her wisdom to others. She has extreme
compassion and her grandson has noticed! That’s what I want
others to see in me. That’s what this text is saying to us
today.
That’s also what the superpower of Jesus is
– he doesn’t wave a magic wand over the five loaves of bread
and two fish and magically make it stretch to feed the
overwhelming crowd. He takes what he has and asks God to
bless it and sends the disciples out to distribute the food
to the crowd. It is in the giving and blessing of the
loaves of bread and the fish that may have prompted others
to pull out what food they had brought with them and to
share it with others.
Jesus takes time away from his own grief to
give to others. Jesus takes time to give to others, even
though his own heart is breaking. Jesus, the greatest
teacher that ever lived, shows us how to be more
compassionate. He doesn’t want us to send people away when
it’s not convenient for us, but to fill their needs with his
superpower of compassion that He freely gives to us.
I see in the newsletter that your mission
for this month is the Clyde and Donna Smith family. Here is
a family that is so compassionate themselves in need of our
help. How many of you have been a part of Donna’s prayer
ministry where she drops everything she is doing and prays
with you?
Donna called me on Friday to tell me how
great it is that I am preaching at the service of my
granddaughter’s baptism. I asked if there are any specific
needs that we could do for her. She covets our prayers, for
our prayers are giving her and her family the strength to
get through this crisis with Keziah. Then she said that her
church family is covering their meals, but on occasion she
needs someone to take care of her three little children
(Abby, Isaiah and Zeke). What an easy way to show her
compassion. I told her to give me a call when she has a
need for childcare, and I am sure that she would love to
hear that you could help out in this way, too. If three
children seem like too much, ask a friend to go along with
you. Also she is going to Hershey sometimes twice a day.
Can you imagine her gasoline bills? Give from what you have
and God will use it to help Donna. Donna and her family
need your extreme compassion at this time.
Pastor Tim is another example of someone who
is compassionate. Rather than focusing on his own grief
this week, he performed a wedding ceremony yesterday
morning, met with Kristin and Eric about Kylee’s baptism
this week, and then officiated at his own father’s funeral
yesterday as well. Pastor Tim could have easily said to
Kristin and Eric that they would have to reschedule the
baptism, and he could have called someone to take over the
wedding and the service today, but he didn’t. He followed
God’s call to set aside his grief and follow through with
the commitments that he had made to others. That is extreme
compassion.
Chad and Alex just got back from Camp PARC
at Laurel Hill State Park. Chad took a week off of work to
cook for the mentally challenged campers and Alex was a
sitter for one of the staff’s kids. Next year Ben wants to
go along, too. They are examples of people with extreme
compassion for those who have tremendous needs.
All the volunteers at Meals on Wheels are
people with compassion, filling a need for the homebound of
the community. Many times I prayed that we would have
enough people to prepare the food and to deliver the food.
God always provides. God uses what we have to serve others.
There was a shooting at a church last week,
where an usher stepped in front of others to block the
bullets from hitting them. That is extreme compassion.
Christ is calling us to follow Him, to
follow his ways of compassion, to reach out to those in need
and use what we have to ease their pain, their worries,
their suffering. Jesus put aside his own grief to cure the
sick and have compassion on the crowd of people that
followed him that day. Christ calling us to follow His
example of compassion for others. He has extreme compassion
for the people of God. Can we do any less?
Let us pray:
O mighty God, we come before you with our
weaknesses, asking you to use us to further your kingdom.
Open our eyes to see your will for us; open our hearts to be
more compassionate in your name; open our hands to go forth
from this place to serve you whatever way we can, knowing
that you can do great things with just a little from us. In
Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
|