B12a-devotions

Matthew 14:13-21

Alternative devotions for Thursday 25th September

The wonderful story of Jesus’ feeding of five thousand men together with women and children is relatively well known, and it fits into the pattern of Jesus’ ministry in Matthew’s Gospel. In chapter 13, Jesus had made a distinction between ‘the crowds and ‘the disciples’ by declaring that He would speak only in parables to the crowds but He would explain the ‘secrets of the Kingdom’ to the disciples. We might have the impression from this that because the crowds were not committed, they were no longer of any importance to Jesus. However, this story reminds us that whilst Jesus had clearly begun to draw the disciples aside for teaching, the crowds of ordinary people were still of great concern to Him and He continued to exercise a significant ministry to them.

Jesus and the crowds The crowds followed Jesus into this wilderness, and Matthew says that He had the deepest compassion for them (the Greek word for compassion ‘splangnidsomai’ expresses heartfelt feelings). Even if the crowds were no longer to be the recipients of Jesus’ teaching concerning the Kingdom of Heaven (see 13:10-17), Jesus still loved them and ministered to them according to their need, so He healed their sick (14:14). They came to Jesus as people who still needed to see evidence of the Messiah at work in their midst, and He put aside His own need for peace and quiet in order to help them, even if it only to repeat the same healing ministry He had done before (see chapters 8,9). The ‘desert’ place where this all took place was also a reminder to the people of their own history, when Moses had led the people through the wilderness and God had miraculously provided ‘manna’ for them to eat. Now, the Messiah was about to do the same!

Before the miracle It appears in verse 15 that the disciples were trying to protect Jesus from the crowds, so that He could gain the peace He sought. They strongly expressed their belief that time was late and people should make their own way home to prepare food and eat whilst it was still light enough so to do. But Jesus ignored the comments of the disciples and then placed the burden for the problem upon the disciples themselves; ‘give them something to eat themselves’ (14:16)!

We can only see what was going on with hindsight. Jesus drew the disciples into taking responsibility themselves for what was happening, and not simply ask Jesus to deal with everything whilst they watched. Moses, at the suggestion of Jethro, had appointed good people to assist him because of the burden of people’s need (Ex 18:12-24), and Jesus needed the disciples to work in the same way; He need them to assist Him intelligently.

The miracle Many attempts have been made to try to find meaning within almost every part of this story, but probably the most helpful way of understanding it is to think of it as a whole. It follows in the sequence of the Old Testament stories of God feeding His people, and this miracle is the climax of all these great stories. In Exodus 16, God provided His people with ‘manna’ from heaven, a miracle which contained the promise that God would lead His people to the ‘Promised Land’. Then, Elijah miraculously fed a widow and her son during a period of drought, demonstrating that God was in control of the destiny of His people (1 Kings 17:8-16f.). Next, Elisha fed a hundred people with 20 loaves of barley (2Kings 4:1-4) to demonstrate God’s authority in a difficult situation. Now Jesus performed an even greater miracle, which, if the people knew their history, should point them to His role as the Messiah, God’s chosen one who came after Elijah!

A meal of thanksgiving Then, the manner in which Jesus fed the people was extraordinary. He treated it like many a meal amongst a group of friends, and He ‘took’ the bread, ‘blessed’ it, ‘broke’ the bread, and then ‘gave’ it out to the people (14:19). We are all now familiar with these actions from the ‘breaking of bread’ (the Eucharistic meal, communion, or ‘Lord’s Supper’) which Christians share as a celebration of Jesus’ death and life. As Jesus did this, He ‘looked up to heaven’ (14:19), as if to offer everything to His Father. Jesus may have decided not to teach them the ‘secrets of the Kingdom’, but He was certainly going to continue His ministry of compassionate healing and miraculous signs, so that they might still perceive that He was the Messiah.

Jesus ministered to people as they needed, and His ministry on this occasion was twofold, to the crowds so that some might see His glory as the Messiah, and to the disciples so that they would share His ministry. The disciples had indeed taken the bread from Jesus and then passed it on; a small detail, but one that indicates their ‘taking part’ in the ministry of Jesus to which they were called. The disciples also served by picking up the ‘twelve basketfuls of leftovers, and this was a sign to them of the complete work of God through Jesus in which they now shared.

13 When Jesus heard what happened, he went away from there in a boat to a desert place by himself. When the crowds heard about it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he got out of the boat he saw the very large crowd, and he felt deeply for them and healed their sick.

15 As evening drew in, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a remote place, and it is getting late. Send the crowds away so that they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.’ 16 Jesus replied, ‘They do not need to go away; give them something to eat yourselves.’ 17 But they said to him, ‘We don’t have anything except five loaves and two fish.’ 18 So he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ 19 And then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves. Next, he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

20 Everyone ate and was satisfied, and they took up twelve baskets full of the scraps. 21 Those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Lord Jesus Christ, each day is Your precious gift:

May we not live as if this was just another ‘normal’ day,

But as if You might use it for the great things of Your glory!

May we not stand back from doing what is right for others and ourselves,

But boldly confess our sins and present ourselves for Your service!

You are worthy of all our praise, Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN

All You would have me do for You, Lord Jesus,

Is held within that precious word, ‘obedience’.

Once this word was just a chain around my neck;

I struggled with its harsh repression,

Like an imposition on my life, demanding more.

But You have looked into my eyes,

And I have looked into Your heart.

I had struggled with an image of myself,

And I wanted what the world wanted me to be;

And not the transformed life of Your eternal image, Lord,

Containing so much more for me than I can ever see,

because You love me unconditionally, nothing less:

and I had failed to find my total freedom in Your hands,

But now I am set free!

Weekly Theme: Preaching

Pray for those who are preaching this Sunday. Preachers prepare by reading, writing notes, praying, and much more! Pray that the Lord will use them all to His glory.

On-going prayers

Pray for Universities and Colleges beginning courses right now
Pray for South Africa at a time of changing leadership
Give thanks for the joy of knowing that Christ has forgiven our sins

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