Our Compassionate and Sufficient Christ (Matthew 14:13-21)

By this time, Jesus’s popularity had grown to the point that his slightest movements and whereabouts were known. Having heard that Herod believes he is John the Baptist returned from the dead, Jesus seeks to withdraw into the wilderness. He’s not afraid of Herod. It’s not yet his time, so they leave to go into to desert place.

But the crowds heard where he was going.

The crowd walks out to the wilderness from the cities, and meets them there.

He’s with his disciples. He has brought them along with him in the boat according to the others gospel writers.

When they get to the other side, Jesus sees this massive crowd from the shore line, runs back to the boat, puts his phone on silent, and tells his disciples to row as fast as they can!

No, Jesus stays there, he sufficiently ministers to their need out of His great compassion. Once more, He begins to heal those who are sick.

This is the context of our passage - Jesus, tired, seeking a moment of solitude and quiet, is drawn to the needs of others because they are like sheep without a shepherd. His compassion is the reason why this miracle takes place.

This ministry to the crowd seems to go on for an entire day. Mark chapter 6 tells us that during this time Jesus also began to teach them many things. Luke chapter 9 says he spoke to them about the Kingdom of God during this time. Then evening comes.

Does Christ lose his compassion after a full day of pouring out? Is he any less sufficient for their needs after he’s spent an entire day teaching and healing? Keep these questions in your mind as we consider the lessons of this story.

Let’s consider first, as our first heading...

1. The Disciples assessment

look at v15. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

According to the disciples, the day is over. It was a job well done…although we’re not sure how much they were involved in the day’s work…surely would have been exhausting watching Jesus do all that work, and managing the crowds of people as they came.

So, how do they assess the situation as evening comes?

Probably like most of us would.

Look at all these people! Do I even like people passed 6:00?

I’m tired.

Isn’t it the end of the day?

The disciples know the inevitable. They’re going to need to eat soon. Whether they heard one person say something about food, or this is just from experience, nonetheless, they want Jesus to send the crowd away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves. I think that it’s at least worth noting, even though they assess the situation in a fleshy and worldly-comfort kind of way… they do consult Jesus here. If anyone is going to send them away, it would have to be Jesus, and not them.

Consider the fact that when you, or I , or anyone assessed situation of need in times of physical weariness, we don’t often consider the power and capability of God, let alone his compassion for sinners.

They saw the crowd, they calculated the cost, the time, the sacrifice - and it seemed better to ask Jesus to send them away.

We struggle with compassion in most situations, and need to be reminded that Jesus is better, to look to him and consider his strength, what what his heart is.

2. Christ’s assessment is always better

Look at v16. But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”

Let’s remember a few things about Christ. He is God and He sees all things right. He is God and he does all things right. He is God, and as God, He has present within Himself all the attributes of God operating at full capacity at all times, and for all circumstances.

His attributes of love, mercy, justice, kindness, wisdom, faithfulness, goodness…all of these, and others…without failure, and perfectly applied.

When Jesus says, “They don’t need to go away.”, I hear the heart of God. Jesus said in another place “He who comes to me I will never cast out.” Jesus has spent the entire day with this crowd…no doubt it as grown to this great number as they day progressed, and when WE would have them all go, HE would have them stay. When WE would have them try to meet their own need, Jesus would have them stay, and meet their need himself, and to out His disciples to work.

We would ALL do well to assess situations in our lives though this lens. We all have limitations. And we cannot do exactly what Jesus did here. That’s not the point of the passage. But knowing his heart for people, for my family when I’m tired, for the community when I’m worn out from ministry, for the ministry of pastoring a flock when it can be overwhelming at times…knowing His heart of compassion, mercy, strength, love at all time…I’m drawn to want to be like Him.

Notice the test Jesus just put in their laps.

“You give them something to eat.”

John’s gospel, in Chapter 6, tells us that Jesus directly asked Phillip this question...Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.

In all of the work that Christ does in our lives, no matter what it is, it is God who works in us to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Yet, isn’t it wonderful, as little as we contribute compared to God, he loves to use us.

And that’s the third point...

3. How little we really contribute in God’s grand plan

The task was already in the mind of the Lord to feed this crowd in a miraculous way - yet he asks for the contribution of His disciples. He wants them to give. What do you have?

The Gospel of John also describes Andrew discovering a boy in the crowd of people, who apparently was the only one who actually prepared well for a day out following the rabbi. So, when asked, Andrew brings the boys lunch to Jesus.

We know that the numbers are 5000 men, so including women and children we could be looking at 10 to 15,000 people out in the wilderness. In earthly terms, bringing a little boy’s lunch as a contribution in this situation is laughable.

It would be a discouraging thing to see this sort of contribution. Why even bother?

Jesus said “Bring them here to me.”

Whatever you have, it’s truly better in the hands of Jesus.

Give him the bread and fish, he can do something with it.

What do you have, brothers and sisters? Can you think of one single asset you have that God needs from you today? There’s nothing. He needs nothing from us any more than he needed the bread and fish to feed that crowd.

He’s the Creator. His resources are vast, limitless, and are not dependent on earthly resources. So, we have to conclude that a God who needs nothing only asks for our obedience, our works, and our small contributions of faith because it glorifies Him in a greater way than if we all just sat around watching our bellies get full.

Hunger is universal. We all have this in common today, whether Christian, non-Christian, atheist, or whatever you are...Hunger is designed by God so that we can understand the joy of being full in God’s provision. Through hunger we can understand longing, desire, and satisfaction in both a physical and spiritual sense. One clear application and reminder from this text is simply that God is the one who satisfies our hunger. God is sufficient for the need. The disciples contributed little… besides the boy with the lunch, the crowd brought nothing. We contribute so little, and what we do bring is simply a means in God’s hands to do His will…But it is Christ who is sufficient.

4. The sufficiency of Christ

Look at v19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

He asks them to all sit in groups of 50 and 100 on the grass. Not an insignificant detail at all. Groups would have brought order, with pathways between them for more efficient serving, and smaller groups would have created a place of fellowship as they ate. They had been standing while he taught them, too, and now they will rest and feast together. God cares about these things, you know.

Then taking the fish and loaves, he looks up to heaven and said a blessing, and he began to distribute. Somewhere between v19 and 20, they multiplied, because v20 says plainly…And they all ate and were satisfied.

The little in Christ’s hands was enough. This is true of both physical and spiritual provision. God is the maker of the heavens and the earth. This miracle shows us Christ’s total and sovereign rule over physical matter.

Whether you think you need him to multiply physical things in your life or not, the truth of the matter is that He can. But this story is not here as a promise to us that we should always expect food or physical provisions to multiply. Many of us have seen this in our homes, and other circumstances. But the point in the larger context of Scripture is to seek him for those needs, place them in His sovereign hands by faith, and trust Him to provide according to His will.

So great of a provider is he, and so sufficient is he, that not only were the bellies full in the crowd, but the leftovers were exactly enough to fill 12 baskets, one for each disciple and his family.

Serving Christ is a sacrifice, but he fills those who’s ministry and life is used to fill others. How he does this is up to him.

This is such a well known story in the bible. Many may look to it for hope when they need provision. It causes me to think of God’s love and provision for Israel in the wilderness, how he provided Manna from heaven, and quail in abundance, and for this they contributed nothing at all.

But more than us leaving here thinking about how cool this miracle would have been to witness, or how much we may want him to do the same for us or for others in the world…this story is not here to make us want things like bread and fish, or whatever you might think you need today. This is here to make us want Jesus more. To desire the one who has this kind of power and compassion, and is sufficient to fill us, and to deal with the greater need of the soul that hungers for God.

The right response to such a text is to see Jesus as your compassionate and sufficient Christ. He was chosen for this, to come to you in your greatest time of need, and instead of sending you away, he had compassion, and saved you. Just think… he could have sent you away hungry, but he didn’t. When a hungry sinner places their whole life by faith into his hands, he doesn’t just save halfheartedly, but he does it fully, satisfying the soul with his forgiveness. God always uses means, so if there’s a place in your life that you’ve been asking God to help you, or provide…look to Him, and then expect that it will come through his use of means…like a boy with a small lunch, or a friend, or a member of this church, or perhaps something more unexpected.

The wonder of all of this is how quickly we forget who He is, and how quickly we look to earthly things to satisfy us. Jesus can multiply bread, but the even greater miracle is that He is the compassionate and all-sufficient bread sent from Heaven. Let’s close with Jesus’s words, which John records him saying shortly after this miracle.

John 6:35 I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Let’s pray together.