# 73 Learning to Care Like Jesus - Matthew 14:13-21

Introduction: It has been said, “People do not care how much you know until they first know how much you care.” Are you a caring individual?

What do you care about the most?

· Family

· Friends

· Community

· Schools

· Country

· Homelessness

· Widows

· Orphans

I believe that as we study the passage before us that we can learn to CARE from the best – we can learn from the Master Himself. The first thing we need to care for people is…

I. Solitude – 14:13

13 When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.

When Jesus heard about the gruesome death of John the Baptist He departed from there by boat to a deserted place. Jesus needed some alone time.

Stephen D. Eyre has said, “Solitude is being alone on purpose.”

I want to say to all of us that we must have our deserted place. I read about one guy who misspelled “desert”, and he spelled “dessert”. I ask you; do you have your “dessert” place where you spend alone time with God? Do you have a place where you can be alone with your thought, alone in Scripture, and alone with God? Jesus took Himself and His disciples to a deserted place.

One man penned, “You can’t take good care of others if you are not taking good care of yourself.” Spiritual self-care is important.

Every Christian must create some margin in their lives. Especially after receiving bad news. Take the needed time you need to mourn, but don’t stay there. You can’t minister to others if you remain in a deserted place. People are found in groups, communities, and gatherings.

The first requirement if we are going to CARE like Jesus is to have our alone time. Our time for personal reflection and soul care. Next, if we are going to CARE like Jesus, we need to have…

II. Compassion – 14:14

14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and he was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.

Jesus went out

Those are three very powerful words. These are words that you and I today need to get a handle on. We can’t minister when we stay away from people.

He saw a great multitude;

Next, we need the eyes of Jesus. We need to see the multitude around us – they are literally everywhere.

In Mark 6:34 we read,

And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.

We read in our text,

And he was moved with compassion for them,

Jesus came out, Jesus saw, and Jesus was moved with compassion.

Brandon Heath wrote a song entitled: Give Me Your Eyes. Here are a few lines from that song:Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Give me Your eyes for just one second Give me Your eyes so I can see Everything that I keep missing Give me Your love for humanity Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted The ones that are far beyond my reach Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten Give me Your eyes so I can see Well, I want a second glance So, give me a second chance To see the way You've seen the people all along Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted The ones that are far beyond my reach Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten Give me Your eyes so I can see

We also must be moved with compassion for them. Wiersbe said that compassion means “to have one’s inner being stirred.” This word is stronger than sympathy. (Wiersbe).

Jesus saw the multitude, was moved with compassion, and healed their sick. We need to pray that God would move us with compassion for the hurting around us.

It has been said that the church is a hospital for sick people and not a country club for pampered people. We need to always keep this in mind. Church work can be messy. People around us have all kinds of needs.

· Who have you shown compassion for lately?

· What sick person have you tried to help?

For us to learn to care like Jesus we need to spend time alone with God, we need to develop a heart of compassion for hurting people, and third we need a hands-on approach – we call this personal…

III. Involvement – 14:15-16

15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” 16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

We read,

When it was evening,

Evening here in our text can be anywhere from 3:00 P.M. to sundown.

I think as we come to these verses that they are a response to the rumbling of the disciple’s stomach – they haven’t eaten, and they are hungry. The problem is that there are just too many people around them for them to take a break and eat.

We read about this in Mark 6:31,

31 And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

If there is one need that every human has it is the need for food. Most people in America have three squares a day and have snacks on the side. But this is not true of majority of the world, nor is it true in every community in America. The need for food is growing.

I am so thankful for the ministry of Cup of Grace, and the work of all the volunteers that have come alongside of Amy Privitt in caring for the community of Spirit Lake and our surrounding region. COG is doing a great work. Thank you to all of you for your personal involvement. Don’t grow weary in doing good!

Getting back to our text…

A. Disciples access the situation – 14:15

15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” 16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

Look at the disciple’s plan:

· It is evening.

· It’s a deserted place (There is no McDonalds, Burger King, or Wendy’s. And there is no Uber eats).

· The hour is already late.

· Send them into a village to buy themselves food.

One of the major problems we have as people is that we always access a situation using our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). And when we look at the situation our answer is, send the people away.

B. Jesus accesses the situation – 14:16

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

Look at Jesus’ plan:

Jesus accesses the situation and arrives at a totally different conclusion. Jesus doesn’t provide a long list of reasons why the multitude should be sent away. No, He simply says to His disciples,

“They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

This message hasn’t changed – “give them something to eat.” Our storyline is different, but people are still in need of food today. We have hungry people all around us. Are you aware that…

· 16.6% of the world’s population is undernourished.

· 1 billion people are living in extreme poverty.

· Hunger is the cause of 45% of all children’s deaths.

· More than a billion people live on less that $ 1.25 a day. The average American lives on $ 21.00 a day.

If the church doesn’t feed the people – who will? Will we leave it to someone else? The government?

It has been said, “Jesus directly involved his disciples in the miracle so that it would make a lasting impression on them.”[1]

Consider the steps Jesus took before us:

1. Jesus asked the disciples about the food they have with them – 14:17

17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

Where did they get the loaves and fish?Well, in the parallel account found in John 6, we read that Andrew located a young boy in the crowd that had brought with him his lunch, and he had five loaves and two fish. But Andrew said to Jesus, “What are they among so may?”Understand what this boy had in his sack - he had five small biscuits (think dinner roll) and a couple of dried fish. Enough for himself, but surely not the thousands that were gathered in this crowd.

2. Jesus asks His disciples to bring the food to Him – 14:18

Listen to what He says to His disciples here in verse 18,

18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.”

When Jesus asks us to bring something to Him do you know what we should do? Bring it to Him. Jesus can always do far more than we could ever ask or think of (Jeremiah 33:3).

One of the older retired pastors (Dr, Shoemaker) in my home church used to remind us, “Little is much when God is in it.”

3. Jesus is going to feed the multitude – 14:19

19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, hHe blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.

Someone has said that these words of Jesus are in preparation for anther meal that He will later sit down with His disciples and eat – the Passover Meal.

Look at the steps Jesus took here in our text:

· Jesus commanded the crowd to sit down on the grass.

· Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish.

· Looking up to heaven He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples.

· The disciples gave the food to the multitudes.

Do you know how some Bible teachers have interpreted this text?

· Albert Schweitzer suggested that in actually each person received only a small crumb or fragment and felt satisfied.

· Barclay hints that the boy offering of his lunch convicted the crowd, so that they all got out their previously concealed lunches and shared them. (Liberty Bible Commentary).

Why is it that people always want to explain away a miracle? I personally want to THANK GOD for His miracles.

The point I want to drive home here is that Jesus got His disciples personally involved. We will impact our community when we take a hands-on approach. Someone out there is waiting for you to get involved.

If we are going to care like Jesus we will need to have some alone time with God, we will need to develop a heart of compassion for the hurting, and we will need to personally be involved in the lives of people around us. Next, we must also…

IV. Remember – 14:20-21

20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.[2]

So they all ate and were filled.

What do you think about those words? I would say that the people were not only filled but fully satisfied. You see, little is much when God is in it. Remember that!

I believe that a key to walking with Jesus is REMEMBERING! One major problem with people is that we are quick to forget. I envy people who journal daily and write down everything God is doing in their lives. They can look back on any given day and see where God showed up. They see His hands intimately involved in their lives.

Missionary Duane Howe kept a daily journal for over 20 years of how God worked in the Brazilian Rain Forest. He now is able to look back and see all the great things that God had done. Even to this day he sends out his newsletter using the various entries from his journal. He recalls, remembers the great things God has done.

Our text says,

and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.

The disciples passed out five loaves and two fish, but when they gathered up the leftovers they took up “twelve baskets full of fragments that remained.”

Tony Evans writes, “Each of the twelve got a doggy bag to remind them what Jesus could do.” (Tony Evans Commentary, P. 889). Isn’t that great?

Look at how many were fed that evening. We read in verse 21,

21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Do you think that the disciples will remember this event? The answer is yes, but just for a short in time, and then they will forget this miraculous event where Jesus took five loaves and two fish and fed five thousand men, besides women and children.

Did you know that Bible teachers estimate that it is possible that there were between 15-20 thousand people present. Don’t miss what it says in verse 21,

Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

I think the message for everyone is simply, Don’t Forget what God has done. If we are going to care like Jesus, we must never forget all that God has accomplished. We must REMEMBER the great works of God.

Conclusion: One of the greatest stories in the Bible for caring for others is the account of the Good Samaritan. When others passed the man who was left for dead, the Good Samaritan stopped and got personally involved. He cared for the needs of the man who fell among thieves and was robbed and beaten and left to die.

Do we CARE for people? If we want to learn to CARE like Jesus, we will need to incorporate these steps into our Christian life:

1. Have a deserted place where we can go and spend time alone with God. Personal soul-care is vital to be able to care for others.

2. We need to develop a heart of compassion (our inner being must be stirred). Change around us happens we what we see around us stirs our inner being.

3. There must be action on our part. We must step outside our comfort zone and minister to hurting people where they are. Personal involvement is essential on our part. Helping hurting people can be very messy.

4. Don’t forget all that God has already done. REMEMBER His great works. Nothing is too hard for God. Keep a record where God shows up in your life. Share those God moments with others.

[1]Barton, B. B. (1996). Matthew(pp. 289–290). Tyndale House Publishers. h 1 Sam. 9:13; Matt. 15:36; 26:26; Mark 6:41; 8:7; 14:22; Luke 24:30; Acts 27:35; [Rom. 14:6] [2] The New King James Version (Mt 14:13–21). (1982). Thomas Nelson.