You’re Called To The Impossible

Secular -

Notice on a church sign: " 'What is Hell?' Come here and find out!

Actual typo found in a bulletin: "Don't forget the bring your coats to the potluck. Also, the annual picnic will feature a new dessert: Jell-O and Satan." (They meant gelatin.)

Historical/Cultural Context -

This Gospel is written by Matthew, also known as Levi who was a former tax collector. It was most likely written between AD 50-60. Matthew left everything behind to follow Jesus. Matthew wrote primarily to Jewish believers—people who knew the Old Testament well. Matthew had one goal: to prove that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the King of Kings, and the fulfillment of God’s promises. Connecting the Old Testament prophecies to the life of Christ, proving that every word God spoke was coming true in Jesus. The key themes of the Gospel include Jesus as King, The Kingdom of Heaven, Fulfillment of Prophecy and discipleship.

Biblical Text -

Matthew 14:13–21 NKJV

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. And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. 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.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 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, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Mark 6:31–44 NKJV

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. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. 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. When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.” But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - Do Works Out Of Godly Compassion, Taking Stock Of Your Resources, Step Out & Persevere In Faith.

Life Point- Do Works Out Of Compassion

Exegetical -

Matthew 14:13–15 BSB

When Jesus heard about John, He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. But the crowds found out about it and followed Him on foot from the towns. When He stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick. When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is already late. Dismiss the crowds so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

Homiletical -

We are told that Jesus head about what happened to John, which we discussed last week, and now we are told he withdrew by boat to a solitary place.

How would you feel if someone in your family died? You would be in mourning, and Jesus and John were family so He is in mourning and probably needed time to communion with the father and to think.

However the crowds found out and they followed Him on foot none-the-less.

Jesus gets ashore and what does He find? a pretty large crowd. What does it say? It says He had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Listen, that is something that is missing in modern churches. That is, compassion. Why is it missing in a lot of churches? Because compassion is missing in a lot of Christians.

Compassion means, in the Greek here, to have affection for someone or multiple people. So much affection that you are moved to help them. You are moved out of the love that God has given the believers for others.

Has God given you a love for others? Yes, that is what Christianity is all about. Loving people enough to not want to see them going to Hell.

Romans 5:1–5 NKJV

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

We are to move with compassion that is spread out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This love is the agape kind of love. This is God’s kind of love. I love you because I choose to. Why? Not because of anything you have done, but I love you nonetheless.

Love is one of those not very precise words in our language. I can love a car, a spouse, a chair, or God. In each instance we mean something different and it is decided what we are talking about by it’s context. Not so in ancient Koine Greek. There are 3 loves used in the Bible. One is superficial. Eros. I love you because you look good. The Next is Phileo I love you like a brother. I love you because you love me. Then, Agape. I love you for no reason other than to love you.

Out of Agape comes compassion

This is why we do ministry. Out of Agape, compassion. If you are doing ministry for any other reason. Whether it is to be praised, to gain attention or whatever other reason, then you are doing it for the wrong reason. We are to be moved by compassion

So Jesus being moved by compassion spent a lot of hours just healing people. You know not since the Apostles have we really seen this kind of ministry. Where everyone they touch gets healed. But Jesus and the Apostles had a special empowerment also known as an anointing from God to do these kinds of works.

We still pray for healing and if the person gets healed, praise God. If they don’t, praise God. It is up to God who gets healed and who doesn’t it is just my job to believe. To believe that no matter the outcome, God’s will, will be done.

So Jesus is healing these people and the disciples tell Him that it is getting late, He has been doing this all do and that He should dismiss the crowd and send them elsewhere to get food and lodging.

This seems like a logical request doesn’t it? It makes sense. But that, as we will see next, isn’t what Jesus had in mind.

Illustration -

In the history of the early church, believers demonstrated remarkable compassion towards the poor during times of hardship. In Acts 4:32-35, we see followers of Christ selling their possessions to provide for those in need. Their acts of kindness were not only about love but a testimony of their faith. This kind of generosity challenges the societal norms of selfishness and greed, showing how the love of Christ can move us to impactful actions.

Life Point - Take Stock In Your Resources & Step Out In Faith

Exegetical -

Matthew 14:16–17 BSB

“They do not need to go away,” Jesus replied. “You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

Homiletical -

I find it interesting how Jesus did this. Instead of coming right out with what He was going to do, he told them to do the impossible.

He said, hey you feed them, you do it.

They responded, rightfully, that they can’t feed a huge crowd. They have only five loaves of bread and two fish.

Now we know what comes next right. He is going to multiply the loaves and the fish.

But look at what they did. God asked them to do some ministry. Feed the hungry people. but you see they were small in number and didn’t have the resources to do what God asked them to do.

They took stock of what they had and said the task is impossible.

God will rarely ask you to do something that isn’t too big for you.

He wants you to rely on Him for the resources. Why? Because if you do it and have the resources you are more likely to take credit for it. God wants the credit for the things He puts on people’s hearts to do.

It is God that should get all glory, not man.

Our job is to step out in faith. When it looks like we can’t do what God is asking, then we know we are in the right place. Why? Because God will get the credit when it happens. People will be ministered to and salvations will happen. We just have to figure out what God has called us to do.

Many times throughout scripture God calls people to do the impossible. Sometimes they react immediately, sometimes they come up with excuses. Either way they surrendered to God and God got the glory for it.

When Gideon was called he set a fleece out and 3 times God proved it was Him calling.

When Isaiah was called he had an excuse that he was a man of unclean lips, and then God took care of that.

When Moses was called he said he couldn’t speak and God wouldn’t let him get away with that. He solved Moses’s issue.

Folks, don’t let your current circumstances dictate your walk of faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, you will have trouble. We are promised that. But Jesus has overcome the world so we need to step out in faith and do the works God is calling us to do. Will you do that individually today? Will you do that corporately today?

Illustration -

In the 1900s, the Welsh Revival ignited a powerful movement of faith that swept across congregations. Evan Roberts, a young coal miner, felt compelled to pray and preach despite having no formal training. His fervent prayers and the risk he took to speak out led thousands to Christ. The revival transformed not just individuals, but entire communities. Faith manifested in action can spark the salvation of those around us.

Life Point - Persevere In Faith

Exegetical -

Matthew 14:18–21 BSB

“Bring them here to Me,” Jesus said. And He directed the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He spoke a blessing. Then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. About five thousand men were fed, in addition to women and children.

Homiletical -

Now comes the part of this passage that everyone remembers. The miracle. Jesus takes the five loaves and two fish and blesses them.

The disciples distribute their pieces to the people and they never run out. They all ate and were satisfied. The disciples regather twelve basket fulls of broken pieces that were left over.

These baskets weren’t some little baskets either. They were very large baskets. Think of these baskets like what you might see in Africa or the middle east. Very large indeed.

Now notice how many people Jesus and the disciples fed. There are a confirmed five thousand men there not to mention the women and children. Let’s just say that on average for every male there was one adult female there. That is ten thousand people. Then let’s just say each couple has on average 1 child. Now that is being very conservative, that’s another five thousand. So you are looking at 15,000 people that were fed and that is a conservative estimate. There may very well have been more there. That’s a lot of people.

I want you to notice something here. Jesus had compassion on them, the disciples were clueless how to accomplish what He asked. They took stock and then when God blessed them the resources came to do the job. What did the disciples have to do? They had to believe God and step out in faith and follow there faith until the conclusion of what God asked them to do.

They had to persevere in their faith.

A lot of people will do the first two things. They will be moved with compassion by God, take stock and start to do what God asks but right before the job is complete they will start to doubt and like Peter they start to get their eyes on the storm and start to sink and never finish the job God is asking of them.

We will be getting into Peter walking on water next week.

Life Principle– Do Works Out Of Godly Compassion, Taking Stock Of Your Resources, Step Out & Persevere In Faith.

Call to Action – altar call….