HG071-72 Matthew 14:1-21, Mark 6:14-44, Luke 9:7-17, John 6:1-13

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.” For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. Because John had said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.” And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus. 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.

---The death of John the Baptist

We come back again to the story of John the Baptist but this time to his death. We have heard recently that those who seek to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, not just those who proclaim the Gospel but those who seek to live honourable lives as did John the Baptist. John brought the good news of the Kingdom but he also spoke against sin and the need for repentance. This was a man who, in modern parlance, spoke truth to power.

King Herod Antipas had John arrested on trumped up charges because he did not like his condemnation of his relationship with his newly acquired wife Herodias. What was wrong with this marriage? Except that she was his sister-in-law through his brother. If you did not approve of this relationship then you were putting yourself in danger. “You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife”, says Leviticus but here he coveted and got his brother’s wife. And John the Baptist did not approve. All along Herod wanted to put him to death but because he did not want an uprising from the people who knew John the Baptist was a prophet so he just kept him locked up. John was a political prisoner.

We are still fortunate in this Country to have a lack of political prisoners but those things can easily change. We await court judgements about whether one can be forced to make a cake with a political message such as ‘I support gay marriage’ on it if you run a bakery. People are already losing their jobs on the basis of political correctness such as registrars who do not agree with gay marriage have found out. It is not a leap to find people going to prison for not agreeing to and refusing to do things which are against our faith. Indeed if the fines that are handed out are not paid then prison is a place that one can end up.

It would not be hard to see with the indoctrinated young folk who are brainwashed into thinking that any sexual deviancy is acceptable and that anyone thinks otherwise should be banned, that when this generation grow up freedom of speech will be a thing of the past unless you agree with them! John the Baptist used the freedom of speech given to him by God and he ended up in prison and, in due course, lost his life.

And how did he end up losing his life? The daughter-in-law of Herod, the daughter of his brother pleased him and the other men present with a dance. What would drive Herod to offer up to half of his kingdom? I think lust was at work here. Was he, in effect, offering her his hand in marriage to be co-regents? However, she did not know what to ask for and so asked her mum.

Her mum was instant: get rid of that man who has condemned me. I hate him. To think he has a right to speak against me. Kill him! And in her spite for a man who spoke the truth John was guillotined and she gained a trophy.

What evil! But do you know what? I suppose she was not always like this. She got a little corrupted, then a little more, then a little more, then she had an affair, then she hated, then she murdered. She serves as a warning to us that there is no such thing as a little sin. Because whatever it is that we count as small or of no consequence it is sowing seed to a much larger plant, a larger sin with great consequences. People do not often commit murder in a vacuum.

Take King David. He was supposed to lead his forces out to war; that was his job. Instead he sent someone else. Then, whilst he remained at home he spied a certain woman. But then he got on Snapchat to her, well, Ok, maybe not, but would have sent an old-fashioned messenger. Got her to come up to the palace, then slept with her. Already he had compromised in a number of areas before he got to adultery. But then the fear of being found out after she got pregnant and then the plan to cover it up. Which ultimately ended in murder at the very front line that David should have been at in the first place. He was not in the battle he was supposed to be but had already been overcome. At the start, when he thought, I can’t be bothered to go today, he could not possibly have envisaged that when all was said and done, a couple of months later, he would murder one of his friends.

Compromise in any area of our lives even in something that seems trivial can have long-lasting consequences. Do away with your sin. Do not play with matches. For what a great fire can be kindled and it destroys everything. Let us beware of pride of thinking it could never happen to me.

The consequence of Herodias’ sin was the death of an innocent man, a great man, an honourable man.

The disciples then came and gave him a dignified burial rather than that of a criminal. He was honoured in his death. And Jesus, his cousin, was told.

---The feeding of the 5000

Up to that time Jesus had been doing some incredible things. Miracles were happening. And for some reason Herod thought that this was John the Baptist come back from the dead such was his superstition and guilty conscience. And now we find that the disciples that had been sent had come back with stories of what amazing things had happened.

But now, after being informed of John’s death he needed some alone time. And so did the disciples. In another Gospel we read that they had been so busy with all the to-ing and fro-ing that they had not eaten. They got in a boat to get away and have some down time. Notice the care that Jesus had for His disciples. And note there is nothing wrong with stopping and resting and eating if you have been working.

But it was not going to be a long rest for people had seen them get in the boat and the news spread like wildfire, they were going to Bethsaida. And literally people ran and got there ahead of the boat. Of course, it was not motorised. I guess that if it had been Jesus would have made sure the engine was not turned on.

Then they landed. But before they got there the multitude was clearly visible. And Jesus’ heart went out to them. They were desperate to hear something from him, to receive a miracle, to find comfort and peace. And Jesus was not about to turn them away.

These divine interruptions would not affect us if we stick rigidly to our plans. We can make plans but we must allow for things to change when new opportunities arise. And though Jesus and His disciples deserved a rest they were not going to miss what had been presented to them especially as they were sheep without a shepherd.

So Jesus taught them and healed their sick because His heart melted for them. All day they were there and in the evening the disciples started to think about their welfare too. Send them away so they can get some sleep and food, Tesco and Aldi will be closing soon. But Jesus’ response surprised them. You feed them. Hey Judas, how much money have we got? This is about to bankrupt us! We are told that there are 5000 men, so with the women and children there were at least 8000 people. We find it hard enough to cater for 13 of us let alone thousands! So, they sent out word to the people. What food have you? We know this because they discovered a lad with 2 fish and 5 barley loaves in John’s Gospel. What is this among so many? This is a reasonable question.

Let’s stop for a moment. In John’s gospel we find out that Jesus is testing his disciples. What was it that they were to learn? Let’s keep this question in mind. What are we to learn?

Jesus said bring them here to me. And then we hear the same blessing we hear at the Lord’s supper for He blessed them, broke them and gave thanks. Then He gave to the disciples who, in turn, gave to those whom they have sat down in groups of 50ish. About 160 groups in all. Bread was passed around and then the fish. This was a staple diet in Galilee. And they were all filled and had enough. Not only that but afterwards they picked up what was left - 12 baskets, one for each disciple. Should this story remind us of another, of how manna was provided by God to the Israelites in the desert just as they are in the desert right now. Only, then, there was nothing left over. Here we see Jesus supersede this. There was an overabundance of food.

At the beginning the disciples were told: you give them something to eat. What did their minds go to? How were they going to afford this? How are we going to cater for so many? And this is what any humanist does. But no matter how much you do it is not going to be enough. It is impossible.

It is at this point that we must concede that we do not have the resources to meet the needs of people. Now, does this mean we should turn people away as was first suggested by the disciples? You must go and fulfil your own need for we cannot.

Or do we bring what we do have to Jesus to bless and multiply and meet the need by a great margin. It is too easy to look on our own meagre abilities and capital without the eye of faith in the Messiah. My experience of Cardiff Foodbank where my Church was the first distribution centre is that God overwhelmingly supplies to help the helpless of society. And now we need to see what is the need that we can meet in Mansleton. It may not be a Foodbank but it may be another God idea. And no matter how little we have God is able to multiply what we bring. What we have we must bring to Him. What is it that we are compassionate about for the people who live here? What is the need that God can meet? Perhaps it is that the older folk need company and a cooked meal. Perhaps it is that people cannot afford their gas or electricity. Perhaps it is that the youth have nothing constructive to do. Perhaps it is that the unemployed cannot find jobs. Perhaps it is those who see no way out of their depression. Perhaps it is to help establish asylum seekers in their new Country.

So, what we have we bring to Jesus, but afterwards, in the same way as He gave back the loaves to the disciples, He gives back what we bring, not for us to keep but to share with others. In this way they see God at work multiplying what they brought and so building faith. It was only whilst the bread and fish was shared that it increased, it did not suddenly become a heap of bread and fish but only whilst it was being distributed.

Now here are the lessons that the disciples learned: they brought their resources to Jesus who used all that He was given, then He worked through the disciples to the people and multiplied what was given Him and the disciples and the people witnessed a miracle and the need was met.

This story starts with the mistreatment and murder of one of the greatest prophets who ever lived due to the build up of sin especially in the life of Herod and Herodias. When Jesus heard He must have grieved for him and wanted to take his disciples aside for a time. But there was an interruption, people without a shepherd and an opportunity to share the Good News. He fed them with His words and healed them with His hands and gave them food to eat meeting their spiritual and physical needs.

There were about 8000 people there that day and we have about 8000 people who live in this Ward who are without a shepherd, living their lives in ignorance of what God has done for them. Now, with the help of Jesus using what we give to Him what are we going to do?

Benediction

1 Corinthians 15:58 NKJV

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Bibliography

Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (2004). The Gospel according to Matthew: Chapters 1:1–16:12 (Vol. 1). Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Gospels (Matthew 14-28) (electronic ed., Vol. 35). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Gaebelein, F. E., Carson, D. A., Wessel, W. W., & Liefeld, W. L. (1984). The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.