Miraculous Provision - Matthew 14:13-21

As a young boy who grew up in church, and who was in that church every time the doors were open, there are particular memories that come back to mind with sort of a nostalgic aura to them.

And I have to be honest, that studying this passage over the last couple weeks has brought a bit of that feeling back. Growing up in Sunday school, for me there are particular miracles of Jesus that seem to come back to mind. I can picture the classroom, the teacher, my friends, the snacks, the flannel board, and this miracle - the feeding of the 5000, is one of those miracles that is burned into my memory from those Sunday school days.

Maybe you have some of those memories, maybe you have a most “memorable” miracle of Jesus if you grew up in church. If you didn’t, then maybe you can begin to form those memories now.

One of the reasons, perhaps, why this account is so familiar, and maybe so oft repeated, is that the feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle of Jesus that is recorded in all four Gospel Records, and in amazing agreement. All the writers provide a detail or two that the others don’t, but on the details they do all provide, there is exact agreement. I guess we could say that the Gospel Writers had this one burned into their memory also.

And it is very memorable - it is really the first miracle that Jesus does that touches a whole multitude - thousands of people - at one time.

And, it is not simply memorable because it is vast, it is also memorable because it is marvelous in the truest sense of the word. Any of you who do any cooking or prepare any food at all know that preparing food for a large group of people is no small feat.

My grandmother was in foodservice her whole life, and she loved to cook for people - she still does. You may have heard me speak about her famous Christmas breakfast where 35-40 of us family members will gather at their home and eat together. I have seen the work that goes into just that meal. The hours of preparation and labor.

Maybe you’ve been involved in restaurant work or catering and have taken part in feeding hundreds of people in one day. If so, you know the amazing amount of hard, physical and mental labor that is involved.

But here, Jesus and His disciples, relatively unprepared, at least physically speaking, successfully feed thousands of people to the point of fulness and satisfaction, and wind up wit enough leftovers to feed another small crowd afterward.

Lets read Matthew 14:13-21

Matthew 14:13–21 (ESV)

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 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.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 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. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

The Feeding of the 5,000 shows us Christ’s compassion, but it also shows us how He works through means to miraculously provide for what cannot be done otherwise.

Hold on to that big idea as we walk through some of the details of the story and make up the background, and then we will come back and apply them.

We’ve come out of another teaching section of Matthew - the parables of the Kingdom - and now into narrative again. Last week, Matt did a great job covering the rejection of Jesus at Nazareth and the death of John the Baptist.

In chapter 14, verses 3-12 are really a parenthesis. That is, Matthew inserts the story of John’s death into the narrative, not because it happened at this time, but because it was relevant to Herod’s thoughts about Jesus, and why Jesus went on the boat with his disciples to where this miracle would take place.

Herod had heard about Jesus, and he was certain that Jesus was actually John the Baptist raised from the dead - and that was troubling to Herod, because he had personally had John beheaded for the sake of his wife - who was really his brother’s wife. So if John was back, Herod was probably thinking he needed to put another end to this man’s life. Interestingly, later in Matthew we will find that Herod wasn’t the only one who thought Jesus was John the Baptist.

Anyway, When Jesus heard that Herod was thinking he was John, he departed - went to a desolate place. That is where we pick up in verse 13. Jesus would be leaving the region near his home in Nazareth, across the sea of Galilee - to a town called Bethsaida, which was interestingly enough out of Herod Antipas’ ruling area, and into Philip his brother’s ruling area.

Regardless, we see that Jesus wanted to depart - to be by himself - to rest. He had, over and over again, ministered with his disciples to immense crowds - crowds of crowds. And surely, as a real man, he did grow physically and mentally weary.

Mark and Luke tell us that this wasn’t long after jesus had sent his disciples out on mission, and in Mark we read that he calls them to come with him to this desolate place to rest a while. Jesus recognized that they all needed rest - that there was a time for recharging, a time to come away.

But, as soon as they begin their plan of respite, the crowds have other ideas. We find that they hoof it on foot, and between the travelling crowds and those who heard on the way, there was a multitude that met them by the time they got to shore.

So much for their rest.

We could pause here and ask, how would any normal person respond when faced with this kind of disruption? We all know the feeling - you sit down at the end of a long day, with a good book or a television show, and just as soon as you think you can breath deeply - the phone rings. And not only does the phone ring, but the caller ID tells you that it is “that person.” And its ok to admit - all of us have one or two of “those people” who we are happy to talk to, but sometimes we just want to be by ourselves, right?

But Jesus didn’t respond in that way - even though he was tired and weary, and possibly trying to escape the misled anger of Herod, he still had compassion - vs. 14.

Not only did he have compassion, but he healed their sick. And we aren’t told how many were sick - but in a crowd this large in a time where medical science hadn’t advanced, there were many sick!

Luke told us he “cured those who had need of healing.” Which doesn’t qualify it, it just means he healed everyone who needed healing. Jesus could have perhaps done the celebrity thing, made an appearance, said a few words, and then back onto the boat to try another escape - but in stead, he stayed, had compassion, and healed them.

Matthew 9:36 ESV

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Mark 6:34 ESV

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

So not only did he heal them all, but he began to teach them many things. What things? We aren’t told - probably some of the very things we have already read in Matthew. There is no reason to believe that Jesus had countless teachings that we don’t know about. More than likely, he repeated himself - like any good teacher - so that what he said could be remembered and digested and re-taught.

Whatever he taught, and however many he healed, it took the lion’s share of the day. And in verse 15, we read that it was evening time - maybe not dark or dusk, but at least dinner time - and we know that because of what the disciples say to Him.

Time to eat, right? But lets think about it. These disciples are young men, they are humans, they are also weary and worn out from teaching and healing on their own mission. They were told by Jesus that they were coming over here to Bethsaida to rest.

Mark 6:31 ESV

And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

The disciples had an inkling that the crowds were getting hungry, because they were hungry! And let’s be honest, and use our sanctified imagination for a moment - I might have been asking Jesus to send the crowds away also! I mean, come on Jesus. We’ve been here all day, most of these people followed us from Nazareth - they’ve all been healed, they’ve all been taught, can we just take a break?

Matthew 14:15–17 ESV

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.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.”

Here is the crisis moment of this whole story. And this seems to be the emphasis of all the gospel writers, M, M, L, J. The Miracle is amazing, the healings were amazing, the crowds were amazing - but this little detail is so fascinating.

Jesus says, “you give them something to eat.”

Matthew Mark and Luke all record it just like that. John records a direct conversation with Philip, where Jesus asked, Philip, where can we buy bread to feed all these people?

And the detail that John gives is amazing too - he said that Jesus asked that question to test them. He already knew what he was going to do.

But they did consider their resources. Philip said “200 denarai of bread isn’t enough to even give them all a little.” A denarius was about a day’s wage. Even if Jesus and His disciples had 200 days wages on hand, even that wouldn’t feed the multitude of this size.

And then we are told about the 5 loaves and two fish. Now, Matthew’s version of this story is the shortest - and we don’t get the detail about the little boy’s lunch. But in John we find out that is where the loaves and fish came from. Which tells us, that not even the disciples had any food.

So they had no food to give, and not enough money to buy food. Yet Jesus said, “you feed them.:

Matthew 14:18–21 ESV

And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 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. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

The rest of the story is the miracle - Jesus takes this meager meal, 5 barley loaves and two fish. This was a boy’s provision for the day - and a poor boy’s provision. Barley loaves and fish were the food of commoners, the lower class. Yet Jesus took it, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it. And it was sufficient.

Now, there are many lessons from this story.

We learn about Jesus Compassion - how he loves and heals and serves even when he himself is needing rest. We see his selflessness. The last time we saw Jesus in a desolate place, he was tempted by the devil after fasting for 40 days. At that point, Jesus wouldn’t use his power to make himself bread - but here, when he was again hungry, he uses his power to feed everyone else. Jesus is the compassionate, selfless, self-giving one.

There are also lessons to be learned from the context. Just before this, we read of Herod Antipas’ great birthday feast. A feast of unrighteousness, a feast of self-gratification, a feast where a man had to lose his head to appease a wicked woman. A feast that was meant to boast and impress and bring attention.

But this feast is so humble, yet so much more profound. And, it points to another great feast with even greater meaning. John tells us that it was nearing the time of the Passover celebration, where bread would once again be broken to remind the Israelites of the Lord’s deliverance from death, and from Egypt, from slavery.

This feast in the wilderness would also remind people of another time when the Lord fed his children in the wilderness, during the time of the exodus. “bread from heaven” came down daily, and the people were fed without going hungry, though in a desert place.

And in fact, that tie is directly made in John’s account of this story, for right after this miracle in John, he records this conversation that we read earlier.

John 6:28–35 ESV

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

So not only do we see Jesus’ compassion, and his selfless love, but we see his sufficiency as well. Sufficiency in his power and in his provision, but that sufficiency is also shown in the story. Not only were people fed to the point of satisfaction, but there were a lot of leftovers also! 12 baskets, and the specific word is for large baskets. It is estimated that one of these baskets full of bread could feed 25-50 people.

12 baskets, for 12 disciples who distributed the bread - but it also does remind us of the 12 tribes of Israel. Almost as if God is teaching about his provision and sufficiency to his people in a symbolic way as well.

Now, if you are one who follows the outline, you probably have noticed that I haven’t made it to the outline yet - which might make you nervous, because if all that was introduction, how long is the rest of the sermon going to be?

Without stretching you to the point where we need our own miraculous meal, I do want to take the last portion of our time and bring out what I think is the main lesson from this story. And we see that in the need, the provision, and the process.

1. The Need

There are layers of need in this passage. Many people needed healing, and Jesus healed them. All the people needed teaching, and Jesus taught them. And, it was the end of a long day, and most everyone needed feeding.

But I don’t think the need of feeding was really that dire. Consider it with me for a moment. The people walked to this place. Most of them were withing a short journey of their homes. Even if they had been following Jesus for some time, we aren’t told of any other time before this when Jesus fed anyone, so they weren’t expecting a meal.

The disciples were probable right that it was a reasonable thing to do to send them out or send them home so they could go eat dinner. They were hungry, but they weren’t that hungry.

I recently started a book detailing the story of the Donner party - I won’t say any more about that fateful journey west, but If you know, we can say that these people weren’t that hungry. They weren’t starving, they were just hungry.

So the greatest need here wasn’t the hunger. What became, however, the greatest need, was the disciples’ need.

When they brought up the hunger of the crowd, probably hoping for things to wind down, Jesus gave them a command - you feed them.

You feed them.

I submit that in this passage, that was the greatest need, and I believe that is the main point of this story.

The Gospel records are primarily a story about Jesus, and second to Jesus are his interactions and teachings to his disciples - his followers. And in this story, the main characters are again, Jesus and His disciples.

He had just sent them out on a mission where they taught and healed many people - they were probably both invigorated and exhausted. But here, he gives them a task that they cannot do.

They don’t have enough money to buy bread. They don’t have enough bread to give the people. There are 5000 men plus women and children - so safely we could assume 10,000, perhaps even more. They have been given a command by their master, and now they are in a pickle!

The hunger wasn’t an insurmountable obstacle - the people could have gotten food elsewhere. But this task was.

Within this is a great lesson about following Jesus, in that often what he calls us to do is impossible. From the very first call - as John records it - to be born again, all the way through life and living, we are faced with challenges that we simply cannot accomplish.

The life of serving and following Jesus is not a life of our abilities being put on display. Rather, it is really a life of our weaknesses being discovered and revealed.

Think of it. Moses had a speech impediment, yet he was to be the leader of millions. Gideon was the least of his family, yet he was to destroy an army of midianites. David was a small shepherd, yet he was to defeat the champion of the Philistine army.

The disciples were not Moses, Gideon, or David, but they were called to an insurmountable task and faced squarely with their need.

The need we are all faced squarely in following Jesus is that many times, in many situations, we cannot do it. Our strength and resources do fail us. It is not to say were are worthless, or that our strengths and abilities are nothing - as we will see, they are useful - but they are not sufficient.

2. The Provision

The disciples grave need - created by the call of Jesus to “feed them” - was met with the very sufficiency and provision of Jesus.

We find that Jesus is the source of provision, of sufficiency. Jesus took the bread and fish, broke it, blessed it, and gave it - and he kept on giving it. He kept on breaking and passing to the disciples. And every trip back to Him, there was more to come.

Provision and provision. Every trip the disciples would come back empty handed - with more people to feed - But Jesus would be there with more bread to break. Jesus was the source. The bread wasn’t miraculous - it was meager barley loaves - the Lord was miraculous.

Every time, inability and insufficiency is met with the miraculous provision and sufficiency of Jesus Christ.

John 15:4–5 (ESV)

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

That is the lesson that the disciples were learning here. They were tired, wanting a break, wanting to rest, wanting to send the crowds home - but they kept coming back to the source, to Jesus, and the provision continued.

This applies in so many ways. Spiritually, we first must come to Jesus as the source of life and salvation. We are dead in sins, in need of new birth, in need of new life - and only Jesus provides that. Only he provides the water which causes us to never thirst again, and only He is the bread of life which causes us to live forever.

But as we follow Him and seek to obey, we realize that our own strength and ability falls short every day. Whether it is the strength to serve another person, to help a needy individual, to love your neighbor, to stand up for righteousness and truth, or simply the strength to fight sin and temptation - we are always failing - but Jesus is always providing.

3. The Process

There is a little detail that is given in Matthew, Mark, and John. That detail is that there was grass in the place where they were gathered. Now, that tells us something about the time of year - it was springtime, near Passover, and that would be the time when there would be grass in this desolate place.

But it also paints a bit of a picture. Now, this picture is not original with me, but it is helpful.

John tells us that there was much grass in the place - the others tell us that Jesus told the people to sit down in the grass.

What does it loo like when people trample and sit down in the grass? It leaves an impression. It leaves a noticable mark. And not only that, but Jesus organized the whole crowd in groups of 50 or so.

So picture this. After the events were over and all the people went home, you would have all these spots in the grass that were totally flat and pressed down where the people were sitting. And then stemming out from those spots, you would have the foottracks of the disciples. And if you could have had a birds-eye-view of the whole thing, what you would see is all these areas of service - groups who need feeding - and all these well-worn footpaths that all point back to one place - the place where Jesus was standing, breaking the bread that kept on coming until everyone was fed.

And isn’t that just a picture of life? If you are a Christian, God has called you to obey and to serve. And your strenth for obedience and service comes from the source.

Now, the Lord uses our abilities - the disciples did find the 5 loaves and 2 fish. And they did have the feet to walk - and they did the work of distributing. But every ounce of provision came right back to the source.

The Lord works through means - we are here to display God’s truth and glory, to serve Him, he uses our gifts, our abilities, our talents - but were are never self-sufficient.

What is it that Christ is calling you to do? Is it to love your neighbor and serve them? Find that provision in Him. Is it to love and lead in your home and family? Find that strength and provision in Him. Is it to spread the gospel and tell others about Jesus? Find that strength and provision in Him. Is it to go across the world on mission? Find that strength in Him.

But whatever we do in the name of Jesus, may there be a constant impression and foottracks of us coming back to Him, day after day, moment after moment, to find what we need to obey and follow Him.