Matthew 14:15-21 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he 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. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Love without action is useless according to James who wrote that faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:17) In today’s scene we see Jesus actively expressing love for the people by feeding them. The disciples’ attitude was appropriate because of the remoteness of the place and the scarcity of food available to the large crowd. The disciples did not expect a miracle, so they were planning a way for the crowd to find food. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food. Of course another motive of the disciples comes to the surface: it’s already getting late and they were exhausted and needed to eat. By sending the crowds away, the disciples could then serve themselves the meager amount of food at hand, giving them a chance to restore their own strength. They probably were somewhat indignant with Jesus when He said, You give them something to eat. They pointed out something that Jesus already knew about the situation. We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish. We have barely enough for ourselves, send them away, so we can sit down and feed ourselves. Jesus, our own provisions are meager, and you know we have been fighting this crowd all day so that they would not overwhelm you with their desire to get close to you. We are tired; we deserve to rest and feed ourselves. How often when there is a need set before us, do we explain to God how another plan is available or how we are beyond our means or strength to help out in the situation? Love is not thoughts, words, or even intentions: love is action. If our love is as meager as the disciples’ food basket, we will quickly devise a plan that seems more appropriate for our own personal needs. When Jesus said, you feed them, the task must have seemed overwhelming to the tired disciples. Not only would feeding them require a tremendous miracle, the mission in itself would exhaust his disciples as they provided for over 5,000 people. The apostles knew these people were the ones that would not even allow Jesus a few days to mourn over John’s horrific death. They understood well that the people were seeking Jesus for their own self-interest, not to benefit Jesus and his helpers. But even if the disciples did not care much for the crowd, Jesus loved them. They were sheep without a shepherd. Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:35-36) This task of feeding the crowds would be physically and emotionally tiring for Jesus and the disciples. But Jesus knew He was the Bread of Life and that his mission was to help the people fulfill their hunger for God. The crowds were in this remote place because their need of God was greater than their hunger. They gathered around Jesus so that their souls might be fed. He gave them the Bread of Life through his service to them—his love for them!
This miracle of feeding such a huge crowd showed that Jesus was not just a prophet such as Elijah who fed only the widow at Zarephath and her son, but Jesus was much greater for He fed all who came to him. In the eyes of the Israelites, this miracle revealed him to be divine, maybe even the Son of God. Who else could serve everyone who came to him. No one but God himself could do this. In the Old Testament we see a similar scene of scarcity of food, but God’s intervention changes the situation. Elijah is fleeing King Ahab because he told Ahab that there would be no rain because God was judging his kingdom for their idol worshipping. Elijah then flees from Ahab’s wrath. He settles in the wilderness by a brook, being fed by ravens in the morning and evening. Finally the brook dries up. God allows this to happen, forcing Elijah to venture into the city of Zarephath. In Zarephath, he asks a widow for water and food. Her cupboard is bare with hardly any food left, only enough for one more meal for herself and her son. After this last meal, they will starve to death. Instead of using all the oil and flour for herself and her son, she provides for Elijah’s needs. She feeds him first. God rewards her for her service to Elijah. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: "The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. (1 Kings 17:14-16) This of course was a great miracle, a happening beyond rationality. But the woman did not fully believe this miracle until Elijah brought her son back to life after he died. Then she knew that God had sent Elijah into her life and that his words had power with God. The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth. (1 Kings 17:22-24) Of course in Jesus’ time, after the 5,000 men were fed in such a remote place and when the crowd did not see any catering service coming down the road to feed them, they must have believed in Jesus’ power to change the circumstances. But just as with the widow, they somehow could not really take in what had happened to them. Feeding them did not bring a revelation of who Jesus really was. Even his disciples later on argued about not having enough bread as they were crossing the Sea of Galilee. They were as the widow contaminated by the yeast of the Pharisees, the sin of unbelief. But the widow believed that Elijah was a man of God after her son was resurrected. The disciples, even Thomas, believed Jesus was the Son of God after his resurrection. The miracles the people saw or participated in did not hold them in a place of absolute faith. Only when Jesus was resurrected was there a true understanding of who Jesus really was as God’s gift. Elijah was sent to the widow, one family. Jesus was sent to the world; the crowds were emblematic of that reality.
Are you willing to sit down? The people in that wilderness had to be open to sitting down, open to waiting for food. This question is for us every day, are we willing to sit at Jesus’ feet, waiting to be fed? As we look around in our routine lives, evaluating who we are, what can be done, what cannot be done in our lives, can we believe that God is still in the supernatural business? Can we believe that God will feed us at his breast, that the Spirit of God will come to us each day to rejuvenate us, to empower us to serve him. We might be tired as the disciples were weary. We might even be distracted by our own thoughts: send them away, Lord. We are too tired, too busy to help them. The inventory of the spiritual strength in our lives is meager, hardly enough to keep us alive. Jesus, this is a futile effort—there is not even enough spiritual food or dynamism in us to keep us going, let alone share it with others. Send them back to the world to fend for themselves. At least there they will find life as it is: eating, drinking and being merry. Here, they will just die without food for their stomachs. But Jesus orders them: Feed them! Not tomorrow, not at another time or in a more convenient place. Feed them here, in this wilderness, on this day. Jesus asks us to participate with him in feeding the world. Of course, the crowds were there for their own sake, not for the disciples' or Jesus’ sake. They were there to take, not to give. But Jesus said to his servants, you feed them now. Do not send them back into the world without refreshing them, helping them to survive. As servants of the Most High, we have the Bread of Life to serve the hungry. But to serve, we must first sit down and be fed by the hand of God. Yes, the food in our systems might be scarce. We might have wasted much of it, the energy it provides, doing the mundane things of the world. But the theme of this breakfast is that God wants to restore everyone to himself by feeding them. Even if they are selfish, absorbed in their lives, their own needs, unable to see anything more spiritual than their obligations to themselves, Jesus loves them. Therefore, Jesus is saying to us, feed them, not another day, but now. If we are willing to do that, if our hearts say that is the right thing to do, then we must first sit down at his feet and wait for his Spirit to strengthen us. Are we willing to sit down? As we look around each morning, we see no catering cart coming down the road to feed us. Nothing is there, no books, no inspiring sermons, no sage advice from fellow Christian are with us as we open our hearts to God. But what we do have is Jesus in front of us, his hands moving as He breaks the Bread of Life for each of us to receive. He says to us, this is my body broken for you. We look at his love and know that He has given his all for us. He then tells us as He told the disciples, feed them! I fed you, you feed others. Do not send them away, no matter how tired you are or how useless it seems. My words are IN YOU, and you are IN ME because of my bread that I give to you. This is your reasonable sacrifice, your reasonable service, for me. May the Lord bless you as you serve him with a joyful heart today! This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24 KJV)
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