Matthew 15:32-39 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.
Many interpretations exist of why Jesus fed crowds of 5,000 and 4,000 men. But whether these explanations are right or reasonable does not matter. What matters is that He fed several thousand people bread and fishes. He illustrated that He is the Bread of Life. As the Messiah sent by God, He always does the will of the Father. God in the days of Moses fed the Israelites in the wilderness. Jesus was demonstrating that his Father feeds the hungry. I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way. But the food the people ate that day could not sustain life indefinitely. Just as with the manna in the wilderness, they would need to gather food daily for themselves to exist. This is the process of life day-in and day-out, a continuous search for food. But Jesus’ mission on earth was to provide them spiritual food that would last forever, satisfying their souls within them. This divine food freely given through the works and words of Jesus Christ was God’s will. Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” Then Jesus declared, “I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:32-35) Of course some followed Jesus for their own selfish reasons, seeking what Jesus could do for them. They did not understand the true bread from heaven; they knew only that Jesus healed them and sometimes fed them. The food satiated the body’s needs, but did nothing for their spiritual health. To counter this attitude of following Jesus for their physical needs, Jesus declares a strong analogy with cannibalistic elements that separate many from following him. Jesus’ words are so emphatic and so strange that many thought of him as being mad. Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. (John 6:53-56) The people asked how could one eat of his flesh or drink of his blood? Of course Jesus was describing the process of eternal life after his crucifixion. We who are alive IN CHRIST forever are part of his body in flesh and drink. Jesus’ reference to eating and drinking of him describes a new kingdom where life is derived from him. This eternal life, partaking of his nature, is not a principle that the unredeemed of the world who sought Jesus for their own needs could understand or even cared to understand. They lived for the carnal world of self, not for knowledge of eternal life.
The key to living a life in victory is to place one’s hope on eternal life in Christ. Jesus came to reveal truth. When interacting with Pilate who had the authority to destroy Jesus, Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:36-37, KJV) By feeding the people in this miraculous way, Jesus bear(s) witness to the truth. If one could feed this many people with a few loaves and fishes, then He must be heard and believed. For sure Jesus knows the Father God who created all things, and He possesses the truth of life, the reason for living. Jesus through this act of feeding the people reveals his concern for their welfare. He also knows the crowd before him is starving for the truth of God. Therefore, He comes to them as The Truth, The Way to salvation. He is eternal life beyond this terrestrial, finite existence. Jesus through his miracles and healings reveals God's plan for them to inherit eternal life and not perish. This plan was from the beginning of time. Paul would describe it as a mystery, creating children in the image of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus possessed the Father’s heart for the people. As Jesus walked this earth, He taught them and fed them. Even if they followed him for the fishes and loaves, He knew they were hearing the Father’s heart, for He was speaking God’s words. If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me COMMANDED ME TO SAY ALL THAT I HAVE SPOKEN. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say. (John 12:47-50) The truth as spoken by Jesus was coming to the Jewish crowd who were in the wilderness, far from fishes and loaves of bread. They were in a remote place, but God was there in the form of his beloved Son. Jesus was there not only to feed them, but to instruct them on the way to God. The way to God and his Promised Land was through believing in Jesus Christ’s words. God’s love fed them, but God’s purpose for that day was to deliver them from the famine in their souls, to reveal The Way, The Truth, The Light, his Son, Jesus Christ the Messiah.
A new people is needed for a new land. Jesus brought this message with the 4,000 before him. Yes, they found him creating food for them, to keep them from hunger, but eternal food was needed to survive in a new land, a heavenly home God was preparing for them. Jesus comforts his disciples before his departure with words about this new place. Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:1-4) They were upset because He said He would be betrayed and killed. They wanted an assurance that things would work out better in the future. Jesus told them, I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. (John 14:18-19) Jesus provided the 4,000 food for that day on that hillside. But his whole life illustrated that He was talking about an eternal home, not about a biological place where the physical needs must be met. This new place was what Abraham sought, a place he did not know, a place where he could rest his feet permanently. He was a nomad, a wanderer, but God had promised him a land. God also promised the children of Israel a new place through Moses’ leading. They wandered the wilderness for 40 years before they were allowed to rest in the promised land. Noah believed God and made an ark, expecting a new existence for him and his family. These patriarchs of faith: Noah, Abraham, Moses, and others believed God had a place where they could rest and enjoy God’s creation. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. (Hebrews 11:1-2) Jesus’ supernatural act of feeding the people revealed that God is in the business of making a new people. He performed a miraculous act so the people would know that Jesus was someone divine with the answers to life. But as with the apostles’ concern about Jesus going away, the termination of Jesus’ life would not be a horrendous ending to their hope of something new; it would actually be the beginning of a new life, a permanent home. Feeding 4,000 is a miraculous event, but feeding millions upon millions the Bread of Life is the essential miracle to eternal life. Our hope does not abide in eating today or tomorrow, or settling down in this frustrating, materialistic world. Our hope is in what we do not see yet. We have confidence that another life exists where we can abide with God. We live as children of God on this earth. The Spirit of God has come to comfort, to counsel, to lead us through every experience of life. We are distinctly different from the people around us, destined to a new life, an eternal one. Breakfast companions, you eat to survive biologically, but better yet you eat this breakfast to strengthen your spiritual souls, to help you focus on another land, a land won by faith in Jesus Christ. Feast on the spiritual bread and wine of the Lord today, and He will satisfy your soul!
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