Matthew 14:13-21 - You Feed Them!
- Chad Werkhoven
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
God often seeks to work His power through you!
Gospels: Week 5 - Jesus' power over creation, demons, hunger and unbelief
CONTEXT: John the Baptist has just been beheaded while in custody...
Matthew 14:13–21 (NASB95)
13 Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.
15 When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”
17 They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
18 And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19 Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, 20 and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. 21 There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.
Heidelberg Catechism
Q&A 116
Q. Why do Christians need to pray?
A. Because prayer is the most important part
of the thankfulness God requires of us.
And also because God gives his grace and Holy Spirit
only to those who pray continually and groan inwardly,
asking God for these gifts
and thanking him for them.
Summary
This is one of several times throughout the gospels where Jesus needed to take a break. Remember, Jesus is fully God, but He's also fully man, and He experienced the same physical and emotional exhaustion as everybody else. And the news of John's sudden execution hit him hard. So when Jesus heard what had happened, He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. He just wanted to be alone for awhile.
But the quietness Jesus craved wouldn't last long. Hearing that Jesus had left by boat, the crowds followed Him on foot. How would you feel if you were in Jesus' place, and you looked up and saw a crowd - to the tune of about five thousand men, besides women and children. And they weren't there to support Jesus in His time of need, but rather so that Jesus could pour more of Himself into them.
But instead of losing His temper or lashing out at this unwelcome intrusion, Jesus had compassion on them and healed their sick. What a beautiful example of how much Jesus cares for His people - how much He cares for you! Even when He's physically and emotionally drained and desperately needs rest and time alone with His Father, He sets His own needs to the side to attend to those who've come to cling to Him.
But it quickly becomes apparent as it was already getting late that this crowd hadn't even brought basic provisions with them to this remote place. So the disciples, presumably not wanting to stress their burdened Teacher even more, suggest that Jesus send the crowds away, so that they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.
Dig Deeper
The disciples' request, even if it did come from the best of intentions, betrays their significant lack of faith. By this point in their time with Jesus they've seen Him miraculously provide for all sorts of needs - even turning water into wine at a wedding reception. Yet they shy away here from even asking Jesus for anything supernatural.
The disciples likely think they're doing Jesus a favor by presenting a solution - send the crowds away so they can buy food - rather than just dumping the problem of hunger on Jesus. So often our prayers reflect the disciples. Rather than simply praying for God's will to be done as Jesus' has instructed, or even boldly asking for a miracle as we've been invited, our prayers are often merely a presentation of our own well intended plans and desires before God.
Jesus doesn't miss the teachable moment, telling His disciples to give them something to eat. That sounds harsh and mockingly impossible, as if Jesus had lost His temper for a moment with them. After all these twelve men have only five loaves and two fish to give a hungry crowd pushing close to ten thousand, if not more.
But Jesus was serious. Notice here that it's not Jesus who fed the crowd, but the disciples gave this measly amount of food to the people, who all ate and were satisfied. Plus they picked up twelve basketfuls of left overs! Now certainly this was all done by Jesus' power, but it's significant that He worked this power through these ordinary men. All Jesus did was gave thanks and broke the loaves. It was the disciples that actually fed this crowd.
God in His Word often tells you to do things that seem outlandish and impossible. And humanly speaking, keeping God's law and following His will are impossible! But you've been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and enabled to do the impossible (Ephesians 3:20-21). So spend less time in prayer presenting your half baked plans and ideas to God, and more time asking Him to powerfully work His will through you.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who has given us His Holy Spirit that so that we're equipped to glorify Him;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Instead of presenting your plans to God, ask that He would work His will through you, even if it seems impossible;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
