SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning and welcome to Trinity.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Mike, and I'm one of the pastors here, and I'd like to invite you this morning to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 14.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't have a Bible, please don't hesitate to hop up and grab one from the stack in the back.
SPEAKER_00: You can find Matthew 14 on page 769 in the church Bibles.
SPEAKER_00: Did you know that today's reading, Jesus feeding the 5,000, is the only one of Jesus' miracles, besides the resurrection, to appear in all four gospel accounts?
SPEAKER_00: The only one, not Lazarus or the bleeding woman, not water to wine, the healing of the blind man with the mud in his eyes, not walking on water, calming a storm, just the feeding of the five thousand.
SPEAKER_00: Scholars don't really agree why that is, but it's the reason we're looking at this passage this morning, despite seeing the same miracle in John on a Sunday morning just last fall.
SPEAKER_00: Each of the four Gospels comes at the story from a slightly different angle befitting of four unique perspectives.
SPEAKER_00: For Matthew, that angle is the context.
SPEAKER_00: But before we dive in, let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Gracious God, thank you for this morning for the chance to gather, to worship, to pray, to hear from your word.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray now that as my words line up with your words, that they would fall on ears and hearts, ready to receive them and respond.
SPEAKER_00: Gracious God, if I say anything that isn't from you, I pray that those words would quickly be forgotten.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray all these things through Jesus Christ our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the situation.
SPEAKER_00: In John, the feeding of the 5,000 comes on the heels of Jesus' teaching regarding his own authority.
SPEAKER_00: The story, which comes in John 6, is an illustration of that authority put into practice and how Jesus operates within it.
SPEAKER_00: In Mark and Luke, Jesus and his disciples withdraw to the wilderness to rest and debrief after they're sent out to preach and heal on their own for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: Luke 9, 10 says, On their return, the apostles told Jesus all that they had done when he had sent them out, and Jesus took them and withdrew.
SPEAKER_00: But the contextual emphasis in Matthew is just a little bit different.
SPEAKER_00: Look, starting at verse 13, when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.
SPEAKER_00: What is this that Jesus heard that caused him to withdraw into the wilderness to be by himself?
SPEAKER_00: Someone with a Bible open.
SPEAKER_00: Can you tell me?
SPEAKER_00: Death of John the Baptist.
SPEAKER_00: Herod, the Roman puppet king of Israel, had a feast.
SPEAKER_00: At the feast, his stepdaughter danced for the crowd, and they liked it.
SPEAKER_00: And yes, that's supposed to be creepy because it is.
SPEAKER_00: And they liked it enough that Herod offered the girl, who's both his stepdaughter and his niece, because he had married his brother's wife, a boon.
SPEAKER_00: At the prodding of the girl's mother, she asked for John the Baptist's head, which was brought to her on a platter.
SPEAKER_00: The whole story is horrifying.
SPEAKER_00: It's grotesque.
SPEAKER_00: It's all sorts of manipulating and violent and disgusting.
SPEAKER_00: And when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.
SPEAKER_00: This is important for two reasons.
SPEAKER_00: First, it explains why Jesus withdrew.
SPEAKER_00: He was horrified by what had happened to his cousin John.
SPEAKER_00: He was grieved by it.
SPEAKER_00: And second, Matthew is setting up a juxtaposition between the depraved feast of Herod, which is ruled by all sorts of self-seeking evil and excess, and the hillside feast of Jesus, marked by compassionate provision.
SPEAKER_00: You're the type that likes to take notes in the margins of your Bible, that's worth making note of.
SPEAKER_00: And so he withdraws to be by himself.
SPEAKER_00: It seems to affect the crowds, too, who had come to John in droves.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 13 tells us that when the crowds heard it, they followed Jesus on foot from the towns.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they want to know what Jesus has to say about the execution of the prophet who had so powerfully ministered in the desert.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're confused and grieving as well.
SPEAKER_00: Either way, they want to be with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, when you're overwhelmed or confused, when you're grieving or hurt, where do you turn for comfort?
SPEAKER_00: Do you like the crowds here to go looking for Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Or do you go looking for consolation elsewhere?
SPEAKER_00: And distraction, business, like throwing yourself into work or school.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sure that the crowds even know what they're looking for.
SPEAKER_00: But it seems they know that they'll find it in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now remember, Jesus has headed towards the wilderness on a boat.
SPEAKER_00: The crowds go looking for him on foot.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14 When Jesus went to shore, he sees a great crowd.
SPEAKER_00: And he has compassion on them and healed their sick.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus doesn't have that.
SPEAKER_00: You and I might have that.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus doesn't have that.
SPEAKER_00: It seems Jesus just wanted to get away.
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine just for a second here you're Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: You're exhausted, you're overwhelmed, you're grieving.
SPEAKER_00: You just would like a little time by yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Have any of you ever felt like that?
SPEAKER_00: Please, I just need a moment.
SPEAKER_00: This is why dads lock ourselves in the bathroom sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: Just need a moment of peace and quiet.
SPEAKER_00: This is where I can get it.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is like, I'm gonna go on a boat into the wilderness.
SPEAKER_00: I'm glad my wife isn't here this morning.
SPEAKER_00: This is one of those things afterwards, she'd be like, Mike, that probably wasn't a great illustration.
SPEAKER_00: We'd have a conversation over lunch.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Mary.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus just wants a moment by himself.
SPEAKER_00: Slips into a boat, crosses to the wilderness, hoping to get it.
SPEAKER_00: To be alone after learning the news about John.
SPEAKER_00: But his quest for solitude, for space to be alone, is interrupted.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not just interrupted by one person, but it's interrupted by thousands.
SPEAKER_00: How we respond to interruptions, especially when we're tired or stressed, speaks to character.
SPEAKER_00: Where I might be inclined to snap.
SPEAKER_00: Just give me another minute.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus responds with compassion.
SPEAKER_00: He's deeply moved.
SPEAKER_00: We saw this word earlier this year.
SPEAKER_00: It's in the Greek, it's like moved in your inner being.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus finds the crowd.
SPEAKER_00: They go looking for Jesus, and as they go looking for Jesus is always finding people who are looking, even as he himself is come home to roost.
SPEAKER_00: Disciples come to Jesus and say, It's getting a little bit late, so send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, by most measures, this is a reasonable take.
SPEAKER_00: No cocoa or chick-fil-a down the road.
SPEAKER_00: They can't just run out and grab something for everybody.
SPEAKER_00: Dinner.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, they need not go away.
SPEAKER_00: My two oldest boys are 15 and 13.
SPEAKER_00: All of the snack.
SPEAKER_00: Not gonna lie, when Jenny starts doing this, there's a thought that of the food in this house.
SPEAKER_00: Did you not?
SPEAKER_00: We have three freezers in our house.
SPEAKER_00: She's going to empty all of them.
SPEAKER_00: Or when it's time for dinner, or second dinner for crying out loud.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is dealing with five thousand men plus women and children.
SPEAKER_00: I freak out, perhaps rightfully so, over half a dozen teachers.
SPEAKER_00: It's ludicrous.
SPEAKER_00: And they respond in a way that, frankly, to me, feels appropriate giving the situation.
SPEAKER_00: They said to him, We only have five loaves here and two fish.
SPEAKER_00: It's like my wife saying, Can you feed the five teenage boys?
SPEAKER_00: And me responding, but we only have one frozen pizza.
SPEAKER_00: That like barely covers one of them.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples, and honestly, it is reasonable, they protest.
SPEAKER_00: This right here, Jesus, is a need that we cannot meet.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples have no faith in this moment for a miracle.
SPEAKER_00: And they're probably grieving and exhausted as well.
SPEAKER_00: And so rather than asking Jesus the question, what do you want us to do?
SPEAKER_00: They protest.
SPEAKER_00: This is all we've got, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Surely it's not enough.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus can make do with whatever we have to offer.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus can make do with whatever little bit you and I have to offer.
SPEAKER_00: So he says in verse 18, bring the loaves and the fish to me.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'd like to go off on just a little bit of a tangent here, if it's okay with you.
SPEAKER_00: There's a reason why the word remember is used so frequently in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's like the third most common verb in the entire Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: In the Hebrew, it's Zakar, we get the name Zachary from it.
SPEAKER_00: And it's why it's so important for us to know our Bibles, to read, to mark, to inwardly digest the scriptures so that we know the story, so we know our place in it.
SPEAKER_00: And thus can remember and trust God in our moments of weakness and need when we find ourselves in those impossible places where we can't see a way forward.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples here, again, reasonably can't see a way forward.
SPEAKER_00: They don't see how they or Jesus could possibly feed these hungry, hurting people out here in the wilderness with just five loaves and two fish.
SPEAKER_00: But if they remembered the story, they would know that God has fed his people in the wilderness before.
SPEAKER_00: We just read it again in Psalm 78.
SPEAKER_00: Can he make a feast in the wilderness?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes, he can.
SPEAKER_00: Man ate of the bread and of the angels.
SPEAKER_00: He sent them food in abundance.
SPEAKER_00: He rained down on them manna to eat, gave them the grain of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: We just prayed those words, remembered them together in Psalm 78.
SPEAKER_00: God did it with manna in the wilderness during the Exodus, every day, for years on end, plenty of food for all of God's people.
SPEAKER_00: What is impossible for the disciples isn't impossible for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: What is impossible for us isn't impossible for God.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, maybe if they had remembered the story, they might have had faith for it.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, maybe not.
SPEAKER_00: They're tired and grieving, and we are so quick to forget, aren't we?
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus can make do with whatever little we have to offer him, and so he said, Bring it to me.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, this is a very important question.
SPEAKER_00: Do you still come to Jesus in your lack, your weakness?
SPEAKER_00: Do you bring whatever little or much you have to offer him?
SPEAKER_00: It's an invitation here in the text to give Jesus everything you've got, all of it, to hold nothing back, but to bring it all to him with open hands and a willing heart and in practical obedience, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to trust in his provision and his care, his ability to meet all of our needs, even when it seems impossible.
SPEAKER_00: So what have you got?
SPEAKER_00: Bring it to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: This offering, this self-offering is how the disciples of Jesus participate in the mission of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That was true in this story 2,000 years ago, and it's true today.
SPEAKER_00: Our offering and self-offering is how disciples of Jesus participate in the mission of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus in verse 19 ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: He said a blessing, and he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
SPEAKER_00: Does this pattern seem familiar to you?
SPEAKER_00: We do it every week.
SPEAKER_00: We'll do it again here in just a few moments.
SPEAKER_00: Most every commentator over the last 2,000 years has made the observation that this foreshadows the Lord's Supper.
SPEAKER_00: Just as Jesus took the bread, looked to heaven, said a blessing, broke it, and fed the people, so have Christians for 2,000 years taken bread, looked to heaven, set a blessing, and then fed God's people.
SPEAKER_00: The table and bread multiplied for the people of God is the means by which the Lord Jesus has fed his people for millennia, giving us what we need to go about the work that he's given us to do, feeding his church that we might be empowered for mission in the world.
SPEAKER_00: Just as Jesus fed those in need of him on a hillside all those years ago, so he still feeds us today as we gather to pray and worship and learn from the scriptures, well aware of our own need for him and eager to be fed, that we might be sent to participate in his mission in the world.
SPEAKER_00: He feeds the people, and he invites his disciples to participate in the work.
SPEAKER_00: And I love that.
SPEAKER_00: That despite the disciples' doubt, Jesus includes them in the miracles.
SPEAKER_00: For all their doubt and skepticism, you bring what little they have to Jesus anyway, and then he includes them in the miracle of it all.
SPEAKER_00: And isn't that just like us?
SPEAKER_00: Skepticism and doubt all mixed in with hopeful and faith-filled self-offering.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus inviting us into his work despite this mix of doubt and faith.
SPEAKER_00: The result in verse 20, they all ate and were satisfied, all of them satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: Everything they needed found in Christ and provided by Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, everything you need, all of it, can be found in Christ and is provided by Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And look, there's even leftovers.
SPEAKER_00: They took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces left over.
SPEAKER_00: If you've got a Bible, open your lap, circle the number twelve.
SPEAKER_00: That's always significant in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: It's representative of all God's people.
SPEAKER_00: Twelve tribes, twelve disciples.
SPEAKER_00: And here it points to the reality that in Christ there is more than enough for all of God's people.
SPEAKER_00: There's more than enough for all of God's people in the broken bread that foreshadows the broken body of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And the broken body of Jesus is the salvation of the whole world.
SPEAKER_00: And those who ate were about five thousand men, plus women and children.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, ten, fifteen thousand.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the point.
SPEAKER_00: It's a lot of people.
SPEAKER_00: It's an impossible miracle.
SPEAKER_00: God's in the business.
SPEAKER_00: Taking a little and out of it doing impossible miracles.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so what?
SPEAKER_00: Here's where I'd like to end this morning.
SPEAKER_00: First, maybe you're here this morning and you're tired or grieving or overwhelmed.
SPEAKER_00: Let me encourage you, if that's you, to go looking for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He's not bothered by your interruptions.
SPEAKER_00: He's got time for you.
SPEAKER_00: He's interruptible.
SPEAKER_00: So open your Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Go looking for him.
SPEAKER_00: Pray.
SPEAKER_00: Ask God to come find you in your stress.
SPEAKER_00: Go on a walk with a friend.
SPEAKER_00: Ask them to help you see Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Remember the story.
SPEAKER_00: Ask others to help you remember his past faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Heck.
SPEAKER_00: Even if life is great right now, might I suggest go looking for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He tends to find us when we go looking for him.
SPEAKER_00: Second, let me invite you to bring whatever you got, big or small, and offer it to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples, they could have held on to the loaves and fish the way that I hoard one last pizza in my freezer.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, they offer it to Jesus and he does something special with it.
SPEAKER_00: The truth is, all the trappings of this life, our homes, our cars, our bank accounts, our jobs, our talents, our friendships, they're all gifts from him anyway.
SPEAKER_00: It's all grace.
SPEAKER_00: So offer it, all of it, back to him to use.
SPEAKER_00: Open up your home.
SPEAKER_00: Share that car.
SPEAKER_00: Pop that last frozen pizza in the oven to feed some teenagers.
SPEAKER_00: Use and offer your gifts, your time, your talents freely.
SPEAKER_00: You may not even realize that in doing so, you're participating in a miracle.
SPEAKER_00: Let me encourage you to rethink how you see and receive interruptions yourself.
SPEAKER_00: Are you interruptible?
SPEAKER_00: May God form us to be a people moved by compassion more than inconvenience, to bear with one another with grace and gentleness.
SPEAKER_00: Are you interruptible?
SPEAKER_00: Lastly, above all, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, whose broken body still feeds us, whose spirit still guides us, whose compassion never falters, and whose love never fails.
SPEAKER_00: You notice this miracle required open hands.
SPEAKER_00: Open hands from the disciples to give what they had.
SPEAKER_00: Open hands from the crowds to receive, open crowds from the disciples to receive back from Jesus what they'd offered to him.
SPEAKER_00: And then open hands from the crowd to receive what Jesus had provided.
SPEAKER_00: All of it.
SPEAKER_00: It requires open hands.
SPEAKER_00: And in the end, when we come to Jesus in our need, with open hands, in the end, the crowds are satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: The same is true for us.
SPEAKER_00: When we come to Jesus with open hands and open hearts, offering what we have, willing to receive back from Him in turn.
SPEAKER_00: The end result is miracles, satisfaction.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe not the way the world sees it.
SPEAKER_00: Usually not, in my experience, the way the world sees it.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, but God's miracles aren't the way that we might imagine them.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, everything that we need is found in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Everything that we need is found in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: All the satisfaction your heart longs for is found in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But we've got to unclench our fists and open our hands to receive it.
SPEAKER_00: Will you stand and pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: Oh gracious God, would you form us to be interruptible people with soft hearts towards you and others?
SPEAKER_00: Would you unclench our fists?
SPEAKER_00: Help us not to cling so tightly to these, to that which belongs to you anyway, but to offer it freely back to you.
SPEAKER_00: And gracious God, would you unclench our fists that we might receive from you what it is you would give back to us?
SPEAKER_00: And above all else, would you fix our eyes on you?
SPEAKER_00: You're the only one that can truly satisfy us.
SPEAKER_00: We pray all these things through Jesus Christ our Lord.
unknown: Amen.