Matthew 14:14-21: “Jesus Feeds The 5,000”
by
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In this next section of the book of Matthew we will
look at Jesus’ miracle of feeding the five thousand
1.1.1.
This miracle has to be of paramount importance in
God’s scheme for it is the only miracle that is described in all four of the
gospels
1.1.2.
This miracle teaches us many things:
1.1.2.1.We all ought
to look in faith to the Lord to provide all that we need
1.1.2.2.Jesus is
concerned about all of the needs that we have and He wants to meet them
1.1.2.3.Jesus is
concerned for those who are hungry, and thus we
should also be concerned for them
1.1.2.4.Nothing is
too difficult for the Lord to perform
1.1.2.5.When we
present to the Lord the little resources that we have He multiplies our gifts
and abilities greatly and does great things through our lives
2.
VS 14:14 - “14 And
when He went ashore, He saw a great multitude, and felt compassion for them,
and healed their sick” - Jesus saw
the multitude who had sought Him out on the shore and so out of compassion He
came to them and healed their sick
2.1.
We have looked a few times in our study of Matthew at the ‘compassion’
which Jesus had for people, and again in this verse we find that Greek word
which the New Testament writers themselves coined in order to properly express
the great ‘compassion’ which Jesus had for people
2.1.1.
In the gospels Jesus never turns away those who come to Him for healing,
for because of His great ‘compassion’ He cannot turn them away
3.
VS 14:15 - “15 And
when it was evening, the disciples came to Him, saying, “The place is desolate,
and the time is already past; so send the multitudes away, that they may go
into the villages and buy food for themselves.”” - The disciples came to Jesus in order to tell
Him that it would be best for Him to send away the multitudes so that they
could go into nearby villages and buy food for themselves
3.1.
The disciples are thinking about the needs of the people who were
becoming hungry and who had not brought provisions for themselves, and this
shows that they were beginning to have ‘compassion’ for souls themselves,
having seen this characteristic so often in Jesus
3.2.
The disciples had not yet learned to look to the Lord to provide all of
their sustenance, and thus they merely provide a pragmatic solution to the
growing hunger of the people saying, ‘send the multitudes away’
3.3.
Jesus used the opportunity afforded by the hunger of this multitude in
order to teach His disciples, and us, the lesson that we ought always to look
to the Lord to supply our needs, even when it appears that all human avenues
have been exhausted
4.
VS 14:16-17 -
“16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them
something to eat!” 17 And they *said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and
two fish.”” - Jesus challenged His
disciples to give the people something to eat
4.1.
Jesus knew all along what He planned to do in feeding this multitude
(John 6:6), however He challenged His disciples to feed them in order to cause
them to ponder the possibilities of how this group might be fed, in other words
He wanted to first have them consider their own resources for meeting this
need, He wants them to realize their own inability to meet the need, however He
is going to use what they give to Him in order to perform the miracle
4.1.1.
When we give to the Lord our meager resources He multiplies them and uses
us greatly
4.1.2.
We must never use the excuse that what we have to offer of our gifts and
means is too insignificant for the Lord to use us, and thus hold back from
giving anything at all of ourselves for His service
4.1.2.1.Jesus has called all of us
to be His servants and thus we are to be at His service and disposal
4.1.2.2.In Matthew 25:18,30, Jesus’
parable of the talents tells of one person who had been given only one talent,
and that he went and hid it in the sand instead of multiplying it, and this man
was cast into outer darkness for not using his talent
4.2.
In Mark 6:37, Mark records that in this incident the disciples questioned the
reasoning and practicality of Jesus in wanting to feed the multitudes because
of the great cost involved, “37 But He answered and said to them, “You give
them something to eat!” And they *said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two
hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?””
4.2.1.
The disciples had not yet learned that God’s resources are limitless
4.2.1.1.When Jesus encouraged His disciples
to pray, He always used ‘limitless’ language in describing what things they
ought to pray for. For example
4.2.1.1.1.John
14:13-14, “13 “And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father
may be glorified in the Son. 14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will
do it””
4.2.1.1.2.John 15:7,
“7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish,
and it shall be done for you””
4.2.1.2.The Lord owns the cattle on
a thousand hills, not just a few
4.2.1.3.We Christians must realize
that the One whom we come to in our time of need is ‘omnipotent’,
‘omnipresent’, ‘immutable’, and all of these characteristics He employs in
meeting our needs and answering our prayers
4.2.1.4.Nothing is too difficult for
the Lord
4.2.1.5.In Eph. 3:20, it says that the Lord is
able to do exceeding abundantly above what we might ask or think, “20 Now
to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works within us”
4.2.1.6.If we ever do not have the
Lord’s resources at our command it is not because they are short or unable to
meet a need, it is only because either we have failed to ask for them, or that
the Lord is not answering our prayers in our timing, or because He has
something better for us
4.3.
We learn from John 6:8 that it was Andrew who came to Jesus and told him
that it was a lad who had the loaves and the fish which Jesus blessed and then
multiplied to feed the multitude, “8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s
brother, *said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and
two fish, but what are these for so many people?””
4.3.1.
We sometimes underestimate how God can use children who are committed to
Him
5.
VS 14:18-21 -
“18 And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19 And ordering the multitudes to
recline 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 to the multitudes, 20 and they all ate, and
were satisfied. And they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces,
twelve full baskets. 21 And there were about five thousand men who ate, aside
from women and children”” - Jesus
blessed the fish and loaves and fed the five thousand
5.1.
We read here in this gospel as well as in another gospel writer’s account
that the five thousand mentioned here only included the men in the crowd, and
one author has figured that if the women and children were also counted we
could have a group of 25,000 or more, this shows the magnitude of this miracle
5.2.
As I mentioned earlier in this study, Jesus blesses what we offer to him
of ourselves and then multiplies it greatly to feed and minister to others, and
this is shown here by Jesus’ performing this miracle by using the five loaves
and two fish possessed by a lad in the crowd whom Andrew had found
5.3.
In Luke 9:14-15, Luke records that Jesus had the multitude recline in
groups of fifty each which shows that God is a God of order, and this order
allowed the twelve to more easily be able to distribute the food to all of the
people
5.4.
How the fish and the loaves began to multiply we are only left to guess,
but it would appear that each time that a fish or a loaf was handed out that
another one miraculously appeared in the basket to replace it
5.5.
Jesus shows here that all food should be received by looking to heaven
and asking a blessing upon it, for this shows that we are trusting in and
thanking the Lord for providing all of our physical needs in this life
5.6.
Picking up ‘twelve’ baskets full of leftover fragments gives us some
lessons:
5.6.1.
When God provides for us He is not stingy, but rather he is gracious and
provides abundantly for us
5.6.2.
In order for the twelve apostles to each get a sense of the magnitude of
this miracle personally each one of them got to pick up a basket full of
fragments of food that were left over by the crowd after eating
5.6.3.
In John 6:12, we read that Jesus ordered them to pick up the fragments in order that
none be lost which reveals that God does not want His people to be poor
stewards of their possessions or be wasteful, “12 And when they were filled, He
*said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be
lost””
5.6.3.1.We must be especially
careful and guard that which belongs to the Lord also
5.7.
The liberal theologians have tried to disprove every miracle of Jesus’ so
that they can make him out to be a man and no more than just a prophet, and for
this miracle they say that when this young lad was willing to give his fish and
loaves to feed others, that people then began to pull out their own stashes of
food and share them, however if we consider that there may have been 25,000 who
were fed here and that twelve baskets full of fragments were left over, this is
an absurd idea
5.7.1.
On the contrary, this particular miracle is included in each of the four
gospels just because it shows Jesus’ awesome power in effecting miracles, a
work that only an omnipotent God could perform