Matthew: The Provision of Jesus (14:13-21)

This sermon was preached to Grace Church Guildford on 11 June 2023. The audio recording of the sermon can be found below along with the transcript.

What do you need right now? Each of us this morning will answer that question slightly differently. We all feel different needs right now, because we all face different challenges in our lives. (1) Some will have financial needs. Your future at work is uncertain, the cost of living is steadily rising, and house prices in Guildford are still falling. And so right now, you need financial stability to see you through the next few years. (2) Some of you have physical needs. Your health has deteriorated, whether it’s a new diagnosis or a longstanding problem. And you need a treatment that can tackle the issue, cure your condition, or at least secure your quality of life for a time. (3) Some will have relational needs. Disagreements with friends or family are draining you. Perhaps your marriage is strained, your children are spinning out of control, or you struggle with loneliness. And so, what you need is a close friend, a faithful spouse, a loving family. We all have different needs this evening. Each of us will feel under pressure in at least one area of our life. Indeed, maybe tonight you feel under pressure in many different areas of your life. If so, the good news of our passage, is that whatever you need right now, Jesus can provide it.

That’s the main point of our passage this evening. If you grew up around church, or have been coming to services for a while, this story may be familiar to you. The feeding of the 5000 is the most famous miracle Jesus performed. Indeed, it is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. However, we are going to see it plays a particularly important role in Matthew. If you remember from last Sunday morning, earlier in the chapter, we heard about the death of John the Baptist. In courage, John pointed out Herod’s sin. And in cowardice, Herod put John to death. However, having just told us about that feast in a palace, Matthew now begins to tell us about a picnic at the seaside. And it’s clear this is a miracle that he does not want us to miss. For not only does he record it here in Matthew 14, but in Matthew 15 he records a similar miracle of Jesus feeding the 4000. And then, in Matthew 16, Jesus refers to both these miracles when teaching his disciples. Clearly, Matthew does not want us to miss the message of this miracle. He wants his readers to see that whatever we need, Jesus can provide it. In our text, we see this is true for two groups of people in particular. In our passage, Jesus meets the needs of two groups: (1) Jesus has compassion for the crowd; (2) Jesus has supplies for his servants. Let’s consider these now.

1.     JESUS HAS COMPASSION FOR THE CROWD

Of course, the most obvious need we see in our text is the crowd’s need for food. In 14:13, we are told they follow Jesus on foot, as he sought to sail to a secluded spot. And the fact that in 14:14, we read they arrive before Jesus, tells us that they travelled at incredible speed. Perhaps they ran along the shore to keep up with Jesus in the boat. In any case, it seems that they didn’t have time to pack themselves a picnic. This crowd were so eager to be with Jesus, it seems like they just dropped whatever they were doing, to go and follow him. And so, as the day goes on, it dawns on the disciples that there is a significant logistical problem, for there is no reasonable way that they could find food for this many people. Sometimes, being familiar with this story, we can forget just how impossible such a task would be. If you were at our Church Fun Day yesterday, there we had just over 200 people having a picnic together by a lake. And yet that was possible, because we all brought our own food. You can just imagine how much food would have been needed to provide a picnic for us all if we had come without food. And that would only be for 200 people! However, in 14:21, we see that on this day there were 5000 men, with many more women and children. That means this crowd is probably more like 10,000 people, which is at least 50 times bigger than our picnic yesterday. Feeding them was simply not feasible, especially in this wilderness. Even if this crowd had gathered in the nearby towns of Capernaum or Bethsaida, it would have been difficult to find food for them. For this crowd was many times larger than the population of those whole towns (e.g. 2,000-3,000). For a crowd of this size to need a meal in the wilderness, meant that they needed a miracle. Nothing else would do. And yet, that is what happens. For Jesus uses this seemingly impossible situation to perform an absolutely massive miracle.

However, it is important that we see this miracle is not only massive, but it is also messianic. If you remember, back in Matthew 4, Jesus was tempted, by the Devil, to produce bread in the wilderness and so prove he was the Son of God. And yet Jesus refused to do so in order to meet his own needs that day. However, here we see he is glad to do so to meet the needs of others. And just like the Devil said, such a miracle proves he is the Son of God. That is how the Jewish crowd understood it that day. Indeed, in John’s account, in 6:14, we are told that after the crowd ate of the bread and fish, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” And they tried to take Jesus and make him their king. Why was this miracle seen as a ‘Messianic Miracle’? What caused the people that day to try to make Jesus king? Why did the Devil declare providing food in the wilderness would proves Jesus is God’s Son? Well, it’s because that is what God did in Exodus 16. If you remember from Jamie’s sermon series earlier this year, there God provided bread from heaven to feed his people in the wilderness. On that day, the people doubted, asking, “Can God really spread a table in the wilderness...Can he give us bread? Can he supply meat for his people?” (Psalm 78:19-20) And yet despite their doubt, that is exactly what God did. God spread a table in the wilderness, provided bread and meat for his people. And here in Matthew 14, Jesus does the exact same. By providing a picnic for his people in the wilderness that day, Jesus was not merely meeting their need, but he was also showing that he was their Messiah, the Son of God sent to save his people from their sins. If you are here this evening, but do not believe Jesus is who he says he is (Son of God), then how do you explain this feeding of the 5000? How do you explain the fact Jesus is said to do so in all four accounts of his life? [...]

The most obvious need we see in our passage, is the crowd’s need of food. And yet, when we consider our text closely, we see that the crowd had an even greater, more basic need that day. For we see that the greatest need of the crowd, was not their need of food, but their need of compassion. As I studied the text this week, it struck me just how foundational the compassion of Christ in 14:14 is for everything that follows it. Remember the context. In 14:12, Jesus is told by John’s disciples that he has been brutally executed. And so, in 14:13 Jesus “withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.” Jesus needs time to process John’s death, for as we heard last week, it was a prophetic picture of the death he himself would soon endure in Jerusalem. Jesus needs some time alone with God, to pour out his heart in prayer and prepare for his future sufferings. And yet, when he arrives in the quiet spot he selected for such solitude, he finds that it is filled with thousands upon thousands of people, all wanting to hear from him and be healed by him. Jesus is interrupted. His plans are ruined, his time solitude is spoiled. And yet, in 14:14, we see that Jesus does not act with consternation, but with compassion. For there we read that: [READ].

This is the same response Jesus had towards the crowd back in 9:36, and that he will have again in 15:32 [...]. It seems Jesus has continuous, constant compassion for the crowd. No matter what circumstances he finds himself in, he continues to show compassion. Jesus’ heart is always open, his hand is always ready, to care for those who come to him! Jesus needed time alone with God, needed time to process John’s death and prepare for his own. And yet, in his compassion, Christ put aside his needs, so that he could satisfies the crowd’s needs. It was this compassion that caused him to heal the people of their illnesses in 14:14, and it is this same love that will lead him to satisfy their hunger later that day. Indeed, it is this same compassion that causes him to go to the cross, to die a death of suffering, similar to that of John’s, and yet so much worse, for on the cross Jesus is led by his love, compelled by his compassion, to suffer for the sins of his people. Indeed, I think Matthew alludes to this even in our passage this evening. For those four words he uses in 14:19 to describe how Jesus provides food for his people (by taking the bread, blessing the bread, breaking the bread, and givingthe bread to his disciples), those are the same four words he will use in the exact same order in 26:26, when on the night before his death, at the institution of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus pictures what is about to happen on the cross by taking bread, blessing bread, breaking bread, and giving bread to his disciples. Just as compassion caused Jesus to provide food for his people by the sea of Galilee, it will be that same compassion that causes him to provide forgiveness for his people on the cross. In love, Jesus here provides satisfaction for stomachs. But soon, in that same love, he will provide salvation for souls.

If you are here this evening, and you are not following Jesus, trusting him for forgiveness, obeying him as Lord, no matter what your most obvious needs are right now, whether financial, physical or relational, the Bible makes clear that you have a much greater, more basic need this evening, for it tells you that your greatest need is spiritual. The Bible is clear we’ve all sinned against God, as we thought about this morning, we have all wronged him in how we’ve lived our lives, and so deserve his eternal condemnation as a result. We all deserve condemnation, and so our greatest need is compassion. We need God to forgive us, to save us from the consequences of our sin. And friend, do you see that if you come to Christ, as the crowd did that day, he will have compassion for you, be quick to forgive, willing to save. For he died on the cross in the place of all who will turn from their sin and trust in him. Will you do that this evening? Will you come to Jesus? Will you come under his compassion? For if you do [...]

And yet, it’s important we don’t stop there in applying our passage. Praise God, Jesus provides salvation for souls! But as we see here, he does also provide satisfaction for stomachs. Jesus not only provides for our greatest need, but even for our most basic needs as well. And Christian, it’s crucial that you see this evening the same compassion that compels Christ to provide one, guarantees he will also provide the other. The same love that led Jesus to die for your sins, will also lead him to provide for your needs. I think this is what the disciples missed that day. For the moment Jesus set his love upon this people, had compassion for the crowd, the disciples should have realised it would all be alright. That having loved this people, Jesus would not leave them. That if compassion compelled Christ to heal their bodies in 14:14, it would also cause him to fill their stomachs in 14:15. The disciples missed the crucial connection between Christ’s compassion and his provision. They overlooked the fact that Jesus not only meets our greatest need (i.e. need for mercy), but he also satisfies our basic needs as well (i.e. need a meal).

Christian, are you making the same mistake as the disciples this evening? In the midst of all your needs right now, are you missing the crucial connection between Christ’s compassion and his provision? Brother or sister, have you forgotten about the love of Jesus? Have become complacent about his compassion? Oh, I know you may be experiencing real, genuine, pressing needs. Financial difficulties, physical illness, relational strife may all be as real for you this evening as the hunger was real for the crowd that day. And yet, above all these obvious needs, remember that your greatest need has been met. That the Lord loves you Christian. That like the crowd the day, Jesus has compassion for you. Indeed, his love was so strong that it led him to lay down his life on the cross to save you. Christian, you believe in that tonight. You have trusted in Christ for your salvation. You know that in love he has met your greatest need. So why do you doubt that he will also meet your basics needs as well? Brother or sister, do you think that having adopted us for heaven, Jesus will now abandon us on earth? That having forgiven our sins, Jesus will somehow fail to fill our stomachs? Friends, do you not see that the logic rather runs in the other direction. For as Paul puts it in Romans 8:32, if God “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

You know, in at least one way and in one of their songs, the Beatles got it right. ‘Love is all you need.’ If you have the love of the almighty all good God set upon you, that is all you need. For having loved you, he will never leave you. His compassion for you ensures his provision for you. Just as Jesus’ compassion for the crowd ensured his provision for them that day. Whether it is by providing the finances you need to stabilise yourself, or the grace you need to endure poverty. Whether it is by providing the physical healing you need to get back to good health, or the strength you need to suffer graciously to the end. No matter what it is you need this evening, Jesus can provide it. And see, here that his compassion for you, Christian, means that he will provide it. Jesus will provide all you need. For his compassion is the cause of his provision. [...]

2.     JESUS HAS SUPPLIES FOR HIS SERVANTS

Sometimes a story is so familiar to us, we assume we know what it is telling us and overlook what it actually says. We’ve already thought about how we can do this by focusing more on the crowd’s need for a meal than their need for mercy. However, we can also do here by assuming the main characters in this miracle are Jesus and the crowd. [...] For when you look closely, you see that while the crowd are there, they are largely in the background and it is actually the disciples that interact with Jesus. Did you notice that as we read it earlier? Did you pick up that the disciples are involved in every part of this miracle? In 14:15, it is the disciples that make the need of the crowd known to Jesus. Then in 14:16, instead of immediately meeting this need himself, Jesus suggests that the disciples sort this situation out, telling them, “You give them something to eat.” Jesus wants the disciples to feed this crowd. And indeed, that is exactly what happens at the end, for even when Jesus performs the miracle, he provides the meal to the crowd through the hands of his disciples. For in 14:19 we read he gave the supplies to his disciples, who then went and distributed it to the people. The disciples are involved at every point in this miracle: they spot the need, they discuss the options, and they provide food for the crowd. Up to now, the disciples have watched Jesus perform miracles, but now it seems Jesus wants to involve them, to get them not just to see, but also to serve. We will see this again next week, where Jesus not only walks on water, but Peter tries to do so as well. Indeed, this whole section of Matthew is all about how Jesus trains the disciples, equips and teachs them how to care for his church. In this way, our passage not only teaches us that Jesus has power, and so can meet the needs of the people, but that Jesus empowers, for he provides for the people through the hands of his disciples.

The disciples begin their training in 14:15, when we read that they come to Jesus and say: [READ]. In fairness to the disciples, this suggestion sounds pretty sensible, is probably the best option available to them. You just have to imagine what we would have done yesterday, if we had somehow all failed to bring along picnics to the Church Fun Day. Imagine we all just assumed someone else would bring enough to share with us. And then when we get there, we find out nobody has brought any food. What would we do in such a situation? Well, I imagine, we would probably come up with a plan similar to the one the disciples suggest here. Even if one of the kids said that they had five tuna rolls they were happy to share with everyone, we would all know they would never be enough to feed a crowd of 200! And so, we would send people off to Chilworth, and Shalford, and Guildford to go get food. That is basically the plan the disciples propose here. They make the suggestion we would all make in that situation. And yet, it wasn’t the one they should have made. For in all their reasoning and assumptions, they overlooked the Lord, forgot that “all things are possible with God.” (19:26) That God can set a table in the wilderness, provide bread and meat for his people. That he can even take 5 loaves and 2 fish and use them feed a crowd of over 5000.

From other Gospel accounts, we know that the five loaves and two fish, came from a young boy in the crowd. And it is no exaggeration to say it amounted to little more than what what was in his lunch box. These 5 loaves weren’t loaves like we know them, sliced up and ready for sandwiches, but were more like small rolls. What we have here is simply a pack of five rolls with two small fish for fillings. In the fishing communities around the sea of Galilee, this would have been the standard lunch for peasants. You would struggle to feed one family with this lunchbox, never mind 5000 families. And yet, in the hands of Jesus, a small amount somehow becomes more than sufficient. Indeed, one of the most amazing things about this miracle, is that there is even more left over than there was at the start! Matthew emphasises this to us in 14:20, stating: [READ]. Not only did they all eat, and eat to the point that they were fully satisfied, that is completely stuffed, but there were even left overs. 12 baskets of them, one basket for each of the disciples who distributed the food! Jesus took that which was entirely insufficient, in and of itself, and made it more than sufficient to meet the needs of his people.

Earlier we heard Jesus’ compassion for the crowd teaches us that he will give each of us all we need for ourselves. Here, the supplying of his servants, teaches us that Jesus will also give us all we need to care for others. Jesus not only gives us all we need to care for ourselves, but also to care for others. Christian, I wonder if you look at the needs around you and sometimes feel overwhelmed by them. There are so many people in your life who need to hear the good news of the Gospel. Perhaps at work you feel overwhelmed by the needs of your colleagues, daunted at the idea of sharing your faith with your classmates at school or university. Wonder how a comment you might be able to make, or a short lunchtime conversation you might be able have, could ever be enough to bring others to see their need for Jesus. If so, see here in our text that no matter how small and insufficient our words might be, Jesus can take what is insufficient and make it more than sufficient to reach the needs of those around us. Jesus can take that single comment, that short conversation, and use it to change a colleague’s or classmate’s life forever.

Maybe you look around your family tonight, and you are overwhelmed by the spiritual need you see there. You feel insufficient as a mother or father, husband or wife, child or grandparent, to meet the needs of your family.

Or you feel insufficient when you consider your responsibilities here at Grace Church, you feel you don’t have enough to serve as an elder or a deacon, a regular preacher or service leader, a Sunday School teacher or Bible class leader, insufficient to care for children in the creche or welcome people on the door, to help out at Holiday at Home or with the open air work on the street, you feel unable to contribute to your fellowship group or to make a comment about at a members meeting. You look at yourself, and you just think you don’t have what it takes to be used by God, aren’t sufficient to minister in the ways that he might want you to.

Well, if that is the case this evening, I want you to know you are in good company. For that is exactly how the Apostle Paul felt. In 2 Corinthians 3:4, Paul writes, “[This] is the confidence we have... [n]ot that we are sufficient in ourselves...but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant...” Brothers and sisters, see here that our sufficiency in service does not come from ourselves, but comes from God. 12 disciples with 5 loaves and 2 fish in their hands is entirely insufficient to feed the 5000, and yet God makes it sufficient, more than sufficient. For Jesus supplies his servants.

And so this evening, if you are looking at yourself and thinking, “I am not sufficient to serve God like that at Grace Church”, “I don’t have what it takes to care for that difficult family situation”, or “What could I ever say that would be enough to convince my colleagues or classmate about Christ”, you are asking the wrong question, looking for sufficiency in the wrong place. You are right, you aren’t enough. You don’t have what it takes. None of us do. Even the most gifted talented experienced servant of God (even Paul), is like that little boy with his lunchbox, entirely insufficient to meet the needs of those around them.

The question is never are we sufficient, but is Christ sufficient? It is never whether we can summon up the strength and supplies to care for others, but will Jesus gie us the strength and supplies that we need. For see here that he can take anyone of us, no matter how seemingly insufficient, and supply us with all we need to serve him in the ways that he desires.

Brothers and sisters, each of us tonight needs to ask ourselves, “How might Jesus take the little that I have and use it for the good of others?”

For we see here in our passage, in the compassion for the crowd and supplies for his servants, that Jesus not only gives us all we need to care for ourselves, but he also gives us all we need to care for others as well.

Whatever you need tonight, you can find it to Jesus, if you only go and give yourself to him.