Feeding Just 5,000? (Mat 14:19)

Let us Pray: Lord God, Heavenly Father, we acknowledge today that You sent Your only Son out of Your great love for us. And we thank You for the miracles He performed that testified to the fact He was sent by You to save us from eternal death. Please send the Holy Spirit, so that we understand the broader intention of the feeding of 5,000 men and their families. This miracle confirmed Jesus was sent by You, but it also foreshadowed His ultimate gift of His own body & blood given to us in His Supper. We pray this through Your faithful Son Jesus, who reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Setting: We start today’s message by identifying the circumstances which led to Jesus feeding the 5,000. This miracle is one of those events that was witnessed in each of the four Gospels, and so I will provide a composite of the event from all four. Matthew ch#14 starts out with the account of John the Baptist being beheaded.[1] We tend to forget that John was more than the Elijah who was to come as prophesied in Malachi.[2] Since Jesus’ mother Mary was related to Elizabeth, the mother of John, that would make Jesus and John cousins in some fashion.
- We learn from John 6:4 that the Passover was near. That puts the feeding miracle sometime in March. Jesus received the news of the death of His forerunner and cousin, and so it’s perfectly understandable He wanted to get away from people for a moment.[3] Although He saw John in heaven, that didn’t change the fact that Jesus mourned the loss of John. He and His disciples decided to direct their boat near Beth-Saida (house of fish), according to Luke 9:10.
  - I placed a map in your bulletin so that you can get an idea where approximately this event took place. I should note there are two possible locations on the north side of the Sea of Galilee. The locations highlighted on the right are a more modern guess on where this miracle occurred, based upon archeological digs in the area. However, on the left is where our Israel tour guide suggested where the feeding of the 5,000 took place. That’s because the early church believed it was on the west side of the Sea of Galilee, in another town named Beth-Saida.
- I don’t think it matters much whether the miracle occurred on the northeast or northwest side of the Sea. The important thing is this miracle *did* happen. And the way the Sea of Galilee sits surrounded by higher hills and mountains, someone standing on the north shore could easily watch a boat going across the sea. This is how crowds were following Jesus, and where He would beach. When Jesus’ boat made it to land, crowds of people were there waiting for Him.[4] So much for getting away to a quiet place!
- Nonetheless, Jesus had a pit in His stomach for them. The Greek word rendered into English as “compassion” is σπλαγχνίζομαι (splanch-ní-zo-mai) which literally means to have the bowels yearn. Figuratively, it means to feel sympathy, pity, or have compassion.[5] I likened it to feeling a pit in your stomach when you look lovingly upon someone in their suffering. That’s how Jesus felt for them that day, and He has the same σπλαγχνίζομαι for you and me today. Jesus proceeded to heal people of their misery and then was teaching 5,000 men, not including women and children in the count, (Mat 14:21) up until dusk (Mat 14:15).
What happened: Again, referring to the map in your bulletin, you can see on the right-hand side where I placed a circle at the approximate location where this event took place. From all Gospel accounts, there was nothing nearby where people could grab supper. People came from all along the north shore of the Sea of Galilee to gather before Jesus. After not eating something all day, they were too weak to make the trek home on an empty stomach.
- Jesus, aware of their situation, again had σπλαγχνίζομαι for these people. He wanted to send them away on a full stomach. So, He asked the Apostle Philip about feeding the entire crowd. Philip replied, 200 denarii, which was a day’s wage, couldn’t feed them![6] The Apostle Andrew noted there was a kid who had 5 barley loaves and 2 fish.[7] Yeah, thank you for that, Andrew. That wasn’t enough even for Jesus and His disciples.
- Or was it enough? We’re at the point in this narrative where I want to repeat the verse of today – [Jesus], ordering the crowds to recline on the grass, taking the five loaves and the two fish, looking up into heaven, He blessed. And breaking [the loaves], He gave them to the disciples, and His disciples [gave them] to the crowds.[8]
  - The Greek is not specific as to what Jesus blessed. Was it the food, or was it the people eating the food? My guess is yes! Many of us are in the habit of praying prior to eating a meal. You see here in the text where the church got the idea of teaching people to say a blessing prior to eating. Don’t take it for granted that a meal is going to make you feel full and last for hours. The Old Testament (OT) minor prophet Haggai received this warning from our Lord - “You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.”[9] Let’s follow the Lord’s lead and keep the habit of praying a blessing on our meal prior to consuming it. We can see in this miracle Jesus performed that everyone ate to satisfaction, because He made sure there was enough to eat and blessed what they ate.[10]
Why the importance: For the past 3wks, we examined parables Jesus told. We were tipped off to the fact that a parable is a story alongside a purpose-filled story. The feeding of the 5,000 account isn’t a parable. It was an actual event that the people present at this miracle could taste and see that the Lord is good. And yet, there is additional meaning to this miracle. The Apostle John recorded Jesus indicating the additional meaning we should see in this miracle - 26 …“Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”[11]
- You can see on your map where Capernaum is on the northwest side of the Sea and how easy it would be for that same crowd to follow where the boat was going. Jesus felt compelled to leave that crowd, because, as we read from John 6:15, they wanted to make Jesus their earthly king. They wanted His endless supply of free food and healthcare. They didn’t understand He wasn’t sent to become an earthly king, and so He prevented that from happening.
  - This is yet another verse from the scriptures which point to the mistake some religions make in teaching people there will be a 1000yr reign by Jesus before the end of the world. Jesus didn’t come to us to be a king in our lifetime in this Age. He already is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, ruling from heaven. He won’t be coming back to sit on a throne here. We instead will go to Him after we die out of this Age or Jesus returns for a 2nd and final time.
- Something also to consider from the Apostle John’s account of the feeding of the 5,000. The same compassion Jesus displayed for the 5,000 was also displayed by God the Father during the exodus 1400yrs earlier. You think feeding a crowd of 5,000 men and their families from 5 barley cakes and 2 fish was a big miracle; consider this. The Father sent Jesus to feed 2 million Israelites twice daily, 6 days/wk for 40yrs during the exodus.[12] This feeding en masse ended when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River on dry ground and celebrated the Passover prior to destroying Jericho.[13]
- Both the Passover and the feeding of the 5,000 foreshadowed what Jesus would ultimately give to more than 5,000 souls. After Jesus arrived in Capernaum, He related this feeding miracle with Him being the bread of life. He explained that the Israelites who ate manna 1400yrs earlier were long since dead by the time of today’s miracle. Now Jesus was going to give a Bread from heaven that souls will eat and not die.[14] Jesus’ own words explain how the feeding of the 5,000 anticipated the institution of the Lord’s Supper. I’ll read a portion of Jesus’ words to those who followed Jesus over to Capernaum - 54 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”[15]
  - It is these words from Jesus to which us Lutherans cling. We understand, after the pastor consecrates the wafers and wine, that there are four items present in the Lord’s Supper. We consume the wafer and wine that are true food and drink. Additionally, we consume Jesus’ flesh hidden in the wafer, and His blood hidden in the wine. This isn’t just symbolism of Jesus’ flesh and blood. It’s the real thing. And what we receive here at the communion rail is no different a meal than the 5,000 received, nor any different than the manna and quail the ancient Israelites received. In each of these meals, Jesus provided for His people nourishment. This is how the miracle of the 5,000 and the miracle of manna and quail for 40yrs each foreshadowed what Jesus would give to us New Testament believers!
Implications: We have golden opportunity today, since it is a Communion Sunday, to partake in a meal Jesus provides for us, just as He did for the 5,000 men and their families. As often as you partake of it, you proclaim Jesus’s death until He returns to this Age for the final time.[16]
- The only difference between this meal in which you are about to partake and those 5,000, is that Jesus gave of Himself so that we have eternal life. Jesus said, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”[17] Because Jesus lives, you too will live. And it is the intimacy of communing with Jesus, He in us and us in Him that makes this possible.
- There’s a lot at stake when we commune with Jesus at this altar. We shouldn’t come up here unprepared. You wouldn’t think of sitting down to eat a meal without first preparing the place where you will eat the meal. You wouldn’t dive into eating with filthy hands. No; you prepare to eat a meal by getting everything ready. Why would it be any different for eating a meal that provides nourishment for both body & soul?
- Each communion Sunday, a few questions are printed in your bulletin that help with preparation to receive the meal Jesus prepared for us. Just as eating with filthy, germ-ridden hands can cause sickness, eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper can cause injury to your soul by not being prepared. The Apostle Paul wrote about this self-inflicted injury - 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.[18] Therefore, before Divine Service begins, ask yourself these four questions printed in your bulletin:
  - 1. Am I a sinful human being?
  - 2. Is my only hope of eternal life God’s mercy in Christ Jesus?
  - 3. Do I believe that Jesus shed his blood for me?
  - 4. Do I desire by the Holy Spirit’s power to turn from my sins and live a godly life?
- During the Service of the Sacrament portion of Divine Service, we begin with a prayer, and we give thanks in song and prayer after receiving this gracious and intimate gift from the Lord Jesus. It is my sincere prayer that if you haven’t already prepared yourself for this meal Jesus will serve you, that you do so, thereby receiving the full benefit to your body & soul. Amen!