Matthew 14:13-21 - Homiletics

The feeding effective thousand.

I. THE LORD 'S DEPARTURE FROM GALILEE .

1 . He went by ship into a desert place. His apostles had returned from their mission ( Luke 9:10 ); they needed rest, "for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat." He had also heard of Herod's superstitious fears, and that he was desirous to see him. The Lord would not meet the tyrant; he departed out of his tetrarchy. He crossed the lake to a place near Bethsaida Julius, in the dominions of Herod Philip. His hour was not yet come; he would not expose himself to the cruelty of Antipas, nor would he satisfy his curiosity.

2 . The people followed him. It seems to have been long before Herod heard of the fame of Jesus. The humble inhabitants of Galilee heard of all his movements; they followed him on foot out of the cities. The poor Galilaeans were better instructed than the wealthy, wicked prince. They followed Christ whithersoever he went; so should we. They went with him into the desert, trusting in him; so should we always trust. While he is with us, we are safe.

3 . His compassion.

II. THE MIRACLE .

1 . The conversation with the apostles. The multitude was great; the place was desert; the hour was late; there were no ordinary means of providing for their wants. The disciples were burdened with a deep sense of responsibility. The Lord had himself, earlier in the afternoon, put the question to Philip, "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" ( John 6:5 ). Then the difficulty was only suggested; it was not removed; it became more pressing as the day wore on. Later in the evening the disciples came to Christ, not to ask advice, but to give it; it was late, they said, too late already. "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals." There was something of presumption, perhaps, in this advice; certainly there was a want of faith. They did not understand the Lord's majesty, his power, his love. We too often wish to dictate to Almighty God what we think he should do for us. It is best to trust ourselves absolutely to his providence, he doeth all things well. He himself knoweth what he will do. "They need not depart," the Lord replied. It can never be necessary for any needs of ours to depart from Christ. In the greatest tumult of business, in the utmost poverty, in the most imminent danger, faithful souls will not depart; they will draw nearer to the Lord, as temptations thicken round them. He who has learned to know and love the Lord Jesus will cling closest to him in want, in peril, in distress. "Give ye them to eat," he added. There is an emphasis on the pronoun. It was good that they should feel their helplessness. They had but five loaves and two small fishes. It was nothing for that great multitude. How often we feel our ability, our strength, our means, utterly inadequate to fulfil the work which the Lord has given us to do! If we offer them to him in simple trustfulness, he will multiply them. "Bring them hither to me," he said. He asks us for what we can give him, what is in our power. Let us bring our offerings in faith, he will accept them, if only we bring that offering which he most desires—our hearts, ourselves, if we give him that, then those little offerings which we thought unworthy of his acceptance shall be honoured, and will, it may be, by his grace become the means of working great results.

2 . The feast in the wilderness. He bade them sit down in companies. He would have order, not confusion. They must sit in their ranks; they must not press rudely round him; they must not try to anticipate one another; they must so sit that the apostles could move freely among them; each must wait till his turn came. Mark how, even in these smaller matters of courtesy and order, the Lord gives us an example for the regulation of our daily life. He looked up to heaven, teaching us to recognize the great truth that it is our Father in heaven who gives us day by day our daily bread, and that we should always look to him in every time of need. Then he blessed; he blessed God, the Giver of all; he blessed the food. As God in the beginning blessed his creatures, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply," so now God the Son, by whom all things were made, blessed this little store of food, that through the power of that Divine blessing it might be multiplied to the satisfaction of the hunger of that great multitude. He gave thanks, St. John tells us. Our food is blessed to our use. It is sanctified by the word of God and prayer when it is received with thanksgiving. We learn of Christ to ask a blessing on our food. To eat bread with unwashen hands, the Pharisees said, was against the tradition of the elders; to eat without asking a blessing is against the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us follow that example, recognizing at every meal the bounty of our heavenly Father; let us look up to heaven, as Christ did, and make the grace before and after meat a real act of worship. "Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Then the Lord brake the bread, as he brake it a year afterwards at the institution of the Holy Eucharist; as he brake it on the resurrection day, when be was made known to the two at Emmaus in the breaking of bread. He gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And lo! "they did all eat, and were filled." It was a mighty miracle, beyond our comprehension, but no wonder to him who filleth all things living with plenteousness. "He was in the world, and the world was made by him." It was only to be expected that the presence of the Son of God should be marked by wonderful works. His presence in the form of man was of all wonders the greatest—a mystery of almighty power, a mystery of ineffable love.

3 . The twelve baskets full. The Lord had provided largely for his guests. There was enough and to spare. That which remained over and above was more than the five loaves and the two fishes, the little store which they had at first. He bade his disciples, "Gather up the fragments which remain, that nothing be lost." He is an Example at once of generous bounty and of carefulness. He would have nothing wasted. The Christian should guard against waste, that he may have to give to the needy.

4 . The number. There were five thousand men, beside women and children. The men were arranged in companies of fifty; they were easily numbered. The women and children seem to have sat apart. Probably there were not many. The multitude seems to have been gathered together for the Passover ( John 6:4 ), which only men were commanded to attend; though religious women, like the virgin Mary, went sometimes with their husbands. The Lord cared for all alike—men, women, and children. So should his servants do.

5 . Lessons of the miracle. Herod feasted in his palace with his nobles, Christ in the wilderness with his disciples; Herod's feast was costly and luxurious, Christ's very simple. The sumptuous banquet of Herod ended in guilt and murder. It was a godless feast, profaned by wicked oaths. The Christian should never be present at any festivities, any amusements, on which he cannot ask the blessing of God. The simplest food, when Christ is present, when we feel that it is he who gives and he who blesses, satisfies the Christian's wants. The presence of Christ gives peace and blessedness in the wilderness. Without Christ the gorgeous palace is a desert. Christ can prepare a table in the wilderness; he can provide for his people wherever they are. The multitude had followed him into this desert place. He had compassion on them; he would not send them away fasting. So he hath compassion now on all who seek first the kingdom of God; he knows that we have need of food and raiment; he will give them. Let us trust in him. but let us pray with the deepest earnestness not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life. He who on that day fed the five thousand with earthly food, feeds now the ten thousand times ten thousand of his saints with the bread which came down from heaven. He himself is the spiritual Food of believers. "He that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." They need nothing more whom he feedeth with that heavenly food. All the cravings of their souls are stilled; all the yearnings of their hearts are satisfied with his gracious presence who is the Bread of life. Let us feed on him in the daily life of faith; let us ask him to feed us with the spiritual food of his own most precious body and blood in the holy sacrament which he himself ordained.

LESSONS .

1 . Try, like Christ, to forget self and to care for others.

2 . Trust him always; he will multiply the five loaves if we are following him.

3 . Feast with Christ, not with Herod; with Christians in a Christian home, not with the wicked in unholy revelry.