Matthew 14:13–21
They said to Him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And He said, “Bring them here to Me.”
Sometimes when we see the needs in the world, we feel overwhelmed by feelings of inadequacy. But Jesus invites us to bring the little we have to Him, that He might bless and multiply it as we give it away to others.
Have you ever run out of gas in a deserted place, far from any gas station, in the worst blizzard or heat wave of the century, and wondered how you would ever make it out alive? Whether you’ve had that experience while traveling or felt drained of hope and power by the many stresses of life, there’s a message for you in today’s text.
Before we can comprehend the full emotional weight of this incident in the life of Jesus, we need to review what happened right before this. King Herod had His cousin John thrown in jail, because John had been telling Herod it was wrong to take his brother’s wife just because Herod had the power to do so. Herod threw a party for his cronies, and to please his wife’s daughter, had John beheaded. His disciples buried his body and then came and told Jesus.
John Baptized Jesus at the start of His public ministry and declared Him to be the Messiah and the Lamb of God. Their shared sense of mission and destiny, combined with the hideous manner of His cousin’s murder, as well as the injustice of losing John at such a young age, all intensified the trauma Jesus must have felt when He heard the news. Not only was this a deep loss for Jesus personally, but the grief of John’s disciples likely weighed on Him as well. It’s no surprise, then, that Jesus withdrew to a deserted place to be alone.
But bad news travels fast, even in the days before the internet, and the crowds, many of whom had been inspired by John’s message may have been in shock over Herod’s brutality, and that could’ve been part of what drove so many to gather around Jesus in today’s Gospel reading. I’m sure He shared their anger and pain. By the way, all four Gospel writers tell this event, and in his version, Luke reports that Jesus taught the people about the kingdom of God, which was radically different from the kind ruled by Herod and the Roman occupying forces. All four Gospels report that Jesus then healed their sick, which, of course, was one demonstration of that difference.
By then, it was late in the day, and Jesus’ disciples approached Him with a concern: the people must be hungry. In times of mourning, just like we gather around a meal after the funeral of a loved one. The disciples suggested that Jesus should release the crowds to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.
But Jesus had a different plan. “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” He saw this moment as a time of crisis, which is precisely when they needed to be together.
The disciples answered, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish,” the warning being that that wasn’t even enough to feed themselves, let alone the whole crowd.
In John’s version of this event, one of the disciples, Philip, exclaimed that they would have to work for months to earn enough money to buy bread for each person to have even one bite. In modern terms, he was saying they would need thousands of dollars to provide each person with just a morsel to eat.
The disciples didn’t see how they could meet the needs of the people, given their limited resources. In other words, Jesus actually agreed with their self-assessment. He told them, “Apart from Me you can do nothing”.
If we’re honest, we aren’t so different. We’re aware of what we don’t have. As a result, we may cling to the little we do have, afraid that we’ll have nothing left for ourselves if we share. When have you felt like you had nothing but five tiny dinner rolls and two sardines, barely enough to feed yourself, let alone a world starving for hope and justice?
But Jesus saw a bigger picture. His Father in heaven had fed millions with manna from heaven and supplied a widow with endless oil and grain during a famine. Feeding this crowd? A piece of cake!
Jesus saw a world in which nothing is impossible with God, a world in which we aren’t abandoned by God to fend for ourselves. Jesus knows God really loves us, a God on whom we can depend. Jesus calls us to focus our eyes on God, to discover what God can do when we bring our nothing to Him.
Jesus had more confidence in the disciples than they had in themselves. He believed that those whom God calls, God also equips. In Christ, working with Him, we have everything we need to do God’s will. As Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
The key that changed everything for the disciples came when Jesus invited them to bring their meager supplies to Him. But it’s significant that Jesus didn’t perform the entire task of feeding the crowds by Himself. Having the full nature of God, He could easily have spoken a word and given every person in the crowd their own box lunch, but He didn’t glorify Himself. Instead, He invited the disciples to take part in the work of service.
You may remember other times when Jesus humbled Himself to ask for help: He asked a Samaritan woman for water. He sent His disciples to find a colt for His triumphal entry into Jerusalem and He had them prepare the Passover meal. After His resurrection, He asked them to bring some of the fish they had caught (with His help, of course!).
On this occasion, Jesus simply invited the disciples to place their nothingness, their feelings of inadequacy, their very real limitations, in His hands. Then He took the loaves and fish, blessed and broke them, and gave them back to the disciples to distribute to the people. As Matthew tells it, “… all ate and were filled, and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.”
When we place our lack of confidence, our feelings that we don’t have what we need in the hands of Jesus, He blesses them and multiplies our resources, returning them to us to share with the world. And we end up with more love and joy than we started with.
If you look at a drop of rain, you may think it’s insignificant by itself. But notice and marvel at the single drops that come together, pooling and swirling. Drops turn into streams and rivers. We can only do so much by ourselves; but come together with others, and we have energy and power. Single drops join to make a river which quickly turns into a flood. The flood becomes a force to be reckoned with.
Did you notice how the actions of taking, blessing, breaking and giving in the feeding of the 5,000 are like what Jesus did during the Last Supper?
As we come to His Table, we proclaim that Jesus gave His life for us. But we should also understand that we’re the grains crushed to make the bread of life Jesus offers to the world. When He takes the bread, blesses and breaks it and says, “This is My body,” we must remember that we are the body of Christ. By partaking of the bread, we are asking Christ to bless us and use us to feed the world’s hunger for justice, peace and love. How does God feed the world? Through people like you and me who are willing to join Him in His work. What are we going to do with our five loaves and two fish? Bring them to Jesus and then set the table. The feast is ready!