God’s compassion underlines everything that Jesus does in today’s text. A great crowd has followed him, coming to him for help—how can he not care about them?!
This is the latest occasion of Jesus’ healing in Matthew’s gospel. Prior to today’s text, Jesus had healed a man with leprosy, a centurion’s servant, Peter’s mother-in-law, people afflicted with demons, a paralysed man, raised a dead girl back to life, healed a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, and gave sight to blind men.
Through these healings Jesus demonstrates his divine power and in so doing validates the people’s trust in him as the Son of God. The miracles are not just about making people better so that they can resume their daily lives with the same human focus on earthly things. Jesus’ healing of these people demonstrates that a new reign has broken into the world to rule with power and authority—and compassion. The healings demonstrate that there is life beyond the physical existence we see and know; that Jesus transcends this world and brings salvation to people helpless to help themselves.
But at the same time there is increasing rejection of Jesus and his teaching and ministry. This is because the gospel is offensive to human pride which attempts to work one’s way to God’s blessing and favour. It is offensive to the effort that goes in to put on a good exterior, and the mistaken idea that God should show more help to those who help themselves. The religious leaders saw Jesus as a threat because he is a rival to the system they’ve established of human regulations and traditions to achieve moral righteousness. So rather than welcome him, they discredited his miracles, claiming they were the work of the devil. They assert Jesus is just Mary and Joseph’s son, a carpenter from Nazareth. They seek to do away with him, together with his followers. The forerunner to Jesus, John the Baptist, had the biggest target on his head—in fact just before today’s text he’d been beheaded in prison at the order of Herod, for daring to stand on God’s word and challenge Herod for his immorality. The disciples came and took the body of John and buried it—in a prelude to what lies ahead for Jesus.
So Matthew begins today by telling us that having heard what had happened, Jesus went away by himself in a boat to a solitary place. Yet all the persecution and rejection of Jesus cannot stop his kingdom of grace reigning in the world. The crowds come to him, looking for healing, looking for wholeness, looking to Jesus for that which their GPs cannot provide. Perhaps some have even heard Jesus’ invitation a few chapters earlier: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).
Such a wonderful invitation! Perhaps many of you who know pain and limitation, struggles and significant health concerns long for healing and relief like that in Scripture. Some of you who know disability or continued poor health might even struggle hearing a text like this. God has not forgotten you. Even though you may know sickness, struggle and suffering, you also know God, and he knows you.
God has shown his compassion to you because he has chosen you as his own when you were unable to choose him, and he has chosen to reveal his strength and make it perfect in your weakness, that it may be seen in you that your strength is in being carried by him. He has shown his compassion to you by freeing you from sin, death and Satan, making you whole, giving you a new heart and opened eyes to see Jesus and follow him with the crowds, joining with them in their confession of who Jesus is: “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” “Lord, just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” “Lord, come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” To go through life with perfect physical health but without faith in Christ would ultimately be to have nothing.
With all this focus of healing, it seems that the feeding miracle in today’s text is abruptly introduced. Traditionally, we hear it as being for the crowd’s benefit—but I wonder if it is not more for the sake of the disciples.
It’s not said in our text, but it seems that the crowd, having followed Jesus, are happy enough to stay in this remote place, even though it’s getting late. Are they even perhaps anticipating Jesus will provide sustenance for them, or at the very least do they just recognise that to stay with Jesus is blessing in itself? It’s the disciples who suggest Jesus should send them away to the villages to go and buy their food. They are looking to the means of the world, rather than the means of the Word, for the people to be filled. Jesus corrects them: “They do not need to go away. You give to them something to eat”.
But they answered: “We do not have anything except five loaves and two fish.” To human eyes the disciples saw just a few fish and a packet of buns. But God has already provided them with all they need—for they had two fish, five loaves…and Jesus.
Jesus said: “Bring them here to me.” Then he looked up into heaven, blessed and broke the loaves. He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. With the little in his hands, Jesus provides ample. Everyone ate and all were satisfied, and there was enough even to fill twelve baskets of leftovers.
How might that speak to us here at St Paul’s? In our hard work and busying ourselves of doing church, how are we helping people come to Jesus, to be fed by him? Do we lament that what we already have been given is not enough, while the compassionate Lord of the universe is right here with us? How often is the human response: “I can’t do that. I don’t have enough money. I’m not smart enough. I’m not talented enough. I’m not strong enough. I have nothing.”
In Christ, God has filled your baskets. He has filled them with so much more than fishes and loaves. When your hearts ache and you are hungry for consolation he offers you his comfort. When your conscience is troubled and you are hungry for peace, he pardons you. When you are anxious and hungry for security and stability in a changing and volatile world, God gives you his shelter. When you hunger to feel like you belong somewhere and are worth something to someone, God has seated you with Christ in the heavenly realms. When you are hungry to be loved Jesus removes the fear of not being able to measure up to others expectations, and gives you his own righteousness.
Today’s text isn’t really about bread, or even about providing meals to the hungry. It is about Jesus and people—people who are hungry for their deepest needs to be satisfied. People who are hungry for compassion, who find their satisfaction for life in Christ.
Jesus invites us to come and sit on the grass with him. To rest with him. To stay…and find the satisfaction for our deepest needs of peace, life, righteousness and salvation in him. He has gathered us to be his disciples who feed the multitudes in the world who are also hungry for these things, but try to fill their baskets with that which will not last. “We have nothing!” we might say.
But like the disciples in our text, Jesus invites us to give to him what we have received from him in the first place. When we do, he takes it from us, he gives thanks, he blesses, he returns to us to give away what will be enough for others. This is about more than monetary offerings. This is about ourselves—our time, our listening ear, our talents, our encouragement, our conversation, our presence, our help, our moments and days, even our frail and fatigued hands and feet…and our hearts. Nothing is too small or seemingly insignificant for God to bless and use, not even a bread tag, to share the gospel of Jesus’ compassion with your family and friends. Recently someone lamented to me that they felt as though they couldn’t really do anything. But they helped someone come to a church function, and sat and talked with them. That is everything. That is the core thing—because the guest met with Jesus that day and saw his compassionate care.
Today’s Gospel is an encouragement to see that in giving ourselves over into Jesus’ hands, he will bless us, and fill us such an abundance that we will even have baskets of leftovers with which to share his blessings with others. For it was through others first giving generously to you, that God revealed his compassion in Christ for you. Amen.
