Bringing Death to the Table
"Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes" by James Tissot
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“Now when Jesus heard [about the death of
John], He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself. But
when the crowds heard it, they followed Him on foot from the towns. When He
went ashore He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them and healed
their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, ‘This
is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into
the villages and buy food for themselves.’ But Jesus said, ‘They need not go
away; you give them something to eat.’ They said to Him, ‘We have only five
loaves here and two fish.’ And He said, “Bring them here to Me.’ Then He
ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the
two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then He broke the loaves
and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And
they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the
broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men,
besides women and children” (Matthew 14:13-21).
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and
the Lord Jesus Christ!
“What’s on your mind?”
she asked. “You seem a little distracted tonight.” They were eating out at their
favorite restaurant. It was date night, the one Friday a month Jaycee and her
husband would go out without the kids. But Jake was quiet. He was processing the
events of the day. John, his co-worker had just been diagnosed with cancer and was
going to begin an aggressive treatment plan. John was about the same age as
Jake. He also had two boys. And Jake could not help thinking “What if that was
me?”[i]
He usually could talk with Jaycee about anything that was bothering him, but
tonight he couldn’t. He didn’t want to ruin this rare evening out.
It is strange how
circumstances can shape the way we experience a meal. Jake did not want to
bring up his co-worker’s situation.[ii]
That would be like inviting death to the table and it would probably change the
course of their meal. Yet, that is precisely what Matthew does as he offers the
account of Jesus feeding the five thousand. He brings death to the table and,
when we see this, it changes our appreciation for what is going on.
Matthew begins by saying,
“When Jesus heard this, He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by
Himself” (verse 13). How strange to hear about Jesus withdrawing. Normally,
Jesus advances. He journeys toward places. But here, Jesus is
withdrawing. Not only is He withdrawing, but it is to a desolate place, and it
is by Himself.[iii]
What did Jesus hear that
would cause Him to withdraw... to a desolate place... by Himself?
The death of John the
Baptist.
"Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist" by Artemisia Gentileschi
Before Matthew speaks of
the feeding of the five thousand, Matthew tells us of this great prophet’s death.[iv]
John the Baptist had been in the custody of Herod and the plots of Herod’s
political palace led to John’s beheading. His head was brought into a birthday
party on a platter and set before Herod’s niece. Matthew intentionally links
this sordid story to the feeding of the five thousand and I would like to
ponder why.[v]
Often, when I think about
the feeding of the five thousand, the biblical account that comes to mind is
the feeding of Israel in the wilderness. With that story hovering in the
background, Jesus looks like the prophet Moses. He is the One leading and
teaching [vi]God’s
people, who sustains them when they hunger in the wilderness.
With his reference to the
death of John the Baptist, however, Matthew asks us to have another story in
mind when we meditate on the feeding of the five thousand: Herod’s bloody
birthday party. With that narrative in the background, we suddenly begin to see
two kings, two meals, and two distinct kinds of kingdoms.[vii]
Jesus is a different kind of King than Herod, and meditating on the difference
leads us to rejoice in the Kingdom Jesus brings.
King Herod had c[viii]reated
a meal for himself. It was his birthday, and he planned a feast to celebrate
the occasion, with fine food, fine wine, fine music, and fine girls who danced
so fine. Herod provided a meal for himself, where people could bring
well-wishes to the king.
The feast of King Jesus,
however, is different. No fine food, just a couple of dried fish and five cakes
of barley bread, the food of a day laborer. No fine music, just the cries of
the sick. No dancing girls, just people who could not walk, much less dance,
being brought to the feet of Jesus to be healed.
Jesus hasn’t sent out
engraved invitations for His meal. It is impromptu, spontaneous. He has gone
off to a desolate place to be by Himself—or rather, He tries to do so. He cuts
across the northern corner of the Sea of Galilee by boat. But the people are so
hungry for His teaching and miraculous healing that they follow Him on foot.
Jesus sees the great
crowds and has compassion on them and, as a result, heals their sick. Matthew
rarely gives us a glimpse into the “inner life” of Jesus. Instead, like most
ancient narratives, Matthew’s account reveals the character of Christ chiefly
by describing what Jesus does. There is one noteworthy exception, however, and
that is the use of this verb that means “have compassion.”
Matthew employs this verb
to reveal that Jesus is compassionate and that through Him the Father shows His
compassion. Also important are the several reasons why Jesus is said to
have compassion upon people, that is, the human conditions that move Him to
reveal God’s grace by His compassionate words and actions. The verb first
occurs in Matthew 9:36, where the evangelist tells us that Jesus has compassion
concerning the crowds when He sees that they are harassed and downcast, like
sheep who do not have a shepherd. To paraphrase a bit, Jesus feels compassion as
a spiritual problem. The people desperately need someone to guide and nurture
them. Out of His grace and to fulfill the Father’s plan, Jesus responds to that
need by commissioning and sending out the Twelve.
A similar reason surfaces
in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. The lord of the indebted servant forgives
the servant’s astronomical debt because he has compassion (Matthew 18:27). The
lord here is plainly a symbol for God the Father, and the huge debt stands for
human sin. Even though it is (through the metaphor) the Father rather than
Jesus who acts because He feels compassion, we may rightly assume that the
first and second persons of the Trinity share this same attribute and
characteristic. Divine compassion again comes forth as a gracious response to a
spiritual need.
Jesus, however, also feels
compassion when faced with “mere” physical needs. Here, it is the physical
sickness that evokes this response in Jesus, and that is also the case in
Matthew 20:34 when Jesus heals the two blind men. In Matthew 15:32, Jesus
explicitly declares that He is feeling compassion when they don’t have any food
to eat.
This combination of
reasons why Jesus feels compassion, sends an important message: the Kingdom of
God in the world is not just concerned with spiritual needs. Or more profoundly
stated, we should be wary of too quickly making a fixed distinction between
spiritual and physical needs. God, in Christ, has come to reestablish His rule
over the creation, and He desires to restore everything that is broken or
twisted or amiss or dying. All different manifestations of creation’s
brokenness give rise to the Savior’s compassion. As Jesus’ disciples go on
ministering in His name in the power and expectant hope of the Kingdom of God,
their compassion will be as wide-ranging.
But first, Jesus’
disciples have much to learn.
Matthew transitions into
the miraculous event that is commonly known as “the feeding of the five
thousand” in such a way that it emphasizes, on the one hand, the disciples’ misunderstandings
and inabilities. On the other hand, the stunningly compassionate ability of Jesus
to provide for the people is slowly revealed in a way that leads all the way up
to the final statement of the unit. The miracle gets larger as the pericope
moves forward.
First, we encounter the
disciples’ shortcomings in the face of the crowds’ needs (Matthew 14:15). It’s
a harsh setting and the daylight is waning. The only reasonable thing for Jesus
to do is to dismiss the crowds and let them provide for themselves, and so the
disciples ask Jesus to do just that. Apparently, the disciples think that Jesus
either cannot or does not want to do anything about the crowds’ need for food.
Jesus, however, refuses
to dismiss the crowds because there is no need to do so (Matthew 14:16). After
He emphatically tells the disciples to do something about the problem, their
failure is even more evident. They say to Him, “We have only five loaves here
and two fish” (Matthew 14:17). The disciples are still not looking to the Master
to provide what is needed.
Then the disciples fade
from view, to return only after Jesus has acted. With the command “bring them
here to Me” (Matthew 14:18), the Lord provides for the needy. Jesus
methodically prepares the crowds, takes the loaves and fish, pronounces a blessing,
and gives food to the disciples (Matthew 14:19). Only then do they fulfill the
word of Jesus that they never thought they could do: “You give them something
to eat” (Matthew 14:16).
How full is the Messiah’s
divine provision? The story is familiar, but if we suspend our prior knowledge
and follow the account, Matthew unfolds it slowly. Jesus gives the bread to the
disciples, and the disciples give it to the crowds. All eat—and don’t
just eat, but are satisfied, “filled up to here,” as my grandson, Boden,
would say. Oh, and that’s not all: all are satisfied, but there is still an
abundance of fragments left over from the bread that Jesus has broken—and
that abundance results in twelve full baskets of leftovers even after
feeding a crowd of five thousand men—not counting the women and children
who are there as well!
And so, Jesus prepares a
meal for them. Why? Because Jesus is bringing a different kind of kingdom. He
does not come to receive our well-wishes. He comes to wish us well. His Kingdom
is filled not with palace intrigues that lead to death, but with divine mercy
that leads to life.[ix]
Dancing will be done but it will be done by those who have been healed by His
mercy.
There will be death, al[x]l
right, the death of a prophet. Indeed, there will be the death of someone who
is more than a prophet: Jesus Christ, the very Son of God. His death, however,
will not just be the result of petty games of power among the religious
leaders. His death will be the result of God the Father’s gracious plan to use
His power to end sickness and death on this earth. The power of God which comes
in Jesus is present at this dinner. He has come to bring healing to the sick,
food to the hungry, and salvation to all who live under the reign of death.
The Kingdom of Jesus is
filled with the poor, the weak, and the suffering because Jesus came to bring
such people to Himself. Herod celebrated his birthday, but Jesus celebrates
yours, the day you were born again by water and the Spirit into the Kingdom of
God. The table Jesus has set amid the wilderness upends the kingdoms of this
world and extends the Kingdom of God, even to our congregations today.
In our world, it is so
easy to get immersed in the petty power and politics of the ruling kingdoms.
These politics have fractured our country and divided our families. We long to
get away, to wander out into some desolate place by ourselves, where we can
find rest from the constant conflict.[xi]
This morning, Matthew
tells you when you enter that desolate place, you will find Jesus. He is there,
waiting for you. He came to bring the wearied salvation, to the wandering a
sense of purpose, and to the weak a source of strength for the struggles of
life.[xii]
Come today to the table of King Jesus. Feast in and on His everlasting love. “For
as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death
until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). The true body and blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ strengthens and preserves you in body and soul unto eternal life.
Depart in peace. You are
forgiven for all your sins.
In the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture
quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001
by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
[i] Gospel: Matthew
14:13-21 (Pentecost 10: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-1413-21-pentecost-10-series-a-2023.
[ii] Gospel: Matthew
14:13-21 (Pentecost 10: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-1413-21-pentecost-10-series-a-2023.
[iii] Gospel: Matthew
14:13-21 (Pentecost 10: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-1413-21-pentecost-10-series-a-2023.
[iv] Gospel: Matthew
14:13-21 (Pentecost 10: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-1413-21-pentecost-10-series-a-2023.
[v] Gospel: Matthew
14:13-21 (Pentecost 10: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-1413-21-pentecost-10-series-a-2023.
[vi] Gospel: Matthew
14:13-21 (Pentecost 10: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-1413-21-pentecost-10-series-a-2023.
[vii] Gospel: Matthew
14:13-21 (Pentecost 10: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-1413-21-pentecost-10-series-a-2023.
[viii] Gospel: Matthew
14:13-21 (Pentecost 10: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-1413-21-pentecost-10-series-a-2023.
[ix] Gospel: Matthew
14:13-21 (Pentecost 10: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-1413-21-pentecost-10-series-a-2023.
[x] Gospel: Matthew
14:13-21 (Pentecost 10: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-1413-21-pentecost-10-series-a-2023.
[xi] Gospel: Matthew
14:13-21 (Pentecost 10: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-1413-21-pentecost-10-series-a-2023.
[xii] Gospel: Matthew
14:13-21 (Pentecost 10: Series A),
https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-1413-21-pentecost-10-series-a-2023.
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