Matthew 14:13-21 - You Don't Need to Go Away - August 16, 2020

Having spent three weeks on Jesus’ parables, we now turn to three weeks of his miracles. We begin with perhaps the most famous miracle in the Bible: the feeding of the five thousand. The details are known by every Sunday school student: Jesus fed thousands of people with five loaves of bread and two fish. The question is: what is this miracle really about and what does it have to do with us today? The disciples, when faced with a very real, very earthly problem, concluded that the only solution was to send the people away from Christ. Since the Bible says that the Church is the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:15-16) this miracle is about staying away from church. Sadly, many still today think that when they are facing challenges in life the solution is to stay away from church. “No one at church knows or cares about my problems anyway, so why go?” “My marriage is on the rocks and I need fix that relationships before I come back to church.” “We’re struggling financially and I need to pick up more weekend hours or a second job – so church will have to wait.” Or: “I feel like it’s too risky to come to church during this pandemic, and so I’m going to stay away until the experts say I can come back or there is a proven vaccine.” And so it is very important that we listen as Jesus explains why worldly troubles should drive us to not away from church; why we don’t need to go away.

“You don’t need to go away,” Jesus says to anyone who may think that no one understands, no one can relate, no one cares. Why not? Because even if no one else understands or cares, Jesus does. He has compassion. The Greek word for “compassion” refers to the internal organs. So to have compassion for a Greek speaker was to be moved in your internal organs. We’ve all felt that way at some point, haven’t we? When you see or hear about someone suffering terribly, it makes your heart break, your stomach churn.

But don’t make the mistake of thinking that Jesus’ compassion is just like ours. We tend to have compassion only for people we don’t think deserve to suffer as they are. But, if – in our opinion – someone deserves what’s coming to them, don’t come to me for sympathy. And…I have to be in the right, compassionate mood. If I’m stressed or distressed or suffering, don’t look for any compassion from me! It’s a mistake to think that Jesus is like us – that he feels compassion only for those who deserve it or only when he’s in the mood for it. And that’s not just my opinion, that’s right here in the text: When Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place to be alone. What did Jesus hear that caused him to want to be alone? Two things. First, he heard that his cousin, John the Baptist, had been beheaded (Matthew 14:9-12); and, second, that Herod had taken an alarming interest in him and his ministry (Matthew 14:1) – which isn’t good news when he’s just murdered your cousin. You can understand why Jesus would want to be alone with his friends in this situation, can’t you? He’s a human being just like us. He’s the one in need of understanding and compassion, and yet, when he sees the large crowd he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

This is real comfort, isn’t it? If at one of the worst moments of his life on earth, Jesus still had compassion for others, could there be a moment in your life when Jesus is not overflowing with compassion for you? Now that Jesus has finished carrying the burden of your sin to the cross and suffering and dying in your place; now that he rules over all things from his throne in heaven, do you think he has any less compassion? Do you think he could ever be too busy, too tired, too overwhelmed by his problems to care about yours? Of course not! Ah, but the devil loves to sow the seed of doubt in our minds: “What if I deserve to suffer? What if I am simply reaping what I’ve sown? What if I’m struggling financially because of my own poor decisions or suffering physically because of a lifetime of unhealthy living? What if my children have fallen from faith because I didn’t set a good enough example? When I don’t even pity myself – how could I expect Jesus to? I should just go away from him.” No, you don’t have to go away because this miracle shows Jesus has compassion even on sinners who are only getting what they deserve.

Again, we find the proof in the text. Jesus was trying to find some peace and quiet, but the crowds wouldn’t give it to him. They followed him, uninvited, to a deserted place. They didn’t take any food and they stayed too late. So when they began to get hungry late in the day, they really had no one but themselves to blame. They fully deserved to spend the night with their stomachs rumbling and listening to their children whining “I’m hungry.” At least that’s what the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh want us to think. They want us to think that Jesus’ compassion is only for those who deserve it; that he only helps those who help themselves. 

But if you have a proper understanding of the Gospel, that doesn’t make any sense, does it? What sense would it make for Jesus to come into the world to keep the Law perfectly on our behalf, only to kick us to the curb because we aren’t perfect? How could we possibly think that Jesus willingly suffered unspeakable things to pay for our sins, and now he’s going to abandon us because we’re sinners? One of the key characteristics of God is that he is compassionate (Exodus 34:6; Romans 9:15) – but if he’s only compassionate to those who deserve it – that’s not really compassion, is it?

You don’t need to go away. Jesus has compassion on you, no matter who you are or what you’ve done, and he has the power to satisfy your needs. At the beginning of our text, the sick came to him for healing and Jesus healed them. Maybe you’re not sick. But you can go ahead and fill in your own need. Maybe you’re feeling helpless in the face of Covid-19; maybe you’re enduring crippling mental or emotional pain, maybe you’re facing family problems, marriage problems, job problems. If you have nothing but problems in front of you, look at what Jesus does here! He addresses one of the most basic human needs: the need for food! Jesus fed 5000 men plus women and children. If there was a woman for every man and say two children per couple, that’s 20,000 people. Just for comparison’s sake, at the MLB All-Star game at Cincinnati in 2015, it’s estimated that roughly 1 million pounds of popcorn and 77,000 pounds of sausages were needed to feed roughly 42,000 fans[1]. Jesus fed 20,000 with maybe 5 pounds of bread and 2 pounds of fish. Jesus’ power to provide is beyond debate, isn’t it?

You don’t need to go away. Jesus is here and he has both the compassion and the power to address both your physical and spiritual needs. But make no mistake: your spiritual needs are supreme. That comes out in this miracle, too, when we compare the parallel accounts. Luke tells us that before Jesus healed and fed the people, he spoke to them about the kingdom of God (Luke 9:11). The whole reason the crowds were out there in the wilderness so late in the day was that Jesus was preaching a long sermon to them to take care of their primary need, their spiritual need; to tell them that he had come to pay for their sins. And then, only after he had addressed their spiritual needs did he address their physical need for food. Many churches get this backwards. They figure that if they take care of people’s felt, physical needs – for food, money, shelter, daycare, whatever – they will keep coming to have their spiritual need for forgiveness satisfied. It didn’t even work that way for Jesus. John tells us that after Jesus fed this crowd, they tried to make him their socialist, Bread King, and when he insisted that he came to be their Savior from sin, the bread of life, many turned away from him (John 6:66).

The lesson being: don’t go away from church because you don’t think it is doing enough for your physical needs. You don’t need to go away, you shouldn’t go away because here is where Jesus takes care of your most important needs. Here is forgiveness to address the guilt that weighs on your conscience. Here is life to address the death you feel at work in your body. Here is the power and courage to face the fear and division and lawlessness the devil has sown in our world today.

And Jesus does it through Word and Sacrament. Early Christians adopted bread and fish as a symbol for Holy Communion. They understood that in this Sacrament Jesus provides for both spiritual and physical needs. Some called it “the medicine of immortality” – because it not only cleanses your soul of sin but is heavenly food which grants and guarantees the resurrection of the body – the same body you have right here and now. Many Bible scholars see an allusion to the Lord’s Supper in this feeding of the five thousand. And they may be on to something. Do these words sound familiar? After looking up to heaven, he blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples. It sounds a lot like Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:26). Especially in the Sacraments, which attach God’s Word to the earthly elements of water, bread and wine – Jesus makes it clear that he provides for our whole person: body and soul.

So what needs came into your mind when I asked you to fill in the blank before? Was it a family or marital problem? A problem of loneliness or alienation? Look to the baptismal font where Jesus made you a member of his Father’s family forever. Was it a specific sin or haunting guilt? In the absolution Jesus comes to take those burdens off of your mind and conscience with the assurance that he’s already paid for those sins. Maybe your problem is financial. Then take Paul’s words to heart: He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him? (Romans 8:32) Was it a physical problem? A disease without a cure? Maybe the fear of Covid-19 that has gripped and paralyzed the unbelieving world has gripped and paralyzed you? Come up here to receive the body and blood of the Lord, given and shed for you. Not only does this sacrament assure you of eternal life, but it will give you the courage to face this pandemic with faith rather than fear. It will lead you to understand that your times are in the Lord’s hands (Psalm 31:15) and not in the hands of sinful and error-prone medical experts or bureaucrats. It will lead face death fearlessly, because that’s when our true life begins (Colossians 3:3). Whatever your need, here at church is where Jesus comes to meet your needs.

We’ve looked at this miracle from the point of view of the crowd, but in closing we will take a brief look from the perspective of the disciples. Jesus was doing two things throughout this miracle – he was providing for the needs of the crowd; but he was also testing his disciples’ faith, to see if they really believed that he was the Son of God who is able to satisfy every need. They fail every single test. The only thing the disciples do right is obey Jesus when he tells them to distribute the food to the people. They fail – again and again and again – and yet Jesus still feeds them and after it’s over gives them each a basket of leftovers. A personal little sign, a gift to them that he will provide far more than they need even when they don’t deserve it. So don’t despair over how many times you’ve failed to trust that your Lord has both the power and the compassion to provide for you spiritually and physically. This miracle proves that Jesus will provide even when we don’t deserve it. And that’s why no matter what troubles you are facing right now, you don’t need to go away. Amen.

[1] https://www.eater.com/2015/7/14/8963905/mlb-all-star-game-food-cincinnati