Matthew 14:13-21

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Introduction

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

13 Now when Jesus heard this, 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. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 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.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 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. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

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This may be one of Jesus’ most famous miracles in all the New Testament. In fact, it’s the only miracle which Jesus performed that’s recorded by all four Gospel writers. And because we have so many perspectives of this event we can paint a pretty clear picture of what took place. Each Gospel writer seems to hone in on certain aspects of the event, highlighting certain things that the others do not, and emphasizing other things that they all repeat in their Gospel accounts. So, we’ll be jumping around a lot between , , and John chapter 6.
Now, one important thing to keep in mind throughout this text is Matthew’s overarching intention with these accounts. In chapters 14-16 we’re going to see a lot of examples of how various people responded to Jesus and his ministry. And I believe the text here today is no exception. Therefore, we ought always to remember that the broader application of these texts is, “How will you respond?” If you were in the shoes of the Pharisees or the crowds, how would you respond? Would you be there as merely a spectator? Would you have been a disciple of Jesus? Why or why not? How would you have reacted to Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5,000? Would you have come for the food? Or would you have come for Jesus’ sake? Would you have scoffed at Jesus’ teachings? Would we have been offended by him? How would you have reacted? You see, these texts give us an opportunity to assess our own hearts, and to challenge us.
These texts give us an opportunity to assess our own hearts

Jesus withdraws from Galilee

Jesus withdraws from Galilee

Now, last week we looked at the story of how John the Baptist was murdered, how Herod Antipas, the governor of Galilee and Perea was afraid of John and therefore had imprisoned him in his father’s palace fortress of Machaerus near the Dead Sea. And how his wife Herodias had forced Herod’s hand to have John’s head put on a platter. And we saw that Matthew included this story because of Jesus’ fame throughout the district of Galilee. That the fame of Jesus had become so great that word had reached Herod’s ears and frightened him.
Therefore, we read there in verse 13,

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.

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There may be several reasons why Jesus gets into a boat and retreats to a desolate place. One reason could be that he’s avoiding a confrontation with Herod upon hearing of John’s death, he may be withdrawing to grieve the death of John the Baptist, or some combination of both, but what we do know for sure is what Mark says in chapter 6, verse 30, that the apostles had just returned from some of their ministry training, so Jesus says to them,

“Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”

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“Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

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So we know that at least one of the reasons he withdraws is to give his close disciples an opportunity to rest and eat. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the earlier mentioned factors played a role in his decision. Especially given the fact that Luke tells us in his account that Jesus retreats to a place near Bethsaida. Which Bethsaida is just outside of the district of Galilee (across the Jordan River), away from Herod’s reach. Either way, he’s not completely alone, because we’re told that he brings his disciples with him.
So we know that he withdraws to a desolated place to at least give his close disciples an opportunity
Either way, he’s not completely alone, because he brings his disciples with him.

Crowd follows

However, when they withdraw from that place (presumably Capernaum) by boat, the crowd that had been following Jesus gets wind of his plans. So in the second half of verse 13 we read,

But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.

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Mark adds that,

many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

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So there in verse 14 we read,

14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd,

Compassion

Now, what comes next is important,

and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

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Matthew makes an effort to point out that Jesus heals their sick because of his compassion toward them. Jesus isn’t frustrated that they’ve followed him, and the inconvenience doesn’t cause him anger toward the crowd, but rather he’s filled with compassion. A literal translation of the original language could be rendered ‘he was deeply moved’ by them. And it’s important to point this out for several reasons. One very important reason is that we see that Jesus is moved to compassion when he sees our suffering. He isn’t crass and unconcerned, he’s compassionate. When we suffer ourselves we need to know that, we need to remind ourselves of that, that Jesus isn’t dismissive toward us when we suffer. And while Jesus doesn’t promise all of us deliverance from our present sufferings, he does promise that one day all our tears will be wiped away, that our sufferings will end and our bodies will one day be made whole.
, verse 4, tells us that one day,

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

The second
A day is coming when all things will be made new. Jesus will not leave us in our suffering, he is coming.
Another reason that’s important to keep in mind is that the reasons behind Jesus’ miracles is usually multifaceted. In other words, Jesus usually performs miracles for more than one reason. Often times, the Gospel writers will zero in on just one of the reasons, but there is usually multiple purposes behind his miracles. For instance, not only does his healing of the sick testify to his compassion but it also testifies to his divinity (as Matthew has shown us before), but this time Matthew intends for us to see Jesus’ compassion.
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34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

Jesus’ compassion is rooted
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Mark, in his Gospel, expands this further in chapter 6, verse 34, when he records that,
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34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

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Feeding the 5,000

So while Matthew points out that Jesus has compassion on their sick and heals them, Mark points out that Jesus also had compassion on the crowds because were like sheep without a shepherd, so he begins to teach them. One of the primary reasons we started this local church was because of this very issue. Over time we began to see the value of sound doctrine, and it was painful to watch unbiblical doctrines being taught, which, over time, created a growing desire for God’s people to have access to sound doctrine and a healthy local church where believer could grow in their faith and be shepherded by God’s word. So in some respects I can relate to Jesus burden for the crowds, and his concern that they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Feeding the 5,000

15 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.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”

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So as the day turned to evening the disciples realized that the crowds were going to need to eat, so they suggest to Jesus that he send them away into the nearby villages to buy food for themselves. But Jesus says something startling, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” And I can only imagine what they were thinking, “Jesus, are you kidding me?”, “Is this a joke?” So they say to him,
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“We have only five loaves here and two fish.”

And as we’ll see soon, the Apostle John will also show us one of the other reasons Jesus has performed this miracle.
In other words, we only have enough food for a few of us, how do you expect us to feed these crowds? In fact, in Philip says to Jesus,

“Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”

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Now, to give you some perspective, 200 denarii would have been equivalent to an average laborer’s wages for 200 days. That’s more than half of your annual salary, just to feed the crowd a small portion of food. So imagine this, there are 5,000 men, besides women and children, following Jesus. Which means this crowd is probably at least 10,000-20,000 people in size, that’s if you estimate that, on average, each man is accompanied by 1-3 other people (e.g. a wife and maybe a couple of children). You’re talking about feeding a stadium full of people. And if you were to estimate each person’s meal at $5-10 per person, the cost of feeding these people could have been anywhere between $50,000-$200,000. To feed this many people would have been an enormous task.
But Jesus says to his disciples, bring those five loaves and two fish to me, and then,
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“Bring them here to me.” 19 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. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied.

18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 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. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

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. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

“Bring them here to me.” 19 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. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Following OT patterns

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Now, what I find interesting about how Jesus carries out this miracle is that it “fits the OT pattern of God taking what his people already had and transforming or multiplying it.” (Keener, 404) In , during a famine in the land of Israel, the prophet Elisha feeds 100 or more men with only 20 loaves of bread by miraculously multiplying it. And you may recall, Elisha’s predecessor, Elijah, during a another famine, was sent to Sidon to dwell with a widow and her son. She gives Elijah the last of her flour and oil to eat, but Elijah says not to fear, and miraculously they eat for many more days. The jar of flour was not spent, and neither did the jug of oil become empty. And while these OT miracles are incredible, they pale in comparison to what Jesus does here. His miracles and his authority over the natural world is unprecedented, both in magnitude and frequency.
And while these OT miracles are incredible, they pale in comparison to what Jesus does here. His miracles and his authority over the natural world is unprecedented, both in magnitude and frequency.
Now as we reach the end of our text I want to take a look at why Jesus performed this miracle. What is it that we’re supposed to learn from Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000? What’s Jesus point? What’s the takeaway? As I mentioned earlier Jesus’ intentions behind his miracles are usually multifaceted. He usually has more than one reason for performing signs and wonders. The obvious reason here is simply that Jesus’ compassion compelled Jesus to feed the crowd who was hungry. I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that Jesus’ compassion included his desire to feed the crowd. But I believe this purpose was secondary to a greater purpose.

Jesus walks on water

The event that immediately follows this, which we’ll look at next time, is when Jesus miraculously walks atop the Sea of Galilee while his disciples are out in the boat. This event is recorded in three of the Gospels and in Mark we’re told in chapter 6, verse 51, that when Jesus finally gets into the boat after walking on the water, we’re told that his disciples,

were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

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That’s a strange little phrase isn’t it? But what Mark doing here is relating Jesus’ miracle of walking on the water to his previous miracle of feeding the 5,000. He assumes the reader understands that there’s some kind of connection between the two. The question then is, what’s the connection?

The bread of life

Well, it’s at this point, the Gospel of John becomes enormously helpful. He also records these same two miracles, but what he does differently is record for us what happens immediately after, he records Jesus’ famous teaching that he’s the bread of life.
And what’s interesting is that the same crowd of 5,000 that was miraculously fed, is again Jesus’ audience when he teaches that he’s the bread of life. In we read that,

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”

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Jesus had left the desolate place from before and travelled back across the Sea of Galilee, and the crowd had tried to follow him, so they ask him where he’s been, and in verse 26,
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26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

So Jesus rebukes them for merely following him to fill their bellies. He says they weren’t interested in what any of the miracles signified, or what any of the miracles were intended to point them to, only that they got a free meal. So he exhorts them to seek after food that endures to eternal life, which only the Son of Man can give them. In other words, the miracle of feeding the 5,000 was intended to point them to Christ!
But still confused they ask him in verse 28,

“What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

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So the miracle was ultimately intended to point them to Christ, that they might partake of him by believing in him. And Jesus goes on there in verse 35,

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

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This miracle is a parable of who Jesus is, and intended to show them that Jesus is the bread of life. So the crowd’s hunger was an occasion for Jesus to teach them something, and occasion to demonstrate his divine power, and to teach the people that he was the bread of life, who had come down from heaven, that they might all partake of him by believing in him.
But unfortunately the crowd scoffs at Jesus, and say there in verse 30,

“Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”

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as if Jesus hadn’t already them a sign. And then Jesus responds in verse 32,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

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Therefore, Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 parallels God’s feeding of Isreal in the wilderness. Except, rather than paralleling Moses, Jesus parallels God himself. Jesus is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. So not only does Jesus give what satisfies but is the one who satisfies. He came not merely to give us bread, but to be our bread.
The manna that God gave to the Israelites in the wilderness that sustained them finds its fulfillment in Jesus, it was intended to point to Christ. He’s the spiritual manna that has come down from heaven from which his Church will be satisfied and sustained.
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And while these OT miracles were
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