Matthew 14:13–21

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

When people gather in church, it is usually to listen to Jesus.  Which is great; we can never listen to Jesus enough.  But as the old saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and if the picture is Jesus, then maybe that picture is worth a million words.  So, I ask you to watch Jesus while you are listening to Him, since words and works are all the same with Jesus.  

Watch how Jesus reacts when He hears the news that John the Baptist, the “no one greater” the “Elijah who is to come” (cf. Mt. 11:2-19) is dead, beheaded by Herod.  Watch Jesus walk away, head hung down, carrying that weight on His shoulders, not even taking time to teach us a lesson or share some insight.  Yet, walking away, dropping everything to spend time leaning on God the Father. especially when the burden on your shoulders seems too heavy to bear alone, is a lesson.  

Picture the crowd gather around Jesus, at least five thousand people trying to get near Jesus.   Watch Jesus start to heal the sick.  In your picture do you see Him setting aside His great weight and taking up the burdens of the enormous crowd? It is an amazing picture; an ordinary looking man, whom we know to be the extraordinary Son of God, caring for and healing a massive crowd of people.  Picture the disciples huddled together as they try to problem-solve without Jesus.  They see the sun sinking in the west.  They see the need of the people along with their helplessness to care for them.  Finally, they go to Jesus saying, “Send the crowds away to go . . . buy food for themselves” (15).  Watch the busy Jesus teaching and healing say, “you give them something to eat” (16).  The disciples reply, “We have only five loaves and two fish” (17).  Watch Jesus as He took bread and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them (cf. Matthew 26:26f).  And would you believe it?  Everyone, all five thousand plus, ate to his or her satisfaction; and the leftovers were more than they started with.  That is a miracle!  

Now, picture Jesus in your life.   Perhaps You can see Jesus’ face fall under the weight of mourning the loss of a loved one.  Maybe you have seen His face lifted toward heaven while He works all hours of the day healing.  You have a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven when He works through simple things as when His bread feeds thousands or you hear words of holy comfort at just the right time.  See His kingdom when you remember the day the Lord claimed you as His own with simple water and His Holy Word.  See His kingdom in the small satisfying meal of a little bread and a little wine that gives you forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.  We need those glimpses of the kingdom in this life because this life is filled with the pain of death that we cannot bear, with disease we cannot understand, and heartache and hunger that we cannot overcome alone.  Thanks be to God that because Jesus was crucified for our sins, died with the promise that He would conquer death, and rose alive from the grave on the third day, we have a glimpse of what new life in Him looks like today and forever in the Father’s house where we will celebrate the eternal “marriage supper of the Lamb” (cf. Revelation 19:9).

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Cheyenne Wells, CO, 80810-0728

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