Feeding the Community - Matthew 14

It was certainly reasonable, on hearing of John the Baptist’s execution by Herod, that Jesus would want to withdraw and be by himself for awhile – reflecting on his friendship with John, the loss he had suffered, and the threat that now surrounded him. However, as the result of having created quite a stir, Jesus was soon pursued by a crowd, so much so that they even beat him to his destination, offering no chance of any peace and quiet. However, Jesus being in complete touch with his mission in life, didn’t curse the crowd or shout at them to go away (which may still have been his first inclination), but rather welcomed them and spoke to them (Luke) and ministered to them (verse 14). Mark’s Gospel further explains the source of Jesus’ compassion here – why would he put aside his own needs in favour of others > "...because they were like sheep without a shepherd". Isn’t that like so many people today!

Because we are missionaries within our community, we put ourself out there to be helpers, and so we can’t really choose the moments that people will need us. We can’t necessarily just make a quick unnoticed trip to Coles and back, and expect no-one to spot us. Wherever possible, we have to be prepared to offer time to those who are seeking us out. And, we have to put up with the fact, like Jesus did, that these people may not know anything about the pain we’re carrying, only their own pain. [Although, sometimes we may be surprised and encouraged by the support we can receive, once we do get the opportunity of sharing our own needs with the one who we initially sought to reach out to.]

The disciples here (verse 15), probably were expressing their real concern for people’s well-being and their need of an evening meal. However, Jesus didn’t want to disrupt the connection he had formed with this crowd of people, and probably also discerned an opportunity of showing the depth of care and the breadth of possibilities when such people encounter the Kingdom of God.

The disciples, who wouldn’t have the resources to purchase food for all these people, were only able to gather up five loaves of bread and two fish (a young boy being the source of these is only mentioned in John’s Gospel). I sense that the disciples spoke about these items with a fair degree of dejection (verse 17) as they looked out on the thousands assembled – that Jesus was suggesting they gave an open invitation to. However, it seems Jesus didn’t hesitate in demonstrating that such feelings of insufficiency should not be given in to.

Why do we so often feel that we can’t, when in claiming the presence of Jesus in our life – we actually can! We can talk to that person, we can do that job, we can make that deadline, we can learn new things, we can stand up for our faith, we can pray, we can make that hard decision, we can help our children, we can love our parents, and we can make a real difference for good in our community. When Jesus prayed over these meagre amounts of bread and fish, their presumed limitations to meet the needs of the gathered crowd was eliminated, and there was more than enough to go around. There were even enough resources left over to have invited and fed even more people!

You might notice that it is not reported that Jesus specifically prayed for the bread and fish to multiply. The reference here to Jesus taking the loaves and fish, looking up to heaven, and blessing them (verse 19b), probably refers to the standard Jewish custom before (and normally after) meals of giving thanks for God’s provision. In giving thanks for these gifts, even if they seemed so inadequate, Jesus aligned himself with whatever God wanted to do in this challenging situation.

Sometimes we are so conscious of what we haven’t got, that we fail to be thankful for what we actually have, and therefore miss out on the possibilities. This is where Jesus’ disciples were at! And those thoughts could have led to an unsatisfied crowd if allowed to persist. However the disciples too, when it came to the crunch, were willing to become a part of what God wanted to do – and they brought the meagre rations to Jesus. The result was – that no matter how much food they gave out, their stocks seemed to be increasing!!

God provided the power! Jesus provided the example of being committed to the people, and thankful for whatever was available to him! The disciples provided the hands and the feet to practically give out the blessing!

For those Jews in the crowd, they may have been caused to remember the well-known story of God providing manna from heaven in the wilderness following the Hebrew people’s escape from Egypt (Exodus 16). Could they now attribute this activity to God as well? Does this provide a sign that God is active and available to them? This is exactly what Jesus was demonstrating. The disciples, later as they established the early church, were also able to demonstrate the availability and transforming potential of God to their community. We have to find ways of “feeding” our community in such ways that God can be recognised as active and available.

We involve ourselves in community groups, neighbourhood functioning and various serving roles (like with Prison Fellowship); and then as a church we have conducted children’s activities at the shopping centre, provided casseroles for someone only Kellie knows, and now are offering to serve older (more isolated) people within the local area. We are also considering what more national and international mission initiatives we should be supporting. The question is: what other ways can we “feed” our community, acknowledging that God can bless and multiply any meagre efforts (that are attempted wholeheartedly and with integrity)??

The purpose of such “feeding” – of such engagements with the society around us, is to introduce them to Jesus; not just the good guy and wise teacher, but the Saviour of the sinner. Before giving it to his disciples, Jesus also blessed the communion bread, and referred to this bread as a symbol of his body that would be broken for the salvation of humankind. However, so many don’t know about this gift! Having partaken of this blessed bread, we are honour-bound to take this salvation we are experiencing out into the marketplace. Not many of us are gifted as extraverted evangelists; however all of us have been given a personal uniqueness (combined with the Holy Spirit’s presence) that can touch other people’s lives for good.

Jesus created a stir and people were curious. When they gathered around him, they were all “fed”, and they all went away filled (verse 20a). Jesus had taken the resources supplied by the disciples (which seemed pitifully inadequate) and given thanks for them – and they were multiplied for everyone’s benefit. Jesus used his disciples to administer the resources, which turned out to be more than ample to get the job done!