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Matthew 14:13-21—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.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Matthew records two events between last week’s text and this week’s text. First, Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth where He is rejected. The last verse of Mt. 13 is downright depressing, “[Jesus] did not do any mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Then, ch. 14 opens up by telling about the death of John the Baptizer. Herod had decided to make John a little shorter and beheaded him. But then when Herod heard about all the things Jesus was doing, he was worried that John had risen from the dead.

Anyway, John’s disciples bury John’s body and go to tell Jesus. Now our text, “When Jesus heard [about John’s death], He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself.” After hearing about the death of His cousin, friend, and forerunner, Jesus wishes to take some time to be by Himself – understandably so. But it doesn’t work. The crowds learn about it, follow, and find Him in that desolate place. Now pause for a minute: This is the same word that was used to describe the type of place Jesus was when He was tempted by Satan, just after He had been baptized by John. It is also used to describe the wilderness where the people of Israel wandered for forty years. It is a desert wilderness, the place of demons, and the haunt of jackals. The crowds seek Him anyway.

Jesus sees these crowds and “has compassion on them,” and He spends the better part of a day healing them. Morning is long gone, lunch is past, the afternoon is getting late, and toward evening the disciples say to Jesus, “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.”

Maybe they were trying to look out for their grieving Master. Jesus is compassionate, but even His compassion has to have its limits, right? Or maybe the disciples were tired and wanted to be alone too, after all, some of them had been John’s disciples before they were Jesus’ disciples. And their request of Jesus isn’t too uncompassionate. The people will need to eat, and there’s no food around here.

But look at what Jesus says, don’t miss it. “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” If I were one of the disciples, I’d be thinking (if not saying), “Good one, Jesus. Remember, You called us to be fishers of men, not caterers for massive crowds. That’s not in my job description.”

But Jesus is serious. “You give them something to eat.”

“Is this some kind of joke, Jesus? All we can scrape together is five loaves and two fish.”

“Bring them here to Me,” Jesus says. Then He makes an announcement, “Ok everybody, sit down in the grass with your family.” He tells the disciples, “I’ll take that food, boys.” Then He prays, “The eyes of all look to You, O Lord, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand; You satisfy the desire of every living thing. Lord God, heavenly Father, bless us, and these Your gifts which we receive from Your bountiful goodness. Amen.”

Then, what happens? Jesus gives the bead to the disciples and maybe repeats Himself, “You give them something to eat.” And the disciples do – with their own hands, they feed the crowds. Now, of course, the disciples wouldn’t take any credit for all of this. They didn’t provide or multiply the food – Jesus did. They didn’t do anything miraculous – Jesus did. They simply were God’s vehicles to get God’s provision to God’s people.

Five thousand men plus women and children ate. They all had enough to chew on. But Jesus didn’t supply enough food just to keep the crowds on their feet. He didn’t just supply enough so everyone could be filled. He started with barely enough food to fill a lunchbox. But after everyone in that throng of people ate until they were full, the disciples collected twelve baskets – one for each of them – full of leftovers.

After the resurrection, Jesus told Peter, “Feed My sheep” (Jn. 21:17). This command was given to Peter, but it also applicable to all apostles and pastors. “Feed My sheep. You give them something to eat.” Can I speak to you as your pastor about your pastor? Through you, God has called your pastor here to feed you. In the same way, God has called your pastor here telling him, “Feed My sheep. You give them something to eat.”

You know what, your pastor doesn’t even have two loaves to rub together. I can tell you without a doubt, your pastor has the same shortcomings, the same doubts, the same failures as you do. Your pastor suffers the same disappointments you do, faces the same temptations you do, and commits the same sins you do. But, for some reason, God has seen it fit to send this broken, fallen sheep to shepherd this congregation. If anything is done, it is only because God is doing it. Your pastor is simply the vehicle that brings God’s gifts in Word and Sacrament.

God does the same through you too. God is at work through each one of you. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do. God is using you to feed, clothe, shelter, heal, provide for, and protect people around you because God has compassion for them. And, yes, you fail. You grudgingly go to work sometimes only to ensure that you get the paycheck that will provide shelter for your family. You get tired of preparing meals for kids who complain about everything you set before them. You aren’t content with what God has given and you covet after more. You aren’t kind enough, and you aren’t thankful enough. But God keeps on giving.
Most importantly, God keeps giving you His forgiveness for your failure and sin. He has given it to you already today through the Absolution. And if you doubt that that forgiveness proclaimed through your pastor is really for you, He gives you forgiveness that cannot miss in Communion, in Bread and Wine, in His very body and blood given unto death on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. Strengthened by this food, this little meal, God gives you a lot to chew on. Your God equips you and sends you back out into this broken world with sins forgiven and hearts full of joy. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.