More Than A Miracle

Now we’ve spent some time already pointing out that all of us respond differently to stories of the miraculous, whether it be an account of Jesus’ miracles, or hearing about some modern day supernatural event. But that beings said we must also realize that our text for today is about more than a miracle (In fact, so much so that I’ve even entitled my sermon, “More than a Miracle”).

You might ask; how I can say this when the story is so clearly centred on a very deliberate miracle? Well, I’d like to draw your attention to a very interesting literary feature that Matthew employs... Throughout the Gospels, whenever Jesus performs a miracle, there is a very real response from those who witnessed it; either wonder, or gratitude, or praise, or even anger and in some cases fear – as we see in the disciples in the very next section of Matthew 14 when Jesus walks on the water... But note what happens in this text, Jesus uses only two fish and fives loaves of bread to feed 5000 people (excluding the women and children, which would have probably meant that there were actually more than 9000 people!) and then once everyone was satisfied and fed... nothing. No response at all, the disciples are told to go ahead in the boat and the crowds are simply dismissed. Now why would Matthew not mention any sort of response after this miracle, when he does so on every other occasion? Was this miracle not impressive enough? No, certainly not, it may well be that he does so because this particular miracle is about more than just the miracle – and we will come to see more of this as we explore the different contours of our text.

Message:

1. The One who wrought this miracle...

The most natural, and in fact only right, place to begin an exploration of any passage from the gospels is to ask what that text tells us about Jesus. It was the late Professor Thomas Torrance (a Presbyterian Minister, by the way) who said that the Gospels are forever pressing us to ask one question: “Who?” Who does this passage say that Jesus is? What sort of person do we encounter Jesus to be in this text or that?

We may learn a million things from each new reading of the gospels, but if we do not first of all learn something about Jesus then we have completely missed the point. So let us then follow Prof Torrance’s advice and ask the question first of all, and plainly; “What does this text tell us about Jesus?”

Well, I believe it sketches a beautiful image of Jesus as the One who has unlimited patience with overbearing people, incredible insight into our most desperate needs and an ability to look beyond himself and his own situation and to reach out to us in true compassion – in this miracle we see the One who knows that only he can truly satisfy our deepest need. And would not hesitate a moment to do so – even at a tremendous cost to himself. This is the Jesus we see in this text.

Imagine having just heard that your cousin and close friend – who spent his entire life working tirelessly for your cause – has been cruelly murdered by a local ruler. You’re completely powerless in this situation and, as much as you would like to storm in there and bring about justice, you know that there is nothing you can do about it. You’re absolutely devastated by the news and all you want to do is find a quiet place to mourn and gather your thoughts, perhaps even pray silently to God and ask him all those question that threaten to burst forth from the depths of our souls whenever a desperate crisis arises... What would you do if in that instance you suddenly find an insufferable group of people who never leave you alone but only want more and more of your attention, they’re so drawn by you that they hardly spare a thought for you and seem to think that you owe them all your time and energy. And now, in the midst of your most difficult personal struggle, they barge into your quiet place and expect a pleasant meeting... What would you do? Would you tell them to go away you just want have a quiet moment to yourself? Would you launch into a verbal assault on them for their selfish, inconsiderate demands? Would you turn your back on them and ignore them, hoping that they will just leave you alone?