Reading: Matthew chapter 14 verses 13-21.
Ill:
• Bread Test
• Bread (in some form or other) is the basic diet of people all over the world;
• Two reasons: first it is cheap & therefore accessible for the poor.
• Second it satisfies it fills you up.
Ill:
Psychologist, Charles Allen tells this story in one of his books:
• As World War II was drawing to a close,
• The Allied armies gathered up many hungry orphans.
• They placed them in camps where they were safe and well-fed.
• Yet despite the excellent care they received, the orphans slept badly.
• They seemed nervous and afraid.
• Finally, a psychologist came up with the solution.
• Each child was given a piece of bread to hold after he or she was put to bed.
• This particular piece of bread was just to be held—not eaten.
• This extra piece of bread produced wonderful results.
• And the children started to sleep undisturbed through out the night.
• The extra piece of bread had a wonderful effect on the children because;
• As they went to bed they instinctively knew they would have food to eat the next day.
In the same way that each of us has PHYSICAL appetites that need satisfying.
• We also have spiritual appetites that need satisfying;
• And Jesus demonstrates in this passage that he alone can meet those appetites.
(1). The PURSUIT of the crowd (vs 13-14).
“When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd,
he had compassion on them and healed their sick”
Question:
• Have you ever been so tired that you are just not sure you can go on?
• If the answer is yes, you might appreciate this story.
ILL:
• A woman who had recently moved into a small village in Wiltshire,
• Was in the backyard hanging out the washing on the line.
• When an old, tired-looking dog wandered into the yard.
• She could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home.
• As she walked into the house, the dog followed her in,
• Sat down under the kitchen table and fell sound asleep.
• An hour later, he woke up;
• Went over to the door and she let him out.
• The next day he was back.
• He took up the same position under the kitchen table and slept for an hour.
• This continued for several weeks. Curious, she pinned a note to his collar:
• "Every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap."
• The next day the dog arrived with a different note pinned to his collar:
• "He lives in a home with 6 children - he’s trying to catch up on his sleep."
We know from the other gospels that record this story:
• That Jesus was looking for a break,
• He wanted to go somewhere quiet to get some rest, to recharge his physical batteries.
• People had been following Jesus and the disciples incessantly;
• And constantly making demands (wanted healings etc time consuming & very draining).
• And although Jesus was tried and looking for a break,
• The people kept coming and he was unable to get one.
• It is here that the remarkable difference of Jesus shows up.
• If it had been you or me, we would have sent the people away - but not Jesus.
Ill:
In Mark’s version of the event (chapter 6 verse 34), we find this…
“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”
To most of us the constant hassle of the crowd would have been an irritation;
• A pain in the neck.
• But Jesus had compassion on the people;
• Because he saw their deeper needs,
• They also lacked direction and purpose, like a lost sheep.
Ill:
• John in his gospel gives us another insight (chapter 6 verse 1):
• John reveals the crowds motivation for following Jesus.
(Paraphrase verse 2):
“Jesus had been doing such great miracles, they kept following because they did not want to miss the tremendous excitement of the signs.”
Ill:
• Arlo & Kathy about to go up to bed sometimes when the doorbell goes;
• Instant refusal until he saw who it was, they were scared he was missing out!
• Well you can understand the crowd not wanting to miss out on a miracle;
• Question: How many of you have seen a miracle?
• Miracles obviously don’t happen everyday;
• Otherwise they would be called ‘regulars’ or some similar word,
But Jesus sees their real need:
• What this crowd need is not spectacular entertainment;
• But rather someone to lead and to guide them!
• They were looking for things to amaze and excite them;
• Yet Jesus wanted them to experience something lasting that would satisfy them!
Which brings us to the next point…
(2). The PROBLEM of no food (vs 15-17).
15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so that they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.
16 Jesus replied, They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.
17 We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish, they answered.”
Ill:
• A young couple decided to start their own business.
• He was an engineer and she was an advertising copywriter.
• They wound up buying a small salmon cannery in Alaska.
• They soon discovered they had a problem.
• Customers opening a can of their salmon discovered that the fish was grey.
• Sales sagged.
• An investigation revealed:
• That the problem was a result of the way they processed the fish.
• “This is a technical problem,” said the wife,
• “And as you’re an engineer. You have to find a way to fix this.”
• A month later, the husband announced his solution:
• We will have to replace some machinery and make other changes.
• It was going to take at least 10 months to do the job;
• And it was going to cost a lot of money.
• “We have to do something sooner than that,” said the wife,
• “Or we’re going to go under.”
• For the next two days she pondered the problem and came up with this solution:
• There was nothing wrong with the salmon—it tasted fine.
• The problem lay in its looks.
• So she changed the label on the can.
• In bold letters, right under the brand name, the labels thereafter announced,
• “The only salmon guaranteed not to turn pink in the can.”
• Like that wife, the disciples are about to discover that:
• Jesus turns insurmountable problems into golden opportunities!
THE PROBLEM OF NO FOOD (VS 15).
• From a human perspective:
• These weary disciples can only see a swarm of people;
• Coming to make demands on Jesus and therefore on them as well.
• From the divine perspective:
• For Jesus the crowds were not an infringement but an opportunity;
• A chance to reveal his glory and at the same time teach the disciples an important lesson.
THE TEST (VS 16):
• John in his gospel tell us that two disciples take the test;
• One (Philip) is appointed and one (Andrew) volunteers.
Philip in John’s gospel (verse 5-7):
• Jesus gets Philip to assess the situation.
• He studies the problem:
• He counts the number of hungry people.
• There were about 5000 men.
• But there were more than that,
• Because (no offence to our ladies) in that culture they only counted the men.
• So it was likely to be eight to ten thousand people,
• So the problem was big.
Philip’s disappointing answer:
• Is to get out his calculator, make a few quick calculations;
• And determines that even if they could even find enough food, they could not afford it.
• Note how Philip’s logic works; He calculates for only a bare minimum;
• “For everyone to receive a little”.
• Philip looks at the problem and says;
• Too big for us too handle, we can’t do anything!
Ill:
• Had Jesus pulled out a complete atheist from the crowd;
• And given him the same question.
• His answer would no doubt have been exactly the same as Philip’s!
Andrew (verses 8-9):
“Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the disciples. He spoke up and said,
"There is a boy here who has five small loaves of barley bread and two fish”.
• Andrew seems to be more of an optimist than Philip.
• While Philip burns out the batteries in his pocket calculator.
• Andrew scurries among the crowd looking for food.
• He finds a boy with a packed lunch.
• ‘Barley loaves’ were the cheapest form of bread;
• And were more likely flat like tortillas rather than round rolls we know them.
• And the ‘fish’ were cooked or prepared fish,
• It would have been a typical packed lunch in that area of Galilee.
Ill:
• The Sea of Galilee teemed with these tiny fish (sardine size),
• They were pickled and exported across the Roman Empire as convenience food.
You can just hear the sarcastic remarks from the other disciples at Andrew’s suggestion:
• “Nice going, Andrew, that suggestion is a real winner!”
• “Did you think of it all by yourself or was it thought up by a committee?”
• So Andrew starts off an optimist but then he too becomes dejected;
• And says: “But what good is that with all these people?"
• Andrew’s problem is, he is trying to sort out an impossible situation;
• With a human solution!
• The result is he too is overwhelmed by the circumstances;
• “But what are these for so many people?”
Ill:
• Some have jokingly said that the greater miracle in this story;
• Is not the feeding of the 5000, but that this young boy was willing to give up his food!
Note:
• Philip failed because he looked at money to solve the problem
• Andrew failed because he looked for human resources.
• Neither of the looked to Jesus;
• Who as we know easily sorted out this impossible situation quite easily!
(3). The PROVISION by Jesus (vs 18-21).
18 “Bring them here to me, he said.
19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.”
I like that little expression (verse 19) “…taking the five loaves and the two fish…”:
• To everyone there they would have remained 5 loaves and 2 fish;
• But in the hands of Jesus something happens!
Ill:
• Place a have a scalpel in my hands, it’s merely a scalpel that could cause damage,
• But when you place that same scalpel in the hands of a surgeon,
• It turns into an object that can bring life.
• Put a golf club in any of our hands, and it’s merely a golf club,
• But when you place that same golf club in the hands of Tiger Woods,
• It allows him to be the best golfer in the world.
• A paintbrush in my hands might result in a pretty good picture (if it’s paint by numbers).
• But when a paintbrush was placed in the hands of Van Gogh,
• It turned into incredible works of art.
• A gun placed in the hands of a hunter is a tool used for sport or obtaining food,
• But when placed in the hands of a terrorist, that same gun becomes a weapon of destruction.
• Question: Why is it that the same instruments and the same tools;
• Can bring about such differing degrees of results?
• Answer:
• It simply depends upon who is holding them and how they’re being used.
HERE JESUS USES THE ORDINARY TO DO SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY:
• But note how He does it, there is no razzmatazz.
• It is simple and efficient.
• The people are seated (order and everyone can see what’s happening)
• Other gospels tell us in groups of fifty.
• Jesus simply puts His hands in the basket
• Only he keeps pulling out more and more and more bread & fish.
• While the disciples and the crowds are looking,
• More and more fish and bread just keep coming out. Right in front of their very eyes,
Note: Jesus did not give the crowds some pitiful airline type snack:
• Verse 20 tell us there was more than enough food for everyone.
• And there were 12 baskets full of food left.
• One for each disciple,
• A visuals reminder that Jesus is far bigger than any problem we might face!
What are the lessons we can learn from this story?
(1). The PURSUIT of the crowd - People matter.
• The crowd to the disciples were an irritation, a pain in the neck.
• But Jesus had compassion on the people;
• To him they were not troublesome but an opportunity;
• They were like a lost sheep and he is the Good Shepherd.
Ill:
• The American artist James Whistler,
• Was never known to be bashful about his talent,
• Once he received news;
• That a shipment of blank canvases he had ordered had been lost in the mail.
• When asked if the canvases were of any great value,
• Whistler remarked, “not yet, not yet.”
Jesus saw this crowd and us today:
• As having great value and potential,
• If only we are would follow him the Good Shepherd!
(2). The PROBLEM of no food - Problems are part of life.
Ill:
• On February 15, 1947 Glenn Chambers boarded a plane bound for Quito, Ecuador;
• He was beginning a new ministry, serving God in missionary broadcasting.
• But he never arrived because the plane carrying Glenn Chambers;
• Malfunctioned and crashed into a mountain peak.
• Later it was learned that before leaving the Miami airport,
• Glenn Chambers wanted to write his mother a letter.
• All he could find for stationery was a page of advertising;
• On which was written the single word “WHY?”
• Around that word he hastily scribbled a final note.
• After Glenn Chambers’ mother learned of her son’s death, his letter arrived.
• She opened the envelope, took out the paper, and unfolded it.
• Staring her in the face was the questions “WHY?”
Note:
• Jesus never explained away difficulties of life;
• Nor even why people suffer, he accepted it as part of the experience of life.
• The more important question that comes up again and again is not “Why” but “How”.
• “Why” we are not told.
• But “How” do we react to difficult circumstances etc is taught.
• Peter and Andrew learnt the lesson look to Jesus!
You and I have a choice just like Andrew & Philip:
• We can depend on human resources and human wisdom to handle life’ problems,
• Or we can confidently look to Jesus!
• That leads us to the third and final application.
(3). The PROVISION by Jesus - God provides.
• Twice in this chapter (verses 11 and 23):
• We are told “Jesus gave thanks”
• This does not mean he said ‘grace;’
• Or even ‘asked the blessing’.
Notice:
• Jesus giving thanks;
• Was the most significant thing that he does in the whole incident.
• Each of the 4 gospels record this fact;
• And John in particular underlines it in the minds of his readers.
Ill:
Later John looks back at the incident and describes vit:
• Not as the place Jesus had fed 5,000+ people.
• He describes it as the place; where “The Lord had given thanks”.
That phrase “Jesus gave thanks” is important because:
• It was the cause which lay behind the miracle.
• Jesus was not preoccupied with the hunger ogf the people.
• He was no preoccupied with the inadequency of the food.
• He was not preoccupied with the impossibility of the situation.
• He was instead occupied with a God who could provide!
• An all sufficient God who can meet and work in any situation.
By that act of “Jesus giving thanks”
• He is reminding the people that;
• God is the source of all good and needful gifts.
• He has promised to meet our needs when we trust him;
• Needs not greeds!
• Ill: “Daily Bread” not strawberries and ice-cream.
• He has promised to meet our needs not our greed’s!
• But as I reminded you at the beginning bread satisfies;
• Candy floss may be sweet and enjoyable but you cannot live on it!
• True satisfaction is found when a person feeds on Jesus Christ the living bread?
• Punch line: How is your appetite and what are you eating!
In conclusion:
(1).
• Jesus took bread.
• Have you allowed him to take hold of you?
(2).
• Jesus blessed the bread.
• He wants to bless our lives.
(3).
• Broke the bread.
• He needs to beak attitudes and habits in our lives.
(4).
• Gave the bread to others.
• He blesses us so that we might bless others.
