Make the Most of God's Compassion!
The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 14:13-21; John 6:25-41
Sermon by Rick Crandall
(Prepared June 29, 2022)
BACKGROUND:
*Today in Matthew 14, we will focus on some of the Lord's amazing miracles. But first, think about how many miracles Jesus worked. In John 20:30-31, the Apostle John tells us that, "truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." John 21:25 tells us that "there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."
*Why did Jesus work all of those miracles? Mainly it was to give miraculous proof that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, the promised Messiah, and only Savior of the world. But through those miracles, Jesus also proved that God is full of compassion and love for people everywhere. God cares infinitely more about us than we care for ourselves. He is a compassionate God!
*Psalm 145:8-9 says, "The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. The LORD is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works."
*In Isaiah 49:15, the LORD asks, "Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you."
*And in Micah 7:18-19, the prophet asked, "Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea."
*Christians: Our God is a compassionate God! We see this truth many other places in both the Old Testament and the New.
*In Matthew 9:35-36, "Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd."
*In Matthew 20:34, blind Bartimaeus and another man cried out to the Lord for help, "so Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him."
*In the Lord's great parable of the Prodigal Son, that young man repented of his foolish ways and returned to his father. The father in the story is a picture of our Heavenly Father. And Luke 15:20 tells us that the young man "arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him."
*This is the kind of compassion God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit has for us! But how can we make the most of God's compassion? Please think about this as we read Matthew 14:13-21.
MESSAGE:
*Today's Scripture begins just after Matthew's report on the brutal murder of John the Baptist, and it gives us more examples of the Lord's compassion. Verses 13-14 tell us that when Jesus heard about John the Baptist's death, "He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick." Then in vs. 15-21, Jesus fed maybe more than 15,000 people, counting women and children, and He did that with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish!
*The original word for God's compassion in all of these New Testament examples is the idea of having gut-wrenching love and pity for someone. It's the same kind of feelings we have over a sick baby or spouse or parent or anyone else we deeply love. And that's the kind of compassion God has for us.
*Jerry Shirley explained, "This means Jesus didn't just see a man with leprosy. He also felt his pain, rejection, loneliness, and isolation. Jesus didn't just see a man whose daughter had died. He also felt his sorrow and bereavement. When Jesus saw people with broken hearts, His heart broke too. And Jesus didn't look on an adulterous woman in the judgmental way we often do, He looked at her with love, compassion, and forgiveness, wiping her slate clean." (1)
*Jesus did that, because He had compassion for those sick, hungry, lost people. And the same Lord has compassion on us! But how can we make the most of God's compassion?
1. FIRST, WE MUST BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST.
*We must put our trust in the Lord's compassion. Jesus has amazing compassion for you and me. At any time, He could squash us like bugs, and lots of times He should. But the Lord has compassion on us.
*Anthony de Mello told of a pastor speaking to a class of little children. And the preacher asked them this question: "If all the good people in the world were red, and all the bad people were green, what color would you be?" One little girl thought about it hard for a moment. Then her face lit-up and she said, "I’d be streaky!" (2)
*So would you, and so would I. We all need the Lord's merciful compassion, because Romans 3:23 tells us that all of us have sinned and fall far short of the glory of God. But our God is a compassionate God. If you ever doubt it, look back to the cross. That was the greatest display of His compassion. And Jesus Christ died on that cross for our sins, because of His loving compassion for us. But we have to believe in the Lord's compassion. We have to be spiritually born again by receiving the crucified and risen Christ as our Lord and Savior.
*Many of the people healed and fed in today's Scripture did put their trust in the Lord. But many others refused to believe in Jesus. They made the fatal mistake of rejecting the compassion of our Savior. And unless they later trusted in the Lord, they were lost forever.
*John 6:15 tells us that those hard-hearted people "were about to come and take (Jesus) by force to make Him king." They wanted an earthly king who would provide all their food, and conquer the Romans, rather than the King of Kings who reigns forever in Heaven. They cared more about the bread in their bellies than they cared for Jesus, the bread of eternal life. What a terrible mistake!
*John's Gospel tells this part of the story. It happened back in Capernaum the day after Jesus fed the 5,000, and then walked on the water to catch up with His disciples on the Sea of Galilee. In John 6:25-41 God's Word says:
25. . . when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?''
26. Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
27. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.''
28. Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?''
29. Jesus answered and said to them, "THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD, THAT YOU BELIEVE IN HIM WHOM HE SENT.''
30. Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?
31. Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'''
32. Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
33. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.''
34. Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always.''
35. And Jesus said to them, "I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. HE WHO COMES TO ME SHALL NEVER HUNGER, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME SHALL NEVER THIRST.
36. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.
37. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
38. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
39. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
40. AND THIS IS THE WILL OF HIM WHO SENT ME, THAT EVERYONE WHO SEES THE SON AND BELIEVES IN HIM MAY HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE; AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY.''
41. The Jews then murmured against Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven.''
*These Christ-rejectors completely missed the message of the miracles. Please don't make that terrible mistake! We must believe in Jesus Christ!
*We must depend on His compassionate love, -- especially the love Jesus demonstrated when He died on the cross for our sins. But that wasn't the end of the story, because 3 days later Jesus rose again from the dead. Now our Risen Savior reaches out to give eternal life to everyone who will believe in Him.
*John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." That "whosoever" means me, and it means you. Everybody has sinned, so everybody needs a Savior!
*And Jesus will be your Savior, if you will believe in Him. But this believing means a whole lot more than just believing with your mind. It means believing with your heart, believing with your life. It also means receiving Jesus into your spiritual heart, having a real relationship with the Lord, following His ways, and allowing Him to lead your life.
*John Paton helped us understand this word "believe." John and his wife were pioneer missionaries in the South Pacific, and they were trying to work with people who didn’t even have a word for "believe" in their language.
*That was a huge problem when John began translating the Bible into the native language, because this key word is found over 200 times in the New Testament.
*John was completely stuck until a villager came to visit one day. The man was exhausted from working in the hot sun, so he sat down in a chair. And in his native language, he said, "How wonderful it is when you are tired and can LEAN YOUR WHOLE WEIGHT ON SOMETHING."
*When John Paton heard that phrase, he said it was like lightning struck, and suddenly he realized, "That's it! -- 'Lean your whole weight on something.'” That was the thought John Paton was searching for, and that’s what he used to translate "believe" into their native language. (3)
*This is what it means to believe in Jesus. You fully lean on Him. You trust in Jesus to hold you up for all eternity, and He gives you His eternal life.
*But that's not all! Proverbs 18:24 talks about "a friend who sticks closer than a brother," and that's the kind of friend Jesus is for us when we believe in Him. We also have a Heavenly Father who watches over us, loves us, gives us the discipline we need, and provides for every other need we will ever have in life. Through the Holy Spirit, we also have God's constant presence to guide us, inspire us, and comfort us in the hard times of life.
*The infinite blessings of God belong to us when we believe in Jesus! But we must believe in Jesus Christ.
2. THEN BE A CHANNEL OF THE LORD'S COMPASSION.
*We might think that since Jesus has boundless power and compassion, we should just let Him meet all the needs. But that's not how the Lord thinks. Verses 15-16 remind us that Jesus wants us to pour out the same kind of compassion we can see in Him:
15. When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.''
16. But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT.''
*We can almost read their minds: "What? -- What? -- What?!? You want US to feed them? We're out in the middle of nowhere. There may be 15,000 people here counting the women and children. Plus, it's late in the day. Not to mention the fact that 200 days of work wouldn't provide enough money to feed that crowd!" (Mark and John's Gospels give us that information.)
*The Lord asked His disciples to do something they couldn't possibly do on their own. And sometimes Jesus will stretch us beyond our normal abilities. What in the world are we to do in times like that? First, ask the Lord to give you His kind of compassion. We're not likely to be a channel of His compassion, unless we have some of it in our own hearts.
*But Christians: Remember that Romans 5:5 tells us that "the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us," so we can surely be channels of the Lord's compassion. But if we are not the people who care, then who will care? If this church is not the place where people can find compassion, then where will they find it?
*Seek more of the Lord's compassion in your own heart. Then do what you can do, and trust Jesus to do what you cannot do. God gives us abilities, but He can even work through our inabilities when we are moved by His compassion.
*Charles Allen found a great example in the story of a man who tried to kill himself. That desperate man jumped into a river to commit suicide. Thank God, a friend saw him jump, and immediately this friend jumped in to save him.
*The amazing thing was that the man who jumped in to rescue his friend couldn't swim at all. But the man trying to kill himself knew that his rescuer couldn't swim. He wanted to die, but he didn't want his friend to die, so he rescued the rescuer. And in the process that miserable man realized that he really did want to live.
*What made the difference? It wasn't the friend's ability. He couldn't swim at all. What made the difference was the non-swimmer's love and compassion, his willingness to take a risk, his willingness to sacrifice himself for his friend. (4)
*God can use people with hearts like that, in spite of our inabilities. Jesus can even do the impossible through us, because all good things are possible with God! So, be a channel of the Lord's compassion.
3. AND PUT EVERYTHING UNDER THE LORD'S CONTROL.
*We should put everything we have under the control of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! This is the lesson for us today in vs. 17-18. After Jesus told His disciples to feed that enormous crowd, they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." And Jesus said, "Bring them here to Me.''
*Jesus told them to bring that tiny amount of food to Him, and that's exactly what they did. John 6:9 tells us that they got that small amount of food from a little boy who brought his lunch that day. That little boy was willing to give his lunch to the Lord. He was willing to put everything he had in the Lord's hands, and that's what God wants us to do.
*Church: We may not seem to have much, and we may not be able to see how the Lord can use it. But if we will submit our little bit to God, He will multiply it, and use it for His glory!
*Many times, the need will seem bigger than us, and the need IS bigger than us. But the need is never bigger than the Lord, because all good things are possible with God! So, we should put everything in His control: Our money, our possessions, our time, and our talents. Give the Lord control of your life, and He will get you to the right place at the right time.
*Patricia St. John told about a missionary who learned this truth as she served in a Muslim country. Mary was a nurse from England who worked in a mission clinic. One day, she and her helper, Fatima, needed to travel 8 miles to another village. They caught a bus going in their direction, but for no apparent reason, the bus driver passed their stop, and kept on driving. The driver was very rude, and ignored the women's pleas to go back.
*Naturally, Mary was upset, but Fatima remained calm and reminded Mary that they had prayed that morning asking for God's guidance. Finally, the bus stopped at the bottom of a hill, miles away from home. Standing right there was an old woman with a baby in her arms. She walked up to Mary, and handed the baby to her.
*That poor child had a terrible eye infection, and needed immediate medical attention to save her eyes. Mary asked the woman how she knew to find help here, so far from the main village. She replied that a man had come to her in a dream, and told her that an English nurse would be waiting at the end of this road the next day!
*Mary and Fatima didn't plan to go anywhere near that road. But God used a rude bus driver to take them to the right spot. Mary treated the baby's eyes. In a few days the infection was gone. And they were able to give their Christian testimony to many people in that village. (5)
*When we give the Lord control of our lives, He will surely take us to some unexpected places, and we won't always understand what He is doing. But He will always take us to the right place at the right time, and we will get to see some miracles along the way. So, put everything in the Lord's control.
4. AND FOLLOW THE LORD'S COMMANDS.
*In vs. 19 Jesus had a very specific command for the people: "Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes." Luke 9:14 tells us that the Lord told them to sit down in groups of 50.
*Can you imagine the chaos that could have taken place in that hungry, unorganized mob of 15 thousand people? There could have been a massive riot. People could have been trampled, so the Lord commanded the people to sit down in manageable groups.
*And they were blessed by obeying. The crowd obeyed by sitting in groups. The disciples obeyed by serving the people. And notice that this great miracle might not have happened, if either of these had refused to obey.
*What if the crowd had refused to stay? What if the disciples had refused to serve? Obedience is vital when it comes to the big things Jesus wants to do through us. Sadly, we can block the Lord's blessings through our disobedience. But when we follow Christ's commands, He will provide us with all we will ever need.
*Jesus can even give us a miraculous, abundant overflow of good things. We see this truth in vs. 20-21, where "they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children." How much did they have? -- More than enough! And there is no telling how much Jesus can do through us when we follow His commands!
*Pastor John Smithson told the story of a young girl who grew up in California during the Great depression. When she was ten, her family was so poor that they lived in a tent. Her home life was horrible. Her father was an alcoholic, and her sisters were prostitutes.
*But one day a man and woman came and invited the girl to church. Then they started taking her to church. After church, they would also take the girl home with them to feed her and visit with her. They showed this young girl the love and mercy of Jesus Christ. And because of this, she eventually came to know the Lord.
*John Smithson told that story and then said, "This little girl was my grandmother and because of the love shown her 55 years ago, every one of her descendants are Christians and working for God. Because of her, I am here. All three children pastor churches. Three grandchildren pastor churches, plus music leaders and Sunday School teachers. A whole army from one person!" (6)
CONCLUSION:
*That's how to make the most of God's compassion in your life. Believe in our crucified and risen Savior Jesus Christ. Receive Him as your Lord and Savior. Then be a channel of the Lord's compassion. Put everything in His control. And follow His commands more closely every day. You will be glad you did, and there is no telling how much the Lord can do through you!
(1) SermonCentral sermon "Harvest Time" by Jerry Shirley - Matthew 9:35-38
(2) Original source unknown
(3) KERUX ILLUSTRATION COLLECTION - ID Number: 4461 - SOURCE: 50 Day Spiritual Adventure, Chapel Of The Air; Sermon: Trusting The God Of Surprising Outcomes - TITLE: How To Translate "believe" - AUTHOR: Rev. Robert L. Moss; First Church Of God; St. Joseph, Michigan - DATE: 4/7/96
(4) Charles L. Allen, POWERLESS BUT NOT HELPLESS, Tarrytown, New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1954/1992, p. 93 - Source: Sermons.com illustration - Topic: Purpose
(5) By Patricia St. John, FINDING GOD BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE, compiled by Lil Copan and Elisa Fryling - Wheaton, IL.: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1999, pp. 106-110 - Source: Sermons.com email 05/30/2004
(6) SermonCentral illustration contributed by John Smithson
