Exposition of Matthew (Matthew 14:13-21)

June 17, 

(Jesus’ last days of earthly ministry)

Questions to be answered in this study

1. Why was Jesus willing to turn the responsibility of the future church over to a bunch of unqualified novices?
2. What is the theme for this section of the gospel of Matthew?
3. What did the disciples suggest Jesus do concerning the hungry multitude?
4. How did Jesus respond to the disciple’s suggestion concerning the multitude?
5. What is our primary duty concerning our ministry?
6. Why were the people asked to sit down in groups of a hundred and fifties?
7. Why did Jesus ask the multitude to sit down?
8. To what reference in Scripture does sitting down refer?
9. What are the Biblical characteristics of God’s indwelling love, and where are they found?
10. How can our ministry of sharing the gospel relate to a miracle?
11. What is the meaning of the number 5 in Scripture?

Introduction

Because Israel rejected Jesus, He turned over the kingdom work to the disciples who were not yet prepared to carry on the job. That is why Jesus is spending time with them, teaching and preparing them for the task that lies ahead. Jesus selected each of His disciples even though they were untrained, as were the ministers or rabbis, except for the Mishna. So, they were still in the dark about what would be required to serve the kingdom. Jesus was willing to turn the responsibility for the future church over to this bunch of unqualified novices. The question is, why? Jesus is the over shepherd and director of the church. Because He is in charge, it didn’t matter the qualifications of His disciples. When He finished with them, they would be qualified and would further the cause of Christ to a great degree by establishing churches over the known world in that day and teaching them God’s program for His church.

The theme in this section of Matthew is Jesus preparing the disciples for their responsibility in the kingdom. The task would be excellent because Jesus had to retrain them because what they knew about ministry reflected the general teaching of that day, which was wrong as Jesus had been pointing out all along to the Pharisees. Their training came from the Mishna and other rituals the Jews were taught by the scribes. The approach to the ministry Jesus was teaching them was new and never known before. We know today, but it came from the disciples who learned it firsthand from the Lord.

Now we turn to the first day of their learning from Matthew 14:13-15:

Matthew 14:13-15 (KJV), “When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. 14And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 15And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.”

When Jesus heard of John’s death, according to Matthew, He withdrew from there. Jesus’ location was somewhere on the western side of the Sea of Galilee at that time. From here, Jesus would travel to where He performed the miracle of feeding the 5,000. This miracle was recorded in all four accounts of the gospel. This repetition gives us a lot of information concerning why this miracle happened. No doubt, the disciples were exhausted from the long trip and ministering to so many people. We see in Mark 6:31-32 KJV, “And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. 32And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.”

However, when they landed, they were met by a multitude of people:

Matthew 14:14-21, “And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 15And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.”16But Jesus said unto them; They need not depart; give ye them to eat. 17And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. ₁₈He said, Bring them hither to me. 19And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples and the disciples to the multitude. 20And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

Jesus told his disciples in no uncertain terms concerning the hungry multitude of people: “They do not need to go away – you feed them! This assignment created a dilemma for the disciples, for there were thousands present. How could they feed such a crowd? Their reply to Jesus was, there were only five loaves and two fish available. Did the disciples forget that the one they were following was powerful and could perform miracles? He did not expect them to provide the food. He did expect them to trust Him. Shouldn’t we also when things seem to be impossible to resolve. Our question to God should never be how, but what does God want us to do. He provides the means. Our responsibility toward God is to rely on Him to give the direction. Just as the disciples faced an impossibility, so will we in ministry unless we depend on God’s presence and His power. Andrew was searching for a human solution to a problem only God could fix. We make a mistake all too often on relying on ourselves rather than God. We are not God’s problem solvers. It is our calling to let God do His work through us as He gives the direction. Do we get so involved in searching for the answers that we, like the disciples, forget that Jesus is right beside us?

Our ministry is to lead people to the source of their spiritual need, which is Jesus. No sooner than when Jesus told the disciple to feed the crowd, he began to provide the way. He took the small amount offered and multiplied it to the adequate amount to fulfill the need. We become the way God carries out His will. He provides the how. Jesus first instructs the people to sit in the grass. Mark gives a little more detail; they are to sit in groups of hundreds and fifties. The seating arrangement made it easier to manage the feeding. Jesus asked them to sit down to avoid the rush toward the food and allow the disciples to pass out the food to them in their small groups. It is also a symbol of the 23rd psalm where the shepherd makes the sheep lie down in green pastors, provides their food, and cares for them.

First, Jesus blessed the food, and then He performed the miracle, broke the bread, divided the fish, and let the disciple hand it out to the crowd. Jesus multiplied the food as it was needed to fill the disciples’ baskets to feed the masses. Second. notice how the disciples fed the people and kept returning to Jesus to have their baskets refilled. To have an effective ministry for Jesus, we must constantly go to Him for our spiritual needs. To have something worth offering others, we must first receive it from Jesus, which starts with love. His love within us branches out in terms of the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control, Galatians 5:22 KJV. We don’t have the solution, nor can we minister without the assistance of our Lord. According to John 15, we must abide in Jesus to have a successful ministry. We get that which is valuable from Jesus and then go and share it with others. 

Third, our ability to serve the Lord through ministry is a miracle in itself, that is if it is truly a ministry that Jesus empowers and gives the results. We are only the messengers or the Sowers. Jesus is the one who gives the harvest of souls. The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 was not just one event; it repeatedly happened until it satisfied the people’s hunger. Although sharing the gospel may not seem to be a miracle, it is because it is the miracle Jesus performed through His death, burial, and resurrection by which a soul is saved. So be it every time we pray for someone, witness, or serve someone’s needs.

Fourth, feeding a crowd of over 5,000 is a lot of work. Ministry, if taken seriously, it is hard work and time-consuming. Hard work and time-consuming were lessons that the disciples needed to know to prepare for the work ahead. Serving our Lord is a privilege and a joy, but it can also be very challenging. Many Christians today are not up to the challenge and instead do nothing.

Fifth and last, there remains one more notable lesson here. After the task of feeding the 5,000, which no doubt took some time, Jesus ordered taking up the remaining food. There were twelve baskets taken up, one for each disciple, their blessing for serving others.

The feeding of the 5,000 is God’s grace in action. Numbers have a meaning in Scripture. The Number 5 is the number for grace. We are saved and sustained by God’s grace; He will not lose even one. He provides for us by His grace. Grace is the unmerited favor of God. We receive His grace free just as the multitude received free food on this day.