Reading: Matthew 14.13-21
When it comes to servicing our car, we really want someone who will tune up the engine according to the maker's specifications! The newer the model, the more important it will be that the service man doesn't go by hunch or feel - it has to be right!
This world has a Maker too. Human life has a Maker too. God made the world and declared it "good". But not all we see is good. Something has happened to disrupt the Maker's specifications for human life in this world. And what is that? Human beings were never meant to live independent of their Maker and his will. Making all sorts of choices is part of life - life is not meant to be like a railway line. But God has clearly told us there are choices we may not make. He has also made it clear that it is always important that we know and relate to him.
Tragically, the story of our human race - from Adam and Eve on - has been marked by rebellion against God's will, living by our own standards, often trying to hide from God or to ignore him altogether. And we even have the hide to blame God when things go wrong!
A little three-letter word describes our attitude and action - "sin". And the Bible indicates that sin has all sorts of negative effects on the functioning of our body and on the natural world about us. We are in a fallen world. We live outside the Garden of Eden. We face a world of sweat and toil, thorns and thistles, pain and sickness. We can no longer live in the Garden.
But from the time of Adam and Eve's sin, God began to promise that one day he would send someone who would deal with human sin. At the right time, he sent his own Son, Jesus, who called people back to the Maker's instructions. The people of the time thought a Cross a fitting end for him - if we have to get back to God, we can do it without his help! But that was part of God's plan too - our rejection of Jesus, the Son of God, on the Cross would be the means of overcoming our sin. For any who would believe in him, God would accept that his Son had already taken the penalty for our sin. In all sorts of ways people showed that they really knew they needed to know God, but sin was always the barrier. Now, in Jesus, it is really possible to know him!
Later, when Jesus was alone with his disciples, he asked them what people were saying about him. They had heard a variety of opinions (Mt.16.14). Perhaps this is Elijah, Jeremiah or one of the other prophets, or perhaps - John the Baptist.
John the Baptist... We read about him last week from the beginning of Matthew 14. "It was at that time that Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard about Jesus. 'He is really John the Baptist who has come back to life,' he told his officials. 'That is why these powers are at work in him'." The account is then given about Herod's birthday party and the beheading of John the Baptist.
"When Jesus heard the news, he left that place in a boat and went to a lonely place by himself" (v.13a). Jesus was greatly saddened by the news of what happened to John. He wanted some quietness and peace - to mourn, to reflect, to pray... Jesus was living the life we were meant to live. He knew that he couldn't do the Father's will if he didn't spend a great deal of time with the Father.
And getting that time was not easy. Though he was physically and emotionally exhausted, the crowd sought him out in his lonely place and "his heart", still fresh with the sadness of John's death, "was filled with pity for them, and he healed their sick." There must have been a great crowd of needy people, and Mark and Luke both record that Jesus was teaching them many things about the Kingdom of God (Mk.6.34; Lk.9.11). The day wore on and the sun was getting low in the sky. The disciples came to Jesus in concern - the lonely place, all these people getting hungry, time to send them home...
I recall a few years back doing a set of three Epilogues for Channel 9 in Brisbane. One was a fraction too long and the producer standing next to the cameraman was giving the "winding up" sign. I wonder if one of the disciples was at the back of the crowd giving Jesus the "winding up" sign!
"They don't have to leave. You yourselves give them something to eat" (v.16).
Now, Lord, that's hardly fair! You keep them here all day and then expect us to feed them! "All we have here are five loaves and two fish" (v.17). John records that this was the lunch brought by a boy - "What good are they for all these people?" (Jn. 6.9). In itself, that is a sensible, practical question. Lunch for a boy might be shared with a neighbour or two, but not with a crowd of 5000!
"Bring them here to me" (v.18). Here is the difference. Five loaves and two fish are not enough to feed 5000, but in the hands of Jesus it is a different matter. "He took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. Everyone ate and had enough. Then the disciples took up twelve baskets full of what was left over" (vv.19-20). In the hands of Jesus, the provision was more than enough - a generous supply.
And we are then told that the count of 5000 didn't include the women and children - probably because they only counted the number of family groups. The total number fed could easily have been in excess of 10,000!
All of that actually happened - we are not told how. Some Sunday School lessons forty years ago presented the view that, inspired by the boy's generosity, the crowd brought out their lunches too and began to share and there was more than enough. But that isn't what the record says!
One of the words used in the New Testament for "miracle" literally means "sign". What happened was a pointer to the real identity of Jesus - one of the clues that would lead Peter to call Jesus, "the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (Mt.16.16) and Thomas to affirm him, after the resurrection, "My Lord and my God!" (Jn.20.28).
But our resources are so limited. In the face of human need, we only have our "five loaves and two fish." We can say a kind word, but what is that for all this need about us? We can act with practical concern, but that goes nowhere near the problems we see. We can learn some of the practical principles of "caring by encouragement" - many have taken up the opportunity to do so! That training may help to ensure that we have our "five loaves and two fish" - but "what good are they for all these people?"
We can't do it alone! It is not just a question of having appropriate resources and skills - what needs to be done goes way beyond our resources! The Maker chooses to use us, yet we cannot do it without him!
When Jesus gave his final instructions, he said, "I will be with you always…" (Mt.28.20b). He said, "When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power…" (Acts 1.8a). But I don't believe that he meant that we would attain an independent personal power so that we could go then off on our own to "do the Lord's will". We are constantly dependent on his promised presence and power!
Of ourselves, we still have only "five loaves and two fish". We don't have nothing, but it's nowhere near enough! Bring the little we have to Jesus! He will use it to feed the crowd!
So - what are your "five loaves and two fish"? What are the positive qualities you have - but so inadequately? Bring them to him!
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