More thoughts on Matthew 14:13-21

One of the primary questions that I'm asking each week is "What does this passage reveal about the Kingdom of God?" While Jesus met physical needs with His miracles, it seems as though each miracle is also some sort of an enacted parable--revealing the nature of the Kingdom of God through earthly elements. Divine healings remind us that God heals and makes us whole. Resurrections remind us of new life in Christ. Our own spiritual blindness is reflected in miracles where the blind see, and cleansing of sin is reflected in the cleansing of those with leprosy.

This miracle is no different. The feeding of the five-thousand shows us that the Kingdom of God is about shalom--peace and wholeness. The Kingdom of God is about table-fellowship with others and with God Himself. The Kingdom of God is about abundance--all needs are met, and nobody goes hungry. The Kingdom of God is about mustard seeds growing into mustard trees, and yeast producing a loaf of bread.

Ray Vander Laan (That the World May Know: Faith Lessons on the Death & Resurrection of the Messiah) makes a connection between both of the feeding miracles: the five thousand and the four thousand. He suggests that Jesus is communicating a great spiritual truth using a rabbinic style of teaching. In the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples are left with twelve baskets of bread, showing us that Jesus is the Bread of Life--more than enough for the twelve tribes of Israel. Later, in the feeding of the four thousand, Jesus demonstrates that He is the Bread of Life--more than enough for the seven pagan nations that lived in the region of the Decapolis (the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites (Joshua 3:10)). Ray believes that those who were familiar with the Rabbinic traditions would have recognized the seven leftover baskets as representative of those seven nations.

Ray is one of my favorite teachers of Jewish culture, and so my tendency is to fully accept his interpretation. However, even without that interpretation, the message of these feeding miracles is clear: the Kingdom of God is one of abundance. Jesus is more than enough for all our needs.

As I watch through this lesson as dramatized in "The Visual Bible: Matthew," I'm reminded even more of what happened just before this feeding. Jesus is on His way to spend time mourning the death of John the Baptist. He's attempting to be by himself, but the crowds catch wind of where he is going and they travel to meet Him there. When He lands, He doesn't put back out in the boat or send them away. No, instead He "had compassion on them and healed their sick." (Mt. 14:14). Even out of His brokenness and sorrow Jesus is able to provide for the people. As drained as He is, there is an overabundance of Divine ability to meet the present need.

We're also reminded that this is a hopeless and impossible situation. The disciples' faces betray their hopelessness. They know that their small supply of food is not enough to meet the great need. And yet, Jesus uses the moment of their need as an opportunity for a miracle.

As a church, our resources are meager. We are currently in debt to ourselves, and find that there is not always enough to meet the need. But our moment of need is an opportunity to see a miracle. As we give our small gifts to God, may He multiply them as He did these loaves and fish. May there be an overabundance of Divine resources to help us reach Greater Portland with the Gospel message!

Grace and Peace,

PastorJon

PS: Lectionary Deviation explained here.