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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter 14. We continue our exposition of 
Matthew's gospel. Matthew 14, we're looking at 
the feeding of the 5,000 today. Chapter 14, verses 13 to 21. Though I will begin reading in 
verse one so we can remember the context in which we find 
ourselves. Matthew 14, beginning in verse 
one. At that time, Herod the Tetrarch 
heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants, this 
is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead and 
therefore these powers are at work in him. For Herod had laid 
hold of John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake 
of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. Because John had said to 
him, it is not lawful for you to have her. And although he 
wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude. because 
they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday was 
celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased 
Herod. Therefore, he promised with an 
oath to give her whatever she might ask. So she, having been 
prompted by her mother, said, give me John the Baptist's head 
here on a platter. And the king was sorry. Nevertheless, 
because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he 
commanded it to be given to her. So he sent and had John beheaded 
in prison. And his head was brought on a 
platter and given to the girl. And she brought it to her mother. 
Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it and 
went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard it, 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. 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. But 
Jesus said to them, They do not need to go away. You give them 
something to eat. And they said to Him, We have 
here only five loaves and two fish. He said, Bring them here 
to Me. 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. So 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. Immediately, Jesus made his disciples 
get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while 
he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes 
away, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Now when 
evening came, he was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle 
of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now 
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them, walking on 
the sea. And when the disciples saw him 
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a ghost. And they cried out for fear. 
But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer. 
It is I. Do not be afraid. And Peter answered 
him and said, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you 
on the water. So he said, come. And when Peter 
had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go 
to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind 
was boisterous, he was afraid. Beginning to sink, he cried out 
saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched 
out his hand and caught him and said to him, Oh, you of little 
faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, 
the wind ceased. And those who were in the boat came and worshiped 
him, saying, Truly, you are the Son of God. When they had crossed 
over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. And when the men 
of that place recognized him, they sent out into all that surrounding 
region, brought to him all who were sick, and begged him that 
they might only touch the hem of his garment. And as many as 
touched it were made perfectly well. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for the scriptures. We thank you for this record 
concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. We praise you for his power and 
his majesty, for his glory. We praise you for his compassion 
and kindness and love. And even now, Lord God, we pray 
that you would supply the Holy Spirit and give us wisdom as 
we approach your word. Help us, God, with reverence 
and with joy to come to the Holy Scriptures. And may you instruct 
our minds and hearts. May you further conform us under 
the image of your beloved Son. And God, for those outside of 
Christ, we pray that today would be the day of salvation, both 
here and in other churches here in Chilliwack and throughout 
this earth. We pray that your word would run swiftly and be 
glorified. Forgive us now for all of our 
transgressions. Forgive us for all iniquity. 
Forgive us for all of our lack of conforming unto your holy 
law. Wash us and purify us in the 
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his name that we 
pray. Amen. Well, here in chapter 14 we see 
miracles conducted by our Lord Jesus around the Sea of Galilee, 
or the particular place. in Galilee here. Specifically, 
what we've read, we see the feeding of the 5,000, which we'll consider 
this morning. God willing, in a couple of weeks' 
time, we'll look at Jesus walking on the sea. And, of course, after 
that particular miracle, we see the confession by the disciples, 
the first time in Matthew's Gospel, specifically, where the disciples 
say, truly, you are the Son of God. So what Matthew is taking 
pains to demonstrate continuously is that Christ is the one of 
whom the prophets spoke. Christ is the fulfillment of 
all of the Old Testament Scriptures. Christ is the Son of David. He 
is the Son of God. He is the only Savior for sinners, 
and it is good for us to understand Him as Matthew sets Him forth. Chamblin says concerning this 
particular parable, not parable, but this particular instance 
of the feeding of the 5,000, which incidentally is one of 
the only accounts recorded in all four Gospels. It's in Matthew, 
Mark, Luke, and John. And Chamblin says, the verbal 
parables of chapter 13. This feeding of the multitude 
is a visible parable meant to incite the crowds to serious 
thinking about Jesus' mission and identity. This is to incite 
the crowd. It is to elicit from them a particular 
response concerning who He is. He doesn't do these things simply 
to dazzle. He doesn't do these things simply 
to feed, though He does do that. But He does this to highlight 
the origin of His power, to confirm His authority, and to demonstrate 
that He is, in fact, the Son of God. France notes a contrast 
between the scene recorded in verses 1 to 12 in Herod's palace 
and this particular meal outside of Bethsaida. France notes that 
we move from Antipas' lavish but degenerate feast to one with 
a simpler menu but a more wholesome atmosphere. And so to that we 
now direct our attention. Verses 13 to 21, there are two 
broad categories that I want for us to consider this morning. 
First of all, we note the solitude of Christ. Verse 13, it was symptomatic 
of our Lord's ministry that there were instances and seasons and 
times where he would steal away from the crowd in order to refresh 
himself by communion with his father. Notice in verse 13, when 
Jesus heard it, he departed from there by boat to a deserted place 
by himself. And the connection is probably 
to either the beheading of John the Baptist, this is what we 
find in verse 12, then his disciples came and took away the body and 
buried it and went and told Jesus, Matthew, for theological reasons, 
connects these statements. When Jesus heard it, the death 
of the Baptist, he departed from there by boat to a deserted place 
by himself. Or it could be connected to verse 
2. Because verses 3 to 12 are somewhat of a parenthesis or 
somewhat of a backstory as to what's going on in terms of Herod. 
In chapter 14, verses 1 and 2, Herod gets wind of Jesus' ministry 
and fame. And Herod supposes that this 
is the John the Baptist that he had himself beheaded or murdered. He supposed that this was John 
the Baptist resurrected and come to haunt him. And that's what 
3 through 12 then sort of illustrates for us how we get to that point 
or how we get from Herod's suspicion to the reality of John's death. So either way I don't think it 
makes a whole lot of difference, though the connection does seem 
to indicate that it's Jesus heard about John's death, and so he 
departs to be by himself. As I've already mentioned, this 
is very important in the life and ministry of our Lord. He 
communes with his Father. Now, Jesus Christ is the second 
person of the triune God. Jesus Christ is the Logos, He 
is the Word, but He is fully and holy man. And as fully and 
holy man, He needs His Father, He needs the Spirit. He needs 
those spiritual resources that are absolutely crucial for effective 
and earnest ministry. And I think we see something 
here of an example. And you know I'm not big on exemplary 
preaching if it puts a fog over the text of Scripture. But we 
do need to derive from this. That if a man is going to be 
faithful in the public place, he must be faithful in the private 
place. If a man is going to be accurately 
able or adequately able to minister the truth of God's Word, he's 
got to spend time with the Word of God himself. He's got to be 
a man of prayer. He's got to be a man of the secret 
place. He's got to be a man of spiritual refreshment, spiritual 
vitality, and spiritual health and wholesomeness so that he 
can, in turn, effectively minister the truth of the gospel. Hence, 
we've seen Paul's emphasis in 1 Timothy chapter 4. Timothy 
is to be nourished in the words of the faith. He is to know the 
truth. He is to instruct brethren in 
those things, and if he himself doesn't get that nourishment, 
then he can't effectively pass that on to others. Why do you 
think Paul develops those sorts of themes with reference to pastoral 
ministry? Because it's paradigmatic or 
it's represented in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. 
Jesus sought solitude. When he heard it, he departed 
from there by boat to a deserted place by himself. The last known 
location is Nazareth. Probably now he's moved to Capernaum, 
he gets into this boat, he heads eastward on the Sea of Galilee, 
because the parallel in Luke tells us that he's near Bethsaida 
when he feeds this great multitude of people. But Christ needs communion 
with His Father. Christ needs fellowship with 
His Lord. Christ needs that refreshment 
that can only be found in the secret place. And if Christ needs 
that as the God-man, certainly we, as lesser men, need such 
things as well. If you want to be genuinely useful 
and you want to be genuinely beneficial in the Kingdom of 
God, it requires time with God. This is something that I think 
we see in the life and the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. So 
He sought solitude, but notice that the multitude sought Him. 
The multitude sought Him. And the fact that we're dealing 
with more than 5,000 people is quite incredible. It wasn't as 
if these cities that were around the Sea of Galilee were Vancouver's 
or Saskatoon's even. It's a fun word, Saskatoon. They weren't Los Angeles's, they 
weren't Chicago's, they weren't New York City, they weren't these 
bastions of peopled places. The multitude that sought him 
knew who he was. His fame had spread. The word 
had gone about the regents concerning our Lord Jesus. So he moves to 
a deserted place in order to find solitude, and the multitudes 
hunt him down. Not in an aggressive manner, 
not in a sinful manner initially, but they are seeking after Him. 
They want to be where the Lord Jesus Christ is. So we see His 
solitude, not as secondly, we see His compassion. And this 
is where we're going to spend the bulk of our time this morning. 
The compassion of Christ. Notice verse 13, 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. Now, does 
that strike anybody as odd? It strikes me as odd. So I was 
having some solitude here during the week, spending time with 
the Lord. And a fellow came and knocked 
on the door. Nobody from our church, not a member, not anybody 
I'd ever met in my life. He needed some help. I must say 
my compassion meter did not register the way my Lord's does. Notice that when Christ sees 
this multitude who interrupted His solitude, He is not irritated 
by them. He is not evasive from them. See, I could have looked through 
that peephole and not answered. In hindsight, maybe I should 
have, because my attitude really wasn't good. I've apologized 
to the Lord. I did help the man. But, you 
know, it's one of those things where your mom tells you to pick 
up the socks and put them in the hamper and you do it, but 
you're not happy about it. Jesus is not irritated. He is 
not evasive. He is not condemnatory. He is not unkind. He is not abusive. He is compassionate. And Matthew's 
readers, up to this point, expect such a response from the son 
of David. Remember in chapter 9, you can 
turn there. Chapter 9, verses 35 to 38. Then 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. Then He said to 
His disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers 
are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the 
harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. He sees this 
multitude, interrupt this solitude, and instead of irritation, instead 
of being abusive, instead of being evasive, instead of condemning 
them, He issues forth this compassion, this kindness, this goodness, 
this love, this mercy that is typical of our Savior. And I 
highlight that to highlight this. Go to Christ. There's times when 
we don't pray. There's times when we stay off 
from the means. There's times when we don't come 
to church because of this reason or another. What do we find when 
we come to the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we find blows and resistance 
and rebuke? Do we find a Savior who says, 
get away from me, I want nothing to do with you? No, we find a 
Savior who when he's seeking solitude, is sought out by the 
multitude, and returns this not with irritation, but with compassion. 
How much more ought the people of God to come to our Lord? How 
much more ought we to be knocking at His door? How much more ought 
we to be fetching mercy and grace from the throne of grace? This 
is what we see in a passage like this, demonstrated by our Lord 
Jesus Christ. So it tells us that there's a 
statement that He has compassion. Verse 14, He was moved with compassion 
for them, and then notice the demonstration of this compassion. We saw when we looked at that 
passage in Matthew 9. It's not enough that He has compassion. It's not enough that I feel bad 
for you. What is absolutely requisite 
is that I feel bad or I have compassion and I have the power 
to aid. I have the power to assist. I 
have the power to help you. And in Matthew 9, He sees the 
multitudes are like sheep having no shepherd. He feels compassion 
for them. And what does He do? He tells 
His disciples to pray that the Lord of the harvest would raise 
men up to send out into the harvest field. And then in chapter 10, 
verses 1 to 4, He selects His 12 apostles to meet that particular 
need. He is full of pity, joined with 
power, as Joseph Hart writes. This is the Savior King with 
whom we have to do. He not only sees this multitude, 
He not only looks upon these peasants, He not only realizes 
their state before man, He understands their state before God, and He's 
full of mercy, and He delivers the goods. He does three things 
to alleviate their issues. or their problems. The first 
thing he does is that he teaches them. I realize that Matthew 
does not indicate that in his gospel account. But it's not 
the case that all day long he healed. He healed and he taught. 
And in Mark chapter 6, in the parallel we read, so he began 
to teach them many things. You see, Jesus didn't just cater 
to the outer man. Jesus made sure they got the 
spiritual food from on high. Jesus made sure He tended to 
the soul, not just the body. Jesus wasn't just a government 
agent. Jesus wasn't a welfare line. 
Jesus wasn't a soup kitchen. Jesus didn't just bring a ladle 
to deal with the multitudes. This is where in one of the problems 
of the church today. We feel like we need to ameliorate 
the downtrodden and the poor. And I'm all for that, but the 
best remedy, the best help for the downtrodden and poor is the 
gospel of free and sovereign grace. It is the message that 
God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. It is the 
reality that Jesus died for sin and rose again. It is the reality 
that in Him we have a righteousness that avails with God. So Jesus 
taught them. The parallel in Luke's Gospel 
tells us, and He received them and spoke to them about the Kingdom 
of God. He didn't lecture them on farming, 
though that's legit. He didn't lecture them on a work 
ethic, though that's legit. He didn't lecture them on a whole 
bunch of things that would have helped them in their current 
situation and condition. He lectured them on the thing 
which is most important, the Kingdom of God. You see, brethren, 
as the Church, our primary emphasis is on teaching the truth of God. The primary emphasis is to speak 
and preach concerning the Kingdom of God. Of course, loving deeds, 
kindness, goodness, acts of mercy, benevolent, those are oftentimes 
the needle that threads the way for the truth of the Gospel. 
But what happens at times is that we're out feeding people 
and we forget to call them to repentance and faith. We're out 
there loving Chilliwack, and we're not telling them, repent, 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We're out there ladling 
soup into bowls, and we're not telling sinners about the blood 
atonement of Jesus Christ. You see, Christ dealt with the 
whole man. He dealt with the spiritual needs. 
He dealt with the physical needs. And He taught them many things, 
is what Mark says. Notice, secondly, in terms of 
the demonstration of His compassion, He healed. He healed their sick. Isn't that glorious? Again, I 
think we just run through passages like these and we don't stop 
to smell the gospel flowers. He healed the sick. I watched 
a video yesterday called, The Holy Ghost Hokey Pokey. The whole 
idea was you put your right hand in and your right hand out, and 
you put your right hand in and right hand out, they stop singing 
for a moment, and then people come up and they talk about their 
malady, and then they say that the Holy Ghost has healed them. 
That's not what Jesus is doing. He has the authority and the 
power and the sovereignty and the glory to effect healing. He healed the sick. We've seen 
this in the gospel records. We've seen this when the paralytic 
is lowered through the roof. And Jesus says, your sins are 
forgiven you. They say, who does this man think 
he is? Only God alone can forgive sins. Jesus says, I want you 
to know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. 
So He tells that man, pick up your mat and walk. What happens? The man picks up his mat and 
walks. Remember the centurion with his servant who is ill. 
Jesus speaks a word and heals the man. We see Talitha, the 
little girl, the daughter of Jairus. What does Jesus do there? They're ridiculing Him. They're 
mocking Him. They're making fun of Him. And 
Jesus speaks the word and she rises from the dead and is restored 
to her family. The Lord Christ, when He sees 
these multitudes, He teaches them, and He heals. There's physical 
disease, there's physical infirmity, there's physical calamity, and 
our Lord Christ ministers to them. This is the glory and the 
majesty of Christ displayed through the written Word. You know, at 
times people say, oh, if only I would have been there, and 
I could have seen that. It's recorded here. It's written 
for our perusal. It's there for our understanding. 
And then notice, thirdly, He not only taught, He not only 
healed, but He fed them. He fed the multitudes. And this 
breaks down into three sections. First, the disciples respond. So the disciples report to our 
Lord. Notice in verse 15. When it was evening, His disciples 
came to Him. If you drop down to verse 23, 
you'll see another reference to evening. Evening was mid-afternoon 
till after the sun went down. There were two components, early 
evening and late evening. We say the same sorts of things 
in our conventions, so don't suppose there is some sort of 
a contradiction here. He is dealing, or the text in 
verse 15, it's early evening, the disciples' tummies are probably 
grumbling, so they rightly conclude these 5,000 men's tummies are 
probably grumbling too. And notice how they respond to 
our Lord in verse 15. When it was evening, His disciples 
came to Him saying, this is a deserted place. There's not a Walmart. in the deserted place outside 
of Bethsaida. There's no Taco Bell. There's 
no McDonald's. There's no 7-Eleven. There's 
no 99-Cent Hot Dog. There's just not anything here. 
The hour's getting late, Lord. It's going to be dark soon. They say, send the multitudes 
away that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food, 
which would be no small task in and of itself. We're not talking, 
as I said, about Vancouver's. We're not talking about Los Angeles. 
We're talking about small villages. If scads of people came to buy 
food, it would probably be a difficulty in and of itself. Many have interpreted 
the disciples here as being unbelievers. They have no belief, no faith 
whatsoever in the Lord Christ. The emphasis may fall there, 
but Matthew certainly doesn't indicate that. In fact, they 
come to the Lord and they say, send the multitudes away, that 
they may buy some food. In the parallel accounts, they 
say, we don't have enough money to rightly feed all these people. Saint Cyril of Alexandria says 
it this way concerning the disciples. Not that they lacked faith, but 
that they themselves demonstrated compassion. He said, not so speaking 
as though they were themselves at all annoyed and considered 
that the proper time had gone by, but seized with love towards 
the multitudes and beginning to have a concern for the people 
as being already intent on their pastoral office. So it's not 
something that we can uniquely condemn. The disciples were wrong. 
No, the disciples could have been right. They're looking at 
things. They're doing the math. They're making equations. Yes, 
they're standing next to the Son of God, but we'll give them 
a little bit of compassion, because all these things aren't as clear 
to them, in the thick and in the mix of it, as it is to us, 
the readers, 2,000 years later. Now, note the Lord's response 
to them. They bring the malady, they bring 
the problem, they bring the conundrum, they bring the issue to Him, 
and here's what Christ says. First, He commands the disciples 
to give them something to eat. Why does he do this? Does he 
actually think the disciples can do this? Is he deputizing 
them? Is he shifting power and authority 
in this instance? Does he just not know? I think 
it is to highlight, to set the context, the framework, and the 
foundation for the manifestation of the power that he is going 
to engage in. You feed them. You give them 
something to eat. He knows what they're going to 
say. We can't do it, Lord. We don't have enough resources. 
Do you know what the liberal interpretation of this passage 
is? You'll know in the parallel accounts 
that it's a lad who has the five loaves and the two fish. The 
liberal interpretation says that when that young lad offered up 
his five loaves and his two fish, that set a wonderful example 
of giving and love to the multitude. So everybody took out the few 
bits that they had and contributed it and together they had a majestic 
feast. That's not it at all. Jesus is setting the stage, He's 
putting things into place to highlight the manifestation of 
divine power. Matthew's aims are conspicuous. When we get to the end of the 
chapter and the disciples say, truly, you are the Son of God, 
Matthew doesn't want you to scratch your head, he doesn't want you 
to be puzzled, he doesn't want you to say, well, how could that 
possibly be? Because this Christ takes five 
loaves and two fish and feeds multitudes. The disciples respond, 
we have here only five loaves and two fish. This was the typical 
fare, this was the typical food of a Galilean peasant. Probably 
barley, well it was barley loaves, just like John tells us in John 
6. That was the less expensive bread. That's the stuff you buy 
that's three for two bucks at Save-On. It's not the seven dollar 
loaf that's got all the, you know, nuts and bolts in it for 
your well-being. Barley loaves was not the premium 
bread. And the fish here probably weren't 
long, big, sparkling trout or a salmon they just yanked out 
of the river. It was probably a dried type 
of fish that was put into a relish form that you'd spread on the 
bread. This was the daily fare of a 
Galilean peasant. So Jesus says, I want you to 
feed the multitude. They say, Lord, all we have are 
five loaves and two fish. And the loaves, again, are probably 
not the monumental Costco two-in-a-bag loaf. It's probably like a bun. It's probably like a one-serving 
meal for a particular person. Spurgeon says this concerning 
their response. He says, with what a gloomy butt 
they show how lean is the larder. It's a word that means something 
like pantry. Yes, I had to look it up. Those 
two sardines make the stock seem positively ridiculous. And then 
he says this, it is a good thing for us to know how very poor 
we are and how far from being able to meet the wants of the 
people around us. It is good or it is for our good 
to be made to confess this in so many words to our Lord. And 
then Spurgeon records something in his commentary on Matthew 
that really, really just hit me right in the heart. He's reflecting 
upon this. Matthew was the last body of 
written literature that C. H. Spurgeon worked on prior to 
his death. In fact, I think the notes and 
the book essentially was compiled by his wife and put together 
for publish. And one of the things that he 
says here, Truly, he who writes this comment has often felt as 
if he had neither loaf nor fish. And yet for some 40 years and 
more, he has been a full-handed waiter at the king's great banquets. That was touching. It is good 
for us to confess our emptiness, our dependence, the fact that 
we lack. Lord, we don't have the resources 
wherewith to feed the multitudes. Again, I think the spiritual 
corollary ought to be evident and obvious. Lord, we don't have 
the resources to combat Islam. We don't have the resources to 
combat atheism. We don't have the money. We don't 
have the manpower. We don't have all the things 
that those big churches have. We've got the living and true 
God whose voice is able to crush the cedars of Lebanon. We have 
the truth of the power of God, which is His gospel. We have 
means, we have prayer, we have church, we have worship, we have 
all those things. It is good for us to find our 
dependence upon the Lord God Himself. So Jesus commands the 
disciples to give them something to eat. Secondly, He then commands 
them to bring the loaves and fish to Him. He commands the 
disciples to bring the fish and the loaves to him. Verse 18, 
bring them here to me. The Lord exposes the lack of 
resources again in order to call attention to what he's going 
to do. Paul understood this lesson in 2 Corinthians 12. Paul understood 
this all too well when he knew that God's grace was sufficient 
and manifest through the apostles weakness. You see, we have just 
the opposite appeal to things, or just the opposite approach 
to things. We think power. We think ability. We think education. We think 
money. We think resources. It's what 
God's going to use. God takes a David out of the 
field, shepherding his flock, who's unable to even hoist the 
armor of a saw, who all he has is a sling and five smooth stones, 
and it's that stone, the first one, that finds its mark in the 
giant's head. David then takes the giant's 
sword and cuts off the giant's head. When will we learn that 
God does not depend upon our resources, upon our abilities, 
upon our multitude of loaves and fish, but he depends upon 
his own sovereign prerogative to accomplish the things that 
he has purposed. And then notice the command to 
the multitudes to sit on the grass. Who's in control of this? It's Christ. Have you ever tried to get 50 
people to do something? I always struggle when there's 
a wedding here, because I'm not a wedding planner. And the rehearsal 
thing really bothers me. I'm just speaking honestly, and 
as a man, it doesn't bother me that much. It's not like I have 
pain over it. Like when there's a wedding planner 
to say, you go here, you do this, and you do that. It's the way 
I like it to be. But if nobody's here in terms 
of a wedding planner, then I gotta say, okay, you go here, you gotta 
do this. I just don't like doing that. You walk up, you make, 
you know, how many steps do we do? I don't know. I'm not a wedding 
planner. Sometimes it's hard to get 10 
people marching in step. You see soldiers out there marching, 
and you see the guy shouting commands at them, and you think, 
oh, that must be easy. It's not easy. You inevitably 
have somebody, when they're supposed to start with their left foot 
forward, starting with their right. It just happens. You put 10 people together and 
nine of them will start with their left. They'll be the one 
guy that starts with the right. Who's in sovereign control of 
this event? Have them sit on the grass. Mark 
tells us they were divvied up, marshalling. It's almost like 
a military gathering there. Have them sit down. You may not 
have the resources, you may only have five loaves and two fish, 
but Christ has the voice of God Most High. And when He takes 
loaves, and when He takes fish, He has creative power to multiply 
them. This is the point of the narrative. Notice that Jesus then, 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." The first audience wouldn't have 
understood sort of the communion language, but any reader of Matthew's 
Gospel hears Matthew 26-26 in this particular event. Some have seen that Christ is 
gathering His church, He's gathering His community. And while this 
isn't Eucharistic or sacramental or an ordinance, it is wrong 
for us not to hear the overture, not to hear the overtones, not 
to understand that our Lord is sovereign in the dispensing of 
bread. He is the one who orchestrates 
this whole affair, so that when we get to the Lord's Supper and 
it's an ordinance of the New Covenant Church, it is the Lord 
who is sovereign over this affair. So that's why we gather under 
His blessed and beneficent hand, so that we can eat and drink 
from His gracious provision. Christ takes the bread, He looks 
up into heaven. This is an outward sign of inward 
dependence. Again, the God-man is dependent 
upon his Father. He uses a prayer that was conventional. The householder, the man, the 
head of the home, would bless the father. He would give thanks 
to the father. In fact, the specific language 
that would be used in these settings are, Blesser are you, O Lord 
our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the 
earth. And then Jesus gives these loaves 
and these fish to his disciples, and they go and distribute. So 
you see, within this feeding, miracle. We've got the disciples 
report, we've got the Lord's response, now notice the multitudes 
feast. This is beautiful. Verse 20, 
so they all ate and were filled. That means they were stuffed. 
You ever have one of those meals afterwards, you kind of Think, 
oh, I wish I had rubber pants on or elastic pants. That's what 
it means. That's what's going on. That's 
what Matthew's highlighting. They didn't just get a corner 
out of one of the loaves. They ate loaves, they ate fish 
until they couldn't eat anymore. It just kept coming. It just 
kept moving. It just kept multiplying. Spurgeon again says, some would 
give the poor only the barest necessities. Bread only. He says, our Lord adds fish. Matthew Henry has a comment similar 
when Boaz invites Ruth to his table. Here's your bread. Dip it in the sauce. Our God 
is not begrudging His people. Our God is not a miser. Our God 
doesn't just peel off a couple and then say, forget about it. 
There's bread and there's fish aplenty. You eat. You'll be satisfied. You'll be 
filled. See, I hear behind this the gospel 
invitation of Isaiah 55, 1 and 2. You get abundance in Christ. You get absolute satisfaction. You get constant provision. You 
get sufficiency. You get every spiritual blessing 
in the heavenly places in Christ. Spurgeon says, some would give 
the poor only the barest necessities, bread only. Our Lord adds fish. Then he says this, what a feast 
was this! Christ for master of the feast, 
apostles for butlers, thousands for numbers, and miracles for 
supplies. What a far more glorious feast 
is that which the gospel spreads for hungry souls. What a privilege 
to be fed by the Son of God. What a glorious statement. It's 
a man who gets it. The fragments are then collected. Now, I should tell you that in 
the commentaries and in the tradition of interpretation, some have 
seen the five loaves as representative of the five books of the Law 
of Moses. Some have seen the two fish as being the Law and 
the Prophets, or perhaps the New Testament. I think that each 
of the Gospel writers indicates the five and the two to indicate 
something about the details. This wasn't a cunningly devised 
fable. Each of these four men record 
the exact amount of numbers. I don't think we need to see 
symbolism here. We get to these twelve baskets. 
Well, it could be the twelve tribes of Israel. It could be 
the twelve apostles themselves. I actually don't have a problem 
with that interpretation because if Christ is bringing together 
a new humanity... Twelve, the number, the apostolic 
foundation. But be that as it may, I think 
the point specifically in the passage at verse 20 is so they 
all ate and were filled and they took up twelve baskets full of 
the fragments that remained. What's the point there? The fragments 
that remained exceeded the original deposit. The fragments that remain, 
the leftovers. Everybody's got toothpicks at 
this point. They got their elastic pants, 
they're thrilled, they're filled, they're full. And then the disciples 
go out and gather up the rest, not because they're environmentalists. They had a concern to police 
the ground. No, they had a concern that food 
get not wasted. They pack it up for a later time. But the emphasis is on the miraculous 
display of Christ's power in taking five measly barley loaves 
and two fish that were used to spread on those particular loaves. 
And he feeds multitudes with that to the point where they're 
satisfied and filled and to the point where there's 12 baskets 
of fragments left over for another time. And then Matthew. The other gospel writers do it 
too, but Matthew's background indicates something of his concern 
for numbers. There were 5,000 men there. Again, 
that doesn't seem like a big crowd in a big city or big population 
area, but on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee in the 
first century, 5,000 men are a lot of men. It's not that women 
and children don't matter. It was typical to number the 
men in a particular situation. But if there were 5,000 men, 
there were women there additionally, and there were children. You 
see, as we've heard this story probably many times in our lives, 
as we've read this story probably many times in our lives, we just 
read, go through, and if we even stop to think, go, wow, that's 
kind of neat. Matthew is saying to us, I was 
there. I distributed food. I know what 
five loaves and I know what two fish are capable of. I know what 
5,000 men look like. I know what lots of ladies look 
like and I know what lots of children look like. Matthew is 
indicating to us that what I beheld and what I saw and what was demonstrated 
before my eyes was absolutely amazing. It's not something just 
to be ran through. It's something to be pondered. 
It's something to be contemplated. It's something to be considered. 
It's something to feed your own soul with. Like the way Ryle 
says it. He says, we ought to lay firm 
hold on such passages as this. We ought to lay firm hold on 
such passages as this. Why? We should treasure up in 
our minds every evidence of our Lord's divine power. He says 
the cold, unconverted man may see little in the story. The 
true believer should store it in his memory. Why? Let him think 
of the world, the devil, and his own heart, and learn to thank 
God that his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is almighty. That's what Matthew is telling 
us. Something that no one could do 
was done by the Son of God. I realize that other men in the 
Scriptures did miraculous things. In just a moment, we're going 
to make an observation between Jesus and Elisha. There was a 
man who brought 20 barley loaves to Elisha, the prophet, and Elisha 
says, feed them. And he says, 20 barley loaves 
aren't going to feed a hundred men. Guess what happened? 20 barley loaves fed a hundred 
men. Some would say, well, Elisha did it and Jesus did it. So therefore, 
how do you ascribe deity to the one and not to the other? You 
see, it's sort of a package situation. Elisha did this. God did it through him, to be 
sure. Elisha spoke the truth, to be sure. But Elisha wasn't 
wholly harmless and undefiled. Elisha wasn't sinless. Elisha 
didn't do the sorts of things on a regular basis that the Son 
of God did on a regular basis. Just because a man in the Old 
Testament did a particular thing, doesn't mean that they're necessarily, 
doesn't mean that Jesus isn't God. When we read through the 
gospel accounts, and we see the weight of evidence, and we see 
the testimony, and we hear the confession, and we hear the affirmation, 
Hopefully, we will likewise say, truly, you are the Son of God. Make no mistake about it, do 
not miss this, do not resist this, do not reject this, but 
rather welcome it and submit to the One alone, who has the 
power not only to feed a great multitude with five loaves and 
two fish, to save your soul from hell. If this power in the physical 
realm, what of His power in the spiritual realm? If he's able 
to do this with multitudes in terms of physical sustenance, 
what is he able to do for multitudes in terms of spiritual sustenance? Matthew is calling upon you, 
listen, pay attention, observe, see. Matthew is testifying under 
the power of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He is saying, 
behold your God. He is telling you to look and 
live. These fish, these loaves, filled 
them for a day, but didn't sustain them unto eternity. In fact, 
in John's Gospel, we have the healing miracle in John 6, 1 
to 14. And then Jesus walks on the water 
just like we find here in Matthew's Gospel. And then John includes 
a discourse not found in Matthew's Gospel. Again, not contradiction, 
but for theological aims and purposes. And remember, that 
particular discourse in John 6, based on the reality of the 
miracle of the bread, the bread of life discourse then comes. And he indicates, and he highlights 
to them, the bread of life has come down out of heaven, that 
you may have everlasting life. Jesus talks about the things 
that bother people today. He talks about total depravity. 
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws 
him. He talks about irresistible grace. The Father draws him. 
He talks about limited atonement. All that the Father gives me 
will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly 
not cast out. In other words, the bread of 
life discourse, based on the bread of life miracle, Jesus 
preaches sovereignty. And do you know what happens 
at the end? You know what happens. Many of 
His disciples followed Him no longer. Disciples there is not 
strictly believers on the Lord Jesus. It's an external, outward 
person following Him because He gave them bread and fish. 
Do not think for a moment that this original audience that received 
the loaves and received the fish necessarily received the Savior. Then, as is common today, is 
consumerism. As long as Jesus was passing 
out fish, as long as Jesus was passing out bread, as long as 
Jesus was ladling soup into the bowl, people would have an external 
show. But when Jesus starts preaching 
sovereignty, He starts preaching election, He starts preaching 
irresistible grace, He starts preaching the depravity of man 
and the inability of man. Well, people don't like that. 
So they no longer followed Him. Beware of that sort of a thing. 
Beware of that reality. You know, we discussed this yesterday 
morning. The Bible is about God. It's 
not you. Man today wants to manipulate 
God to be what man wants him to be. You won't find that theme 
in the Bible. You don't find man orchestrating 
how we can engage in techniques and strategies in order to manipulate 
our God. You find it in the Bible in terms 
of the pagans. You find Baalism doing that. You find Molech worshippers 
doing that. Why else would they throw their 
children into the fire? They want something from Molech. 
Why else would they copulate? Because they want Baal to reign 
upon their crops. The worshipper goes before Baal, 
he goes before Molech, and he approaches that being, or that 
idol rather, as if he's a slot machine. I do my part, I pull 
the handle, and then you do your part. That is not the God of 
Scripture. What does Paul say? For of him 
and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. Beware of a consumerism. We like Jesus as long as he's 
handing out loaves and fish. See, churches again can fall 
prey to this. We're popular. We're respectable. We're well-received in our community 
because we ladle out soup. We start preaching what men call 
Calvinism or high doctrine, and we alienate people. So in this passage, we learn 
three things, at least. First, the glory of Christ is 
manifest. We see His sovereignty. And we 
see his power. Ryle says to create is the peculiar 
prerogative of God. To create is the peculiar prerogative 
of God. We just heard some powerful rain 
on the roof, didn't we? I don't typically hear that during 
the week. I hear birds. You've all heard me report that 
before. Birds go up there and they have whatever they do up 
there. That was powerful rain. It's 
easy to complain about rain, isn't it? If you were here on 
Wednesday night, you'll probably never complain about rain again. 
We read a letter from Haiti. They've had drought for a year. 
Guzman was telling us about a baby that needed its mother's milk, 
and there's no milk in its mother because there's no food in Haiti. 
There's no rain in Haiti. There's drought. There's no water. 
Thursday morning when it was pouring rain, I thought twice 
about complaining. Christ's power is displayed not 
only when he takes these five loaves and these two fish and 
he multiplies it to the 5,000 plus people sitting on the Sea 
of Galilee or on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, but Christ's 
power, Christ's prerogative is displayed in an affluent society 
like ours. We're just not as prone to see 
it. which is not as prone to be thankful. We sang this morning 
Psalm 146, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives 
food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the 
prisoners. Pastor Kim read Psalm 107 at 
the outset of worship. He must have known we were looking 
at the feeding of the 5,000 this morning. What does the psalmist 
testify there? He fills the longing soul. Are 
we thankful to our blessed God because we have fridges? Because 
we have Walmarts? Because we have super stores? 
It's easy sitting on the Sea of Galilee to appreciate these 
five loaves and two fish, and very difficult for us at times 
to remember to thank God Most High for the fact that we can 
just go buy a cooked chicken. Under the glory of Christ, it's 
not only His sovereignty and His power, but His compassion. What moves the Son of God to 
do this? Do you realize that in that multitude, not everyone 
was elect? Obviously, because in John 6, 
those who followed Him, followed Him no longer. This Word was 
hard. They didn't like it. They didn't 
like the claims of what one man calls extreme Calvinism. They 
didn't like that, so they fall away. Nevertheless, Jesus, knowing 
who His people are, has compassion for them and feeds them bread 
and feeds them fish. It's compassion. It's great. 
Davies and Allison say the story of the feeding of the 5,000 is 
above all about the compassionate Jesus and his supernatural ability 
to meet the lack of those in physical need. It's a great summary 
statement. In the flow of Matthew's gospel, 
it affirms, it confirms, it validates and demonstrates that he is in 
fact the son of David. He goes about doing these particular 
things throughout the crowd saying, could this be, could this be, 
could this be? Every act of power, every act 
of sovereignty, every display of the miraculous evidences his 
origin, evidences his authority. I mentioned as well, there's 
some types going on in the passage. Jesus is the anti-type. The type 
in the Old Testament prefigures or foreshadows or looks forward 
to something else. The sacrificial system in the 
Old Testament was typical. It pointed forward. Such that 
when John the Baptist sees Jesus, he says, behold, the Lamb of 
God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus is the anti-type. He's the one to whom the type 
pointed. It's an interesting section in 
2 Kings chapter 4. I've already referred to it. Elisha the prophet tells that 
man from Baal-Shelisha, I think it's Baal-Shelisha, to take those 
20 barley loaves and feed the man. He says, are you kidding 
me? It kind of sounds like these 
disciples, don't you know 20 loaves aren't going to feed 100 
men? He does it and it feeds them. 
Now, see, we might come to the feeding of the 5,000 on the shore 
of the Sea of Galilee and miss the Elisha connection, but probably 
the disciples didn't, probably anybody who understood their 
Old Testament didn't. What is Matthew telling us? What 
he's already told us in Matthew 12, that there is indeed a greater 
than Jonah among you. There is indeed a greater than 
an Elisha among you. And interesting, in that 2 Kings 
4 passage, God shows His power over debt, God shows His power 
over death, God shows His power over drought, God shows His power 
to meet the needs of man in every circumstance and in every issue. But it's not just Elisha that's 
a type, and Jesus is the anti-type of him, it's Moses. Isn't this 
Jesus' interpretation of this feeding miracle in John's Gospel? He points them to Moses, and 
they say, Moses gave us bread in the wilderness. What do they say on the heels 
of this feeding miracle in John 6, 14? They say, truly, this is the 
prophet that was to come. And then in verse 15, it says 
they wanted to take him by force to make him a king. What's Matthew 
saying? Some have done great research 
to show that Christ is the new Moses to the community of Israel. There is a greater than Moses 
upon you. The glory of Christ. We see secondly 
the provision of Christ. He gives. He gives. Some of you young people, 
some children here, may have been brought up in a church, 
may have been brought up in this church, and at some point in 
time you start to hear, you start to make the connections, you 
start to make the implications, you start to hear that God is 
holy, and that I'm a sinner, and that I need Jesus. Sometimes 
a child, a young person, adults, they say, but will He take me? But will He accept me? Will He give me everlasting life? Visit the Jones family sometime 
and ask them, what's your favorite Bible verse? All that the Father 
gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me, 
I will certainly not cast out. He gives. Don't you see the Son 
of God sitting on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, feeding 5,000 
plus people as a giving God? Don't you see Him in His compassion, 
and in His kindness, and in His mercy? Don't you see the provision 
of the Lord demonstrated at the Sea of Galilee? If you don't, 
then I'm not preaching it properly, because you should! Thirdly, we see not only does 
He give His provision, but He gives everything necessary, His 
sufficiency. You need justification? Christ 
gives it. You need sanctification? Christ 
gives it. You need glorification? Christ 
gives it. You need forgiveness for your 
sins? Christ gives it. You need pardon from all iniquity 
and all shame and all guilt and all wickedness? Christ gives 
it. You need a righteousness that will avail with God? Christ 
gives it. He is full of pity, joined with 
power. He is able, able, able. He has all resources. He is sovereign. If you want Christ, go to Christ. If you want to believe on Him, 
believe on Him. Don't stop, don't tarry. If you're 
a believer and you're struggling and you need more of the Spirit, 
pray to Him. Are you struggling with a particular temptation 
or a particular issue or a sin in your life? Pray to God. Help 
me. Provide for me. There's sufficiency 
in the gospel, isn't there? I don't think we live that way. We affirm it. Our confession 
says it. We know it says it in the Bible. 
But in the practical day-in, day-out lives that we live, do 
we evidence a people who understand not only the provision that He 
gives, but the abundance, the sufficiency, the glory, the fullness 
that is in Christ. I'm not talking about, I want 
a new car, or a new house, or new shoes, or new whatever. I 
just want the Lord to engulf me, and to dwell in me, and to 
guide me, and to lead me. That's what I want. Well, cry 
out to Him. Pray. He's going to feed even 
reprobate fish and loaves on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Shall He not avenge His own elect 
who cry to Him day and night? What does James say? We have 
not because we ask not. You know, you meet people, oh, 
I'm really struggling with this sin. Do you pray against that sin? 
Well, no, my prayer life hasn't been that good. I'm really struggling with this 
temptation. Brother, have you been reading your Bible? No, 
I don't read my Bible. You know, somebody went to a 
war zone and they said, you know, we're not able to advance on 
the enemies. And I said, well, you have your 
gun? Are you locked and loaded? Are you ready to roll? I didn't 
bring my gun. You see, I'm not wearing my flak 
vest. I forgot my helmet. What are 
you going to say to the guy? Then go work at Walmart. Go back home, because you're 
not fit and ready to meet the enemy. How many of you, my dear 
brothers and sisters, are dealing with issues, dealing with trials, 
dealing with sins, dealing with temptations, and running against 
the enemy with no Bible and no prayer? And no church attendance? Isn't it the devil's logic? I'm 
not doing well, so I'm not going to read my Bible or pray. I'm not doing well, so I better 
read my Bible and pray." Luther said, when I'm really busy, I 
pray four hours a day. What? It's the devil's logic to keep 
us from the means that God's ordained for our benefit and 
for our growth and for our usefulness. It's not God. God never says 
to you, you know, you're not doing very well, so don't read 
my Bible, don't pray, and certainly don't go to church, and make 
sure you don't go to the Lord's Supper. I don't want you to do 
any of those things. I don't want you to receive provision 
and sufficiency from my gracious hand to actually stabilize you 
in the battle. I don't want you to do all that. 
No, God never says that. God says, repent, pick up the 
book, read it, pray, go to church. There is sufficiency in our Lord 
Jesus Christ. I alluded to Isaiah 55, 1 and 
2. Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have 
no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk without 
money and without price. Why do you spend money for what 
is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen 
carefully to me and eat what is good. I love this. And let 
your soul delight itself in abundance. What's Jesus saying in John 10? 
I came that they might have life and have it what? More abundantly. I know the weird guys with big 
cars and wives with big hair say abundance there means wives 
with big hair and big cars. That's not what it means. Abundance 
means the presence of God in your life. Isn't that what we want? Isn't 
that what Moses said when God says we're going to go to the 
promised land? Exodus 33, Lord, if you don't go, we don't want 
to go. If your presence doesn't go before us, we don't want to 
go. See, that's the heartbeat of the child of God. And I'll end referring again 
to John 6. Jesus fed, people followed, he 
preached, they left. And then Jesus asked this most 
pertinent question to his own. Do you also want to leave? May I encourage you to take Simon 
Peter's response as your own. When Jesus poses that question, 
after this mass exodus, Simon Peter says, Lord, to whom shall 
we go? You have the words of eternal 
life. He says, also, we have come to 
believe and know that you are the Christ, the son of the living 
God. That is the best confession, 
that is the best statement, that is the best proposition that 
you can believe. That Jesus is the Christ, the 
Son of the Living God. May God, in His grace, take this 
story concerning loaves and fish and push it in your mind and 
in your heart and in your conscience. And may you say, this one who 
gives fish and loaves also promises to give everlasting life to all 
who come. Lord, to whom shall we go? You 
have the words of eternal life. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for this narrative 
concerning our Lord's power. Truly He is the Son of God, and 
in this we greatly rejoice, because as that dear brother in the past 
said, only God Himself could save sinful humanity. And we thank You for our Lord, 
we thank You for His righteousness, we thank You for His obedience 
to the law, we thank You for His death at Calvary and His 
resurrection from the dead on the third day. I pray for any 
and all here this morning that do not believe. I pray to You, 
the God of heaven and earth, the One who has sovereign power 
and grace, that You would regenerate, that You would make alive, that 
You would give the gifts of faith and repentance, and that sinners 
would close today with the Lord Jesus. And for all of us, God, 
may we see the provision in Your Word, may we see the sufficiency 
in Your Word, and may we see always the glory of Jesus Christ 
our Lord. And it's in His name that we 
pray. Amen.