That You May Know - Pt 14

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 14:13-21 ESV).

Our reading brings us to another miracle of Jesus. It is one of the favorites, capturing the imagination of believers for centuries. The real question is why did Jesus do it? Could it be that He merely wanted to display his power; was He telling the people in a very dramatic way that he was God. If Jesus was showing off his divine powers, Matthew missed the point. The feeding of the 5000 in Matthew’s Gospel starts with an explanation of how they came to be in this isolated place needing food. They’d followed Jesus there. And Jesus was escaping from Herod. However, Jesus had a history of withdrawing (anachōreō) from evil rulers. He did so when his family withdrew from King Herod (2:12-14); again when they withdrew from Archelaus to live in Nazareth (2:22); again when he withdrew hearing of John’s arrest (4:12); and, he withdrew when he heard Pharisees were conspiring to destroy him (12:15). He certainly wasn’t doing it to draw attention or boast of his powers. And, it doesn’t look very regal either. How could heaven’s appointed king run from earth’s rulers? Jesus withdrew to grieve, to be alone, to catch his breath, to pray, and to consider what could happen to him. He got no chance to relax. The crowds pursued until they found him. They were probably grieving too, horrified by what had happened to John. Herod’s persistent fear was that the Jews would revolt (v. 5). If Jesus wanted to lead a revolt, now would be a good time. Surely it was time to take earth’s kingship from the rulers who resist God’s reign, killing any who dare question their authority. That’s how this crowd thought. John’s Gospel says they were ready to use forceful means to make Jesus their king (John 6:15). But Jesus refused to fight. Whatever he was feeling over John’s death, he turned that emotion into compassion for the crowd who lived under such unjust rulers. His energies were directed not into avenging his cousin’s death, but into caring for the frail who’d struggled to reach this desolate place.