“And he commanded the
multitude to sit down on the grass, and 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. And they did all eat, and were filled: and
they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.”
Matthew 14:19-20
The only access we have to spiritual life is through
Jesus Christ. Otherwise, everyone born
into this world is destined for a desert of destruction. If it had not been for the Son of God, giving
of himself and suffering the penalty that we deserved, we would be lost. If it had not been for Jesus Christ, the
bread of life, we would be dead in trespasses and in sins. Through his life, we have life; for he is the
giver of life.
The text
above comes to us out of the fourteenth chapter of Matthew. Jesus had withdrawn himself into a desert
place and the multitudes hearing this sought him out (as they often did). Jesus was moved with compassion toward the
multitude and healed their sick (when it comes to God’s service, compassion
is a far better motivator than ambition).
Here is the Savior, moved with compassion and ministering to the people;
so much so that the hour was late, and the disciples thought it best to send
them all away so they could get something to eat. Jesus instead gathered five loaves, and two
fishes to feed the multitude. A company
of at least five thousand people then sat down to be fed of five loaves and two
fishes. The scripture tells us that Jesus
took the loaves and fishes: blessed it, break it, and gave it to his
disciples. They in turn gave to the
people and who did eat and were filled.
In this action Jesus is foreshadowing the very model in which he would impart
to us all the blessing of salvation.
Here in this desert place he gave a hungry body bread to eat, but in a
short span of time Jesus would give of his own body so that hungry souls could
be filled for generations to come. Consider,
when Jesus Christ came into the world he was blessed. He was blessed by the Spirit after his baptism,
he was blessed by God on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was made clear and plain that this was the
Christ, the hope of all the world. Next,
he was broken, he told his disciples in the upper room after he had broken the
bread that this was “his body.” He suffered
and died on a cross, shedding His blood for you and me. He “poured out His soul unto death”
Isaiah tells us. All would forsake Him,
both man and God; the connection would be broken, and he would bare our sins
alone. Through his death and resurrection,
he gave of himself, and would give of himself.
He would give to His disciples the Holy Spirit. They would then be witnesses to Jerusalem,
Judea, and the uttermost parts of the world.
This is still the model, and the charge of the disciple. When you accept Jesus, you accept Jesus. You accept the blessed One, meaning you
believe he was the Son of God. You accept
the broken One, meaning you identify with Him in sacrifice. You accept the given One, meaning you embrace
the gift of the Holy Spirit and the daily walk of living holy (through His
power). Finally, if you have accepted
Jesus, and been filled by Jesus, then you should be sharing Jesus. Witnessing to others of His grace and
goodness, so that they too can be filled.
Everyone who was there that day was fed and
filled. The Word of God, the Bread of
Life, Jesus Christ is enough and more than enough. He will meet the need, so we don’t need to
worry. We don’t have to send people away,
just have them sit down. If you will sit
at Jesus’s feet, he will give you something, then take what Jesus gives you and
share it with someone. You will be
filled and so will others. No need to be
stingy, there is plenty to go around.
