The Gospel and the Kingdom - Matthew - Little is Much

 

TEXT: Matthew 14:13-21 – “¹³ 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. ¹⁴ And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. ¹⁵ 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.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸ He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. ²¹ Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

Today we come to one of my favorite accounts in the miracles of Jesus. We will see the feeding of the 5,000 men. Matthew is showing that Jesus is the Messiah. He is the King of the Kingdom.

 He has the power to provide for us. Let’s get into this study now, as we look at His feeding of these 5,000 men (plus women and children).

In this account, which is also found in Mark 6; Luke 9; and John 6, Jesus meets a two-fold need.

First, He heals the HURTING as we read in verses 13-14. We once again see the compassion of Jesus in this event. He had withdrawn because of the death of John – yet He focusses on those who are in need. We need to be compassionate to those around us – are we so “me” centered that we fail to see the needs of others around us?

In the process, we find Him feeding the HUNGRY in verses 15-21. His ministry goes late into the day. They are located in a deserted place with nothing available for such a large crowd to eat. So, the Disciples seek to send them away. However, Jesus uses this to test His Disciples (see this in John 6:5-7) The Disciple Andrew has canvassed the crowd and only finds a boy with a small lunch. Jesus then instructs them on what to do in verses 18-19. After all have eaten, the Disciples collect 12 baskets of leftovers.

When we read this, it mentions that there were 5,000 men – not including the women and children – possibly as many as 20,000 people ate this meal. This was no small feat.

This account is included by Matthew to show how much God wants to provide for us. We must remember that God in His infiniteness, is totally capable and willing to provide for our needs (not always our wants). He has the power and provision to put into action what we need in His plan and purpose.

I remember the old song from the Gaither band, the chorus goes – “Little is much when God is in it! Labor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown, and you can win it, If you go in Jesus' name.” 

Are you willing to give what little you have to allow Him to produce an abundance crop for your benefit?