48 Matthew 14:12-21 - King of Grace, King of Mercy

May 13, 2018

Christopher C. Freeman

Title: King of Grace, King of Mercy Text: Matthew 14:12-21 FCF: We often struggle showing compassion to others because we are selfish or self-reliant. Prop: Because Jesus shows compassion when we are unable to, we must depend on Him as our compassionate King. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Matthew 14. Last week we officially opened up this next narrative section of Matthew by both looking back to the response of the people of Nazareth and looking at the response of Herod Antipas. Both of these were examples of people who did not understand who Jesus was. They were negative examples of Jesus’ identity. Today – we will see a positive example of Jesus’ identity, although pegging exactly who are the ones that understand and who are the ones that don’t understand is a little difficult. But in any case my aim is to point out very clearly this morning, who Jesus is. And why His identity gives us hope – if we are in Him. I’ll start in verse 12 of chapter 14 reading from the CSB, but follow along in the version you have. Sermon Intro: [Slide 2 (blank)] The last couple weeks we’ve had some interesting sermon introductions. A movie and an interview. I feel a little bad about it but this week is much simpler. The passage of scripture we are engaging this week is extremely familiar. Familiar passages are always incredibly difficult to engage with as a preacher. Because preaching is about proclaiming the word of the Lord and it is my experience in 32 years of life that the more often you’ve heard something the less likely you are to pay attention to it the next time around. So keeping your attention is going to be incredibly difficult. I want you to try to hang with me today. We are going to go over many of the familiar details of this story. Why are they so familiar? Perhaps it is because this is the only miracle of Jesus that is recorded in all 4 gospels. THE ONLY ONE. But what we have to remember is that we are studying through the book of Matthew. That means that the details Matthew includes – and perhaps – excludes – are significant for us. We MUST find what Matthew wants us to see here. Not just a great story of a wonderful miracle and a giving little boy. But what does Matthew want to show his readers? Because it is there that we will find something far more valuable than a great story. We will find power as the Word of God is used as it was intented. Today we will see how we as humans are absolutely unwilling or unable to show compassion because we are either selfish or self-reliant. Transition: But Jesus… the God-Man… is a different story altogether. Look with me in verse 12. I.) Jesus shows compassion when we wouldn’t, so we must depend on this compassionate King. (12-14) a. [Slide 3] 12 – Then his disciples came, removed the corpse, buried it, and went and reported to Jesus i. The clear referent for “his” is John the Baptist. ii. John’s disciples buried him and then told Jesus. iii. There is, perhaps, some level of understanding that they as disciples of John, now that he was dead, are now disciples of Christ. iv. Which of course brings up the whole question of why John still had disciples… but that is, perhaps, for another time. b. [Slide 4] 13 – When Jesus heard about it, he withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone i. This is the first real chance that we see a significant deviation in the account between the 4 gospels. 1. Mark has Jesus’ disciple’s returning from their mission to Galilee and reporting what they did, and what happened to John. In this Jesus suggest, essentially, a vacation. 2. Luke does not comment on the reason at all – only that he takes his disciples to a secluded spot. 3. John comments even less, stating simply that Jesus and His disciples went over the sea of Galilee. 4. But Matthew. Matthew not only makes it seem that Jesus goes alone – which later we realize is not true. But Matthew also draws a very distinct cause and effect here. Now the only question is from what? What did Jesus hear? Many commentators insist that Jesus had heard that Herod Antipas thought He was John the Baptist resurrected. They assume from there that Jesus is, not fleeing in fear so much, but making Himself scarce. They conclude this because they see verses 3-12 as a historical illusion. However, Matthew does NOT specify Herod’s intentions. And Jesus fleeing because it wasn’t His time to die yet almost makes sense except for the fact that Herod, even at the crucifixion of Jesus, did not wish to kill Him. It seems FAR more likely that Matthew ordered his story the way he did on purpose. Because the cause of Jesus going to a secluded place is the news of John the Baptist’s death. This harmonizes well with the other gospel accounts which include John’s death and then go on to say the disciples came back and told Jesus everything that had happened. One would assume this would include the news of John’s death. ii. Again each gospel is using the account to serve their own purpose. The correct answer is that all of this is true. The disciples and Jesus no doubt needed a rest. And they did cross over the sea of Galilee to a secluded spot to do so. iii. But for us, since we are studying Matthew – we need to try to, not ignore, but put all those details of the other gospels aside. Matthew chose not to write about them. Instead he focuses on the King Himself. His identity. His attributes. And here we see a Jesus who needed a place to mourn. iv. According to Jesus – there was no greater man that had been born than John the Baptist. He was THE greatest Old Covenant prophet. You wanna talk about a long list… THAT is a long list. v. And Jesus is also mourning something else. Being included in every gospel, this account communicates a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. He is mourning the fact that His ministry is now turning from Galilee. From here on out, Jesus and His disciples will depart out of Galilee to other places. They will continue to come back, as they use Galilee as a staging area, but it will no longer be the focal point of the ministry. vi. So in the midst of all this, the humanness of Christ is on display as He grieves… but something happens as He tries to get away to mourn… c. When the crowds heard this, they followed him on foot from the towns. i. I mean… really? Rude, right? ii. And it would be one thing if they were coming to Him to pat Him on the back – tell Him – hey it is ok. We are here for you bud… iii. Nope. They were coming because they wanted Him to heal their sick. iv. What would I have done – what would you have done? v. Imagine that your cousin and friend of 30 years was just butchered unjustly by a depraved leader for no other reason than to save himself embarrassment. Imagine that his head was given to someone else and his headless body is all that you could bury. Imagine your home town thought you were crazy. Imagine people who you came to save and who you spent countless hours healing and preaching to have, for the most part, rejected you. Imagine all that AND knowing that you are getting closer to the day when your heavenly Father will risk the Universe to CRUSH you so He could save the very people who are rejecting you. vi. Now. What. Would. You. Do? vii. [Slide 5] I’d use my divine power and just move them to Mexico. Just snap – there you go. I’d bringem back. I mean I’m not heartless. But when I was ready to deal ya know. viii. But what did Jesus, King of Glory, Messiah of God, Second person of the Godhead do? d. [Slide 6] 14 – When He went ashore, he saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick. i. What kind of man is this? To show compassion to these folks? But… ii. [Slide 7] What is compassion? People often wonder what compassion is. I have collected a few really good definitions 1. Empathy + Action = Compassion 2. Mercy applied 3. The hands and feet of love. 4. If pure religion undefiled is caring for widows and orphans in their helplessness and keeping yourself unstained by sin – then compassion is half of pure religion. iii. [Slide 8] Jesus saw their condition. He felt their need. And He met it. iv. Compassion does not stop at simply seeing the need. Recognizing that someone needs help. v. Compassion does not stop at informing others of a need. Prayer requests or rallying a community does not equal compassion. vi. Compassion does not stop at feeling the need. Weeping for the plight someone faces or holding a candlelight vigil for their lack. vii. Compassion is not complete until the need is recognized, felt, and met. viii. Before in Matthew Jesus had compassion on the crowds saying that they were sheep without a shepherd and that the fields were white unto harvest. What did He do next? He sent His disciples on a mission. Saw, felt, met. ix. Head – heart - hands. x. This is compassion. The compassion of Jesus. e. [Slide 9 (blank)] So Jesus – in a position to be comforted – offers comfort. Jesus in the midst of mourning offers compassion. f. What kind of man is this? Exactly! He is no mere man. He shows compassion, when you and I wouldn’t. Transition: We could probably stop right there… but the next part only serves to amplify the first. Jesus’ compassion knows no bounds… not even the bounds of physics. II.) Jesus shows compassion when we couldn’t, so we must depend on this compassionate King. (15-21) a. [Slide 10] 15 – When evening came, the disciples approached him and said, “This place is deserted, and it is already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” i. We see another explainable discrepancy in the gospel accounts here. 1. Mark reveals that Jesus was teaching this entire time. In fact, Mark doesn’t mention that Jesus was healing the sick at all. 2. Luke says both were happening 3. John ignores what they were doing there altogether. 4. Matthew makes it seem like all Jesus was doing was healing the sick. ii. Again all of these are true. But Matthew’s focus on Jesus’ healing hones our view of what Matthew is trying to tell us. More on that in a bit. iii. The disciples understand that all this has been going on for a while and that these people are probably very hungry. So it is now or never. Gotta sendem home now or they won’t make it to a place where they can buy food. iv. Very responsible of the disciples to think of the needs of the people like this. They saw the need, and felt the need – but they could not meet the need. v. In fact, in the Gospel of John, Phillip says that not even with 200 denarii or roughly $20,000 could they buy enough food to feed everyone there even a small portion of bread. vi. Therefore – it is not that they did not want to meet the need but that they simply were not able to. vii. But just like we discussed before with Jesus in the boat during the storm… did they forget who He was? I mean – a guy that can calm a storm with his voice… Do you think He could conjure bread? b. [Slide 11] 16 – “They don’t need to go away,” Jesus told them “You give them something to eat.” i. I mean can you imagine being a disciple here? ii. Hey Jesus – we may want to dismiss church a bit early to let these people get some food. We’ve heard some complaints of stomachs growling. And if we are perfectly honest – we are a little hungry too. … Wait… you want us to do what now? iii. Need is the very thing they were considering. They needed food and for food they needed to leave. Jesus says no. iv. Greek verbs include who does the action. But here we have a verb – give – and a pronoun- you. So it would read you, you give. In Greek, this is emphasis. YOU give them. c. [Slide 12] 17 – “But we only have five loaves and two fish here,” they said to him. i. So immediately – the disciples do, probably, what you and I would have done. They take an inventory of what they physically have available on them right then. They estimate what they are humanly able to provide. What resources do we have available? ii. And what do they come up with? Well from the other gospels we see that they lifted this off a little boy. His mommy no doubt sent this lunch with him. It consisted of 5 dinner roll sized pieces of barley bread and 2 pickled or dried fish. Two sardines and 5 rolls. That’s what we got. iii. It might as well be dirt Jesus. We couldn’t give a scale of fish and a crumb of bread to everyone. d. [Slide 13] 18-19 – “Bring them here to me,” he said. Then He commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the crowds i. I’ve seen motion picture depictions of this. Jesus raises them in a basket and pulls them down and the basket is full. ii. No. That isn’t what happened. iii. Jesus raised them up – Prays a traditional Jewish blessing for the food iv. He brings them down and they are still 5 rolls and 2 sardines. v. He starts to break them apart. He gives them to his disciples to distribute. vi. Now imagine Jesus hands you half a roll. And in your mind you are thinking… WOW – at this rate we aren’t going to get that far. So you break it up into 8 pieces. I’ll trust God to provide the rest. The next time He gives you a half a roll again, and although your math isn’t that good, you figure out that if He handed every disciple half then we are already a little over the expected limit. God is blessing. So this time you only break the half roll into 4 sections and head back to Jesus. He hands you another half roll. Now at this point you have to be thinking that something is going on. There’s Peter. You’ve seen him handing out stuff. Andrew and Phillip too. Thaddeaus and Thomas as well. Even Judas. There is no possible way that there is any bread left. But each time you go back to get more, more is given. vii. Eventually the ones you only gave a sixteenth of a roll to, ask for more. And you have stopped dividing up the rolls and just started handing half rolls to people. viii. This continues… perhaps for hours. Until… e. [Slide 14] 20 – Everyone ate and was satisfied. i. Here is the miracle folks. ii. A lunch barely able to fill a little boy – has just satisfied thousands of people. iii. They were stuffed. iv. And that isn’t even the half of it. f. They picked up twelve baskets full of leftover pieces. i. They followed Jesus into a deserted and barren place. He gave them bread that kept on coming until they were satisfied, and beyond their life, there were 12 baskets full of leftovers. ii. Now the bible doesn’t tell us. And it is just me wondering. iii. Doesn’t this sound like the wilderness wondering Jews. Who because of disobedience were forced to wander – following their God as He led them. And all the way He provided their bread to eat and their water to drink. And at the end, they had 12 tribes full. g. [Slide 15] 21 – Now those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. i. We are talking an easy 15,000 here. Probably more like 20,000 and perhaps more. ii. 5 dinner rolls and 2 sardines. h. When I first outlined the book back in late 2016, I approached this passage somewhat negatively. What I mean is that I focused on the response of the people and of the disciples and drew a conclusion which basically said people continued to think He is a miracle worker and the disciples still haven’t comprehended who He is. And while that may be true – and going to the other 3 accounts of this event we could show that to be true… We must remember that we are studying the book of Matthew. i. So what is Matthew trying to say here? j. Chapters 14-17 with a little bit of 13 is all focusing on the identity of Christ. Which revolves around groups of people who either get it or don’t. So far we have seen two negative examples from people’s perceptions of Jesus. His hometown where familiarity bred contempt. And Herod Antipas, where He was nothing more than a nightmare. A Ghost. k. But here, look carefully. Is anyone’s perception or thought of Jesus recorded? Does Matthew record the crowd’s reaction to Jesus’ miracle? Does Matthew record the disciple’s reaction to Jesus’ miracle? No he doesn’t. We are told what happened. Nothing more. l. The Compassion of Jesus is on display here. And if this section is dealing with the two groups of people – those who understand and those who do not – then which is this passage talking about? It is from someone who understands. Matthew. And what does he understand about Jesus? That He is a merciful and gracious King. m. Jesus is depicted here, showing compassion when you and I couldn’t. Transition: So what have we learned today, and how then shall we live? Conclusion: In this passage of scripture we have seen that Jesus shows compassion when you and I would not, AND when you and I could not. When you and I would be either unwilling or unable to see the need, feel the need, and meet the need – Jesus sees the need, feels the need and meets the need. This passage uniquely speaks to something that God has been showing me recently. We often say that we want to be like Jesus. We want to be Christ-like. We want to be like Him. And I am not disagreeing at all. But where I might disagree is in the how. Oftentimes when people say that you need to be like Jesus – follow his example – they start speaking about obedience. Again… no issues so far. But ultimately their conclusion is obedience that is manufactured by human effort. In this specific passage of scripture, human effort could not manufacture compassion. We all kinda agreed collectively that Jesus’ response to crowds of people following Him – was not what we would have done. And with the actual feeding of these folks… well that is simply something we are not able to do. So from this passage – we see Jesus is compassionate and our application should be – be like Jesus… but we can’t. We can’t be like Him here. And what prevents us? Not just here but in general – what prevents us from showing this compassion? I asked myself this question. I came up with two answers and they both have to do with us. The problem is with us. Either we do not show compassion because of our own selfishness. Or we do not show compassion because of our self-reliance. 1.) Selfishness – In selfishness we see the needs of others as less than our own. So we have seen the need but not felt it. We care for ourselves first. We care for those we like first. Those who are easy to like and care for. We choose the path of least resistance. Send them home so they can buy food. Typically that means that those who are the neediest are left needy. Those who desperately need compassion remain in that desperate need. 2.) Self-Reliance – In self-reliance we have seen the need and even felt it. We know that we should be helping those who are destitute. We know we should show compassion. And out of duty and pride we set out to use all our resources, strength and intelligence to see to it that their needs are met. But what happens when the resources run dry and the need remains? We only have 5 rolls and 2 sardines. Again they needed a miracle and that is simply something that man cannot do. So what is the answer? How do we be like Jesus when it is obvious that we will not and cannot? [Slide 17] Hudson Taylor once said “I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might (it would be possible if I could) help Him. I ended up by asking Him to do His work through me.” Hudson is describing the maturity of a believer. At the first – a man sees himself as the primary means of change and just needs God to assist. As he grows, he starts to believe that God is the agent doing the lion’s share of the work, so the request changes to him assisting God. But the mark of a spiritually mature man is when a he recognizes the reality that God is the one doing it all, and is simply giving him the opportunity to be an instrument to bring God glory. Of which you will not share in the slightest. [Slide 18 (blank)(end)] I have often said “I am not a very compassionate person” Perhaps my motivation for saying such things were to excuse myself. To fish for complements. Or to identify a weakness of mine that others also possess – after all if everyone struggles – no one can fault me too much right? This week I was forced to repent of this. To reject this notion that it is ok to be weak in this area. Because where I am weak – Christ makes me strong. Even when it is impossible or extremely difficult the Son of God is who is doing this in me. Not me. Him. So I’d ask you to follow my lead. Repent of assuming that you failed raising up compassion in you. Because that assumes that you are capable of doing it. Repent of believing that others have raised it up in themselves because that steals the glory from the One who actually raised it up in them. Repent of saying it isn’t your job or strength, or gift. Then what? How are we to be compassionate when it is impossible? How are we to be compassionate when we need compassion? How are we to be compassionate to those who are rude and arrogant? The same way we move from death to life. The same way we are made into a new creation. The same way we renew our minds. It is by belief. And of course – what do we mean when we say belief. We have taught on this MANY times. And I am quizzing you. Can anyone tell me what it means to believe on Jesus? Dependence on and Surrender to Jesus Christ. Dependence on Him for power and passion to raise up compassion in us. And surrender to Him to obey in His power and passion. The truth of the matter is that there is not a single person in this room that is compassionate naturally. Jesus said that he is the vine and we are the branches. He tells us to remain in Him and That when we are not in him we can do nothing. NOTHING. The fact that we do anything is because HE Raises it up in us. So when we cannot do something that He commands us to do… what does that mean? It means that we are not abiding in Him. We are not believing in Him. Failure to obey is not a problem of effort it is a problem of belief. Faith. Because repentance, faith, obedience are all one. Inseparable. That is why the scripture tells us not to believe on Jesus one time – but to continue to believe on Jesus – why/ BECAUSE WITHOUT CONTINUED DEPENDANCE WE CAN DO NOTHING. WITHOUT CONTINUED SURRENDER WE CAN DO NOTHING. Don’t go home and try to conjure for yourself feelings and actions of compassion. Because there are only two options with such compassion. Either it will fail and you will not be truly compassionate. Or it will succeed and you will get the glory for it. No friend. The right answer as I found this week… is to get alone with God and confess that you are far from His heart in this matter. That you are far from His compassion. And that you will not and cannot manufacture it. But that if He would be merciful to you and gracious to you to empower and impassion you to have the compassion of Christ for others. If He would be gracious enough to allow you the opportunity to be His instrument of compassion toward others, that you would obey. That you would surrender. He has already won the battle for compassion. Do we believe that? If we do – we will obey and show compassion when we otherwise would be unwilling and when otherwise it would be impossible.