Good morning. Well, last week we finished our series that took a look at the ABC’s & XYZ’s Of The Bible. As kind of a look ahead, we have today, and then we have Father’s Day next week, and then Nellie and I will be on vacation. While we are on vacation, Richard Ginn, and David Fiensy will be here to share on those Sundays. Now, today’s message will be a little shorter than usual, because at the end, I want to address an opportunity that we all have to make a difference in the lives of some less fortunate children. But for today, we have an issue that I think we can all relate to.
Before we get started though, allow me to open with a word of prayer. Let’s Pray!
A man in a van stopped to fill up the gas tank. He had a van full of restless and rowdy kids. Someone asked him, “Are these all your kids or are you on a picnic?” To which he answered, “Yes, these are my kids. And NO, it’s not a picnic!”
Summer is a time of picnics and outdoor fun and activities for most people. Many of you shared in our church picnic a couple of weeks ago. You might have some summer time traditions in your family where every year you always go to a certain park or picnic area. When I was growing up we used to take a big picnic basket and go to a few different family reunions. And maybe you look forward to those family reunions during the summer months as well.
But, in our time together today, I want us to take a look at a passage of scripture. Even though the people are gathered together outdoors in the spring.
Even though they are sitting on the grass, and eating bread and fish, “Life was no picnic for them.” This story can be found in all 4 of the gospels, but I want us to focus on Matthew’s account. So, in Matthew 14:13-21 it says, “1”
Now, just like today, the people in this story faced many difficulties. Life for them was no picnic. They were weighed down by many things. Some were sick and were looking to Jesus to heal them. Others were just plain hungry. But all of them were a long way from the nearest town. And so I want us to look at a few things that we can apply to our lives today from these people’s situation.
# 1, Jesus Saw The Need And Had Compassion
If you were to read the passage before our text, you would know that Jesus has just heard the news about John the Baptist being beheaded by Herod. That was sad news for Him. Not only were John The Baptist and Jesus related, but they were close friends as John prepared the way for Jesus to come and do His ministry. So perhaps Jesus wanted to be alone for awhile to think, to take time out. In addition to that, the disciples were tired from being with crowds of people and ministering to need after need as well.
So, I think that Jesus probably intended for Him and His disciples to get away from it all for a little bit, and just rest up and pray. But as we have already found out, the crowds tracked Him down.
Now, He could have been irritated by them, and even sent them away. After dealing with people’s needs all week long, and after hearing some saddening news, who wants to be surrounded by needy people as they are trying to rest? But, instead of becoming angry or sending them away, the Bible tells us in verse 14, “…when Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had COMPASSION on them and healed their sick.”
You see, His heart went out to them. Even though He was tired, saddened by the news He had received, He still cared about these people. In fact, Mark’s gospel says that Jesus saw them as “…sheep without a shepherd.”
Now, they had a variety of needs. Many were sick and sought healing. Some had traveled a great distance to come to the Passover. It was late in the day and they were tired and out in the middle of no where without any food. In a crowd of this size I am sure there must have been all kinds of frustrations, and that these people experienced all kinds of needs. They were probably wandering around like sheep without a shepherd, not knowing where they were headed. At that point, life was no picnic for them. And so they sought Jesus in hopes of seeing their needs met.
Much of our life is one problem after another. We are uncertain about decisions, our energy level is down, and we don’t know what we are supposed to do. And just like all of these people, it is at exactly that point in our lives that God steps in and takes care of us if we will allow Him to. And that brings us to our second point…
# 2, There Is No Need For Them To Depart
The disciples urged Jesus to send the people into the towns to get their own food. Instead, He told them, “There is no need for them to depart.” The nearest town, Bethsadia, was about 9 miles from there. It would have been a long journey to find food. So, the disciples have to be wondering, “Why would He want them to stay when there is nothing to give them to eat?”
But Jesus was not accustomed to sending people away with needs. He is saying, “It is not necessary that you go away empty handed with the same needs that you came with.”
Now, how often are we just like the disciples in our thinking when it comes to the huge amount of needs in the world today or in our own lives? We come to church sometimes with deep needs and problems and we go away with those same needs because we are thinking, “It’s impossible. How is God going to do this for ME?” or “Why would God do this for ME?”
During Jesus’ time here on earth, He was not accustomed to sending people away empty handed. And even though Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God, Jesus still does not want to send anyone away empty handed. Jesus is saying to us today, “There is no need for you to go away the same as you came, still burdened with all kinds of problems.”
Well, back to our story. Meanwhile, another disciple, Andrew, had located a small boy who had a lunch of 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish. But even though he brought the boy to Jesus, he said, “But what is that among so many?” In other words, the need is so great and the resources are way too small. It’s only a drop in the bucket. How is this small amount going to help feed this huge crowd?
But the problem at this point is that the disciples looked at the need through their human eyes. It never occurred to them that with Jesus, things are not as impossible as they seem. In fact, with God, ALL things ARE possible.
It’s like the story that I recently heard about. A businessman who needed millions of dollars to clinch an important deal went to church to pray for the money. By chance he knelt next to a man who was praying for $100 to pay an urgent debt.
The businessman took out his wallet and pressed a brand new, crisp $100 bill into the other man’s hand. Overjoyed, the man thanked him, got up, and left the church praising God. The businessman watched as the man left and the door behind him completely closed. Then bowed his head and continued to pray, “And now, Lord, that I have your undivided attention...”
You know, that guy though he had a way to get God’s attention. And at this point of the story, Jesus wants to get the attention of His disciples. Jesus got the disciples attention when He said to them, “YOU give them something to eat.”
The disciples didn’t have the slightest idea how to do that. In another account, Philip protested by saying, “It would take 8 months salary to buy food for this crowd…”
Again, the problem here is that the disciples were focusing on what they didn’t have. And Jesus was interested in showing His disciples that He was not only able to meet the spiritual needs of the people, but also the physical needs.
When you come to Him with a need, do you focus on the things that you lack? Most of the time we do that. But in Mark’s account Jesus asked, “How many loaves DO you have?” So, what are the resources that you do have?
You see, Jesus didn’t want to know what they were missing, He wanted to know what it was that He had to work with. And that brings us to our final point…
# 3, His Approach To The Problem
All along, Jesus knew how He was going to handle the problem, but He wanted to pull in the disciples. He wanted them to know that in spite of an enormous overwhelming need before them, that something could be done. He wanted them to focus beyond their human understanding to see how HE could handle the situation.
A Texan wanted to go ice fishing. He’d seen many books on the subject, and finally, after getting all the necessary “tools” together, he made for the nearest frozen lake.
After positioning his comfortable footstool, he started to make a circular cut in the ice. Suddenly, from the sky a voice boomed, “There are no fish under the ice!”
Startled, the Texan moved further down the ice, poured a cup of coffee, and began to cut yet another hole. But again the voice bellowed, “There are no fish under the ice!”
The Texan, now quite worried, moved way down to the opposite end of the ice, set his stool down, and tried again to cut a hole in the ice. The voice came once more, “THERE ARE NO FISH UNDER THE ICE!”
At that, he stopped, looked skyward, and said, “Is that you Lord?” The voice replied, “No, I’m the Ice-Arena Manager!”
You know what, Jesus gave them some instructions that they could understand. He told the disciples to seat the people in groups of 50 on the grass. The key here is that they had to get into position in order to receive. And the same is try for us.
Getting them to sit down in groups helped to:
# 1. Facilitate the distribution of food.
# 2. Stabilize the people and kept them from getting into a panic and trying to make a mad rush for the food once they started to give it out. And …
# 3. It was a way to count the people.
Jesus was not at a loss for a solution. Get the people seated and ready for it. Then Jesus took what resources were available, the 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread, and He lifted them to Heaven and:
(l) He blessed it.
(2) He broke it into pieces. And …
(3) He gave it to the disciples to hand out.
There was no visible difference. It still looked scarce, a little bit of fish in their hands, and some little pieces of bread. Still not much, but as they began to give it out to the waiting people, the supply didn’t run out.
I can just image. The first 50 were fed, and then the next 50 and the next and the next and so on. Eventually everyone was fed, and the disciples were still holding a bunch of leftovers in their hands wandering how that just happened.
Now, even though the disciples handed out the food, the important thing to remember is that they didn’t do the miracle. God did the miracle. The disciples’ dependency was fully on God, and He took care of their needs.
Don’t worry about how it is multiplied, it will be. What is amazing here is that the disciples continued to hand out the bread and fish and people “…ate and were satisfied or filled.” There was more than enough to go around.
Now, when all of this happened, the people realized that God was at work among them. How do we know this? Well, in John’s gospel it says in verse 14, “After the people saw the miracle that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the prophet who is come into the world.””
Today, your life may be far from a picnic. You may have lots of needs and scares resources. You could be going through some really tough times in life, and have no answers. Whatever the case is, I would encourage you to allow God to touch your situation and do the miracle. Jesus knows how to get His resources to you whether it’s a spiritual or a physical need.
He doesn’t just give you crumbs, but He gives you more than enough. Remember, “They all ate and were satisfied.” Bring your scarce provisions to God and allow Him to do His work in your life today.
There is no need for you to depart empty handed!
Let’s Pray!
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