The Boat
Notes
Transcript
Feeding the Five Thousand
Feeding the Five Thousand
Herod, ruler at this time, ordered the beheading of John the Baptist. The king was grieved, yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he commanded it to be given; he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. The head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who brought it to her mother. His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Mt 14:9–12). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Jesus receives the news of John’s death and withdraws to be by himself. When the crowds hear where he is they follow him. Jesus has compassion on the crowds and heals those who are sick. Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Mt 14:13). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Jesus was obviously grieved to hear the news of John’s death. Can you imagine how that felt? Family? Jesus looks to go off and grieve his lose, but the crowds follow. I think in some small way I can relate to the grief that Jesus felt. The day after my mother’s death, I had a funeral to do and could not get away. As I watched my mother’s life fade into eternity, my mind was struggling with the task at hand. The crowd follows Jesus and just when He most desires to get away and be alone, the people follow. Their needs must seem so important to them, but they were important to Jesus as well. Jesus has compassion on the crowds and heals those who are sick. The day draws to a close, and they are in an isolated place. The disciples (us) pleaded with Jesus to send them away, so that they could find food, but Jesus replies to His disciples, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Mt 14:16). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
The funeral I spoke of was not an occasion to leave my people, or was it? Even though Jesus wanted to grieve, the people needed Him. Even though I wanted, and needed to grieve, I was needed. It was interesting to find that when I met with the grieving daughters, I spoke to them truth concerning my mother.
We want to go away, and when we can we should. Jesus modeled that for us all the time, but when we are needed, we can share the grief. These daughters and I grieved together and it was good, as we also healed together. Notice in this passage that Jesus doesn’t just feed the hungry He heals the sick. If we go away we can miss the healing, or the food that has been given. In my funeral experience I talked about, because I went into the pain of the funeral I got blessed. The daughters knew that I could relate to their pain.
In that funeral, I had planned to sing a song. When I sang my song, as I had planned, I told the crowd about my pain, and I asked them to lift me up if I could not finish. What an amazing feeling when people see the need and get in the boat. Would you get in the boat today? Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. Notice that Jesus never forgets about His time alone, but He first takes care of the sheep.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Mt 14:22–23). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.