Matthew 14:13-21
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost – 6 August 2017
Rev. John Derme
You need a vacation. You need a new car. You need good friends. You need a nap. You need to relax. You need love. You need food. You need family. You need a home. You need sleep. You need clothes. You need money. You need to work. We all have needs. Sometimes we talk about the things that we want in terms of needs. Sometimes we use the word "need" to describe the things that are very important to us. And we also have the most vital kinds of needs; if some needs aren't satisfied, we will not survive.
You have needs. How are they going to be satisfied? Can you handle them on your own? Can you take care of yourself? What about the times when you can't? Are you going to be left to fend for yourself without any help? Who will satisfy all your needs?
In today's Gospel, Jesus was in need of some rest and some private time with his disciples. His cousin, his friend, his prophet, John the Baptist had just been beheaded by Herod. When John the Baptist's disciples came to tell Jesus, he knew that it was time to get away from the crowds and spend some time in a solitary place.
Except that the crowds wouldn't let him get away. As Jesus got into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee, the people went around the lake by foot and arrived at the place where he was going. They had miracles that they wanted him to do. They had sick people whom they wanted him to heal. When Jesus saw how lost they were without him, and how much they needed his help, his heart went out to them. He healed the sick people who came to him and preached to them the good news of what God was doing to save them.
Even though he needed some rest away from the crowds, Jesus spent his time with the people who needed him. In fact, Jesus spent the day with them, working into the evening. The disciples may have been getting impatient with Jesus, because they came to him and said, "We are in a remote place, and it's already past dinner time. You need to send the crowds away, so that they can get to the villages in time to buy some food."
The people had a problem: it was late and they didn't have anything to eat. The disciples figured out what, to them, was the only logical solution. So Jesus' answer must have surprised them: "Don't chase the people off. They don't need to go away. You give them something to eat. Do something to help them with their problem." Just a moment earlier, the disciples had come to Jesus with all the answers. Now he showed them that they didn't have the solution after all.
The disciples' answer to Jesus' challenge was one of desperation: "But all we have are these five loves of bread and two fish. That's not going to feed all these people!" Now Jesus showed them that he wasn't unprepared to handle this problem. He had a better solution in mind. "Bring the bread and fish to me." He directed the people to sit down in the grass. Then he looked up to heaven, gave thanks to God the Father for this food, and broke the food into pieces. He passed the food to the disciples, and the disciples passed the food out to the people. This was a hungry crowd. They hadn't eaten for most of the day, and had done plenty of walking. But Jesus provided enough food for them so they ate as much as they wanted. Their hunger was satisfied. Not only that, but there were twelve baskets full of food left over, after Jesus had fed 5000 men as well as other women and children.
Jesus taught everyone quite a lesson that day! No matter what their need, no matter how big their problems appear, Jesus can handle the problem and satisfy the need. The disciples really shouldn't have been so surprised at Jesus' solution. After all, they had seen him perform miracles to solve people's problems in the past. They had seen him satisfy needs in amazing ways before. Yet, despite what they had previously seen, they came to him with their own answers to a problem that they didn't realize he could handle.
We are a lot like those disciples sometimes. We ought to know better, too. Yet how often don't we come up with our own solutions for satisfying our own needs, because we don't realize that Jesus is going to handle it? Sometimes it happens because we don't want Jesus to help us with our needs. "I can take care of myself," we tell him. "I know what I want and I know how to get it for myself." This is an attitude that people will often hold when we are young. We are strong enough to work and earn enough money to satisfy our needs. It's a matter of pride, really. And that sinful pride often causes people to refuse Jesus' help, because we think that we don't need him.
Sometimes, however, Jesus shows us that we can't take care of ourselves. As we get older, we aren't as strong as we used to be. Or maybe we're still young, but something has happened in our life that makes it obvious that we aren't able to satisfy our needs for ourselves. But we still have our own solutions. And we still arrogantly tell Jesus what he needs to do so that our needs will be satisfied. "Jesus, if I only had more money." "Jesus, if you'd only give me what I want." "Jesus, if you'd only do what I tell you to do, everything would turn out just fine." Again, sinful pride causes people to refuse Jesus' help, because we think that we already have the answers for ourselves.
And when things don't turn out just the way we think they should, and when we don't think that our needs have been satisfied like we want them to be, what do we do then? Do we repent of our sinful pride and ask Jesus to do it his way? Or do we give up on him and decide that he can't help us, after all? If we despair of Jesus' help and convince ourselves that he isn't going to do what we need, then we have given up on him and are trusting only in ourselves. And if your faith is in yourself and not in Jesus, you'll find that the only answer you have is how to get yourself into more trouble during this life, and how to lose Jesus forever.
Jesus does not want you to lose him. Jesus does not want you to get yourself into trouble. Jesus does not want you to despair of his help. Jesus does not want you to trust in yourself. Jesus wants you to despair of yourself. Jesus wants you to trust in him. Why shouldn't you look to yourself for all the answers? Why should you trust Jesus for the solution? Because you can't satisfy any of your needs! Only Jesus can! Yes, Jesus is the only one who has given you what you needed in the past. And Jesus is the only one who can provide the solutions for your future.
Do you want proof? Look at the way Jesus has satisfied our need for a Savior. We all were born with that sinful pride that wanted to find our own solution – that wanted to save ourselves. But that sinful pride would have brought us to hell, because we cannot get ourselves to heaven. Therefore, Jesus lived and died to forgive us for our sinful arrogance and every other sin that would have kept us out of heaven. He suffered the punishment that we deserved. He has credited the perfection that he earned to us.
Do you want more proof? Look at the way he has satisfied our need to be convinced of what he has done. Our sinful pride would have kept us from accepting the forgiveness and eternal life that he won for us, because sinful human pride never likes to be told that we can't save ourselves. So Jesus sent God the Holy Spirit into our hearts to convince us that we do not have all the answers to our problems, and that he alone has the solution for our salvation. Only because of what the Holy Spirit has done can we put our faith in Jesus' help.
Do you want still more proof? Look at the way he has satisfied our needs in this life on earth. If not for Jesus, you would never have survived this long. It is Jesus who made sure that you had adults to care for you when you were a helpless child. It is Jesus who has given you the strength to care for yourself now. It is Jesus who has given you others to help provide for your needs now and into the future. It is Jesus who makes sure you have food to eat. It is Jesus who has put a roof over your head. It is Jesus who has given you your clothes to wear. For every need that you have ever had, it is Jesus and only Jesus who has satisfied it.
Do you want even more proof? Look at the way he satisfied the needs of the people who were hungry in Galilee. He used his almighty power to turn five loaves of bread and two fish into more than enough food for over five thousand people. That's the same almighty power that he has promised to use to satisfy your needs. Since Jesus has done so much for you in the past, do you think that he is going to forget about you now? No, you can be confident that he will satisfy all of your needs into the future, even if it takes a miracle to do it! Usually he doesn't have to do miracles to provide for us, because he normally uses natural means to satisfy what we need. But if it takes a miracle, he'll do it for you. In fact, it is possible that he has satisfied your needs through miracles, even if you don't realize it!
You might say, "I wish he would do a miracle that I could see, so that I would know for sure that he's using his power to help me." If that's what you are saying, then you've come to the right place. Here in church he regularly performs a miracle that is even greater than the feeding of the five thousand. Do you know what it is? We call it the sacrament of Holy Communion. If you think it's amazing that Jesus fed over 5000 people with a small amount of food, just think how miraculous it is that he has fed countless of people ever since the first Maundy Thursday with his own body and blood! The same body and blood that he distributed to his disciples almost 2000 years ago he has been distributing ever since, and here he distributes it also to you. He has never run out! No, he makes sure that there is enough for all of us, because he wants to give all of us the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation that he distributes with his body and blood. He uses this sacrament so that you can be sure that you have the home in heaven that he won for you with his perfect life and death.
Jesus has met your most important needs by being your Savior and giving you eternal life. And he also has provided for your other important needs, as well, by giving you everything that you need to survive in this life. You don't need to ask whether you'll have to take care of yourself or whether you'll be left without any help. Trust in him. Jesus will satisfy all your needs!