March 6, 2026
(Josiah Hall)
Matthew 14:13–21 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” 18And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
—————–
In the Old Testament (2 Kings 4:42–44), the prophet Elisha once multiplied 20 loaves of barley bread to provide enough food with leftovers for 100 men. A helpful ratio to think of is about 3 loaves being enough for a man (based on Luke 11:5–6). In that case, Elisha would have multiplied 20 loaves to more than 300 loaves. If Jesus had simply provided enough to satisfy 5,000 men, he would have had to multiply the 5 loaves to about 15,000 loaves, but he also provides for the women and children present, as well as 12 baskets of leftovers. The scale of the miracle is astounding.
Clearly, then, this miracle highlights Jesus’ power and abundant provision. Recall the petition of the Lord’s Prayer to ask for daily bread. Should we not make this petition with confidence to the God who can turn 5 loaves of bread into 15,000+ loaves and provide not only our daily bread, but enough for leftovers? Yet I think there are also additional lessons to learn from this miracle.
The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle of Jesus which all four Gospels record. Yet each Gospel contextualizes it differently and draws different lessons from it. Matthew begins his account of the miracle by stating that it occurred when Jesus had heard “this”, namely that Herod had executed John the Baptist. This link back to the previous episode shapes our understanding of Jesus’ miracle in two ways.
First, because Herod’s decision to execute John occurred at a feast, we are meant to contrast the feasts that King Herod and King Jesus provide. King Herod provides a feast focused on himself, in which his only concern for his guests is that they not think poorly of him. Herod’s feast ends in death. King Jesus, in contrast, acts out of a concern for his guests rather than himself and provides an abundance of food for them.
Second, the link to the Herod episode further highlights Jesus’ compassion and care for his guests. Matthew states that when Jesus heard of John’s execution, Jesus “withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself”. Mark and Luke both describe this event as occurring after the Twelve apostles return from being sent into the Judean villages, and Jesus withdraws with them to give them rest and debrief. In that context, the focus of the episode is on the Twelve, their frustration with having their rest interrupted by the crowds, and Jesus’ testing of them by asking them to provide the food.
For Matthew, the focus lies on Jesus, for Matthew states that Jesus “withdrew . . . by himself” in response to learning of John’s execution. Matthew is implying that Jesus has withdrawn to mourn the death of John, when he is interrupted by the great crowd. Consider a time when you have longed to be on your own to process and mourn a heartache only for a friend, spouse, or child to confront you with their own need. Of course, the desire for space to mourn is needed and good, but we see in this episode the deep compassion of Jesus as he acts out of care for the people even when their needs are an interruption.
This is the type of King Jesus is. A King was expected to provide for his people. Herod provides a banquet for himself that results in death. Jesus acts out of compassion, even when the needs of his people present an interruption. In his compassion, Jesus does not send his people away in their need (v. 16), but rather abundantly meets their needs himself. To return to the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer which I referenced above, should we not have confidence to approach our King in times of need?
—————–
An audio version of each devotion will be posted on our church podcast “Life Together at CRPC,” which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.