Sally A Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary
Matthew 14:13-21 presents Matthew’s version of the wilderness feeding of 5,000 men and unnumbered women and children, the only “mighty work” of Jesus found in all four Gospels. The context in which each evangelist sets this scene is significant. In Mt, it occurs immediately after Jesus and his disciples learn of the murder of John the Baptist by Herod. Jesus has withdrawn to “a deserted place” upon hearing this news, but the crowds get wind of it and follow him there. In this scene, Jesus does not teach or speak in parables; the reign of heaven is revealed through action motivated by compassion. The wilderness setting brings to mind God’s gift of bread to the escaped Hebrew slaves, answering the query of Psalm 78:19, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?” Several facets of this story present preachers with promising themes for a sermon.
First, as mentioned above, Jesus reveals the nature of the reign of heaven here in action, rather than parables. This suggests that the action we take to satisfy the desperate need of the least prosperous and most vulnerable in our communities constitutes a powerful testimony to the efficacy of our faith. What other forms of active ministry might we undertake to express the nature of our faith?
Second, Jesus’ action here challenges the power of the Roman Empire. Rome advertised itself as the supreme provider of bread, with the emperor himself the designated agent of the gods to feed the masses. This was not motivated by concern for the poor; rather, it was strictly a lever of control over conquered peasants. By contrast, Jesus’ “gut-wrenching” compassion (see Greek grammatical commentary) motivates him not to send the hungry crowd away to “buy food” (with what?), but to enlist his disciples in giving them something to eat (v16). Likewise, our compassionate action should never be a power play, but simply a demonstration of divine concern for human need.
Third, this scene in the wilderness was often invoked in the early church as an interpretation of the Eucharist. The four Eucharistic actions are present here: take, bless, break, give (v 19). In churches where the Lord’s Supper is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month, this is an opportunity to reframe the Eucharist as God’s compassionate gift to desperately hungry hearts and bodies. What if we were to link it to an “abundant bread” Sunday, when worshipers could bring loaves of bread to be brought forward and then delivered, immediately, to a local food bank or free lunch program?
Fourth, a sermon might foreground what the disciples say and do. First, they report to Jesus the obvious problem: the hour is late, and there are no resources in this deserted place to feed a crowd. They want the problem to “go away,” so they suggest that Jesus “send them away … [to] buy food” (v 15). (Of course, many in the crowd have no money.) Jesus exposes their hard-heartedness: “They need not go away; you feed them” (v 16). The disciples insist that their five loaves and two fish are insufficient, but Jesus says, “Give them to me.” Some speculate that more food was dug out of bags and pockets and shared. Others see a miracle. Either way, Jesus continues to say to us, “They need not go away.” When we share what we have, Jesus helps us, too, to “give them something to eat.”
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 