by Bro. Abey George
Gospel Reading Matthew 15:32-39, The Feeding of the four thousand in
the wilderness
Glory be the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever unto
ages of ages. Amen
Beloved in Christ!
There are three significant points that stands out in this particular
passage.
1. The eagerness of those who followed Christ, to hear and be around
Him, regardless of time and place.
It is noteworthy that the multitude stayed with Christ for three days
in the desert. If we put this in the modern context, we can see
a "three day retreat" being held in the desert with our Lord. It is
commending to know that the multitude was willing to follow Christ,
even into the desert to hear Him and to be around Him. They have
pushed aside their daily routines, jobs and concerns to be with our
Lord for spiritual nourishment. They were not forced by Christ but
out of their own free will chose to set aside all the worldly
concerns of life and decided to follow Christ wherever he went..
Often times we tend to be concerned about time only when it comes to
spiritual things. The crowd on the other hand was eager to be
nourished by Christ and they were willing to invest time since they
knew it will be a benefit for them, and not merely to please Christ.
The reality is that at times, we temporarily set aside spiritual
things until we want God to intervene in our lives, when we are in
need of help. Can we compare our zeal and enthusiasm to that of the
crowd that followed Christ into the desert? Do we long to spend time
with our Lord in Church, searching for the words of our Lord in the
Holy Scriptures and praying to Him? Do we come to Church for Liturgy,
eager to receive the Blood and Body of our Lord Jesus Christ? Are we
not often times guilty of coming to Church services and activities
just so that the Priest might not be disappointed in us?
We are to invest time for spiritual things not for the benefit of
others but to work out our own salvation which requires us to
overlook time and place.
2. Christ feels compassion for His people
After having been in the desert for three days, we do not see the
crowd approaching Christ for food. It is also evident through this
that they went into the desert with Christ by their own choice. It is
Christ who surfaces the concern in regards to their physical needs.
We see in the book of Exodus Moses leading the Israelites into the
wilderness fleeing from the Pharaoh and his armies, and they began to
murmur since they ran out of food to eat (Exodus 15:24). The same
God, who heard the murmur of His people in the wilderness, now feels
compassion to those who followed Him into the desert.
Christ says "I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been
with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want
to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way" (vs. 32).
Christ realizes that the provisions they have saved up, might have
been used up, being in the desert for three days. Christ identifies
himself with the hunger the crowd felt. Christ, who fulfills the
spiritual needs of his people, fails not to fulfill their physical
needs as well. He does not will the crowd to leave His presence
feeling hungry, for Christ being the creator of all, is also the
sustainer of all. It is Christ's own hunger and desire to feed His
flock, for the distance they traveled was so much that Christ
testifies that the crowd would faint if they leave without being
physically nourished.
3. Christ feeds the crowd with the little food the disciples brought to the Lord
Within the consumer world, buying bulk and saving in bulk has been
the motto in the West. We buy in bulk and store it for days and
weeks. In this passage, Christ satisfied a whole multitude with very
little food they had saved. Christ previously have taught the
disciples not to worry about what they would eat, drink and wear
(Matthew 6:31). In fact He says "Indeed your heavenly Father knows
that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of
God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you
as well" (Matthew 6:33). Here Christ fulfills this promise to his
disciples. The crowd and His disciples sought the kingdom of God by
being with Christ. The question that Christ asks to his
disciples "How many loaves have you?" is very significant. Christ
asks His disciples to bring what they have in their possession.
Christ asks the same question to us everyday "What do you have to
bring to me?" Do we find ourselves holding back on anything because
we feel it is not sufficient to bring to the Lord? When it comes to
the talents that God has given us, do we hold back? When it comes to
our possessions, are we reluctant to let go of them? Christ, through
this miracle, invites all of us to bring forth the qualities that we
have that can be used for the building up of His Church. God blessed
Abraham's descendants since he was willing to give his only son to
God as a sacrifice (Genesis 22). He was blessed immensely by becoming
the father of a whole nation. If we present wholeheartedly what we
have to our Lord, he takes it and blesses it and multiplies it for
us. Christ multiplied it for the disciples and commands them to
distribute it to the crowd. Christ worked His miracle through the
disciples, as they became instruments for our Lord.
Let us pray that our faith may be like
that of the crowd who longed to be with Christ. Let us imitate the
lives of the Apostles and have the strength to live out the life of
the Church so that we may become great witnesses of Christ to the
world. Let us bring not only our treasures but also our time and
talents to the Lord so that God may use us as instruments for His
work in this world. May God Bless and keep us all. Amen.
See Also:
Sermons and Bible Commentaries for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost
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