In
the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The
Lord will provide. It’s such a common saying, almost cliché. As much as we say
it or know it, do we ever really believe it? The wealthy are satisfied with
their life and think that they don’t need God or His Word. And the poor wonder
how they could possibly be concerned with God’s Word or make it a priority when
they have to spend all their time and effort just getting food or shelter.
Somehow the American Middle class seems to
fall into both problems. They’re not really concerned about God or eternal
questions like heaven and hell because their life seems so good and
comfortable. Who wants to think about heavy, serious things when we have toys
to play with? On the other hand they are very serious about their jobs, working
and saving for expensive colleges and comfortable retirements. Very little
attention is given to the Lord, or His Word, or His promise to provide.
But this is the message of the feeding of
the 5000. The Lord will provide. And this miracle can teach us how the Lord
provides two kinds of bread: earthly bread and heavenly bread.
First of all, we should notice that Jesus
provides more than enough food for the crowd out of His compassion for them. It
is His idea to feed the crowd. He knew what He was going to do. And He
initiates the whole thing. He brings the matter of food up to Philip, because
He wants to feed them, and He wants to teach something through the feeding.
Our Lord still provides out of His
compassion. He gives daily bread to
everyone, even without our prayer. He makes the sun shine, the rain fall,
the corn grow. And He would continue to do all this even if no one asked Him
to. Because that’s how He is. He gives gifts to people who don’t deserve them,
even you.
Second, we should notice how Jesus gives the
food through means. He takes up already existing bread and fish offered by the
boy. And then He distributes it to the disciples, who in turn distribute the
food to the crowds. Our Lord always prefers working through means, through
created stuff, and through ordinary people.
He always provides earthly bread through
means. He sends rain and sun to make seeds germinate and grow. He sends farmers
to harvest the grain, gather it, process it, and distribute it. He sends bakers
and cooks, wives and mothers to prepare it and set it before the ones who need
to eat it. There are a lot of steps between God and the bite of food in your
mouth, but He is the One who makes it all happen.
We are used to thinking of a miracle as
something that interrupts and changes the natural order of things. Like a magic
spell that turns a boy into a frog. But the miracles of Jesus are nothing like
that. When Jesus feeds the 5000 He doesn’t turn stones into bread and scorpions
into fish. He uses regular bread and fish, He just multiplies it. Water really
does turn into wine: Water falls on the vines and is taken up into the grapes,
and the grapes are fermented to make alcohol. Diseased bodies really do become
healed. Storms really do quiet down. The miracles of Jesus are not magic
tricks, contradicting the Laws of Nature. They simply speed up nature. Or they
direct nature to work the way it was meant to so that it supplies mankind with
what is good. We think of the feeding of the 5000 as an incredible miracle, and
yet when single kernels of grain produce a bountiful harvest, we dismiss it as
ordinary. God hasn’t changed in either case. He is still providing. But we so
often fail to recognize God’s miraculous works in the little things of life. As
much as we might praise the Lord for the feeding of the 5000, we should also
praise Him for every bit of our food as well.
Finally, Jesus teaches us to be careful with
what has been given to us. He tells the disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” You’ve
all heard that other cliché: “Waste not, want not!” But many times frugality
can turn into stinginess. Still, there is truth in it. We should not assume
that there will always be an overabundance. The Lord provides, but we don’t
necessarily know when He will provide, or how much, or for how long. We should
appreciate the gifts we have while we have them and not squander them. We
should not presume that we can just go back to God and snap our fingers for
more (like to a waiter) when we’ve wasted His gifts and run out. So we should
take care of what God has given us.
Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t learn what
Jesus wanted them to. The problem with sinful people is that when they’re
hungry they lose faith in God and think they will starve to death. And then
when they’re well-fed and satisfied they lose faith in God and think they’re
all set and they don’t need Him for anything else. The crowd was happy that
Jesus filled their bellies. And that’s all they wanted from Him. They were about to come and take Him by
force to make Him king. So Jesus left them.
But in the rest of John, chapter 6, they
followed Him, looking for more bread. When they caught up to Him, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking Me… because you
ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work
for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give to you” (John 6:26–27). “The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me
shall never thirst” (John 6:33–35). Now Jesus is leading them from the earthly bread to the
heavenly bread. This was the greater point of the feeding miracle: the heavenly
bread is the Lord Jesus Himself and the Lord provides Himself to us in His
Word.
The feeding of the 5000 also illustrates how
the Lord provides this heavenly bread. First, He provides His Word for us out
of His compassion. It is His desire to make Himself known to us so that we
might believe in Him and live with Him. If God were not gracious enough to
reveal Himself to us in His Word, then we could never find Him. Second, He
provides His Word through means. He sends prophets and apostles to write down
His Word by the direction of the Holy Spirit. He sends preachers, and even
every Christian, to speak His Word, either publically for the Church or
privately within their own vocation. And He sends His Word along with physical
elements like water, bread, and wine. The Lord does not speak to us directly. He
speaks to us through His written and spoken Word. But His speaking is no less
real. His Word is meant for you.
Third, the Lord teaches us to gather up the
left-overs. When the Gospel is being preached in abundance, when we have
opportunities to hear and study God’s Word, when we are able to receive the
Sacrament, then we must take advantage of it. We are still so blessed,
especially in our corner of America, where we have several faithful churches in
easy driving distance. This is not the case everywhere in the world. Many
Christians have a much harder time hearing God’s Word than we do. So, we should
appreciate what we have and make use of it. We cannot assume we will always
have those opportunities. We must learn now our Catechism and the basic
teachings of Scripture, store them away in our hearts and minds, so when we are
in need of comfort or guidance, we won’t go to the cupboard and find it bare. We
must make every opportunity to cherish God’s Word while we have it so
available.
The problem is, sinful people don’t
appreciate what the Lord provides, either His earthly bread or His heavenly
bread. They want a king who will give them bread on their terms. They want a
king who will give them what they want when they want it. Jesus is not that
kind of King and He doesn’t go along with that program. Thanks be to God, He
provides according to His will. He does not pander to the delusional felt-needs
of sinners. He is only the King on His terms.
Jesus suffered to be made a King. He allowed
them to crown Him with thorns and mock Him with a purple robe. He allowed them
to set Him on His wooden throne, exalted above the earth on the cross. He
allowed them to proclaim His kingship as a cruel joke: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. He suffered all that to
happen, because that is how He is King. That is how the Lord provides. He
offered up His body and shed His blood to provide us with the forgiveness of
sins. He gave up His very life, so that we might have it.
Many don’t like that kind of King: a dead
man, hanging on a cross. Many people turned away from Jesus even before it got
to that point. At the end of John, chapter 6, many of the crowd left Jesus. Turns
out, He wasn’t the kind of King they were looking for, and what He was
providing wasn’t what they wanted. So Jesus said to the
twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon
Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You
are the Holy One of God” (John 6:67–69). Peter is right: Who else can we go to? The Lord died and rose
for us. He provides heavenly bread for us, His Word that gives eternal life. Surely,
He provides earthly bread for us as well. Thanks be to God.
In
the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
Martin
Luther’s Sermon: Baker, Vol. V, pp.344–350.
