Matthew 14:13–21

¹³Now 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.

Today some of us from the Mid-west find the desert fascinating. It is so different from what we are used to seeing around here. There is a fascination in its cactus, its colorful rocks and minerals, mountains of sand, flowers we are not familiar with. Many of us love the sunny skies and dry air. However, a desert is only attractive today because we have homes from which we can look at the desert through windows from the comfort of air-conditioning inside. We have air-conditioned cars that can wiz us across the desert in comfort and bring us home in a few hours. And we can take with us a sufficient supply of water and food so that we never have to suffer even one minute from thirst or hunger.

But without such modern comforts and conveniences, a desert is a hostile, even deadly, environment. It is home to vipers, scorpions and tarantulas. The people of Jesus' time saw the desert as a place of hunger, thirst and death. If we try to live in the desert or travel through it on our own power without good transportation and a supply of food and water, we would soon go mad from the heat and lack of water, become disoriented and lost, and probably die. The desert floor is littered with dry bones of animals and sometimes humans who didn't make it back out.

Deserts and wildernesses were common to the ancient Hebrews and they play an important part in Scripture. It was in the wilderness that Israel wandered for 40 years. It was in a wilderness that Moses went up to the mountain and fasted for 40 days. It was in a wilderness that Elijah lived and preached. It was in a desert wilderness where John the Baptist proclaimed the coming Christ, and it was a desert wilderness where Jesus was tempted by Satan for 40 days. The desert is a lonely place because it is associated with heat, hunger, thirst and death. So when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been beheaded, he went into a desolate place, a desert, to get away from the crowds of people and be alone for awhile.

So Jesus got onto a boat and crossed the lake to a desert place. In fact, for Jesus to come into our world was like going into the desert. The Garden of Eden which God created no longer exists. On account of the sinfulness of mankind, the Garden which God created has been changed into a wilderness. Our fallen world with its suffering, pain, sickness and death on account of our sinful nature is a wilderness. So when Jesus was born in Bethlehem and came into our fallen world, he came into the desert wilderness where we live today. He took upon himself our sin. He was God, coming to dwell with his people right where we live, in our world of suffering, sickness and death. A world filled with war and murder, terrorism, homelessness, addictions, cancer and AIDS, economic recessions and job loss, broken families, divorce, drugs, and finally death is the world we live in. In contrast to the garden God made our world is a desolate place; a desert wilderness. And into this wilderness God came to dwell with us, to suffer with us, to die with us in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ.

But that day, when Jesus got to the desolate place, he wasn't alone. The crowds of people discovered where he was going and by the time he got off the boat and stepped onto the shore there was a huge crowd of people waiting for him. And although he had gone to get away from the people for a few moments of solitude, Jesus had compassion on them and healed the sick. Yes, God comes into our wilderness to dwell with us because he has compassion on us. He sees our broken, sinful world and comes to give us his tender compassion and love.

That is why, when it started getting late and the people had been there all day without eating supper, the disciples came to Jesus and reminded him to send the people home so they could eat dinner. Because in the desert there is no food or water. The desert is a place of hunger, thirst and death.

However, to the surprise of the disciples, Jesus didn't send the people home. He told his disciples to give them food. They didn't understand Jesus' order. "We only have five loaves and two fish, Jesus; we can't feed all these people with such a pittance." It sort of reminds us of what a widow once told Elijah, the prophet, almost a thousand years earlier when he asked her bring him some food. She said: "I have only a handful of flour and a little oil in a jug. Now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may prepare it for myself and my son that we may eat in and die." The disciples were well aware of this similarity between them and the widow.

But Jesus again surprised them. He didn't give in to their objection. Instead, he said, "Bring me the food." Much like Elijah told the widow, "Go and do what you have said, but first make me a little cake and bring it to me." There is an intentional parallel between Jesus and Elijah. Jesus is a prophet, indeed, The Prophet of God.

Then Jesus told the people to sit down and he blessed the five loaves and two fish and started giving them to the disciples for them to distribute to the people. Just as the widow's flour and oil did not run out for several weeks while Elijah was living with her, so the loaves and fish did not run out until all 5000 men plus women and children had eaten their fill. Then they collected 12 baskets full of leftovers. In fact they had more than the amount of food they began with. Jesus had just turned the desert into a garden of abundance. Jesus turns the desert back into the garden it once was when God first created the world.

The point is that just as Elijah provided for the widow during a time of extreme famine, so Jesus provides for us during our journey through the wilderness of this life. God is a compassionate God; a God of love; a God who cares for us and takes care of us. He not only created mankind for himself; to be in communion with him, but he created the world and all things visible and invisible for us; to give us life; to give us pleasure and beauty. Jesus shows the love and compassion of God for all people; not just those who believe in him, but for all people; as he says, God makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust. Jesus showers his goodness and love on us as he demonstrates in this miracle. This is God coming into the wilderness of this world to restore it to the garden it once was.

This miracle demonstrates who God is and what God is like. In this miracle we see the love and care of God, who himself came into our world; into our wilderness to suffer as we suffer. He came to take into himself our hunger, our evil, our sin, our sicknesses, our poverty, our death. He came to suffer and die in this wilderness. He was not only tempted for 40 days in the wilderness by Satan, he suffered our rejection, the excruciating pain of crucifixion, and even death on a cross in our place.

There is a greater meaning to this miracle. It does not merely mean that God cares about us and provides our physical bread that a few hours after we eat it we become hungry again; it shows that God provides spiritual bread. The bread of life. the bread that once we eat of it, we shall never become hungry again. The bread that doesn't give life to our bodies for a few years, but that gives live to our souls forever. Jesus himself is the bread that satisfies forever and gives eternal life. Because Jesus did not just come to share in our suffering and misery in the heat of the wilderness, he came to take our place in the suffering and death of the desert. He came to not only be with us as we suffer, he came to change our desert into a garden of abundance. He does not just "feel our pain" he does something about it. He forgives our sin; he reconciles us to God; he provides eternal life all through his suffering, pain, and death.

The real wilderness is inside us. The true desolate place is our human heart. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander. The garbage that comes out of our mouth comes from the heart. The real wilderness of hatred, warfare, selfishness, pride, drug abuse, addictions, sexual immorality is in our own heart. And it is our hearts that Jesus transforms when we are baptized and believe in him. It is our heart that Jesus transforms when we repent of our sins and trust his forgiveness. It is our heart that Jesus transforms when we eat his body and drink his blood in Holy Communion. It is the wilderness inside that he turns into a garden of goodness and love and sharing and peace when we believe in his gospel. Here is where his real compassion is seen: not just in a miracle of bread and fish, but in the miracle of the cross. In his death and resurrection. In the forgiveness of sins and renewal of our hearts and restoration of the image of God in which we were first created.

Christ, the Son of God, is with us in the restored garden. He is present with us in his word and gospel proclaimed around the world. He is with us in the water of baptism and the bread and wine of Communion. Christ himself is physically present. With us and joins us to himself that we might be one with him and one with his Father in heaven.

And when he transforms and restores our hearts, he gives us the love of God to love others as he has loved us and given himself for us. With a renewed heart we are freed from the power and slavery to sin and death, freed to serve righteousness in obedience to God; freed to give glory to God by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people, far and near, to our friends, our neighbors, and our family. With renewed hearts enabled to offer thank offerings back to God of the riches and talents he has give to us. Jesus transforms our hearts and enables us to live in righteousness and love.

And though we don't see the restored Garden completely today, it will be revealed for all to see on the day the Christ returns. On that day the garden of abundance, abundant and eternal life will be ours visibly and we will live with God in eternity forever. This miracle is a mere demonstration of God's love and of the eternal banquet which we will one day eat in his kingdom forever.

Amen.