This week’s reading: Matthew 14:1-21
Hi Friends,
We begin this week’s reading with the sorrowful account of the beheading of John the Baptist and can learn some lessons from this terrible act. Then we continue on to the miraculous Feeding of the 5000 where Jesus, not only provides for the needs of those men and women, but He offers you and me so many tasty lessons that we can use today to nourish our own spiritual journeys. We are in Matthew chapter 14 verses 1 through 21. Listen to how Jesus solves this seemingly huge problem of providing for His hungry followers:
“As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.’ Jesus replied, ‘They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.’ ‘We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,’ they answered. ‘Bring them here to me,’ he said.” Mt 14:15-18 NIV
John the Baptist beheaded. John was so sold out for God that he refused to not speak the truth, even when it might lead to his imprisonment and death. Sadly, this is exactly what happens to him. We pick up his story here with the account of how King Herod had killed John. (you can read this story also in Mark 6:14-29) A little background: Herod had a brother named Philip who had been married to Herodias. She has an affair with her brother-in-law, Herod, and ends up divorcing Philip to marry Herod. What a soap opera, right? The issue is, according to the Law of Moses given by God to His people, that was a no-no. “If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.” (Lev 20:21 NIV) Because of this, John openly proclaims publicly the infringement of the Law and condemns the couple. This makes both him and Herodias furious, probably thinking something like, “How dare this lowly, insignificant man criticize us, the high and mighty rulers of the region!” Of course, Herod was only king because the Romans needed a puppet to watch over the Jews…anyway. The king imprisons John, but is too afraid of the people to kill him, because they rightly claimed John was a prophet of God. Then we come to this famous dance that has been speculated by so many. I will just share what Scripture and the historian Flavius Josephus has said though. Herodias and Philip had a child named Salome, that would make this young girl King Herod’s stepdaughter. At his birthday bash, Herodias sees an opportunity to get her revenge on John. Her daughter dances and entertains the king, “his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.” (Mk 6:21) This pleases them all so very much that the king reacts by promising to repay her anything she desires, no-holds-barred. She runs to her mother and asks what she should request, to which Herodias says, “The head of John the Baptist.” (Mk 6:24) Once again giving into peer pressure, too embarrassed not to keep his impetuous word, King Herod does her bidding against his will. John is beheaded and his disciples come to take his body away and bury it respectfully. John is not forgotten nor forsaken by those that followed him, but he is also remembered by God.
Lessons to learn. Here are just a couple of important lessons to take away from this story: 1-Pridefulness always causes problems. As with this instance, it can lead to an obsession with revenge that is just not worth it. And even if we do succeed at “getting even,” the guilty conscious can wreck our lives and lead to paranoia. We see this here in v2 where King Herod hears about Jesus, but quickly goes back to this sinful act, thinking that John has come back to haunt him. My Friends, the wise thing to do whenever anyone hurts our feelings is to let it go. If you have been wronged, let God be your avenger. (Dt 32:35; Ro 12:19) Only He knows the heart behind what has been said and done, so only He knows the best way to either justify you or convert the other person. We must choose Humility instead and choose to forgive, as we have been forgiven. And just in case they were right and we are the ones who did do something wrong, then we must trust God to correct us too. Just saying. 2- We must never give in to peer pressure, especially if we know that we know, what we are about to do because of them is the wrong thing. In Mark 6:19-20, we read that King Herod knew that John was a righteous man and he feared him so much that he tried to protect him from the wrath of Herodias. But when Salome corners him in front of his guests, the immoral king bows down to the crowd to save his own reputation, instead of saving the virtuous John instead. Peer pressure has an awful way of making us believe we have no choice but to follow the masses. But in Christ, we can always do the right thing. This brings me to, 3- be sold out for God, no matter the consequences. So as long as you are acting in love, with grace, follow Jesus and do not compromise. In the end, it is God who will either judge our unlawfulness, or reward our obedience. I know which one I’d prefer! One more cool thing: I heard someone say once that John the Baptist’s beheading was prophetic for the impending death of Jesus, who is the Head of the Church. How interesting! Oh there are countless lessons we can learn from all of Scripture…if we are willing to learn, that is.
Jesus feeds the 5000. This is the only miracle that is spoken about in all four of the Gospels. (Mt 14:13-21; Mk 6:30-44; Lk 9:10-17; Jn 6:1-14) Given that, this must be a very important event! We begin this account with Jesus being told that His cousin, John, was executed and Jesus tries to go somewhere private to mourn. Yet the crowds follow Him, and because His heart is so compassionate for the lost, He ends up serving and teaching them in the midst of His grief. My what a selfless Savior we have! His heart was not only breaking for John, but also for those He sees as “sheep without a shepherd.” (Mk 6:34) So as Jesus continues to minister to their needs, His disciples note that it is getting late and the people should go and find themselves something to eat. I think they were being genuinely concerned for those gathered, but they just did not think they had the resources to provide for them. They saw the problem, but did not have the solution, so they thought it best for them to go and fill their own needs by themselves. Jesus, on the other hand, knows better. Part of the lesson here is to understand that, with God, we all can be the answer to the many needs of this world. What we need is to step out in Faith, leaning on God for direction and trusting Him for provision. This is exactly what Jesus does. First, in gratitude, Jesus thanks the Father for what they do have, 5 loaves and 2 fish. We all know what happens, but another lesson here is to stop and question ourselves about whether we are grateful for the blessings God has already given us? Do we thank Him for the little things, or do we complain that we do not yet have the bigger things? Gratitude is what was missing in the immature hearts of Adam and Eve and it caused them to run after things that God had already forbidden. Instead of being thankful for all they had, they sought that which God never wanted them to have. Our understanding as children is so greatly limited compared to God’s All-Knowing power. Will we choose to be like Jesus who was so very awed at this meager lunch? Or will we be like His disciples thinking what we have is just not enough?
Not enough. This has been one of the strongholds in my life for way too long. It is the lie I grew up believing because it seemed to be the evidence of my life. But what we see and what God knows are two completely difference things, my Friends. And the way we choose to look at life, will color the way we experience it. While the disciples saw the tiny meal, God saw the 5000 plus being fed to satisfaction, AND the leftovers that would continue to feed them. God’s provision is always more than enough. But are we focused on the wrong things? In John 6:7, we hear Philip being preoccupied by the cost of potentially having to feed all those people. In John 6:9, we hear Andrew claim that there is no way the 5 loaves and 2 fish can even come close to providing for their enormous need. But in God’s hands, our insufficiency becomes abundantly sufficient. This applies to so much more than just food or worldly goods. When given an opportunity to share the Gospel, have you ever though to yourself, “There is no way I can do that! After all, I’m not a theologian! I don’t know much about the Bible!” Yet do you have a story about your Salvation to share? Has there ever been a time when you sensed the blessings of God in your life so strongly, there was no mistaking it was Him? Have you ever watched a film about Jesus that will open up the conversation? (BTW, if you haven’t, I would highly recommend you give The Chosen series a try.) One last question: are you willing to trust that God will give you the words to say, if you supply the loving heart through which to say them? My Friends, listen to me: you and I are more than enough when we surrender to Jesus, when we give thanks for the little we do have, when we lean on the Holy Spirit to guide and move and use us for the Father’s Glory! Next time that devil starts with his scarcity mentality, trying to make you give up and send the people away to be “fed” elsewhere, please remember this story and allow it to empower you to follow the example of Jesus. Give thanks for what you have and trust God to provide for the rest.
Faith takes a step out into the unknown. Not only was Jesus grateful for the small menu, but it took lots and lots of Faith to tell the people to sit down so He could feed them. I love how Jesus gives His disciples the food and tells them to go hand it out. My Friends, He is still telling us to do the same. We give thanks first, yes, but then we must take some form of action. To live by Faith means we act on that Faith. Many times this requires us stepping out of the boat before we…oh wait, that’s next week! I’m getting ahead of myself…or giving you a preview, whichever way you want to look at that. LOL. It took me quite some time to understand how to “release my Faith,” as the saying goes. But all it entails is me agreeing with God, speaking it out as I talk to others, and then acting upon that Faith, as if it has already happened. (Ro 4:17) Warning: please do NOT misunderstand what the Bible is saying here! This is NO WAY means “name it and claim it”! Only when God speaks of it will it come to being. This is not saying that we can make a wish list then expect God to fill it. This verse, Romans 4:17, talks about a promise God has given His children, that He will bring that which is dead, Sarah’s womb, to life in order to fulfill His promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. The only things we can “claim” are the many promises of the Bible. After all, Faith is meant to point us to God, not to this world or ourselves. Remember life is not about MMI. Theentire point of the Bible is revealing our Creator and communicating to us God’s desire to have a real and deep relationship with the humans He created. Whatever moves our focus to center on this world and its pleasures, is not godly Faith. Yes, God will provide for us, this is one of His promises…but it is WHAT He provides that sometimes gets us confused. Above all else, God desires to provide us with Himself, so we can become more and more like Him and lack for nothing. (Jas 1:2-4) He wants us to place our Faith in Him and what He has already said He will grant us. For instance, God promises that He will never leave nor forsake us, in both the Old and New Testaments, praise God! (Dt 31:6; Dt 31:8; Josh 1:5; Heb 13:5) He promises that you and I were made on purpose, for a purpose. (Eph 2:10) And He promised to give us Eternal Life, if we will believe in His Love, His Provision and His Indwelling. (Jn 3:16) These are the true treasures we can have and, by Faith, live by. So the next time you begin to feel like you just cannot do the thing in front of you, that you know you should do, remember God is with you, then step out and go do it anyway. (see Php 4:13) Trust that God will give you insight, send the right people around you, teach you the things you never knew you could know. Let me give you a practical example: a couple of years ago, my website crashed. That was the only way I was able to share my content with others at the time, so I had to do something, and fast. Those thoughts came flooding into my mind, “I don’t know how to develop a website! I don’t know anyone who could help me figure it out! This is hopeless!” Obviously not the words of God! So what did I do? I threw up my hands in the air and just gave up! No, no that’s not what I did…I could have, but by God’s Grace, I chose to act on Faith alone. First, I prayed. Then, sensing God’s help, I took action. Thank God for the good old YouTube which is a plethora of information. One helpful video after the other, I began to step out in Faith and, viola, the site was up and running in a couple of days. Again if you SAY you believe it, then in Faith take action on those beliefs. Speak goodness over yourself, instead of defeat. Talk to others about solutions, not problems. Choose to take those 5 loaves and 2 fish that you already have, and give them to God in gratitude, then watch Him multiply them. Your talents, your creativity, your mothering skills, your ability to be there for others…whatever meager thing you possess, like Jesus, believe that the Father can, and will, use it all for good.
The leftovers. God never wastes anything, My Friends. Just like there were 12 baskets of food uneaten, whatever you have gone through in life- the good, the bad and the ugly- it is all meant to have nourishing value for a later time. If it was a good experience, then when we share it with others, it will encourage them still. If it was a bad experience, then we can learn from it so we don’t repeat it or recognize when it is trying to come at us again. And if it was an ugly experience, we can use it to propel us instead of kill us. This is my story. There was nothing good about my Beckie Pie being diagnosed with cancer, going through one horrendous miracle after the other for 7 1/2 years, then dying. Yet when I look at the woman I now am in Christ, I can hardly believe the amount of peace and joy I am living in, as I await my reunion with my Baby Girl when my time here is done. In the midst, God will not waste what you go through. He will lovingly gather it into His basket and make sure it feeds you in a way that will nourish you heart and soul, if…if we let Him. Oh my friends, how much I choose to let Him! How about you? Then won’t you join me?
Until we meet again, keep lifting your eyes to God, He’s closer than you think.
<>< Peace, Diane
