From the desk of Pastor Ben

Lessons from the Feeding: Faithful Remnant Confirmed;
Unfaithful Rejecters Revealed

“Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.”         (Matthew 14:19-21)

The final two lessons of Jesus’ miraculous feeding are of the utmost spiritual significance to us. The event confirmed the presence of a faithful remnant. A segment of the crowd already believed and followed Jesus to be blesses, and others followed so they might believe and join that saved group. The apostle John recorded their attitude: “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God? . . . Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, always give us this bread’” (John 6:28, 34). The disciples observed not only the multitude receiving abundant food from seemingly so little, but also a tremendous illustration of Jesus’ compassion — and they praised and glorified Him for that. They saw a demonstration of the divine kingdom and the King Himself at work, and they appreciated the Lord’s integrity and stewardship. His miracle power was genuine, unlike the attempts of many charlatans and false prophets.
Sadly, this miraculous feeding also confirmed the presence of many unbelieving who rejected Christ. Most in the crowd merely saw what to them was simply a fascinating work of magic. Thus, the gospel significance of Jesus’ miracle fell on hard soil — the unbelieving saw the human Jesus but completely missed the Son of God. Jesus met their physical hunger as never before, but spiritually, they did not taste of the Bread of Life.

Ask Yourself:
Ultimately, only these two groups determine who is inside or outside God’s kingdom. Humbly examine yourself today and seek by faith to be among the faithful remnant.

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Lessons from the Feeding: The 12 Established – Part 2

“Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied.”         (Matthew 14:19-20a)

Today, we continue our look at how Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 established the apostles with some valuable lessons. Another such lesson is that He taught them to do things in an orderly and careful manner (1 Corinthians 14:33, 40), which taught the 12 the importance of obeying Christ even when the reason is not at all clear. Only when the disciples went ahead and seated the people and began distributing the food did they see Jesus’ miracle take effect.
Our ministry to others should always show an unreserved generosity that considers their needs before our own. Just as the food did not multiply until they obeyed, the apostles’ own needs were not met until others were fully satisfied.
The apostles learned they could trust God to supply the impossible. As we do today, the disciples at first looked everywhere but to Him for assistance. God can work without us, but He often chooses His servants and their small resources to magnify His goodness and power.
Our Lord’s redemptive plan entails the witness, work, and means of His followers, whether it’s the apostles or us. He delights to show His power and abundance in the most “impossible” of situations (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). At the feeding, Jesus truly taught the apostles the effectiveness of the humble over the grandiose — in this case, a little boy’s lunch.

Ask Yourself:
Where does your generosity usually start and stop? Have you seen it devalued into the mere giving of money without a corresponding compassion for others or a genuine desire to worship and glorify the Father? How could generosity begin to truly transform you?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Lessons from the Feeding: The 12 Established – Part 1

“Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied.”         (Matthew 14:19-20a)

The 12 apostles were always objects of Jesus’ concern, training, and instruction. Just from this episode of the feeding of the 5000, our Lord taught them a number of important principles.
First, Christ demonstrated the principle of withdrawing from needless danger (Matthew 14:13). Martyrdom, or any type of unnecessary suffering sought for the wrong motives (such as self-glory), has no place in the believer’s life. Second, the Lord modeled the importance of rest and solitude, even when there is much ministry to do. We can’t always get rest and refreshment just how and when we want it, but that does not mean we have to abandon it. In the same way, the apostles saw from Christ the need for occasional times of retreat with fellow laborers to support one another and share needs and feelings.
Further, Jesus confirmed the apostle’s need to have compassion on the needy, even if those people seem fickle and undeserving. Christ generously met the physical needs of the crowd that day even though He knew most of the people would not follow Him to the end. Rest and leisure are important, but they must sometimes give way to service to others when that need is greater. Christians have no inalienable rights to personal prerogatives. Those must be expendable, along with all possessions, in service to others in the name of the Lord Jesus (see 1 Corinthians 9).

Ask Yourself:
If you struggle with allowing yourself to rest and refresh, think about what that is likely to cost you in the long run. How could you force yourself to take more seriously your own limitations and your need for re-charging, being as driven to relax as you are to exert yourself?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Jesus Feeds the 5,000

“Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied.”         (Matthew 14:19-20a)

The people who had been standing on the beautiful, grassy northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee to better see and hear Jesus, likely had little idea why He was now telling them to sit down in such carefully arranged groups. The apostles might have finally guessed that Jesus was going to feed the crowd, but they still did not know exactly how.
But, the Lord’s divinely backed method, immediately became apparent to the twelve. After He blessed the food and gave thanks for it, Jesus broke the loaves, gave them to the apostles, and had them distribute the bread to the people seated. The text does not tell us precisely when the miracle occurred. A continuous multiplication of the food evidently took place as the disciples distributed it among the people. The miracle was probably not even noticed at first, with no fanfare or dramatic change from little food to much. But the stunning magnitude of the miracle quickly became clear as the thousands of people all had food to eat.
Because God, through His Son, created the multiplied bread and fish, the crowd’s satisfaction must have been the best the people had ever experienced. Here, Matthew uses the same word for satisfaction as Jesus used in the Beatitudes when He promised those who hunger and thirst for righteousness “shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:5). All those who in faith partake of God’s provision will never ultimately be dissatisfied.

Ask Yourself:
Strange, isn’t it, that even though we’re all seeking the satisfaction of being filled and content, we so often seek it in ways that are not capable of providing it. Why do we expect fulfillment from anything other than on-going fellowship with Christ? Why do we doubt that we’ll find it in Him?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Apostle’s Dull Perspective

But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
                        (Matthew 14:16-17)

Earlier on this day, Jesus had brought up the matter of feeding the large crowd (John 6:5-6), and the subject proved to be a test of faith for the apostles. Would they look to Christ to meet this tremendous need, or would they trust in earthly resources (see vs. 7-9).
From our contemporary vantage point, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s difficult to understand why the concept of Jesus’ feeding the people miraculously did not sooner enter the apostles’ minds. It would not have required that much faith for them to have expected Jesus to feed the multitude. But instead, they saw no further than their own meager resources: “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” The apostles’ outlook was much like someone standing near Niagara Falls and asking where he could find some water to use. They were face-to-face with God incarnate and yet were spiritually blind to what He could do.
We might be tempted to presume that, had we been there with Jesus and the crowd, we would have automatically asked Him to use His powers to feed the people. That would hardly have been a challenge for Him who created the universe, walked on water, calmed the storm, and healed hundreds of people, even raising some from the dead. But how many times have believers today, including us, faced a seemingly insurmountable crisis and looked to ourselves first rather than exercising faith and looking to God for the solution?

Ask Yourself:
What are the reasons behind our frequent reluctance to look first to God and His provision? Is it fear that He won’t come through? Is it doubt that He is able? Is it laziness, an unwillingness to persevere in prayer? Whatever it is, it’s keeping us from resting fully in His care.

Jesus’ Great Compassion

From the desk of Pastor Ben

“When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.”        (Matthew 14:14)

The normal, natural inclination for Jesus at this time would have been to ignore the crowd or to forthrightly dismiss the people and tell them He’d do no more miracles to help them. But Jesus, being God’s Son, did not merely operate according to human emotions. Even though He was exhausted and in need of rest, the Lord “felt compassion for them,” which drew Him to the people.
The word translated “compassion” means literally to be moved in one’s bowels, which the ancients considered to be the seat of human emotions. Christ was far from detached and unfeeling regarding humanity’s needs, but was deeply touched by fallen people’s confusion, suffering, and spiritual lostness. No doubt He felt here much as He did when He approached Lazarus’ grave and wept (John 11:35), or as He did when He wept for Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34-35; 19:41-42).
In His divine mercy, Jesus had compassion even on many shallow, self-centered thrill seekers in the crowds following Him. This displayed God’s loving heart toward people who would not understand or believe the gospel, and would thus ultimately reject Him.
Jesus’ compassion also derived from His perfect perspective of hell and the terrible consequences he foresaw for those who would not trust Him for salvation. As much as our Lord wanted to heal people’s sick and injured bodies, He was infinitely more concerned about their sin-plagued souls. Physical bodies can become sick or injured again, but once Christ redeems a fallen soul, it forever remains whole and free from sin’s dominion.

Ask Yourself:
Perhaps you struggle to sense or experience the love of your Heavenly Father. But Jesus said, He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). When you see the Son’s heart bursting with compassion, do you realize you’re also seeing the heart of your Father?

Jesus’ Response to John’s Death

From the desk of Pastor Ben

“His [John’s] disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus. Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself;”     (Matthew 14:12-13a)

John the Baptist’s disciples must have experienced much pain and sadness when they carried away his decapitated body for burial. He was a great man, the forerunner of the Messiah, who had been their loyal friend and faithful teacher. They had responded to his urgent preaching and taken his message of repentance to others.
Probably in accord with previous instruction, John’s disciples told Jesus what had happened to John. Our Lord deeply loved John. And when He received the sobering news, He wanted to be alone, so “He withdrew from there . . . To a secluded place by Himself” with the apostles (see Mark 6:31-32).
Some suggest that Jesus left the area to avoid John’s fate, but that makes no sense when Jesus knew that in the coming months He would willingly carry out the Father’s plan to suffer an atoning death for sinners. Jesus avoided Herod only because it was not then in the Father’s timetable for Him to meet Herod.
John was the first martyr of the faith (even before Stephen), and Christ likely used this event to teach the apostles more about what lay ahead for them. Although most believers around the world today have freedom to practice their faith, some still suffer John’s fate. Enemies of Christianity persecute believers and kill them; but like John, such martyrs would rather die than deny their Lord or the truth of His message.

Ask Yourself:
Sometimes we overcompensate in reaction to life’s struggles by drowning ourselves in escapes, avoiding having to think about our own or other’s pain. Could it be possible, in trying to keep ourselves upbeat, we lose some of the joy that comes from letting God dry our tears?

Herod’s Reasons – Part 2

From the desk of Pastor Ben

“Although he was grieved, the king commanded it [John’s head] to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests.” (Matthew 14:9)

Herod’s morbid fascination with John the Baptist and Jesus was very sad. It had nothing to do with real faith and a seeking after truth and salvation. Rather it was the religious curiosity of unbelief that does not respond to God’s grace, love, and truth.
After John’s death, Herod, “kept trying to see Him [Jesus]” (Luke 9:9). But the Lord would not see him prior to the Father’s perfect time. Jesus responded this way to a death threat from Herod: “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal’” (Luke 13:32). So He stuck to the purposes of His earthly ministry, undeterred by Herod.
Finally, hours before His crucifixion, Jesus did meet Herod: “Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing. . . . Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him . . . Sent Him back to Pilate.” (Luke 23:8-9, 11)
For fear of losing his earthly reputation and power, and for pride in his own accomplishments — and for lack of fear toward God — Herod rejected Christ and doomed his soul forever.

Ask Yourself:
Pride and preoccupation with one’s mask of self-reliance are such dangerous threats to a life of faith — we should guard against them with all our hearts. How have these heart enemies hindered your free experience of fellowship with Christ? What has helped you fight against them?

Herod’s Reasons – Part 1

From the desk of Pastor Ben

“Although he was grieved, the king commanded it [John’s head] to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests.” (Matthew 14:9)

As yesterday’s study revealed, Herod’s reaction to Jesus stemmed from an irrational fear that He was actually Joh the Baptist come back to confront Herod again. So, Herod’s wavering response to Christ directly flowed from his earlier feelings toward John. Even as John the Baptist feared nothing and no person but God, Herod feared everything except the Father and His Son. In addition to John and the multitudes, Herod was paranoid of his family and friends and feared potential threats to his position by Rome and other nations.
Herod felt ambivalence toward John, being both afraid and fascinated — feelings he undoubtedly now had toward Jesus. Mark’s gospel says, “Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him” (6:20). From this and his being grieved about agreeing to the beheading of John, Herod seemed to have developed a fondness for the Baptist, or at least a more respectful fear — both of which he could have transferred to Jesus.
Although Herod “was grieved,” such grief had nothing to do with sadness for sin or authentic repentance. Similar to Pilate, who should have released Jesus but caved in to Jewish intimidation (Luke 23:22-25; John 19:12), Herod cowardly gave in to the injustice and revenge favored by his wicked wife and stepdaughter and let an innocent man be executed. His foolish excesses and complicity in evil now haunted him and prompted a faithless interest in and faulty analysis of Jesus’ works.

Ask Yourself:
Do you operate with any irrational fears that motivate your decision-making and perhaps alter your ability to follow Christ as fully as you should? What are you doing to counteract them? How could you keep yourself more accountable to those who help you see life in perspective?

Herod’s Reaction to Jesus

From the desk of Pastor Ben

At that time, Herod, the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”     (Matthew 14:1-2)

Although Jesus ministered in Galilee more than in any other place, we don’t know that He ever visited or passed through Tiberias, home of Herod’s palace on the southwest sore of the Sea of Galilee. Had the Lord wanted to go there it would have been easy enough because it was within walking distance of Capernaum, Nazareth, Cana, and other more familiar places. Jesus might have avoided Tiberias so as not to prematurely arouse Hero’s interest.
Herod was greatly distressed when he finally did hear about Jesus. Because of the guilt that nagged him for having murdered John the Baptist, Herod had the superstitious fear that John had returned from the dead to get revenge on him. The notion that John had risen from the grave did not originate with Herod, “because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead” (Luke 9:7). That’s why Herod kept trying to see Jesus, most likely due to a sense of morbid curiosity. Herod’s guilt-ridden mind had convinced him that Christ was none other than a re-incarnated John the Baptist.
The angel told John’s father, Zacharias, that John would “go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). God had empowered Elijah with miracle-working capabilities and John might have done miracles we don’t know of. So, Herod was convinced that Jesus’ miracles proved He was John returned from the dead — a wrong reason to seek Jesus, not based on faith but fear and misinformation.

Ask Yourself:
How do you keep yourself seeking Christ for all the right reasons — neither legalistically (trying to prove your self-worth) nor superstitiously (trying to cover your bases)? What have been some of the greatest blessings of seeking Him for His glory alone?