“They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat.”
-Matthew 14:16b
The Son of Man serves bread to those who are out in the wilderness. He is The Bread of Life, after all, able to feed not only your body with good bread and food from one day to the next, but also to feed you body and soul with the food that is imperishable, namely His body, which has made atonement for your sin and now avails before the Father so that you have His blessing now and forever.
Men, women, and children. When things happen it is because God says so. What He says, and what happens as a result, will often, if not always, run contrary to the Old Adam of your flesh. It will run contrary to your reason and senses. It will run contrary to your experience.
But speak and act He must do, for He is your Creator, and without His speech – His Word and action you would not be here. Nor would the creation which you inhabit from one day to the next under the sun.
He spoke by the Prophet Isaiah: A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.”
From that Word of the LORD came John the Baptist who, as a proclaimer of the Word, points the finger precisely at your Christ Jesus, Who this day makes smooth in the desert a highway for your God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Who has come down to drench you in the waters of His Word and Baptism so that you may be severed from the desert, from the unbelieving world, and instead abide in Christ Jesus, who is your imperishable Bread, given up for men, women, and children.
No surprise there. God spoke through His prophet Isaiah, and then, about 700 years later in time came John, preaching in the wilderness and pointing to Christ who was incarnate and born in the fulness of time. All time is of one piece with God, and He has put you smack dab into it, for you are here by His will and by His Word.
But here is the surprise. Here is what you did not expect. Nor did John. Nor did his disciples: John was thrown into prison and beheaded. Not for any crime, mind you, but for faithfully performing the duties of his office.
The prophet Isaiah says nothing of John’s imprisonment and beheading. The disciples are genuinely disturbed and even John the Baptist is disturbed because God is not acting the way they think He should.
He never does, does he? “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross and save Yourself!” So cries out the flesh of fallen man.
But do not be surprised or alarmed. It may not be written or spoken by the prophets, apostles, and evangelists, but if it happens it is in accord with God’s gracious will and provision from the beginning.
What you hear from the Holy Gospel today is at the apex, the highest height, of how God wishes to deal with you all, men, women, and children. It is not just how He wishes, but it is what He does.
“Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself.” That is to say, Jesus, with his own ears, heard that the last and greatest of the prophets, had been cruelly executed, and he did what you also would do when matters of great import and saddening news are brought to bear: you seek to escape. To be alone. To get away from it all. A vacation. A vacation from anyone and anything. Just stop the world. I want to get off.
So from this – that your LORD Jesus Christ withdrew by Himself upon hearing of John’s death - you can see that your Father in heaven, in and through Christ Jesus knows and suffers with you the trouble and anxiety that comes with the world and its thirst for blood, power, vengeance, falsehood, idolatry, and lust.
Such would you be, had you not been severed from the unbelieving world in God’s Baptism of you, and placed into the ark, the boat, with water all about you and drowning in the righteousness of Christ Jesus your Lord and saving you from sin, death, and the devil.
So from this – that your LORD Jesus Christ withdrew by Himself upon hearing of John’s death - you can see that Your Father in heaven, in and through Christ Jesus, is true man, born of the virgin Mary, and as such He, too, withdraws from all the trouble and troubling news.
But he is not just doing this to escape it as you would do. He does not withdraw for His own comfort. He withdraws so that He, in all faithfulness for you and on your behalf, may draw nearer to the Father in prayer.
After all, He is your substitute in life and death, while also experiencing what you experience. He knows it all. He has felt it all. As the Son of God He has spoken it all, and it all comes into being and will run its course from the beginning and unto eternity under His gracious Word and life for you.
So Jesus withdraws and takes the boat. He takes a cruise, all by Himself. Safe and secure, as if hovering over the waters even as the Spirit of God hovered over the waters before the land became a dry mass. Of course He is not alone, for in Him and through Him, and by Him all things were made. In Him, by Him, and through Him all things are sustained as it has been from the beginning.
But, by all appearances He is alone in that boat. No doubt, according to what you would to do when everything around you is nothing but trouble, He withdraws, gets away, because solitude provides opportunity to have gratitude and to hear and to speak with God the Father alone, in and through the Holy Spirit.
The solitude is not going to last for long. There is work to do while it is day. Imagine taking yourself on a single solitary vacation only to discover thousands of people following you.
How many people follow you? How many friends do you have on Facebook? Who is paying attention to you? Do you even want them to pay attention? Add them up. Are you up to 5,000 or more?
According to all four Gospels, five thousand people were there to meet and greet Jesus who went by boat alone while they went on foot through the wilderness. Five thousand *besides* women and children, so the total number could easily have exceeded ten-thousand. Imagine that waiting for you in your pursuit of peace and solitude.
It is true today that a good many famous people have way more than five thousand followers. But if you did an internet search today to see who is the most famous person – and by no means should you look to the internet as a source of ultimate truth; you should look and listen for that here, from this pulpit and from this altar – but the most famous person today according to the internet is . . . wait for it . . . Your dear LORD Jesus Christ, Who laid down His life in payment for your sin and took it up again.
Yes. He had five-thousand people besides woman and children meet him after a brief time of solitude in a boat following news of John the Baptist’s imprisonment and execution. Imagine setting off for some time of solitude, and then meeting thousands of people not only eager to see you, but also eager to hear you speak, and to receive help from you.
And this is really the heart and center of the Holy Gospel as preached to you this day: Christ Jesus is the only source of help. Whether it is in the wilderness or in the city. Whether it is at home or at work.
This one man, born of the Virgin Mary, whose flesh and bone and blood are just like yours, Who grew hungry and thirsty and tired, is also He who comes to your aid from one day to the next and into eternity to give you all you need for this body and life, and all you need for the life to come. He gives Himself, yes. And in demonstration of that, He feels compassion for the thousands who came on foot, out into the wilderness to see and hear this Christ Jesus.
Fame is not his object. Fame is not His purpose. Fortune is not his goal. Power and control is not His aim.
His object, His purpose, His goal, His aim, is to make payment for your sin with His own body. It is to take that payment and apply it to you not just as an idea, but through concrete means, and those concrete means are the apostolic ministry, Holy Baptism, Holy Supper, and Holy Absolution.
Yes. Your LORD Jesus is intent upon sanctifying you and keeping you in the one true Church until the Last Day when He shall raise you up.
This feeding of so many people in the wilderness, so many men, women, and children – they call it the feeding of the five thousand but it was five thousand besides women and children so it might as well be the feeding of the ten-thousand. This all comes and is multiplied from the provision of one small boy – he must have been a boy scout, because boy was he prepared.
St. Paul writes, “grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied unto you, and multiplication it is from one day to the next. Where sin did abound, there did grace abound all the more. By his feeding of so many with the resources that were so small, Christ Jesus, just as He does at the wedding in Cana – demonstrates Himself to be true God, begotten of the father from eternity.
You see, you cannot abide with God and have sin. You cannot have your sin removed unless God removes it. God cannot remove it unless He takes upon Himself your nature apart from sin, and He cannot remove it unless He is true God.
So this feeding in the wilderness is for you a sign that your Father in heaven will feed you just as he fed all those people in the wilderness. He does not do this begrudgingly but gladly.
What your LORD Jesus Christ did for the people then, and what He does for you so faithfully and well this day and every day, it is all at His own expense, having denied Himself the same comfort and benefit with which He serves you.
He has gone hungry and thirsty that He might feed you and quench your thirst. He has gone homeless, that He might shelter you; naked, that He might clothe you. He has borne all your griefs and sorrows, all your sickness, suffering and death, that He might heal you and give you life forever.
You shall not live by bread alone, but by that Word of God in Christ, the Word-made-Flesh, who speaks to you in love and gives Himself to you as Bread for both your body and soul. He is the Rock who has opened Himself up to pour out water and blood to quench your thirst and cleanse your spirit and give you life, even in the desert.
He does it now, as then, by the hand of His disciples, His apostles, His Evangelists, and His preachers, but He is the One who acts, who speaks: He takes the bread, He blesses and breaks, and He gives it to you: Take, eat, be satisfied, and live and abide with Me forever and ever.
And now we shall take, eat, be satisfied, and live and abide with Him forever and ever.
