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AUGUST 3 , 2008
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. But when Herod's birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus. Now 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. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now 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.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then 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. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Matthew 14:(1–12) 13–21
A Christian mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a lesson. So she said, “Boys, if Jesus were sitting here, he would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.’” Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, “Ryan, you be Jesus!”
How like human nature: When we want something, in this case food, how quickly we become self–centered. Forget everybody else, we want to begin our feasting now!
Before we come to the feast of the five thousand,1 we need some context. In Matthew’s Gospel there are two events that precede the feast of the multitude. Both events impacted our Lord greatly. Both events impacted our Lord greatly.
The first was his visit to his hometown of Nazareth, carrying with him the notoriety of being hailed as the Messiah.2 At first his townsmen marveled at his preaching and the wisdom that had been given to him. But, when they reminded themselves that Jesus was the carpenter’s “son” and Mary’s Son, a “son” among his “brothers and sisters,” they took offense at him. In a word, the Nazarenes rejected him. This prompted Jesus to say to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”3
No doubt, Jesus was saddened at the unbelief of his own villagers. The spirit of opposition and unbelief was sadly becoming more and more prevalent in his ministry.
The second event was bad news, some really bad news. He had just learned that wicked King Herod had beheaded his great forerunner, John the Baptist. Thus, the ministry that John had begun and Jesus was continuing had hit a low point. This was a cause for mourning and sadness.
In chapter 14, Matthew records two feasts in the space of 21 verses. The first is the adulterous feast of King Herod,4 which ended with the death of John. The second is the feeding of the 5000. The contrast between the two is stark and enlightening.
So, let’s take a look at Herod’s feast. It was his birthday. Time for a great banquet! And so he invited all the bigwigs: military men, high officials, and the leading men of Galilee.5 At his side was Herodias, his brother’s wife whom he had taken to be his own. But John the Baptist spoke to Herod plainly and said, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”6
Herodias wanted to have John killed. But Herod feared the fiery preacher because he knew John to be a “righteous and holy man.”7 The people also held him to be a great prophet. So the King took the middle course and put John put in prison.
And so we come to the day of Herod’s birthday feast. In due time the daughter of Herodias, Salome by name,8 danced for the pleasure of Herod. Her dancing so pleased him that he promised to grant her anything—up to half his kingdom. Salome, following her mother’s wicked bidding, asked for the head of John the Baptist. The execution was summarily carried out. And John’s head was put on a platter and immediately brought to Salome, the seductress.9
That ought to shut up the annoying preacher!
Herod’s birthday feast included the wealthy, powerful, and beautiful people of his day. It was a godless feast of arrogance, sinful pride, and lust. Go to any fraternity or sorority party and you’ll find some of the same kinds of people on the guest list. You could probably say the same thing about some of the all–night parties after the high–school prom. The same is true of some business parties. It’s always the rich, powerful, and beautiful that make the best lists. You’ll usually find booze, drugs, and fornication at such affairs. We don’t usually call these things “feasts,” but my guess is that more than food gets consumed there. And we, in our own way, cook up lustful, self–promoting feasts in our own hearts.
Who are the real preachers in our day? I would contend that the most effective preachers do not fill pulpits. They come to us 24/7 via TV, radio, and the Internet. There we see, hear, and consume the morality of our cultural heroes. We get intoxicated with what they deliver, for we are too easily bored with whatever does not entertain us. And, boy, do these things entertain! Truth, for many, is delivered in the messages of our cultural superstars. Not so long ago, people repented when they were confronted by their sins. Not so with most of the MTV generations.10 Jesus is just another voice that gets drowned out in the cultural rot . . . unless, unless children are brought up in a Christian home where their parents make Jesus and the Bible the final authority for all members of the family.
We now move to the feeding of the 5000. Those that came to this feast were not unlike the cultural groupies of today. They did not follow Jesus because of their spiritual need, but because of his healing miracles.11 Although Jesus and his disciples had come to a quiet place to get some much–needed rest, the Savior’s heart was moved to help them. We read, “[Jesus] had compassion on them and healed their sick.”12
His compassion extended even further. There would be a great feast. Because it was getting dark, the people could not go to the nearest McDonalds. So the compassionate Christ determined to supply their need for daily bread. The feast was not earned or deserved, but it was provided anyway. Thus, we see that Jesus’ motives were infinitely higher than Herod’s. Lust and power drove Herod’s feast. Compassion and love drove Christ’s.
Taking the five barley loaves and two fish, he raised his eyes to heaven and gave thanks. Then he began to distribute it through the hands of his disciples. When he did so, the food appeared, and appeared, and kept on appearing. What began as a few loaves and a couple of fish multiplied and multiplied again until everyone was fed! In fact, his disciples had to pick up the leftovers, some twelve baskets full. The biblical account is brief. It leaves us wondering what the reaction of the multitude was. St. John tells us that the people wanted to make him a king. Yes, a king, but not the king of salvation. They understood the miracle well enough. If Jesus could heal the sick and multiply the fish, he could multiply cash or good–times as well. Perhaps, we feel like saying to them:
Oh you hard–hearted fools! You held the “wonder bread” in your hands, didn’t you? You ate it with your mouths, didn’t you? But you didn’t get it, did you? You didn’t ask yourselves who the Wonder Worker was, did you? No, it went right past you! Oh, how blind can you be!
As blind, I suppose, as we can sometimes be. In this miracle, we learn something about Jesus. Even though he is sinless and omnipotent, he uses his sinful and ordinary disciples to distribute his abundance to equally sinful and ordinary people. Thus, we see that he is the friend of sinners. The kings and queens of this world will hardly rub elbows with the dirty and destitute. But Jesus is different. He loves sinners, even sinners like you and me who struggle daily in the battle against lust, jealousy, impatience, and anger. Indeed, he says of himself, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”13
How stunning is that! He who created the universe wants to serve sinners by dying for them! The world says, “That’s stupid! Any god worthy of the name insists on submission and homage.” But not Jesus. He turns the world’s wisdom upside down, for he reveals that the heart of God is like the heart of a loving father who will sacrifice anything to bring his wayward children to his side. Yes, and the cross is the revelation of the heart of God. And his resurrection proves his victory over all our enemies. That is good news, indeed!
The miracle also shows us that Jesus values even the leftovers. He brings forth food in abundance, yet he saves every uneaten crumb. Thus, he teaches us that whatever comes from the hand of God is sacred. It is sacred for the simple reason that it belongs to him. Interesting, also, is the often overlooked detail that the quantity of leftovers exceeded the original supply of loaves and fish. This shows, first of all, that God is not stingy, and, second, that when he blesses, the cup often does overflow.14
Finally, just as Jesus used his disciples to distribute the fish and loaves, so, today, he distributes his saving gifts to us through those whom he has called. He uses pastors to teach his Word and to administer the Sacraments according to his institution.
Herod’s feast was a feast of lust, power, and death. Jesus’ feast was—and still is—a feast of compassion, forgiveness, and life. He gives us his Word, water, body, and blood to dispense the forgiveness of sins to you and me.
Two feasts, Herod’s and Christ’s. Which one do you attend? Don’t be bashful, which one?
In truth, you and I attend both, for we are simultaneously sinners and saints. That makes it all the more important that we attend Christ’s forgiving feast as often as possible! Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Endnotes
1 In Matthew 14:21, we read, “And there were about five thousand men who ate, aside from women and children.” One could easily imagine a crowd exceeding 10,000.
2 See Matthew 13:54-58.
3 See Matthew 13:57, ESV.
4 This is Herod Antipas.
5 See parallel account in Mark 14-29. See especially Mark 14:21.
8 Salome is not mentioned by name in the Gospels. But the Jewish historian Josephus identifies her. See http://encyclopedia.stateuniversity.com/pages/19391/Salome.html.
9 In accord with Roman feast tradition, it is almost a certainty that Salome’s dance was erotic in nature. Marcus says of the dance, that it was “probably meant to be understood as sexually provocative in nature.” See, Joel Markus, Mark 1-8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, the Anchor Bible Series, Vol. 27 (New York: Doubleday, 1999), p. 401. William Lane says, “The dance was unquestionably lascivious, designed to captivate and further the ends of the dancer.” See William L. Lane, The Gospel According to Mark, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974) p. 221.
10 MTV started in 1981 and, thus, has been around for 27 years. The first MTV generation (say, teens in the ‘80s) has spawned a 2nd generation that has never been without MTV.
11 In the parallel account in John’s Gospel, the evangelist writes, “A great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.”
12 See Matthew 14:14.
13 See Matthew 20:28.
14 See Psalm 23:5.
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