Proper 13: Gospel, Matthew 14:13-21                                  

Matthew 14:13-21

God’s invitation to life and our participation in it always lead to an evident conclusion. When God makes an offer, His provision doesn’t just meet our needs, but far exceeds them. Case in point is the marvelous gospel account of Jesus feeding the five thousand. We know that most likely there were many more than that, but the issue at hand is God’s provision. From a dearth of supply to abundance. How do we know?

Jesus challenges His disciples to lean on their Master with his, “You give them something to eat,”(v. 16b). They knew they did not have it in themselves to provide so Jesus chiding them is to move them once again to stand back in wonder. They did. Jesus characteristically takes, blesses, breaks, and gives (the marks of anyone officiating the Lord’s Supper) the bread. And oh what bread it is. Heavenly bread. Think manna. Heavenly bread. Think Jesus, Himself. And there you have it. Jesus is never just enough.

“So they (the crowd) all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained” (Matthew 14:20). Twelve baskets full left over. More than what they began with. That’s abundance. That’s meeting the need and then some. That’s the Lord Jesus.