Matthew 14:13-21
Appreciating Christ
Do Christians today
appreciate Christ sufficiently? Do we
fail to come to Him with great expectations? The apostles did not expect the
miracle of the feeding.
What Scripture
recalls about our Savior is a strong encouragement to draw near with confidence.
The writer to the Hebrews encourages us, “Let
us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” -Hebrews 4:16
What does this event tell us about Christ?
1.
Our Lord meets our needs with infinite compassion.
A.
He displays
compassion for the earthly needs of people.
1.
He knows that
many of our physical needs are often brought about by our own forgetfulness and
folly.
2.
Yet in love He
displays His divine compassion for the needs and hurts of people.
3.
His unique
divine-human nature makes it possible for Him to identify with our needs and
yet to do so with infinite compassion. ‘Since
then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the
Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who
is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has
been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” - Hebrews 4:14-15
4.
The same Jesus
who fed the five thousand is still the same person. But He now is seated at the
right hand of the Father. Hence He is omnipresent, and His compassion is
available to us now.
B.
He displays
compassion for the spiritual needs of people.
1
He is
compassionate for the terror of our lost condition. Jesus teaches, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save
the lost.” - Luke 19:10
2
He is
compassionate for the suffering that our sinfulness brings to the world. Notice
how He weeps for Lazarus and for Jerusalem. As the wounded healer He knows and
understands your hurts and disappointments.
3
He is
compassionate for the missing joy in the sinner’s life and for the missing of
eternal life. The Savior further explains,
“Do not work for the food that perishes, but
for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to
you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”- John 6:27
Transition: Not
only does our Lord meet our needs with infinite compassion He meets them with
infinite power.
2.
Our Lord meets our needs with infinite power.
A.
He displays His
power in the face of human earthly needs.
1.
He fed the five
thousand, healed the sick, cleansed the leper, raised the dead, etc.
2.
He commissioned
His disciples to continue His ministry to meet the bodily needs of people.
B.
He displays the
ultimate end of His Messiahship in meeting the spiritual needs of people.
1.
He is the Lamb of
God, who takes away sin. Early in Jesus’ earthly ministry John the Baptism would
declare, “The next day he saw Jesus
coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin
of the world!” - John 1:29
2.
He makes alive
from the death of sin. As St. Paul teaches, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he
loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us
with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he
might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And
this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so
that no one may boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” - Ephesians
2:4-10
3.
He gives eternal
life. Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall
not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and
yet do not believe. All that the Father
gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my
own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me that I
should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last
day. For this is the will of my Father that everyone who looks on the Son and
believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last
day.” - John 6:35-40
4.
He gives a living
hope in this life. You are born again to a living hope. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to
his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is
imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's
power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in
the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if
necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested
genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is
tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the
revelation of Jesus Christ.
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you
do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible
and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of
your souls.” - 1
Peter 1:3-9
The Gospels show
what a great Messiah we have. Bring all of your needs to Him.
Words – 1,030
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Loaves and fish, copyright
© Ed Riojas, Higher Things
