The Feeding of the 5,000 teaches us two things about Jesus. First of all we learn that it is our Lord Jesus who is the one through whom we have everything that we need. Those people on that mountain were hungry. They hadn't eaten all day. They needed food. But there wasn't any food except for a few loaves and some fish. So Jesus takes that food and makes sure they all get some. All 5,000 of them! Jesus takes care of their bodies and He'll take care of what we need for our bodies and lives. But the Feeding of the 5,000 also shows us that Jesus is the Bread of Life who feeds our souls and gives us bread that lasts forever. In His breaking of the bread and distributing it by His disciples, we have a picture of His church in which He feeds us with Himself, the Bread of Life, distributed by His pastors to eat and drink for the forgiveness of sins, and, as He says later on, so that He will raise you up on the Last Day. Jesus' main job is to give us this Bread of Life, His flesh, given for the life of the world, so that you will have eternal life. But He also feeds the people with bread and fish to teach us that if He is the One who is our Savior, then He's also the One who will provide what we need every day of our lives.
But look how much unbelief we have! How ungrateful we are, both for His bodily and His spiritual blessings! We ask with Philip: “Where are we going to get enough?” When we have some, we ask with Andrew, “How is that enough?” We worry and fret and grumble about how we don't have what we think we need and we have no idea where it's going to come from! The Lord gives us our daily bread and then when it gets low again, we wonder where we're going to get it, as if the Lord never gave us anything! And then we neglect what our Lord has for us spiritually too! Here in the church He gives us His own body and blood, the Bread of Life and we act as if we don't need it. Parents: You work hard to provide clothes and food for your kids. If you didn't, they would starve! But what do you think will happen to their faith if you don't insist they come and eat the Bread of Life! Anything and everything becomes an excuse for neglecting the bread of life: I'm too tired. I just needed to sleep. I had something more important. Sunday is my day off. Believe me, I've heard them all. Is the Bread of Life so unimportant that you can skip it so easily? Faith that is not fed by Christ's body will do nothing but wither and die. It doesn't matter whether it's Jesus's bodily gifts, which we complain we don't have or His spiritual gifts which we act like we don't want—either way and for both, repent! Turn from the complaining that got the Israelites killed in the desert and cling to Christ who has all these things for us!
Jesus is the provider of our daily bread. Sure, we have jobs, we work, we make money, we buy what we need. But if we think this is all our doing, then we are denying what Christ is teaching us. He is the One through whom we have all that we need. And He does it even despite our complaining! Look at the children of Israel. There they were grumbling in the desert. They wanted bread. So the Lord sent them manna, day after day for forty years. They grumbled for meat and the Lord sent them quail, day after day for forty years. Then here on the mountain with Jesus. The people are hungry and Jesus' own disciples can't figure out that they should trust Jesus to take care of it. So He does. He feeds them. And there's even a basket of leftovers for each of His twelve doubting apostles. And how about you? Does the Lord take care of you or does He let you starve? When we have to beg our kids to “take one more bite” or push away half a plate of food at a restaurant, I'm pretty sure that the Lord is providing our daily bread! But while Jesus is indeed the Provider of our daily bread, that's not all He has for us! We sell Him short if we believe like the TV preachers tell us that Jesus came so we can have lots of money and nice cars and houses! Daily bread, sure, but He has so much more. And I'm not talking “stuff.”
Gathered around Mt. Sinai, the Lord fed His people with manna. Gathered on the mountain with Jesus, the Lord fed them fish sandwiches, as much as they wanted. Feeding the people from the mountain two times like this points us to a greater mountain from which our food comes: Mt. Calvary. Jesus, later in chapter 6 explains to the people that He is the Bread of Life. His flesh, given for the life of the world is the true bread which, when we eat it, gives us eternal life. Jesus says, “Sure, I can make sure you've got enough to eat. So never mind that. Don't get all worked up about having enough groceries! Rather, eat my flesh which is the true Bread of Life and I will live in you and you in Me and I will raise you up on the Last Day.” When Jesus gives His life on the cross for our sins, He is giving His flesh as our food. Just as He told His disciples: “Take, eat; take, drink.” Here is a feast from God on the mountain, given to us in His Supper when His church is gathered together. Here is Christ's promise that His death on the cross is for you, when He gives you His body and blood to eat and drink. The amazing thing is not that Jesus gives us what need to eat and drink; it's that He takes away our sins and gives us eternal life and that is a bread that lasts forever. That is sustenance not just for the body but for body and soul together. Here is a treasure greater than anything we could buy at the store, for it is given to us freely as a gift: Forgiveness of sins. Eternal life. Salvation. That beats fish sandwiches every time!
And the grace of God is seen in that Jesus knows what we need even before we ask. He knew He was going to feed those 5,000 but He was testing Philip and Andrew. They failed. He knows that He is going to give us what we need even before we ask. But we fail too, doubting that He'll provide for us. But He still does, because that's the kind of Jesus He is! But more than that, before we even knew we were sinful, before we would ever have thought to ask for a Savior, He came in the flesh to give that flesh up into death for our life. He came to be the Bread of Life when we didn't even know we needed THAT kind of bread! When things seem tight, when you don't know how you're going to make it, remember that the Lord already knows how He's going to provide for you. Instead of grumbling and complaining, turn to Him in faith and say, “Lord, I don't know how you're going to do it but since you prove over and over that you can provide for me, then do so!” You can pray that way. That's faith that takes hold of Jesus and doesn't let go. But more than that: Here is a promise: There will never be a shortage or a testing with His body and blood. It is always available to you here in His church. Whenever the doubts and worries and all the other sins of your life pile up, come here and eat this holy meal, rejoicing that because the Father has given His Son to die for you, He will graciously give you ALL things that you need.
Jesus dished out bread on the mountain to a hungry crowd. He'll make sure you have what you need for this life. But more than that, better than that, He gave His flesh for the life of the world on Mt. Calvary, to be a holy food by which we don't just survive another day in this life but have life everlasting. It is easy for us to doubt whether the Lord will provide. But His going to the cross is His promise that He will give you all things. He has taken away all of your sins. He has rescued you from death and the Devil. He has accomplished and delivered to you the fruits of eternal salvation. He gives you His holy body and precious blood as the meal of salvation. For such a Lord and Savior who does all that, what's a bag full of groceries to Him? See, then, in Jesus, the One who is your provider both for you body and for your soul, for this life and the life to come. He who is the Bread of Life will feed you now and forever. Happy Lent in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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