Matthew 14:13-33 Feeding the 5,000, walking on the sea
(Psalm 95:1-5)
Jesus is trying to get away in this passage. He’s trying to get away
from the crowds after the death of John the Baptist. He just wants to be
alone. He needs some space, perhaps to grieve, perhaps to pray, perhaps
to prepare for what will come next.
He can’t get away. The crowds follow him. Jesus feels compassion
for them, and he heals their sick. The disciples ask Jesus to send the
people away so that they crowd can feed itself in the nearby villages and
towns. Jesus isn’t fine with that. He tells the disciples to feed the crowd.
They protest that they don’t have enough. Jesus asks them to give it to
him, and he makes it enough. Enough with leftovers.
The they go away again. The disciples stay in the boat while Jesus
goes off to pray. There’s a storm, and they are afraid. Peter is Peter, and
insists on walking to Jesus across the water. He’s afraid and he falls in.
The storm ends when Jesus gets to the boat. And then the disciples
believe.
Both the feeding and the walking on water are almost incidental.
They’re a part of who Jesus is, but not really anything special. They’re
designed for us to learn something about Jesus. So what do we learn?
What do we fail to learn when we treat them as huge miracles, and not the
very reality of Immanuel?
