Matthew 14:13–36

The Messiah gave a big meal. He walked on water too.

An event showed that Jesus is the Messiah. Another event showed that he rules over nature.

Read about Jesus’ miracles again. They are in Matthew 14:8-9. They were events. But they were also like parables. Here, Matthew described two more miracles. They are in Matthew 14:13–33. Jesus fed 5000 people. Jesus walked on the water. These miracles were also parables. They really happened. But there were lessons that we can learn from them.

Then Matthew described two examples of unbelief or lack of faith. (Read Matthew 13:53–58 and Matthew 14:1–12.) The two miracles now give a contrast. They describe faith. It is real faith, but it is weak faith. At the same time, they show who Jesus really was, and who he still is.

Jesus wanted a brief rest from his work (Matthew 14:13). This was not surprising. Remember that he was human! There was something else. His cousin, John, had just died. (Read Luke 1.) People would kill Jesus too. He needed to prepare for this. So, he needed to be quiet.

But this was impossible. The crowd followed Jesus. He pitied them. So he did not satisfy his own needs. He satisfied their needs instead. (Read Matthew 14:14.) The disciples were not like Jesus. They did not like it when the crowd did not go home. So the disciples were unkind to the people. They showed that they did not really care about the people. (Compare Matthew 15:23; 19:13 and Luke 9:49–50 too.)

Jesus used this situation to teach the disciples. He showed them that they had a responsibility (Matthew 14:16). But they just complained. They could not do anything. They did not have nearly enough food (Matthew 14:17). Then Jesus showed them that they had him. The miracle showed something about Jesus. He was all that they needed. He was their supply.

The disciples took their own small supply of food to him. Then they could do something about the needs of the people. Jesus blessed the bread and the fish. He broke them into pieces. Then those pieces multiplied in the hands of the disciples. There was a belief about the Messiah. It was that he would provide a big meal for his disciples. This was exactly what Jesus did here!

We must have real faith (Matthew 14:22–36)

We can learn at least 5 lessons from Jesus’ control of the storm. They are about a person who has real faith. (Note: In this section, ‘he’ refers to both ‘he’ and ‘she’.)

• He will always make use of all the truth that God shows. That person does not just agree with the truth. He will be ready to act because of that truth (Matthew 14:27–28). Jesus told the disciples not to be afraid. The language of the original NT was Greek. In the Greek NT, he said to them ‘I am’. This was a clear reference to God. It was the name that God called himself in the OT. (Read Exodus 3:1–17.) Peter agreed that this was true. So he used what Jesus taught. Peter tried to do something that was impossible. But he did not think first. (Compare Luke 9:57–58 and Matthew 16:24–25.)
• A person with faith will use all of life’s circumstances. They can be opportunities for two things. They can be a chance for spiritual growth. They can bring honour and praise to God too. The storm was a severe trouble for the disciples. But it made them sure that Jesus was God (Matthew 14:33). They recognised this clearly for the first time. They worshipped him as God. Jesus showed them that nature must obey him. (Read Matthew 8:23–27.) Jesus will always use a person’s troubles. The troubles can help that person to grow in a spiritual way.
• A person with faith will not be too afraid to act in the way that he should (Matthew 14:26).
• He may have very hard tests. It is easy to speak against Peter. He should not have looked at the wind and the waves. But Peter was already doing something that was impossible. Then his faith began to fail. Because faith is faith, there will be ‘storms’ in each believer’s life. There will be fears and doubts. The answer is always to look to Jesus.
• A person with faith will show it by trusting Jesus completely. Peter began to sink. Then he cried, ‘ Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately put out his hand to him. He helped Peter in his great need. Only Jesus has the resources to help us. Only he can make our faith strong. We must always look to him. We must always come to him.

Questions

• Is there something in your life now that is impossible? Jesus may be asking you to trust him about it. Then you will be able to do that impossible thing. Talk to him about it now.
• When should members of a church try to do something that is far beyond their resources? (This could be a plan to build. Or it could be special big meetings.) They could have great faith. Or they could be being stupid. How can we know the difference between these two things?
• The 5000 people could represent the people in the world. We could represent the disciples. If so, how does the big meal apply to modern life?