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A Deserted Place
Matthew 14:13-21
It may bedry. Maybe dusty. Maybe dangerous. Maybe rolling hills. Maybe a plain of waving grass. Maybe a thick forest. Maybe land with dense undergrowth. It may be aplace where you feel deserted. A place where there is little water, or much water. A place hostile to life, or a place teeming with life. It’s not surprising, then, that the word deserted describes a place that is uninhabited. Life there is missing. Life there is quiet. Life there is hard. Few people choose it. Few people seek after it. Sometimes we find it. Sometimes we can’t avoid it.
There are a lot of deserted places. There are places where there is no sign of human life. And, there is the desert. In Scripture, God’s people were familiar with desert life. Much of the Middle East, including Israel, is desert. But there are lush exceptions, like the Jordan Valley and areas surrounding the Sea of Galilee. God chose to “raise His family” in a place surrounded by wilderness, a place where He could make His goodness known to His children as they trusted Him for protection and daily provision.
Today, most of us don’t live in literal deserts, but we often go through desert-like places. Sometimes we go as an act of obedience. Other times we find ourselves there through no conscious choice or action. When someone abandons us, or disease invades our bodies, we end up in desert-like circumstances where resources are scarce and life is hard to sustain.
So, in our Gospel lesson today, we see Jesus and the Disciples seeking out a deserted place, a remote area to get away from the crowds. We see a desert place. This reminds me of Moses. This reminds me of Moses asking God to feed the grumbling people of Israel. God feeds them manna. Just enough manna. God feeds them quail. Just enough quail. If it piles up across the land, it will rot. Were the Israelites satisfied with the manna and quail?
Matthew’s Gospel says that Jesus “had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Jesus felt from within His innermost being a tender-hearted compassion and mercy for the crowds. Then Jesus feeds5,000 men plus women and children, which means at least 15-20 thousand people with only 5 loaves of bread and two fish. Everyone eats and is satisfied. Jesus feeds us food that will not spoil even when there is much left-over. Jesus says,“I am the Bread of Life, no one who comes to me will ever be hungry.” Jesus says, “whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again.” Jesus says, “the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” Jesus exceeded Moses in the miracle department. This was a miracle of mercy. And with this miracle of mercy, Jesus healed the sick.
Jesus tells the people to sit on the grass. I’m sure it was comfortable, especially after running for so long to meet up with Jesus. Being with Jesus is like being at the table with Him. We eat with Him, and we fellowship with Him.
When Jesus feeds and heals the people, it is a picture or precursor to the Lord’s Supper, which was called by the early church “the breaking of bread.” The people recline – they feel relaxed, there is a festive feeling, and it is a significant time that they will remember.
Jesus takes the bread and the fish, and looking up to heaven, He blesses it. Then we see Jesus distributing the food by giving it to the disciples first, and then the disciples give it to the people. It is a time of eucharist, a time of thanksgiving. I’m sure there was either wine or water to drink. Everyone was provided for in abundance.
The Messiah has come to His creation, and He brought healing, wholeness, and satisfaction to His people.
The point of finding ourselves in a deserted place, whether literally or figuratively, is to remind us that we are dependent on God to sustain us and protect us—a lesson we need to remember even when we’re living in a place of plenty.
Are you living in a place of plenty? Are you living in a place of need? In what ways is God sustaining you? In what ways is God protecting you?
Remember, in every deserted place, God gives us an oasis of mercy and grace.