The Feeding of the Five Thousand

Driving home: Disciples are commanding their Master, and they say, send them away. They don't say, Master, there's a need. Do you think that it could possibly? No. They come giving orders to their Master.

Martin suggests that some in the crowd might have been hypoglycemic, making their hunger more acute and emphasizing the disciples' concern for their physical well-being.

for a midday lunch, let alone a lunch and a supper, and the text tells us that as Jesus was teaching them many things, and also according to Matthew and Luke, was teaching them many things, and also according to Matthew and Luke, was teaching them many things, and also according to Matthew and Luke, was performing a ministry of healing, the entire day had gone without a lunch break, without a coffee break, and now it was coming on toward evening when most of these people would be having their evening meal, and the disciples are deeply concerned that people who have expended tremendous energy r...

10:51 - 12:16 Read in full sermon

Driving home: You, even you, give them to eat.

Martin translates the 200 denarii into modern terms, equating it to $10,000 (200 days of a $50/day laborer's wage) to help the audience grasp the magnitude of the disciples' calculation.

But I will exercise my authority over them in sending them away to provide for themselves. But I will exercise my authority over them in sending them away to provide for themselves. authority by commanding you to provide for them. You give them to eat. Now, we note in the next place their natural but calculating response in this interaction. Verse 37b. Their natural but calculating response. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred shillings worth or denarii of bread, and give them to eat? Embracing the what, give them to eat, they now draw upon some previous calculations made by...

18:04 - 19:17 Read in full sermon

Driving home: You, even you, give them to eat.

Martin visualizes the bread as 'hard rolls' and calculates that 2500 rolls would only provide half a roll per man, highlighting the inadequacy of the disciples' proposed solution.

and verse 13. So if we convert that into what we call the low end of the scale, a common laborer getting fifty dollars a day here in America at this stage in our economy, they say two hundred of those. What would that be? Well, you figure it out. Two hundred times fifty, you come up with ten thousand dollars. Now, they said by figuring this out, and remember they were drawing on Philip's previous calculations. I doubt he had one of the watches with the little calculator there, but I would also doubt if some of you are not checking my figures on yours. They said with that amount of money, the e...

19:17 - 20:16 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Jesus then asks what food they have, prompting the disciples to find only five loaves and two fish, and Martin speculates on their dawning anticipation of a miracle.

Martin discusses the common children's Bible story of the lad with the loaves and fishes, noting that only John mentions him and suggesting the 'lad' could have been a slave or food huckster, shifting emphasis from the boy to the Lord's command.

Do you have anything to eat? They came back together, and they said, Lord, all we've been able to scrounge together, is five loaves and two fishes. Now it's interesting that though Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all record the miracle, only John says that they found the loaves and fishes from the hand of a lad. And all of our children's Bible stories are built around this noble little boy.

23:01 - 23:32 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Jesus then asks what food they have, prompting the disciples to find only five loaves and two fish, and Martin speculates on their dawning anticipation of a miracle.

Martin uses the common experience of seeing people huckstering food or trinkets in the Middle East or third-world countries to illustrate how the lad might have been present with food.

It may not have been a boy. The word used for a lad could well mean a young man who was a slave. He may have been, in the midst of that crowd, huckstering food earlier during the day. Any of you who've been in the Middle East or any of the third world countries, it's one thing you get used to is wherever you go, somebody's huckstering something.

23:32 - 23:53 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin describes Jesus' actions: first, His orderly arrangement of the crowd into groups of hundreds and fifties, and then the amazing miracle of multiplication as He blessed…

Martin compares the difficulty of organizing 5,000 people into groups of 50 and 100 to the challenge of organizing 25 people for a church picnic softball game, emphasizing the disciples' arduous task.

Now, remember. Their R&R had been interrupted as well. Those of us who've been on a church picnic, you know what it's like to get just 25 people and organize them into two groups to have a softball game?

27:04 - 27:17 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin describes Jesus' actions: first, His orderly arrangement of the crowd into groups of hundreds and fifties, and then the amazing miracle of multiplication as He blessed…

Martin paints a vivid picture of the scene, imagining the 'varied colored robes of the Middle Easterners, with the backdrop of the bright green grass,' to help the audience visualize the orderly arrangement.

He commanded them to sit down by companies, and only Mark tells us this, upon the green grass. Lovely little touch by Mark. And according to our calculations, it was that time of the year when the grass was indeed at its greenest. And one can only imagine that scene with all of the varied colored robes of the Middle Easterners, with the backdrop of the bright green grass at that period when it was at its greenest.

28:37 - 29:09 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin describes Jesus' actions: first, His orderly arrangement of the crowd into groups of hundreds and fifties, and then the amazing miracle of multiplication as He blessed…

Martin uses the example of divisions in communion service to explain why Jesus arranged the crowd in groups: to make serving possible and to facilitate counting for validation of the miracle.

Just like with our communion, we have to have some divisions, so we can pass the plates with the elements. So our Lord was concerned for the practical necessity of having aisles through which the men could pass to serve, and also because this was a peculiarly significant miracle, so that they could count the number who were fed in order to validate the magnitude of the miracle performed. So the actions of our Lord, according to Mark, first of all, are described in terms of effecting an orderly arrangement of the crowd, but then secondly, an amazing miracle is performed. And you Greek students ...

29:33 - 30:59 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The immediate results of the miracle are that all ate and were filled, and then twelve basketfuls of broken pieces and fish were gathered, demonstrating God's abundance.

Martin explains 'wicker baskets' by contrasting them with modern plastics and comparing their size to a shopping bag or cart, making the image of gathering leftovers more concrete.

Not with Peter's influence, and that seems to be another Petrine touch upon the narrative. But with wicker baskets. Some of you don't even know what wicker baskets are. This is the age of plastics.

35:43 - 35:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Understand that Christ crucified alone is meat and drink to your soul, satisfying the gnawing hunger pangs that pleasure, things, and human relationships cannot fill.

Martin refutes the liberal interpretation that people were 'filled' by Jesus' teaching alone by asking, 'how do you gather up twelve basketfuls of thought?' emphasizing the physical reality of the miracle.

What was our Lord doing in this miracle? According to His own subsequent discourse, He was giving a striking illustration of His unique work on behalf of sinners as those with growling tummies and weakened bodies were nourished not by the sight of food and certainly as the woolly-headed liberals say, not by the thought of food. For they say here the people were so taken up and enamored with the wonderfulness of Jesus' teaching they just thought they were filled. Well, how do you gather up twelve basketfuls of thought?

43:10 - 43:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain a proper relative priority in ministry, focusing on the greatest need of having minds concentrated on the great issues of life (the spiritual gospel) while still manifesting concern for the whole man.

Martin recounts a story of a young preacher who brought sandwiches to parents in the hospital with a sick child, demonstrating a practical concern for the 'whole man' beyond just spiritual needs.

of a certain individual said that one of the things that initially convinced them that he was something more than a professional preacher was when they gave him a phone call and apprised him of the fact that this child, only 18 months old or so was quickly dehydrating and they had to rush into the hospital and the young preacher showed up at the hospital to talk with him, to pray with him The thing they remembered was not his prayers or that he came to the hospital but that he showed up with a sandwich in each pocket He had calculated that they would not have had time to eat in caring for the ...

51:20 - 52:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Be concerned about your external appearance as a reflection of God's orderliness, not as a matter of pure Christian liberty.

Martin uses the example of parents insisting on a tidy room, connecting it to God's orderliness and the fall's impact on disarray, illustrating the principle of orderliness in practical godliness.

The scripture tells us that God is not the author of confusion Let all things be done decently and in order and if anything marked the original creation it was order God spoke and it was so God saw and it was good Well, here the Creator is the bread and fish and He will not do it in the context of chaos and disorder Can you imagine the confusion if He had begun to multiply the bread and those nearest could grab it as the disciples went out The horrible confusion Jesus would have no part of a confused mob Confusion is the work of darkness and of error and of the devil Orderliness That's the ima...

52:46 - 54:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Be concerned about your external appearance as a reflection of God's orderliness, not as a matter of pure Christian liberty.

Martin refers to the demoniac of Gadara, who, when restored, was found 'sitting clothed and in his right mind,' suggesting even his clothing reflected order, illustrating redemption's move towards orderliness.

But why do mom and dad get on you and say son, dear I will not tolerate that messy room I will not tolerate you going through the playroom and leaving it look as though Gloria had done her job in the playroom That's the hurricane Gloria I will not Why? Well if they are doing it out of godly motives this is their reason They're trying to teach you that the God in whose image you were made is a God of order and confusion and disarray and disorder are the results of the fall and redemption always moves us in the direction of orderliness and structure You remember that demoniac in all of his frenz...

54:13 - 55:40 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not litter or waste food, but responsibly use and store what God provides in abundance, reflecting Christ's example.

Martin uses the example of littering gum wrappers from a car window to illustrate the sinfulness of waste and irresponsibility, contrasting it with Jesus' careful gathering of leftovers.

It's a matter of reflecting the lightness of God as reflected in the face of Jesus Christ And then we see practical godliness manifested in his action with respect to the excess food Why does God record this? Well, I don't know all the reasons but surely this must be one of them He that saith he abideth in him ought to walk as he walked As one commentator has said polluting the countryside would have been irresponsible He simply threw the stuff out Littering would be condemnable and waste would have been sinful You want to be like Christ? Don't you throw gum wrappers out the window of your car...

55:40 - 57:08 Read in full sermon