INI

Text: St. Matthew 14:13-21
Theme: The Great Compassion of our LORD.
Sentence: In Christ Jesus, who loves us beyond measure, fellow redeemed:

St. Matthew 14:13-21
13 ¶ When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.
14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food."
16 But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."
17 And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish."
18 He said, "Bring them here to Me."
19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.
20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.
21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

INTRODUCTION
I’m sure that you immediately recognized this text as the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, one of the few miracles of our LORD which are recorded in all four Gospels. I have preached on this miracle in the past, but today we will look at it from a different angle. The miracle is pre-faced with the important notice that Jesus “had compassion” on the multitudes. The virtue of compassion is not unique to God. We humans oftentimes show compassion toward one another, and even to animals. However, compassion is perfect only in Him
To have “compassion” means to have pity for someone or something. It means to have sympathy toward someone or some creature. Compass-ion for another means to feel for another’s sorrow or hardship and inevitably leads to extending help to those who are less fortunate. If ever there was anybody who had compassion for others, it was our LORD, and that is exactly what we see in the text. Today we consider:

The Great Compassion of our LORD.
It is seen in:
I. His healing of the multitudes.
II. His feeding of the 5,000.
III. His earning salvation for all humanity.

I. His healing of the multitudes.
The feeding of the 5,000 is not the only miracle mentioned in this text. Verses 13-14 say that “When Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.” So the first miracle mentioned in this text is the healing of a vast multitude of sick people. Jesus’ motivation for this great work of charity is that “He was moved with compassion” for the multitudes. Jesus loved them so much; He cared about their needs to such a great extent; it hurt Him so greatly when He saw them in such deep distress, that He took the time to heal each and every one of whatever sickness they had.
How unlike the modern-day so-called “faith healers” who conduct carefully choreographed “performances;” who limit their so-called “healings” to pre-screened cases only; who limit the amount of people they will “heal” to a specific number, and if you aren’t fortunate enough to be pre-selected, well, then, it’s just too bad! I have never understood why modern-day so-called “faith healers” don’t put every doctor and every hospital out of business by healing the multitudes as Jesus did! That would be true compassion! But that will never happen, for there is no money in it for them if all comers are healed at no charge, with no profit for them and no recognition given to them!
How different is Jesus! Verse 14 simply says when Jesus “saw a great multitude, He was moved with compassion for them.” This was His motivation! He does not work for the highest bidder. He shows no favoritism. He did not heal at an hourly rate. He does not cancel His compassion when a certain quota is reached. There were occasions dur-ing His ministry when our LORD healed the sick from day-break to dusk
More than once He literally spent Himself into exhaustion out of com-passion for the multitudes. There was no case too difficult for Him. Scripture records that those with fever, those who were blind, those unable to walk, unable to speak, unable to hear, were all cured by Him. Lepers were cleansed and evil spirits were cast out. Even the dead were raised to life. Oh the great compassion Jesus has for the helpless!
Such great miracles as these demonstrate that Jesus is True God in human form, for, as Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night testified, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him,” John 3:2. Second, Jesus has the power to meet your each and every need in this life. The One who raised the dead can certainly meet all your physical needs. Third, your LORD is willing to meet all your bodily needs, for the One who had compassion on the multitudes also has compassion on you.

II. His feeding of the 5,000.
Next, St. Matthew records a specific example of the great compassion of our LORD with the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus could not bring Himself to send the multitudes away hungry. By the way, the thrust of the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 is not that Jesus cares for the poor. This crowd was not destitute. They were not without money to buy food. They had the means to travel away and obtain what they need- ed. The point is that they had been with Him all day, witnessing the many miracles of healing and hearing the wonderful words of eternal life from His lips. Now the day was far spent, so the disciples said in verse 15, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” To this Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” Jesus cared so much for those who hungered and thirsted after righteousness that He wanted to meet their need right on the spot. When the disciples brought the five loaves and two fishes, Jesus prayed over them and a miracle of multiplication occurred, so that the vast multitude was fed to the full with the meager supply of food at hand. In fact, so great was the miracle that verse 20 reports “they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.” In other words, after feeding the vast multitude with merely five loaves and two fishes, they had more food left over than when they started out!
This miracle provides an impressive object lesson of the power of Jesus! Our LORD’s hand is not shortened merely because He has with-drawn His visible presence from among us. The One who said, “All power is given unto Me” remains the Almighty God. He provides for all your necessities of life, just as He did for the multitude so long ago. We pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” With these words we ask our LORD to provide all that we need for the support of the body. He never lets us down! He always provides!
We live in the midst of unparalleled prosperity, at least as far as this world’s goods are concerned. Houses are bigger than ever; cars are more luxurious than ever; we have all the latest and greatest “gadgets;” and although the youth of today can’t fathom life without a computer, cell phone, and Sony play station, there was actually a time in human history when none of these things existed! We are incredibly wealthy! We have more than we need for this life. God has been so good to us! Therefore He cries out to us; He pleads with us; He earnestly reminds us that all that we have is the result of His compassion. Do you recognize this? Do you give all the honor, praise, and glory to God for all that He has so graciously and kindly done for you? There is no guarantee that the earthly prosperity which we now enjoy will continue. We could wake up to-morrow as a third-world nation. Although we are currently facing difficult and uncertain times, always remember the promise of the LORD that He will provide the necessities of life. Give God the glory and recognize His great compassion!
Even if we do fall upon hard times, the LORD has promised to pro-vide. If your car breaks down on a deserted road at night and leaves you stranded, the One who fed the 5,000 will take care of you. Regardless of whether your problem is as diverse as your life being in danger due to physical sickness; if more week is left over than paycheck to cover it; or if you suffer from depression; the One who had compassion on the multitudes likewise has compassion on you. You are not just a meaningless number; a nameless, faceless, forgotten statistic; but the very hairs of your head are numbered by God, who cares about you and will provide for you in any situation!

III. His earning salvation for all humanity.
Jesus “had compassion on the multitudes,” and therefore healed the sick and fed the 5,000 with such meager provisions. But He was not merely a “bread King.” His purpose in life ran deeper than just to heal the sick and feed the hungry. Such works of earthly compassion only scratch the surface of the reason for His incarnation. The compassion of Jesus reaches beyond what the eye can see. It reaches beyond a full stomach and a healed body. Jesus had compassion on all humanity because of the supreme problem of sin and eternal damnation, which is the inescapable result of sin. The compassion of Jesus toward humanity reaches into the heart and soul. He looks at you and sees a sinner who is lost and condemned; destined to spend eternity in hell; forever a child of the devil; and He has compassion on you. When Jesus sees you, there is nothing within you that motivates Him to have compassion on you. He looks down and sees nothing but filthy rags; nothing but another sinner. Your good works; as fine and as honorable as they might appear to be in your own estimation do not sway Him in the least. He sees a vile, spiteful sinner, who is stubbornly determined to resist the grace of God in Christ Jesus every inch of the way. He sees in you someone who lacks any will whatever toward righteousness. But in spite of what He sees, our LORD has compassion on you!
He “endured the cross, despising the shame,” Hebrews 12:1. He “endured...contradiction of sinners against himself,” Hebrews 12:3. Why did Jesus endure all this? Is it because He is masochistic? No! He endured the cross in order to earn salvation for you! It was on account of His great compassion for you that He suffered the shame of the cross.
He willingly laid down His life for you. He suffered the agony of the cross; He suffered the bitter pangs of hell which you rightly deserved to suffer on account of your sins. Christ “suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,” I Peter 3:18. He “Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree,” I Peter 2:24. Jesus could have avoided the cross by calling for “more than twelve legions of angels” Matthew 26:53 to assist Him to avoid suffering, but He did not, because He had compassion on you and wanted you to have a place in heaven! He wanted to build a mansion for you in heaven and give it to you free of charge!

CONCLUSION
Since our LORD showed such great compassion for you, do not turn your back on Him! Do not lightly esteem the salvation which He earned for you at such a dear price! Trust in Him. Rely on Him. Believe in Him. Take His merit as your own. Becoming His child, you will then show compassion on others, especially those of the household of faith. In His Name, Amen.

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