Dead Prophets. Unrelenting God.
Matthew 14:1–21
[Note: unfortunately, an audio file is not available for this sermon. You can read the sermon manuscript below the sermon text.]
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus, and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus.
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Sermon Manuscript:
Introduction
As a church we have been in the Gospel According to Matthew for the better part of eight months. In the beginning of the Gospel, we read about a horrendous account of a cowardly king who kills infants, in order to protect his throne. This is Herod the Great. He hears news from the Magi of the miraculous birth of God’s Messiah. The hope of Israel has come at last. And what’s the first thing Heord does? He tries to kill God’s messenger.
As we have worked our way through the Gospel, we have seen the Pharisees take great offense to Jesus’ words and actions. In Matthew 13, we see that they are so scandalized that they are planning how they can “destroy him.”
Skipping ahead in the Gospel, we will see Jesus reprimand the Pharisees in Matthew 23—he calls them prophet-killers and prophet-persecutors.
The leaders of Israel have a very bad habit of abusing God’s prophets! And that isn’t just here in the New Testament. We see this regularly in the Old Testament as well! The prophet Elijah leads a solitary ministry, where he is always fleeing the clutches of a blood-thirsty king and queen. In Kings, we meet a rebel prophet named Obediah, who is forced to hide faithful prophets in caves for fear that they may be killed by the King of Israel. The prophet Jeremiah is scorned by the elite and powerful in Israel, and he is eventually tossed into a pit!
This is a biblical pattern! Step 1: God sends a messenger—a prophet—so that he might bless and help his people. And Step 2: t he leaders of Israel go to extreme measures to try to silence and kill the prophets. Repeat step 1. Repeat step 2. Repeat step 1. Repeat step 2.
This is a very cheery way to begin a sermon, isn’t? Well, stick with me, because there is a positive-side to this morbid tale.
If these prophet-killers seem determined, well, their determination is miniscule in the face of God’s determination. Kings silence prophets. But God is never silent. God never forgets his people. He always preserves a remnant. He always extends his power. He always cares for his needy people.
You can read portions of the Bible and think, “The wicked are winning!” But then you read on, and you realize, “Nope, I guess God is!” No matter the determination of the wicked to silence God and his people, God is unrelenting in his love for humanity.
In a moment, we’ll read about two dinner parties. In one scene, we see a prophet cruelly and unjustly murdered and served on a platter. Is God losing? We ask. But, in the next scene, we see God heal and satisfy his people. Nope, God’s not losing! H is love is unrelenting.
With that in mind, let’s pray and then look to our passage for this morning. [Prayer and reading of sermon text. You can see sermon text above]
Herod, Prophet-Slayer
As we look at these two different accounts, we see two contrasting scenes. Let’s consider each of them separately, and then, we can consider our passage as a whole.
In chapter 14, verse 1, Matthew brings our attention to Herod the Tetrarch—also called Herod Antipas. Now this is not the same Herod we have already read about in Matthew chapter 2. That was Herod the Great. He has since died, and now his power has been distributed and divided among his sons.
The episode begins with Herod thinking about resurrection. Specifically, the resurrection of John the Baptist. Herod is hearing about the wonders and miracles of Jesus, and Herod is beginning to wonder if Jesus is somehow John the baptist come back to curse him. Why would Herod have that fear? Well, Matthew gives us the background information we need.
During John the Baptist’s life, John wasn’t a favorite person in the eyes of Herod, because John had the gumption to call sin sin. John was bold, even in the face of Herod, and Herod wanted him silenced. Herod didn’t want to constantly be reminded of his sins, so he did what the former leaders of Israel did—he silenced God’s prophet.
Herod wasn’t quite willing to kill John though. Herod was a shroud politician, and he wanted to avoid any uprising that might ensue if he killed the prophet. Sure, the people might be angry with his imprisonment, but those same people might become dangerous in the case of John’s death. A prison worked just as well for Herod’s purposes.
But we see that Herod creates a bit of a predicament for himself. He makes an oath—a promise—while in the presence of highly esteemed and powerful guests. And when his oath backfires and turns into a death wish, well, Herod has two options—risk upsetting his people or risk looking weak before his peers.
Well, Herod doesn’t want to look weak in front of these people, so he responds with murder. And Herod’s dinner party ends with John the Baptist’s head being delivered on a platter.
It’s a gruesome account, isn’t! But as we read ahead, we learn that this is not the last word. The wicked-kings of the earth don’t have the final say.
Jesus, Abundant-Giver
After Jesus hears about John’s death, he separates himself from people to mourn. But his mourning is interrupted by the needs of others. Jesus tries to get away to have some time, but the crowds keep following him. And what’s amazing is Jesus’s response. He’s not bitter about the interruption. He’s not irritated in the least bit. He has immediate compassion for them.
As a side thought, I want us to observe Jesus’ actions here. When we talk about wanting to be like Jesus, this is one of those attributes where I need serious growth, and I’d venture to guess others of you may as well. When I’m interrupted in the middle of something, my gut instinct is not normally compassion and care. At it’s best, my response is neutral and polite. At its worst, it’s severe annoyance—to the point where I cannot believe that I am being interrupted. But that’s not the Jesus way. Jesus is grieving at this moment. And yet, his selfless and patient heart turns immediately to others. I want that for myself. I want that for all of us. To have the disposition of charity and love for others, even when we are interrupted—even when we are doing something very important.
Again, that’s what Jesus does. That’s who Jesus is—and that, more and more, is what we are to be conformed to! As Herod beheads prophets, Jesus cares for the outcasts and the wanderers. This large crowd finds him, and he immediately drops what he’s doing to care for them and to heal them.
All of this healing and compassion takes time, because before anyone knows it, it’s about dinner time! And the disciples are wondering what they are going to do about this crowd and their food constraints. This is a larger dinner party than the disciples anticipated! They don’t have enough food! But Jesus is not concerned.
We read that Jesus has the crowds find seats in the grass, and Jesus proceeds to miraculously feed the entire crowd of well over 5,000 people from the five loaves and two fish. Jesus multiplies the food. The people eat. They are satisfied. And there are leftovers. There is an over-abundance!
I want to consider the feeding in more detail in a moment, but first, I want us to now consider these two episodes together—Herod’s dinner party and Jesus’s feast in the wilderness.
Jesus’s Kingdom
These two episodes are often considered in isolation. If you were to open up a Children’s storybook Bible, these two stories could have twenty pages in the middle of them. Most preachers would probably preach these as two separate sermon texts. And that’s fine. They are two separate events. But Matthew wants us to see them together, as well. They are intentionally contrasting stories. Two dinner parties that display two different kingdoms. So let’s consider how they work together.
We are helped by turning our minds back in history. Think back in time with me, if you would. In Kings, we see the prophet Elijah constantly on the run. He’s persecuted and chased pretty much non-stop. His ministry is filled with many high and lofty moments, but at the end of his life, the overall effect he had on Israel seems rather small. But before his death, he anoints another prophet, Elisha, to take his place.
Elisha’s ministry is one defined by renewal and preservation. Elisha leads a band of faithful disciples as a counter-Israel within Israel. And at the end of 2 Kings 4, we read of an account that may sound somewhat familiar. As Elisha and his disciples are huddled up, a man comes bringing bread. But he immediately realizes that he’s not brought enough. He’s underprepared to feed the one hundred men with Elisha. And he says, “How can I set this before a hundred men?”
There wasn’t enough bread—but Elisha says, give it to me, the Lord has said these men shall eat. Well, guess what happens. They men eat, are satisfied, and have bread left over! Do you see the correspondence with Matthew 14? John has already been called an Elijah, a prophet who prepares a way for one greater than himself.
And here we learn that Jesus is a new Elisha. He is protecting a remnant of faithful-Israel within wicked-Israel. Now Elisha’s miraculous feeding was great—and utterly incomprehensible to our materialists mind. But it was of a much smaller scale. Elisha fed 100 men. Jesus fed 5,000. Jesus is the greater Elisha, who protects and feeds his people, in the wilderness. But not only does he feed his people, but when Jesus works, there is a significant abundance. The economy of God is always one of abundance and excess.
Specifically here, we see 12 baskets of leftovers. Why does Matthew care to give us the precise number? Well, the number 12 is biblically significant. Whenever we see it, we should slow down and consider. How many Apostles did Jesus have at his side? 12, right. Why 12?. The 12 Apostles correspond to the 12 tribes of Israel that made up the people of God throughout ancient history. And in the 12 Apostles, Jesus is remaking and reforming Israel. The twelve Apostles stand in the place of the 12 tribes. They represent a renewed and faithful Israel. And I believe that the 12 loaves of leftovers show us that this renewed Israel, this faithful people of God forged under the love of Jesus, this people is going to be overflowing with abundance and life. Jesus is forging a renewed people who he blesses richly.
Israel seeks to kill Elijah, but God, in his unrelenting love, sends another prophet. God sends hope to land that seems hopeless. Similarly, Herod kills John the Baptist. But in the face of fear and death, Matthew reminds us that God’s love is still unrelenting. He sends his Son.
The kingdom of sin and death is not winning—although it sure seems like it at times. But, we can believe John and Jesus when they say, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. It surely is!
For me, this truth that God is winning—even in the presence of enemies—has been a comfort all week long. I don’t think I’m an alarmist, I think I’m more or less a realist when I think about the current condition of the social world we live in. I’ll let you into my mind for a moment, so you can feel some of my angst.
-I read about the passing of a very dangerous bill called the Equality Act in the US House, and I grow a bit afraid for our society.
-I watch a clip of Senator Rand Paul asking a nominate governmental official a very basic question about how we will treat confused and curious children as they grow and mature into adulthood, and I grow afraid when I see major government elites reprimand him for his desire to protect the body of innocent children.
-I see a recent survey from Gallup that shows an incredibly dramatic shift in the sexual ethics of modern Americans. And again, I grow afraid.
-I hear about certain historical figures being erased from history, and I worry about our world’s sanity!
All of these events, plus many others, send a chill down my spine.
But, I remember that Jesus is a good shepherd who prepares a meal for his people in the presence of his enemies. The wicked can kill prophets, but God’s love for his people is unrelenting. The wicked can try to silence God by dangerous policies, but God’s victory is sure.
As we think about the feeding of the 5,000, we ought to be encouraged and inflated with hope. Jesus has compassion on his broken people. Jesus provides for the needs of his people.
Now, I do want to clarify, this truth doesn’t mean we should be complacent citizens. I believe the church is called to be a light to the world. I believe the church ought to stand for truth and oppose evil. So these truths shouldn’t make us lax and lazy, but they should make our labors and our efforts hopeful, even in the face of opposition and even when we are defeated. God works when things seem bleak.
The Feeding
I want to close our time by considering a few details from the feeding of the 5,000.
This is far from the first miracle that we’ve seen in the Gospel According to Matthew. But it is the first of its kind. Generally, Jesus’s miracles are remedial miracles. He heals lepers. He heals the blind and the mute. He brings life to a dead child. He casts out demons. He heals disfigured hands. These are all remedies to brokenness—remedial miracles.
But here at the feeding of the 5,000, this miracle is different in kind. This is a miracle of abundance! This miracle is an expression of the abundance of life and the satisfaction that is found in Jesus and the kingdom of heaven.
Theologically speaking, we live in a kingdom that is both remedial— we are being healed of illnesses and we are being set free from the sin that enslaves us. And this kingdom is also elevating. We are raised to an abundance of never-ending satisfied lives. The kingdom heals and sanctifies and satisfies.
Jesus is a savior that brings us freedom from sin and evil, but he is also a savior who shares with us in his abundant life. As we partake in the good gifts of Jesus, we partake in his overflowing abundance of life and goodness. Jesus is not just a healer, but he is a life-giver. He nourishes our souls!
Our whole passage is a major foreshadowing of things to come. John’s death at the hands of his own people prepares us for Jesus’s coming crucifixion. And Jesus’s life miraculous feeding is a foreshadowing of the Lord’s Supper, which points us to Jesus giving himself for the sake of his people. This entire passage foreshadows the cross.
When we come to the Lord’s Supper, in just a moment, let’s remember this. God has and continues to prepare a table for his people in the presence of his enemies. We should be filled with hope for the present and the future. While the Herod’s of this world serve prophets on platters, our king, Jesus gives his own life, so that the world might receive freedom from sin and abundance of joy in him.
Let’s pray together.
