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As I was sitting with this text this week, I was reminded by the end of the week of three things that I saw with my own eyes—three things that broke my heart deeply and troubled me greatly. These experiences have direct implications for the text we're about to unpack together.
First, on Friday, I was sitting on my back deck and I saw a YouTube video of a well-known preacher. On Easter Sunday, he was preaching that the resurrection of Jesus was about the persecution of a Black man, that Jesus was a Black man because he didn't get a fair trial by the Roman government. He was manipulating the people in the room, declaring false doctrines that have no basis in Scripture or history.
We know from history and from the word of God that Jesus was an ethnic Jew. He was born into a family of ethnic Jews. He was raised around the Torah. He went into the synagogue as was his custom. He fulfilled the law. He came to his own first, the people of Israel, the Jewish race. Jesus was not a Black man. He was an ethnic Jew with skin like brass and hair like wool.
As I watched thousands of unsuspecting sheep who don't read the scriptures for themselves run after that garbage, my heart was broken. They have no idea what they're listening to is heresy and the doctrines of devils from a false prophet. We need to stop being impressed by platforms and oratory. We need to be impressed by character, fruit, and integrity—not by numbers, platform, and fame.
I have a fig tree in my front yard. From a distance, you would think it's fruitful because the leaves are green. But if you get close to that fig tree, you will see there's no fruit on it. That's what we're doing, man. We're seeing all these leaves from voices, platforms, Instagram followings, fame, and fortune. We think, "Surely that's a person of God." But you don't get close enough to see there's no fruit on that tree.
Second, on Monday, I was in the gym standing by the window where I like to stand and pray. I saw a young lady with raggedy clothes hop out of an old, beat-up van that's always parked in the back. She walked into the gym, went into the locker room for 10 minutes, and came out without going to any weights. Then a dude hopped out of the van, did the same thing. As I'm standing there watching, I realized: this couple is homeless. They're living in their van. They're using the bathroom in the gym to wash up and brush their teeth and get themselves together in the morning. My heart was broken for them in that moment.
Third, my wife and I had a meeting in Miami on Tuesday. As we're walking out the concourse in the airport, I saw two Islamic women bowed down on their face, praying to a false deity that cannot hear them because he does not exist. I remember when I was in Islam, five times a day I would be bowing down and praying to a God that never heard me. This exercise in futility—I was trying to figure out when I would have done enough to please Allah, a false god. When I saw those women bowing down in that exercise of futility, my heart was broken. I immediately began to pray for them: "Oh God, I pray salvation would come to these women. I pray you would deliver them from their false belief and bring them into the kingdom of light."
As I thought about the people who sat under that false teaching, as I thought about the couple who was homeless in that van, as I thought about those women in the airport, by Saturday morning, you know what I felt? I felt a righteous sadness in my heart. I felt a holy brokenness in my heart. And it was that holy brokenness that was causing compassion to well up in my heart. Compassion is what moves you to want to do something for them.
Should the people of God not feel compassion for brothers and sisters who are sitting under false teaching? Should we not feel compassion for those who are homeless, hungry, and in physical need? Should we not feel compassion for men and women who are gripped by depravity with no hope except for the regeneration of the Holy Spirit and salvation in Christ? Should we not feel compassion for people on the other side of the world who have never heard the gospel? Is this not the compassion we see in the heart of Jesus in this text?
What we are about to read together is about a powerful, epic miracle that happened in the life of Jesus. The miracle is so powerful, and the message behind the miracle is so powerful, that it shows up in all four gospel accounts. This is the only miracle of Christ that is recorded in all four gospels. There is no other miracle of Christ that is recorded in all four gospels.
Matthew and John were eyewitnesses of the ministry of Christ. Mark was a companion of Peter, who heard secondhand stories about Christ. Luke was the only non-Jewish writer among the forty writers of the New Testament—a Gentile doctor and historian who gathered stories circulating in the first century AD. All four of these men thought it was important to include this one miracle in their writings. It is extremely important both for what happened and for the message behind the miracle.
I want to implore you with my whole heart to please lean in with your mind and lean in with your heart. Don't be unintelligent sheep. Sheep are some of the most unintelligent animals on the planet. They have no natural defense mechanism. They are completely dependent upon shepherds. When they're in tight quarters, they fight with one another. And if one sheep goes astray from the pack, nine times out of ten, it will be ravaged by wolves. That's what Jesus called us: sheep who need a shepherd. Because we're not that intelligent as a race, because we're flawed by sin, we need a leader and a savior.
"Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there. He hopped in a boat and he began to sail to a desolate place by himself."
A couple of things I want to unpack from this first verse. First, it says, "When Jesus heard this, heard what?" This line points us back to verse 12. What happened there? Jesus heard that Herod was feeling some type of anxiety about the influence and the growth of his ministry.
Now, here's where scholars argue: Did Jesus withdraw because of Herod's anxiety about his ministry, or did Jesus withdraw because he was reminded about the murder of his cousin John the Baptist? Since I don't know which one is true, I want to work both roads.
First possibility: If Jesus pulled away to be alone because he heard about Herod's anxiety, then this shows the wisdom of Jesus understanding purpose and time. Jesus knew he came to die, but he knew the time had not come for him to die. So there was no need for him to engage with an executioner before his time. This is a powerful lesson for you and me. Not every battle is yours to engage in. Not every enemy deserves a response from you. We have to have the wisdom to know what battle is for us to fight and what battle is not for us to fight. We have to know when the season is to get involved and when not to get involved. Everybody is not worthy of a response. Everybody's not worthy of my time. Everybody's not worthy of an argument. Some battles belong to the Lord. Let me get away from them.
Second possibility: What if Jesus got away because he heard about the death of his cousin and he's reminded now about the murder of John? If Jesus is reminded about the murder of John, now we see the humanity of Christ. In the humanity of Christ, he's probably dealing with feelings over the fact that his cousin was murdered. If he's wrestling with feelings that his cousin was murdered, he withdraws to spend some time by himself.
We know from other places in the New Testament that Jesus would slip away often to be alone with the Father. If he's wrestling with pain from the death of his cousin and he slips away to be by himself, I could probably safely presume that he's getting away to be with his Father. Now we see the wisdom of the Lord leaning into a healthy coping mechanism for his suffering.
When you and I are dealing with pain, when we're dealing with sorrow, when we're dealing with issues, we have to have healthy coping mechanisms for those issues. Running to drugs is not a healthy coping mechanism. Running to people who like drama is not a healthy coping mechanism. But we see a healthy coping mechanism right here in the text: if the Lord is running to be alone with the Father, we see that when our hearts are sorrowful, when our hearts are heavy, when we're dealing with pain and drama, we can carry our hearts into the presence of the Lord, into the presence of the Father.
Prayer is a healthy coping mechanism. The scriptures are a healthy coping mechanism. Wise counsel is a healthy coping mechanism. The presence of godly people is a healthy coping mechanism.
"But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns."
I want to draw your attention to a couple of things right here. It says, "When the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from towns." The word "towns" is plural, which suggests that the people following Jesus is a very great company—we're talking about thousands of people.
I want you to notice that the crowds "heard of this." Well, what did they hear? They heard that Jesus was performing miracles. They heard the teachings of Christ. So some of them heard was hope. They heard a man preaching about the kingdom. They heard about a man doing miracles. And the scripture says they followed him on foot.
Now, this is very powerful to me that Matthew will put this detail in the text. It says they followed Christ on foot. The fact that Matthew will put that in the text gives us metrics about the crowd, some insight into the kind of people that are in the crowd. If they're on foot, that means they're walking. There's no horses. There's no carriages. There's probably no wealthy people in that crowd. These are probably middle class people, probably poor people, probably people who are searching for God.
According to history, Jesus is sailing to Bethsaida, which is in the north section of the Sea of Galilee. These people are following Christ on foot. They're walking all the way to another city to see the Lord Jesus Christ. Something in them is desiring to get close to him.
Family, this is like if I told you I was about to walk from here to Orlando because there was something compelling me to get there. Imagine if I said, "Man, I got to get to Orlando. I can't afford a bus ticket. I can't afford Lyft. I can't afford to hop on a plane." And I start walking from here to Orlando. You would think that I was crazy to make that journey. But man, there must be something in Orlando compelling me to walk all the way there.
And these people are walking from where they are in Galilee, walking to another city just to see, just to follow, just to get near the Lord Jesus Christ. What we see in them is what more of us need for the Lord. We see a type of hunger in them. We see a hunger in which they are desiring the Lord Jesus Christ.
Family, this is what we need. We need a hunger for Christ. Because the opposite is what I see in the American church: a type of self-sufficiency. We think we don't need God. We don't need the Lord. We don't need the word. We don't need his presence. Some of us are so full of other things we don't have hunger for the Lord Jesus.
But man, there's something when you say, "No matter what, I got to get to the Lord. I got to get to that gathering. If I got to drive an hour to get here, whatever I got to do, I got to get in the room. I don't care if it's hot. I don't care if they're trying to fix the AC. I don't care if I'm sweating. I got to get into that room. I got to get into that presence. I got to get into that worship. I need to hear the word of God." There's something about that hunger.
What we see in this text is a people who have a hunger. They are desperate. They are longing. And they thought, "Whatever it is Christ has to offer, we need to get to him to get that." And I want you to know, man, they're not running after him for cotton candy ministry. No, family. They're running after God because they feel truth in his mouth. They know that he has a message that is life-transforming. And they're doing whatever they got to do to get close to the Messiah.
"When he went on shore, he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them and he healed their sick."
Let me put you in the text. Jesus left an area because he's trying to spend some time alone. He is rowing across the Sea of Galilee towards Bethsaida. You can see the rim of the Sea of Galilee from anywhere on that body of water. The people see him sailing across the Sea of Galilee. As they're watching his direction, they're walking on foot around the Sea of Galilee towards the north part to get to Bethsaida.
As Jesus pulls up to shore—remember, he's going to spend time by himself—he sees a great crowd of thousands of people. He hops out of the boat and immediately the first thing that he feels is compassion for the people that he saw.
Now, this word "compassion" in the Greek and in the original language has a connotation of being gripped in the heart, being ripped in the soul, feeling a deep sense of sympathy for the people. And I thought it was so powerful that when Jesus sees the people on the shore, he's going to spend time for his own need, and immediately he pivots to focus on the needs of somebody else.
Man, this is like those times when you're hurting yourself and you're going through yourself and you get that phone call or that text from a brother and sister who's hurting. You're talking to them while you're wiping tears out of your own eyes. You're listening to them on the phone and as you're hurting yourself, you're praying, "God, give me the strength and the wisdom to minister to my brother and sister, although I'm going through my own pain."
How many times have you and I been dealing with something in our own lives and we hear the cry of somebody we love and we pivot to pour into somebody we love? We're pouring while we're hurting. We're preaching while we're hurting. We're singing while we're hurting. We're texting while we're hurting. We're listening while we're hurting. We're counseling while we're hurting.
It's those times when we have to pivot to pour into somebody else, even in the middle of our own pain. And I know what it feels like to be in the middle of pain, dealing with depression, sorrow, or sickness. And in that moment, somebody's need is much greater than mine. And I turn from what I'm dealing with, and I focus on what somebody else is dealing with. And I have found sometimes the best way to get over what you're dealing with is to focus on somebody else's issue that's much worse than yours. Yes, I'm hurting right now, but this brother is going through something far worse. Yes, I'm hurting right now, but this sister is going through something far worse. And sometimes it's in our step into ministry in pain. Ministry while I'm suffering, ministry while I'm hurting, ministry while I'm going through.
I'm battling something in my heart, but I'm still posting truth. I'm battling something in my heart, but I still show up to sing. I'm battling something in my heart and I still show up to serve. Man, I had a rough week and I still show up to preach.
And we see this beautiful thing in the character of the Lord: he knows how to properly pivot, even when we're going through our own thing, to focus on the needs of people that are greater.
Why does the Lord have compassion on them? Look out at that massive audience and what does he see? He sees people who need salvation. He sees bodies that are sick and need healing. He sees people who have been ravished by the false teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees who have strapped upon them heavy, man-made burdens that did not come from the word of God. He sees people who are tired. He sees people who are weary. He sees people in need and his heart is moved with compassion.
I just want to keep encouraging people. The Lord sees everything that's happening in this room. Everything happening in the lobby. Everybody in the overflow, hear these three words: The Lord sees. The Lord knows. The Lord cares. I need to say that to somebody who thinks you're not on his radar. The Lord sees. The Lord knows. And the Lord cares.
When he saw the hurting people on the seashore, his heart is moved towards them with compassion. He is broken for them. What does he see? He sees in that crowd the same three things I saw this week:
And in response to those hearing false teaching, in response to those who have physical needs, in response to those who are gripped in depravity and in need of salvation, his response to them is compassion. I feel sorry for people who sit under bad doctrine. I feel sorry for people who need home, clothing, food, and shelter. I feel sorry for people who are far away from God. I don't ignore them. My heart is moved with compassion towards them.
"Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, 'Lord, 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 to them, 'They need not go away. You give them something to eat.'"
Now, Matthew leaves out some details that Mark includes in his gospel. In Mark 6:34, Mark writes about the same miracle and says, "When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without shepherds." We've seen Jesus say this before earlier in his gospel when Jesus saw people that were abused by false teaching and he began to teach to them many things.
So according to Mark, when Jesus came ashore, the first thing he did was teach the people. He was not first moved by their hunger. This is going to help somebody. He was not first moved by their physical needs. When the Lord saw a people who was in need, the first thing he responded to them was teaching.
What did he elevate above a dollar? What did he elevate above outreach? What did he elevate above all these things? The thing he elevated was the proclamation of the word of God. What does it profit us to put clothes on the back of a homeless person who's still going to hell and never heard the gospel? What does it profit us to do outreach and we don't spread the gospel? Though we cannot bring people into the kingdom in our own strength, we are responsible for being spreaders of truth.
And the Lord saw teaching as a form of compassion. The Lord saw teaching truth as a form of compassion. Man, I feel so sorry for these people. I'm going to post truth on my social media. I'm going to make stories about truth. He saw truth as a form of compassion. And it said he preached. He preached until evening.
Man, I love this. So Lord, you've been preaching to these people all day. You've been preaching to these people for hours. This is what I'm fighting for in America, man. I know every time I talk like this, people send me hate speech and hate mail. This bothers me that everything in America is like this: when it comes to the proclamation of God's word, we want 60 minutes in and out. You want your little sprinkle of Jesus and in and out.
You spend six days in the world. We don't have the stamina for teaching. So all across America, this bothers me: we're so handcuffed by the clocks and handcuffed by the watches. "Man, give me all of God in 20 minutes." Man, we want God to move in 20 minutes. That's why we don't see no revivals in this nation because we try to box God into our time instead of giving him the time necessary for him to move in our lives, man.
God forbid I preach beyond 25 minutes, man. People are antsy and you got to get to the restaurant and you got to get to your car and all this other stuff. You want to just squeeze God into your little 60-minute box. And then you wonder why your mind and your heart is still a wreck. You wonder why your Christianity is still a wreck. We don't know how to sit in his presence for prayer or sit in his word for a period of time or sit in a room and hear proclamation. This country, Americans, we don't have stamina for spirituality.
You're going to do your little five-minute devotion and think that's going to transform your life. Like you're going to give God five minutes a day and think that's going to transform your life. I know places, man. The whole thing 35 minutes in and out. Get them out quick. Get them out. Don't keep them too long. They might not want to come back next week.
All right, man. We've been doing that for how many decades? And I know people don't like when I talk like this. I'm telling you, I pray for a day when America deals with so much persecution that you're going to love being in rooms when you're around brothers and sisters. Y'all think I'm playing. I'm dead serious. I pray a day comes for America when God shakes the foundation of this nation, delivers us from all of our apathy and our lethargy, where we are running to be in gatherings, running to be in his presence. But the place I want to be more than any place else is in his presence.
And I'm not saying every Sunday we got to be in here for eight hours. But what I am saying, man, we just got to increase our stamina for teaching.
Man, the Lord taught them from the time he arrived until the evening.
Now, I want to draw your attention to something else in the text. I want you to notice that when the disciples thought he had spent too much time, they came to him and said, "Lord, send the people away to go buy food."
Now, on the surface, that seems like they're being thoughtful. Lord, these people are hungry. It's late in the evening. Send them into their towns to go buy food.
But watch this: the disciples make a unilateral decision without consulting the Lord. They see a problem that is massive, that they can't solve, and they make a unilateral decision that the answer to the problem is to send the people away. That is to say, Lord, you have done enough for these people. There is nothing else you can do for them. Send them away.
And you and I do the same thing all the time. A problem emerges in your life and you do not consult the Lord about what you should do about that problem. Instead, you make unilateral decisions on what you think you should do in the problem. But you never go to God in prayer and ask him for wisdom on what you can do in that problem.
And the reason we do that is for the same reason Eve bit of that tree. We want to make gods out of our own selves. So you are the god of your own life. So every time a problem emerges in your life, your first response is not "Let me seek the Lord for guidance." Your first response is "Let me make a unilateral decision about what I think is best."
A problem emerges. Your marriage is about to come to an end. You're about to lose your house. You're about to lose your job. Somebody you love is sick. This is a massive, complicated problem. And notice in the text, they never ask the Lord, "What should we do about the fact that people have a need?" We see no question of the Lord from the disciples. Instead, they make their own decision that the answer to the people's hunger is to send them away.
And before we judge them, I want to encourage you not to keep behaving like that. When problems emerge, seek the one who is the author and the finisher of your faith. Seek the one who is all wise and all knowing. Seek the one who has already prepared paths for you according to Ephesians 2:10. Seek the Lord God for answers.
And I want you to notice this other thing in the text. Jesus said to them, "The people don't need to go away. You give them something to eat."
You know what he said to them? "You solve this problem since you didn't come talk to me about it. You fix it."
Now, watch. In John's gospel, John wrote that at this moment Jesus looked at his disciples and said, "Where are we going to get enough food to feed all his people?" And he did that to test them for he knew what he was going to do already.
So watch: the Lord test his followers to see how are you going to respond in this difficulty? Because he knew what he was going to do already. He already had in his heart how he was going to respond. "I just want to see how you're going to respond in this moment."
Man, this is powerful to me because it suggests that the Lord does test you and I from time to time. I wonder how many times a problem emerges and the Lord is trying to test us to see how you respond to this problem. He's going to allow this to happen. He's going to see: are they going to seek me for answers? Are they going to open the scriptures? Are they going to get alone in prayer, or are they going to run to figure this out on their own?
The Lord tested his followers to see what they would do. He himself knew what he was going to do. How many times have problems emerged? The Lord already has an answer, but we don't have the humility to go seek him for that answer.
"They said to him, 'We have only five loaves and two fish.'"
John tells us they find a boy who has a bag lunch. A lunchable. They find a little boy with a lunchable and in his bag lunch he has five loaves of bread and two fish. That's what John tells us about this miracle.
Now, watch. The disciples see a massive problem. And the response to the problem is to bring Jesus a bag lunch.
I know you like this part because you want me to get to the part where it says if anything in God's hands, it becomes more when it gets in his hands. And I know you like that.
But I want to work the backside of this text. I want you to pay attention to the word "only." Only. In the middle of this circumstance, while they're facing a massive problem, they focus on the limitation of what they have instead of who they have.
This is crazy to me. They got thousands of people who are hungry and they only focus on the limitation of a boy's lunch. You focus on the lunch, but you not focus on the person you've been with all this time. Instead of focusing on what you have, why not focus on who you have?
Did they not see him perform miracles? Did he not raise Jairus's daughter from the dead? Did they not know he was God in the flesh? So why is it now that you have thousands of people who are hungry? Your first response is to bring them a lunchable and not come to them and say, "Lord, well, you have the power to feed all these people. What do you want to do about this?"
And before you judge them, you do the same thing. And so do I.
How many times has a need come up in your life and you only focus on your limitations in that moment? I've been guilty of this. A need comes up and I only focus on my limitations. I only focus on what I have in my hand and I don't focus on the person who is not limited.
Can I be transparent, man? We were pursuing a building. It cost $7 million. And I know we don't have the cash to buy that building. And immediately I started thinking like, "Man, how are we going to do this? We maybe we need to go to the bank and blah blah blah blah blah and all that." And all the while I'm talking to myself about the limitations of 2819. I'm not focused on the person who created 2819, the person who's growing 2819, the person who dwells amongst 2819, the person who's not limited to help 2819.
I had to change my prayer. "Lord, what is $7 million to you?" "Lord, what is $7 million to you? $7 million. That's nothing for you. You can move on the heart of one person to write one check and pay off the whole thing. That's nothing for you."
Somebody could be watching, get saved, write a check for $7 million. What's $7 million for the Lord? The one who owns cattle on a thousand hills. The one who said the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof.
Can I be more transparent? I told my wife, Lena, I said, "You know what? Whatever building we get, I don't want no bank to be involved. True story. I said, 'I don't care if we got to grind it out in this building and raise all of the money ourselves. I said, When we walk into our first facility, I don't want no bank to be involved.'" Why? "Cuz I stopped focusing on my limitations and I started focusing on the one who is limitless. Lord, I want to help somebody's faith."
I was with one of my mentors this week. He's a bishop here in Atlanta and I was doing a round table for him. We were speaking to pastors from all around the nation and he was telling a story to everybody in the room. This blew my mind. He said he was overseas and his heart was broken for the people that were gripped in depravity in these Islamic nations. And there's a pastor who was from Egypt who had a project. He wanted to launch a satellite into orbit so that they could beam down the gospel in this one Islamic nation. The satellite cost $20 million and they didn't have the money.
Immediately my mentor said, "Let's believe God for the money for the satellite." And him and this other man of God came and they joined hands and they believed God for $20 million for the satellite. He said in a matter of weeks, a wealthy businessman was watching the program. He was moved in his heart by the preaching of the gospel. He sold off some assets and sent the ministry a check for $20 million.
You patty caking. But what if that was your miracle that God was working on? When I heard that, I wept. I did not cry because I first thought about my need. I cried because I thought about now that that satellite is in space. These people have an opportunity to hear the gospel piped into their airwaves in that Islamic nation. They have an opportunity now to hear the gospel piped into their airwaves because two men believed God for $20 million.
How many times we have a need that is more than what's in our hand, and we only focus on what's in our hand, and we don't focus on the God who is not limited by what's in our hand?
Father, I pray right now over every person under my voice who has a need—a vehicle, a home they're trying to get into, school, a business, a book they're trying to write, something that you have called for them, something that's inside the context of your will and they don't have enough in their hand. Man, I pray faith God explodes in this place in the name of Jesus. And that our focus would be on you who are not limited and not on the limitations of what we see in our hand. Let faith arise in this room and across that camera. I pray for a baptism of faith in the mighty name of Yahweh.
"And he said to them, '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 it to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds."
Pay attention. 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 he said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves. Then he gave it.
That's the same thing he does to you. He takes you. He blesses you with his name and his spirit. He breaks you, which is the process of sanctification. Then he gives you to be a servant to the world.
Maybe you're in the breaking process and you just need to hold on. Sometimes breaking comes before distribution. Maybe the Lord is breaking you so he can give you. Some of you, man, you get saved and you just want to be given. No, you need to be broken before you have been given.
Some of us be crying that God is breaking you. Maybe he's breaking you so he can give you.
So he lifts up the loaves and the fish. He blesses it. He breaks it. Watch this. He gives it to the disciples. And the disciples give it to the crowds.
Now this is so powerful to me. Pay attention family. The Lord multiplies food. This is a staggering, epic proportion miracle—they have baskets and every time they give out all the food, the baskets fill back up. And the disciples give out the food and the baskets fill back up. And they give out all the food in the baskets. This is insane to me that this is happening. This is an epic miracle.
Now pay attention. If the Lord wanted to, he could have spoke and bread could have appeared in front of everybody on the floor. But he did not do that. He got the disciples involved in the miracle. So the Lord was feeding the people food while he was feeding faith to his followers.
Every time they saw that basket filled, you know what was growing in them? Faith. Can you imagine every time you came to God with a lunch and every time your basket went dry and it filled back up again? You're watching this happen over and over and over and over. And you know every time that basket empties, you know what's growing in them? Faith and confidence in God.
They missed this, Frank. That's why sometimes you pray and the Lord just don't automatically move in such a way that you're not involved. Lord, I'm believing for the house. You told me you would put me in one, but I don't have the income for it. Go fill out the application anyway. Lord, I'm believing for this job. I don't have the degree for it. Go fill out the application anyway. Lord, I'm believing to write this book, but I don't know how to do this. Pull out your computer and start writing anyway.
Sometimes the Lord in his kindness will get you involved in your own miracle. So that while the Lord is working on your behalf on the outside, he's also working on your behalf on the inside. That he's building your faith as he's walking you through this miracle. Somebody give God praise right now that he builds your faith.
I remember when the Lord told my wife and me to move to this city. We was living in Columbus, Ohio. And we had no job and no money. We was on food stamps and WIC. My kids had holes in their shoes. And I remember I was fasting and praying for a month: "God, where are we going next?"
The Lord told me to go to Atlanta, but "Lord, we know nobody there. We have no friends, no family. I got $2,500 in my account." Man, I fly to Atlanta. I meet a man who had a house. I walk into the house. He says, "Young man, why are you here?" I said, "I've been up and down the city. I need a place for my family to live. I believe God has sent me here to start a church." He said, "Can you give me $700 for the first month rent?" I said, "Yes." "Do I got to fill out an application?" "No, just give me the money. No credit check, no application." He takes the $700.
I fly back to Columbus. I pack up my family on a rental truck. I empty our bank account. I pull up to that house in Atlanta with my wife, three children, and a baby in her belly. We have no money in our personal account. I have no friends. I have no family. I pulled up in front of that house with nothing but the clothes on my back by faith. Why? The Lord had me involved in my own miracle.
And then as soon as I get there, the Lord tell me start searching. Within one week, I find a job at a Christian school teaching Christian kids. And a couple weeks later, I find another job at FedEx. And six months later, I find a job as a youth pastor.
I remember when I met somebody named Jade. I met Jade when I was a youth pastor. She was in my youth ministry. She was a confused teenager in a single parent home and I adopted her as a spiritual daughter. Been pouring into her all these years. I've watched her grow into a mighty woman of God, a mighty prayer warrior. I've watched her become a wife. I watched her become a student of the word. This week we watched her become a PhD. And before June, we will watch her become a missionary. She will leave with her husband to follow after the plan of God for her life.
To say I'm proud of you is an understatement in words. Jade is part of the fruit of my obedience.
Now, I want you to pay some attention to the text before I read these last two verses. Everybody watch. I want you to notice when the Lord blessed the food. Pay attention. The scripture says, what did he make them do? He made them sit down before he fed them. Why is that detail important? It shows that the Lord took control over the circumstance. God, it reminds me that in every circumstance, my God is in control. There is nothing too great I will ever face or you will ever face as I'm walking out his will that he does not have control. It wasn't hectic and crazy. He took control over the atmosphere.
"And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up 12 baskets full of broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about 5,000 men, besides women and children."
And they all ate. How many? How many? How many? All. And they were what? What's the word? Satisfied. And they took up 12 baskets full. What number? How many? How many? 12. 12 baskets full. Pay attention. Of broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about 5,000 men.
Pay attention. Every detail is there for a reason. It says that they all ate. And watch this word. They were satisfied. They all ate and they were satisfied. And they took up 12, not 13, not 11, 12 baskets full. And it says there was 5,000 men. That's why I don't like the title here in the text, "not including women and children."
Scholars believe that if you include the women and children, it would have been about 15,000 to 20,000 people that Jesus fed. We see the power of multiplication. But who is writing the text? Matthew, who was he writing to? A Jewish audience. So they would have seen that they took up 12 baskets full. They would have been picking up on some clues.
"This man named Jesus fed us with bread and 12 baskets was taken up. Man, I'm peeping some similarities between Jesus and Moses. For I remember our ancestors. Oh my God. When they came out of Egypt and they were in the wilderness that Yahweh fed them from heaven with manna, bread that fell down from heaven. And now here this man who claimed to be the son of God feeds all of us in the crowd with bread. And in that crowd are people who are Jews and who believed in Christ and people who did not believe. But they took up 12 baskets full. The Lord showing his deity in the middle of the miracle."
But family, listen to me carefully. Now everybody pay attention. I know every time you hear this message preached, all we want you to do is focus on the food and the multiplication. Cuz all we want you to think about is this self-help gospel that I'm going to say to you now: "Anything you give Jesus, he's going to multiply and he's going to make you wealthy and you're not going to have any problems." That's humanistic, family.
The powerful thing about this miracle is not only that God multiplied food. The powerful thing about this miracle is the message behind the miracle that we got to lean into the Christology of the text and not into the prosperity we're trying to force into the text.
Man, this is happening in a society where the people lived on bread. Peep the Christology. Everybody in that society depended on bread. It was inconceivable in that day for anybody to live and not eat bread. Everybody ate bread. Meat was a delicacy. So you're talking about a society where on everybody's table every single day they're eating bread. They're depending on bread. There's no grocery stores. They ate bread every single day.
So when the people at that day heard bread, they heard survival. They heard sustenance. They heard everything I need for life.
What is the message behind the miracle? John 6. Shortly after this miracle, Jesus was teaching the same people that he is the bread of life. Peep the Christology of the text! He is the bread of life. So he's talking to a people to say: "You came to me because I filled you with the loaves but you cannot see that I am everything that you need."
That I, the Lord Jesus Christ, am everything that you need. You need me more than you need clothes, more than you need houses and cars. I am the bread of life come down from heaven. And the message behind the miracle is that we need Jesus desperately and it's in your self-sufficiency.
Look at me, man. It's in your self-sufficiency. You keep running after all this other stale bread. Your cupboard right now—and I ain't talking about the one in your house. I'm talking about the cupboard of your heart. And all across this room, I know your cupboard right now is filled with all of this stale bread and all of this fake bread, all of this stuff. You keep thinking if you get your heart is going to be full of joy and your heart is going to feel assurance.
You think if you get into a certain dollar amount, your heart is going to feel joy. You think if you get the house that you want, your heart is going to be full with joy. You think if you get the husband you want or the wife you want, you think you're going to feel, you think your heart is going to be full. Man, do you know God has put eternity—what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes—in the hearts of every single person. And there is something in your heart that cannot be satisfied by any other thing or any other person except the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, come down from glory, man.
It's like I told the people—this church has grown to about 2,000 people in the last couple months, man. Tens of thousands of people watch across online. Y'all really think that because I'm up here, this satisfies my heart? You think because I'm preaching to thousands of people, you think my heart is fully satisfied in this?
No family, y'all don't know me. Let me tell you what's going to satisfy my heart. About 2 hours from now, when I get to my crib, I'm going to go into my prayer room and I'm going to kneel down and I'm going to spend time with the Lord. I'm going to ring out my heart from whatever mistakes I made today on the platform. And it's in that secret place. It's in that secret place in the presence of my savior is where my heart is going to feel most satisfied than anything I'm doing right now.
You think I need a platform to feel fully satisfied? You think I need lights and a microphone to feel fully satisfied? You don't know me. It's when I'm in the presence of God. Man, I'm so serious. It's when I'm alone with the Father, man. It's when I get alone with Jesus this afternoon. It's the prayer walk I'm already going to take today. When I get home in a park and when I get along with the Lord and I look up into the clouds and I'm just with him is when my heart is going to feel most satisfied.
Man, I'm 20 years in and I'm telling you, you can have platforms and houses and cars and fame and all this stuff and your heart is going to keep itching. It is going to keep itching because eternity can't be scratched by a house. It can't be scratched by Instagram following. It can't be scratched by cars and likes and accolades.
That thing that's scratching in your heart, that burning in your heart, it can only be satisfied with Christ. And I'm telling you right now, all across this room, everybody watching me, people in the lobby and the overflow, you watching me anywhere, you know what? Your cupboard is full of stale bread and fake bread.
Man, hear the cry of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 55, verses 1-2, he says,
"Come, come, come. God says 'Come come to me. Come in my presence. Run to me. How many? Everyone who watches who thirsts come to the waters. And he who has no money, you can't afford salvation. You can't afford righteousness. You can't afford this. Just come buy, eat, come, buy wine, buy milk without money, without price. This is an invitation from God. Run to me. I will satisfy you. Give me all of you. I will satisfy you. Why do you spend all of your money for that which is not bread? And all of your labor for that which does not satisfy. Listen diligently to me. Eat what is good and delight yourselves with rich food. Incline your ear and come to me here that your soul may live."
Look at the cry of God. The Lord is saying to you, man, all this stuff you keep running after, man. All these things you keep clamoring for, you think when I get it—fill in the blank—finally my heart is going to be satisfied.
No! The Lord says all these things, man, are fake bread.
So I'm not going to stop telling you. I don't care if I got to say this every week. The only thing that's going to satisfy the deepest longings of your soul is a deep intimate real personal relationship with the Lord Jesus where it's you and him, you in your prayer time, you in your word, you ringing out your sin in his presence, you laying in his presence, you listening to worship, you shedding tears, you reading the scriptures.
This thing you got to have going on with Jesus—you love him above all things. You exalt him above all things. You want him above all things. You see him above all things. He is above all and he is in all. And he is the deepest desire of your heart. He is your daily bread. That's the Christology in the text.
It's not about multiplying what you want for your flesh. The message of the miracle is that Jesus is the bread of life.
See, all you want is to hear about stuff. No, you need to hear you need Christ. And not just "I'm saved." I mean a burning relationship with him.
And family, I close by saying this to you. I don't care, Frank. You think the Lord stopped talking like this because he's in heaven? No. He's still screaming from heaven, "You give them something to eat." He's still calling his church, his body, his bride to be compassionate, man.
Everywhere we see people separated from God. Everywhere we see people homeless and in need. Everywhere as we see people under the tyranny who are gripped in depravity, homeless, false religion, whatever the man, we should be moved with compassion.
Hear the Lord still saying from heaven, "You give them something to eat. You my bride, you my children, you who I've saved, you give them something to eat. You be the spreaders of truth. You be the heralds of truth. You feed, you clothe, you help, you do outreach, you be my hands and feet, you be my mouthpiece."
Why are we looking at the problems in the world and pointing towards politicians? You think Trump is going to fix this? You think Biden is going to fix this? No. The answer for the world is the gospel. It is Christ. It is the people of God and the prayers of the saints. The answer to the world's biggest problems is the person of Christ, the word of Christ, the church of Christ, the prayers of the saints of Christ.
You give the people something to eat. You feed. You clothe. You pray. You spread truth. You deliver the gospel. You stand 10 toes down. You don't have compromise. You be a bold witness for me. You my body. You my disciples. You give them something to eat.
May we see Christ as our daily bread. And may we be moved with a type of compassion for this dark world that we see ourselves as the agents of Christ in this dark world. As the lights in this dark world, you give them something to eat. You be moved with compassion.
As I was sitting with this text this week, I was reminded by the end of the week of three things that I saw with my own eyes—three things that broke my heart deeply and troubled me greatly. These experiences have direct implications for the text we're about to unpack together.
First, on Friday, I was sitting on my back deck and I saw a YouTube video of a well-known preacher. On Easter Sunday, he was preaching that the resurrection of Jesus was about the persecution of a Black man, that Jesus was a Black man because he didn't get a fair trial by the Roman government. He was manipulating the people in the room, declaring false doctrines that have no basis in Scripture or history.
We know from history and from the word of God that Jesus was an ethnic Jew. He was born into a family of ethnic Jews. He was raised around the Torah. He went into the synagogue as was his custom. He fulfilled the law. He came to his own first, the people of Israel, the Jewish race. Jesus was not a Black man. He was an ethnic Jew with skin like brass and hair like wool.
As I watched thousands of unsuspecting sheep who don't read the scriptures for themselves run after that garbage, my heart was broken. They have no idea what they're listening to is heresy and the doctrines of devils from a false prophet. We need to stop being impressed by platforms and oratory. We need to be impressed by character, fruit, and integrity—not by numbers, platform, and fame.
I have a fig tree in my front yard. From a distance, you would think it's fruitful because the leaves are green. But if you get close to that fig tree, you will see there's no fruit on it. That's what we're doing, man. We're seeing all these leaves from voices, platforms, Instagram followings, fame, and fortune. We think, "Surely that's a person of God." But you don't get close enough to see there's no fruit on that tree.
Second, on Monday, I was in the gym standing by the window where I like to stand and pray. I saw a young lady with raggedy clothes hop out of an old, beat-up van that's always parked in the back. She walked into the gym, went into the locker room for 10 minutes, and came out without going to any weights. Then a dude hopped out of the van, did the same thing. As I'm standing there watching, I realized: this couple is homeless. They're living in their van. They're using the bathroom in the gym to wash up and brush their teeth and get themselves together in the morning. My heart was broken for them in that moment.
Third, my wife and I had a meeting in Miami on Tuesday. As we're walking out the concourse in the airport, I saw two Islamic women bowed down on their face, praying to a false deity that cannot hear them because he does not exist. I remember when I was in Islam, five times a day I would be bowing down and praying to a God that never heard me. This exercise in futility—I was trying to figure out when I would have done enough to please Allah, a false god. When I saw those women bowing down in that exercise of futility, my heart was broken. I immediately began to pray for them: "Oh God, I pray salvation would come to these women. I pray you would deliver them from their false belief and bring them into the kingdom of light."
As I thought about the people who sat under that false teaching, as I thought about the couple who was homeless in that van, as I thought about those women in the airport, by Saturday morning, you know what I felt? I felt a righteous sadness in my heart. I felt a holy brokenness in my heart. And it was that holy brokenness that was causing compassion to well up in my heart. Compassion is what moves you to want to do something for them.
Should the people of God not feel compassion for brothers and sisters who are sitting under false teaching? Should we not feel compassion for those who are homeless, hungry, and in physical need? Should we not feel compassion for men and women who are gripped by depravity with no hope except for the regeneration of the Holy Spirit and salvation in Christ? Should we not feel compassion for people on the other side of the world who have never heard the gospel? Is this not the compassion we see in the heart of Jesus in this text?
What we are about to read together is about a powerful, epic miracle that happened in the life of Jesus. The miracle is so powerful, and the message behind the miracle is so powerful, that it shows up in all four gospel accounts. This is the only miracle of Christ that is recorded in all four gospels. There is no other miracle of Christ that is recorded in all four gospels.
Matthew and John were eyewitnesses of the ministry of Christ. Mark was a companion of Peter, who heard secondhand stories about Christ. Luke was the only non-Jewish writer among the forty writers of the New Testament—a Gentile doctor and historian who gathered stories circulating in the first century AD. All four of these men thought it was important to include this one miracle in their writings. It is extremely important both for what happened and for the message behind the miracle.
I want to implore you with my whole heart to please lean in with your mind and lean in with your heart. Don't be unintelligent sheep. Sheep are some of the most unintelligent animals on the planet. They have no natural defense mechanism. They are completely dependent upon shepherds. When they're in tight quarters, they fight with one another. And if one sheep goes astray from the pack, nine times out of ten, it will be ravaged by wolves. That's what Jesus called us: sheep who need a shepherd. Because we're not that intelligent as a race, because we're flawed by sin, we need a leader and a savior.
"Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there. He hopped in a boat and he began to sail to a desolate place by himself."
A couple of things I want to unpack from this first verse. First, it says, "When Jesus heard this, heard what?" This line points us back to verse 12. What happened there? Jesus heard that Herod was feeling some type of anxiety about the influence and the growth of his ministry.
Now, here's where scholars argue: Did Jesus withdraw because of Herod's anxiety about his ministry, or did Jesus withdraw because he was reminded about the murder of his cousin John the Baptist? Since I don't know which one is true, I want to work both roads.
First possibility: If Jesus pulled away to be alone because he heard about Herod's anxiety, then this shows the wisdom of Jesus understanding purpose and time. Jesus knew he came to die, but he knew the time had not come for him to die. So there was no need for him to engage with an executioner before his time. This is a powerful lesson for you and me. Not every battle is yours to engage in. Not every enemy deserves a response from you. We have to have the wisdom to know what battle is for us to fight and what battle is not for us to fight. We have to know when the season is to get involved and when not to get involved. Everybody is not worthy of a response. Everybody's not worthy of my time. Everybody's not worthy of an argument. Some battles belong to the Lord. Let me get away from them.
Second possibility: What if Jesus got away because he heard about the death of his cousin and he's reminded now about the murder of John? If Jesus is reminded about the murder of John, now we see the humanity of Christ. In the humanity of Christ, he's probably dealing with feelings over the fact that his cousin was murdered. If he's wrestling with feelings that his cousin was murdered, he withdraws to spend some time by himself.
We know from other places in the New Testament that Jesus would slip away often to be alone with the Father. If he's wrestling with pain from the death of his cousin and he slips away to be by himself, I could probably safely presume that he's getting away to be with his Father. Now we see the wisdom of the Lord leaning into a healthy coping mechanism for his suffering.
When you and I are dealing with pain, when we're dealing with sorrow, when we're dealing with issues, we have to have healthy coping mechanisms for those issues. Running to drugs is not a healthy coping mechanism. Running to people who like drama is not a healthy coping mechanism. But we see a healthy coping mechanism right here in the text: if the Lord is running to be alone with the Father, we see that when our hearts are sorrowful, when our hearts are heavy, when we're dealing with pain and drama, we can carry our hearts into the presence of the Lord, into the presence of the Father.
Prayer is a healthy coping mechanism. The scriptures are a healthy coping mechanism. Wise counsel is a healthy coping mechanism. The presence of godly people is a healthy coping mechanism.
"But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns."
I want to draw your attention to a couple of things right here. It says, "When the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from towns." The word "towns" is plural, which suggests that the people following Jesus is a very great company—we're talking about thousands of people.
I want you to notice that the crowds "heard of this." Well, what did they hear? They heard that Jesus was performing miracles. They heard the teachings of Christ. So some of them heard was hope. They heard a man preaching about the kingdom. They heard about a man doing miracles. And the scripture says they followed him on foot.
Now, this is very powerful to me that Matthew will put this detail in the text. It says they followed Christ on foot. The fact that Matthew will put that in the text gives us metrics about the crowd, some insight into the kind of people that are in the crowd. If they're on foot, that means they're walking. There's no horses. There's no carriages. There's probably no wealthy people in that crowd. These are probably middle class people, probably poor people, probably people who are searching for God.
According to history, Jesus is sailing to Bethsaida, which is in the north section of the Sea of Galilee. These people are following Christ on foot. They're walking all the way to another city to see the Lord Jesus Christ. Something in them is desiring to get close to him.
Family, this is like if I told you I was about to walk from here to Orlando because there was something compelling me to get there. Imagine if I said, "Man, I got to get to Orlando. I can't afford a bus ticket. I can't afford Lyft. I can't afford to hop on a plane." And I start walking from here to Orlando. You would think that I was crazy to make that journey. But man, there must be something in Orlando compelling me to walk all the way there.
And these people are walking from where they are in Galilee, walking to another city just to see, just to follow, just to get near the Lord Jesus Christ. What we see in them is what more of us need for the Lord. We see a type of hunger in them. We see a hunger in which they are desiring the Lord Jesus Christ.
Family, this is what we need. We need a hunger for Christ. Because the opposite is what I see in the American church: a type of self-sufficiency. We think we don't need God. We don't need the Lord. We don't need the word. We don't need his presence. Some of us are so full of other things we don't have hunger for the Lord Jesus.
But man, there's something when you say, "No matter what, I got to get to the Lord. I got to get to that gathering. If I got to drive an hour to get here, whatever I got to do, I got to get in the room. I don't care if it's hot. I don't care if they're trying to fix the AC. I don't care if I'm sweating. I got to get into that room. I got to get into that presence. I got to get into that worship. I need to hear the word of God." There's something about that hunger.
What we see in this text is a people who have a hunger. They are desperate. They are longing. And they thought, "Whatever it is Christ has to offer, we need to get to him to get that." And I want you to know, man, they're not running after him for cotton candy ministry. No, family. They're running after God because they feel truth in his mouth. They know that he has a message that is life-transforming. And they're doing whatever they got to do to get close to the Messiah.
"When he went on shore, he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them and he healed their sick."
Let me put you in the text. Jesus left an area because he's trying to spend some time alone. He is rowing across the Sea of Galilee towards Bethsaida. You can see the rim of the Sea of Galilee from anywhere on that body of water. The people see him sailing across the Sea of Galilee. As they're watching his direction, they're walking on foot around the Sea of Galilee towards the north part to get to Bethsaida.
As Jesus pulls up to shore—remember, he's going to spend time by himself—he sees a great crowd of thousands of people. He hops out of the boat and immediately the first thing that he feels is compassion for the people that he saw.
Now, this word "compassion" in the Greek and in the original language has a connotation of being gripped in the heart, being ripped in the soul, feeling a deep sense of sympathy for the people. And I thought it was so powerful that when Jesus sees the people on the shore, he's going to spend time for his own need, and immediately he pivots to focus on the needs of somebody else.
Man, this is like those times when you're hurting yourself and you're going through yourself and you get that phone call or that text from a brother and sister who's hurting. You're talking to them while you're wiping tears out of your own eyes. You're listening to them on the phone and as you're hurting yourself, you're praying, "God, give me the strength and the wisdom to minister to my brother and sister, although I'm going through my own pain."
How many times have you and I been dealing with something in our own lives and we hear the cry of somebody we love and we pivot to pour into somebody we love? We're pouring while we're hurting. We're preaching while we're hurting. We're singing while we're hurting. We're texting while we're hurting. We're listening while we're hurting. We're counseling while we're hurting.
It's those times when we have to pivot to pour into somebody else, even in the middle of our own pain. And I know what it feels like to be in the middle of pain, dealing with depression, sorrow, or sickness. And in that moment, somebody's need is much greater than mine. And I turn from what I'm dealing with, and I focus on what somebody else is dealing with. And I have found sometimes the best way to get over what you're dealing with is to focus on somebody else's issue that's much worse than yours. Yes, I'm hurting right now, but this brother is going through something far worse. Yes, I'm hurting right now, but this sister is going through something far worse. And sometimes it's in our step into ministry in pain. Ministry while I'm suffering, ministry while I'm hurting, ministry while I'm going through.
I'm battling something in my heart, but I'm still posting truth. I'm battling something in my heart, but I still show up to sing. I'm battling something in my heart and I still show up to serve. Man, I had a rough week and I still show up to preach.
And we see this beautiful thing in the character of the Lord: he knows how to properly pivot, even when we're going through our own thing, to focus on the needs of people that are greater.
Why does the Lord have compassion on them? Look out at that massive audience and what does he see? He sees people who need salvation. He sees bodies that are sick and need healing. He sees people who have been ravished by the false teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees who have strapped upon them heavy, man-made burdens that did not come from the word of God. He sees people who are tired. He sees people who are weary. He sees people in need and his heart is moved with compassion.
I just want to keep encouraging people. The Lord sees everything that's happening in this room. Everything happening in the lobby. Everybody in the overflow, hear these three words: The Lord sees. The Lord knows. The Lord cares. I need to say that to somebody who thinks you're not on his radar. The Lord sees. The Lord knows. And the Lord cares.
When he saw the hurting people on the seashore, his heart is moved towards them with compassion. He is broken for them. What does he see? He sees in that crowd the same three things I saw this week:
And in response to those hearing false teaching, in response to those who have physical needs, in response to those who are gripped in depravity and in need of salvation, his response to them is compassion. I feel sorry for people who sit under bad doctrine. I feel sorry for people who need home, clothing, food, and shelter. I feel sorry for people who are far away from God. I don't ignore them. My heart is moved with compassion towards them.
"Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, 'Lord, 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 to them, 'They need not go away. You give them something to eat.'"
Now, Matthew leaves out some details that Mark includes in his gospel. In Mark 6:34, Mark writes about the same miracle and says, "When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without shepherds." We've seen Jesus say this before earlier in his gospel when Jesus saw people that were abused by false teaching and he began to teach to them many things.
So according to Mark, when Jesus came ashore, the first thing he did was teach the people. He was not first moved by their hunger. This is going to help somebody. He was not first moved by their physical needs. When the Lord saw a people who was in need, the first thing he responded to them was teaching.
What did he elevate above a dollar? What did he elevate above outreach? What did he elevate above all these things? The thing he elevated was the proclamation of the word of God. What does it profit us to put clothes on the back of a homeless person who's still going to hell and never heard the gospel? What does it profit us to do outreach and we don't spread the gospel? Though we cannot bring people into the kingdom in our own strength, we are responsible for being spreaders of truth.
And the Lord saw teaching as a form of compassion. The Lord saw teaching truth as a form of compassion. Man, I feel so sorry for these people. I'm going to post truth on my social media. I'm going to make stories about truth. He saw truth as a form of compassion. And it said he preached. He preached until evening.
Man, I love this. So Lord, you've been preaching to these people all day. You've been preaching to these people for hours. This is what I'm fighting for in America, man. I know every time I talk like this, people send me hate speech and hate mail. This bothers me that everything in America is like this: when it comes to the proclamation of God's word, we want 60 minutes in and out. You want your little sprinkle of Jesus and in and out.
You spend six days in the world. We don't have the stamina for teaching. So all across America, this bothers me: we're so handcuffed by the clocks and handcuffed by the watches. "Man, give me all of God in 20 minutes." Man, we want God to move in 20 minutes. That's why we don't see no revivals in this nation because we try to box God into our time instead of giving him the time necessary for him to move in our lives, man.
God forbid I preach beyond 25 minutes, man. People are antsy and you got to get to the restaurant and you got to get to your car and all this other stuff. You want to just squeeze God into your little 60-minute box. And then you wonder why your mind and your heart is still a wreck. You wonder why your Christianity is still a wreck. We don't know how to sit in his presence for prayer or sit in his word for a period of time or sit in a room and hear proclamation. This country, Americans, we don't have stamina for spirituality.
You're going to do your little five-minute devotion and think that's going to transform your life. Like you're going to give God five minutes a day and think that's going to transform your life. I know places, man. The whole thing 35 minutes in and out. Get them out quick. Get them out. Don't keep them too long. They might not want to come back next week.
All right, man. We've been doing that for how many decades? And I know people don't like when I talk like this. I'm telling you, I pray for a day when America deals with so much persecution that you're going to love being in rooms when you're around brothers and sisters. Y'all think I'm playing. I'm dead serious. I pray a day comes for America when God shakes the foundation of this nation, delivers us from all of our apathy and our lethargy, where we are running to be in gatherings, running to be in his presence. But the place I want to be more than any place else is in his presence.
And I'm not saying every Sunday we got to be in here for eight hours. But what I am saying, man, we just got to increase our stamina for teaching.
Man, the Lord taught them from the time he arrived until the evening.
Now, I want to draw your attention to something else in the text. I want you to notice that when the disciples thought he had spent too much time, they came to him and said, "Lord, send the people away to go buy food."
Now, on the surface, that seems like they're being thoughtful. Lord, these people are hungry. It's late in the evening. Send them into their towns to go buy food.
But watch this: the disciples make a unilateral decision without consulting the Lord. They see a problem that is massive, that they can't solve, and they make a unilateral decision that the answer to the problem is to send the people away. That is to say, Lord, you have done enough for these people. There is nothing else you can do for them. Send them away.
And you and I do the same thing all the time. A problem emerges in your life and you do not consult the Lord about what you should do about that problem. Instead, you make unilateral decisions on what you think you should do in the problem. But you never go to God in prayer and ask him for wisdom on what you can do in that problem.
And the reason we do that is for the same reason Eve bit of that tree. We want to make gods out of our own selves. So you are the god of your own life. So every time a problem emerges in your life, your first response is not "Let me seek the Lord for guidance." Your first response is "Let me make a unilateral decision about what I think is best."
A problem emerges. Your marriage is about to come to an end. You're about to lose your house. You're about to lose your job. Somebody you love is sick. This is a massive, complicated problem. And notice in the text, they never ask the Lord, "What should we do about the fact that people have a need?" We see no question of the Lord from the disciples. Instead, they make their own decision that the answer to the people's hunger is to send them away.
And before we judge them, I want to encourage you not to keep behaving like that. When problems emerge, seek the one who is the author and the finisher of your faith. Seek the one who is all wise and all knowing. Seek the one who has already prepared paths for you according to Ephesians 2:10. Seek the Lord God for answers.
And I want you to notice this other thing in the text. Jesus said to them, "The people don't need to go away. You give them something to eat."
You know what he said to them? "You solve this problem since you didn't come talk to me about it. You fix it."
Now, watch. In John's gospel, John wrote that at this moment Jesus looked at his disciples and said, "Where are we going to get enough food to feed all his people?" And he did that to test them for he knew what he was going to do already.
So watch: the Lord test his followers to see how are you going to respond in this difficulty? Because he knew what he was going to do already. He already had in his heart how he was going to respond. "I just want to see how you're going to respond in this moment."
Man, this is powerful to me because it suggests that the Lord does test you and I from time to time. I wonder how many times a problem emerges and the Lord is trying to test us to see how you respond to this problem. He's going to allow this to happen. He's going to see: are they going to seek me for answers? Are they going to open the scriptures? Are they going to get alone in prayer, or are they going to run to figure this out on their own?
The Lord tested his followers to see what they would do. He himself knew what he was going to do. How many times have problems emerged? The Lord already has an answer, but we don't have the humility to go seek him for that answer.
"They said to him, 'We have only five loaves and two fish.'"
John tells us they find a boy who has a bag lunch. A lunchable. They find a little boy with a lunchable and in his bag lunch he has five loaves of bread and two fish. That's what John tells us about this miracle.
Now, watch. The disciples see a massive problem. And the response to the problem is to bring Jesus a bag lunch.
I know you like this part because you want me to get to the part where it says if anything in God's hands, it becomes more when it gets in his hands. And I know you like that.
But I want to work the backside of this text. I want you to pay attention to the word "only." Only. In the middle of this circumstance, while they're facing a massive problem, they focus on the limitation of what they have instead of who they have.
This is crazy to me. They got thousands of people who are hungry and they only focus on the limitation of a boy's lunch. You focus on the lunch, but you not focus on the person you've been with all this time. Instead of focusing on what you have, why not focus on who you have?
Did they not see him perform miracles? Did he not raise Jairus's daughter from the dead? Did they not know he was God in the flesh? So why is it now that you have thousands of people who are hungry? Your first response is to bring them a lunchable and not come to them and say, "Lord, well, you have the power to feed all these people. What do you want to do about this?"
And before you judge them, you do the same thing. And so do I.
How many times has a need come up in your life and you only focus on your limitations in that moment? I've been guilty of this. A need comes up and I only focus on my limitations. I only focus on what I have in my hand and I don't focus on the person who is not limited.
Can I be transparent, man? We were pursuing a building. It cost $7 million. And I know we don't have the cash to buy that building. And immediately I started thinking like, "Man, how are we going to do this? We maybe we need to go to the bank and blah blah blah blah blah and all that." And all the while I'm talking to myself about the limitations of 2819. I'm not focused on the person who created 2819, the person who's growing 2819, the person who dwells amongst 2819, the person who's not limited to help 2819.
I had to change my prayer. "Lord, what is $7 million to you?" "Lord, what is $7 million to you? $7 million. That's nothing for you. You can move on the heart of one person to write one check and pay off the whole thing. That's nothing for you."
Somebody could be watching, get saved, write a check for $7 million. What's $7 million for the Lord? The one who owns cattle on a thousand hills. The one who said the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof.
Can I be more transparent? I told my wife, Lena, I said, "You know what? Whatever building we get, I don't want no bank to be involved. True story. I said, 'I don't care if we got to grind it out in this building and raise all of the money ourselves. I said, When we walk into our first facility, I don't want no bank to be involved.'" Why? "Cuz I stopped focusing on my limitations and I started focusing on the one who is limitless. Lord, I want to help somebody's faith."
I was with one of my mentors this week. He's a bishop here in Atlanta and I was doing a round table for him. We were speaking to pastors from all around the nation and he was telling a story to everybody in the room. This blew my mind. He said he was overseas and his heart was broken for the people that were gripped in depravity in these Islamic nations. And there's a pastor who was from Egypt who had a project. He wanted to launch a satellite into orbit so that they could beam down the gospel in this one Islamic nation. The satellite cost $20 million and they didn't have the money.
Immediately my mentor said, "Let's believe God for the money for the satellite." And him and this other man of God came and they joined hands and they believed God for $20 million for the satellite. He said in a matter of weeks, a wealthy businessman was watching the program. He was moved in his heart by the preaching of the gospel. He sold off some assets and sent the ministry a check for $20 million.
You patty caking. But what if that was your miracle that God was working on? When I heard that, I wept. I did not cry because I first thought about my need. I cried because I thought about now that that satellite is in space. These people have an opportunity to hear the gospel piped into their airwaves in that Islamic nation. They have an opportunity now to hear the gospel piped into their airwaves because two men believed God for $20 million.
How many times we have a need that is more than what's in our hand, and we only focus on what's in our hand, and we don't focus on the God who is not limited by what's in our hand?
Father, I pray right now over every person under my voice who has a need—a vehicle, a home they're trying to get into, school, a business, a book they're trying to write, something that you have called for them, something that's inside the context of your will and they don't have enough in their hand. Man, I pray faith God explodes in this place in the name of Jesus. And that our focus would be on you who are not limited and not on the limitations of what we see in our hand. Let faith arise in this room and across that camera. I pray for a baptism of faith in the mighty name of Yahweh.
"And he said to them, '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 it to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds."
Pay attention. 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 he said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves. Then he gave it.
That's the same thing he does to you. He takes you. He blesses you with his name and his spirit. He breaks you, which is the process of sanctification. Then he gives you to be a servant to the world.
Maybe you're in the breaking process and you just need to hold on. Sometimes breaking comes before distribution. Maybe the Lord is breaking you so he can give you. Some of you, man, you get saved and you just want to be given. No, you need to be broken before you have been given.
Some of us be crying that God is breaking you. Maybe he's breaking you so he can give you.
So he lifts up the loaves and the fish. He blesses it. He breaks it. Watch this. He gives it to the disciples. And the disciples give it to the crowds.
Now this is so powerful to me. Pay attention family. The Lord multiplies food. This is a staggering, epic proportion miracle—they have baskets and every time they give out all the food, the baskets fill back up. And the disciples give out the food and the baskets fill back up. And they give out all the food in the baskets. This is insane to me that this is happening. This is an epic miracle.
Now pay attention. If the Lord wanted to, he could have spoke and bread could have appeared in front of everybody on the floor. But he did not do that. He got the disciples involved in the miracle. So the Lord was feeding the people food while he was feeding faith to his followers.
Every time they saw that basket filled, you know what was growing in them? Faith. Can you imagine every time you came to God with a lunch and every time your basket went dry and it filled back up again? You're watching this happen over and over and over and over. And you know every time that basket empties, you know what's growing in them? Faith and confidence in God.
They missed this, Frank. That's why sometimes you pray and the Lord just don't automatically move in such a way that you're not involved. Lord, I'm believing for the house. You told me you would put me in one, but I don't have the income for it. Go fill out the application anyway. Lord, I'm believing for this job. I don't have the degree for it. Go fill out the application anyway. Lord, I'm believing to write this book, but I don't know how to do this. Pull out your computer and start writing anyway.
Sometimes the Lord in his kindness will get you involved in your own miracle. So that while the Lord is working on your behalf on the outside, he's also working on your behalf on the inside. That he's building your faith as he's walking you through this miracle. Somebody give God praise right now that he builds your faith.
I remember when the Lord told my wife and me to move to this city. We was living in Columbus, Ohio. And we had no job and no money. We was on food stamps and WIC. My kids had holes in their shoes. And I remember I was fasting and praying for a month: "God, where are we going next?"
The Lord told me to go to Atlanta, but "Lord, we know nobody there. We have no friends, no family. I got $2,500 in my account." Man, I fly to Atlanta. I meet a man who had a house. I walk into the house. He says, "Young man, why are you here?" I said, "I've been up and down the city. I need a place for my family to live. I believe God has sent me here to start a church." He said, "Can you give me $700 for the first month rent?" I said, "Yes." "Do I got to fill out an application?" "No, just give me the money. No credit check, no application." He takes the $700.
I fly back to Columbus. I pack up my family on a rental truck. I empty our bank account. I pull up to that house in Atlanta with my wife, three children, and a baby in her belly. We have no money in our personal account. I have no friends. I have no family. I pulled up in front of that house with nothing but the clothes on my back by faith. Why? The Lord had me involved in my own miracle.
And then as soon as I get there, the Lord tell me start searching. Within one week, I find a job at a Christian school teaching Christian kids. And a couple weeks later, I find another job at FedEx. And six months later, I find a job as a youth pastor.
I remember when I met somebody named Jade. I met Jade when I was a youth pastor. She was in my youth ministry. She was a confused teenager in a single parent home and I adopted her as a spiritual daughter. Been pouring into her all these years. I've watched her grow into a mighty woman of God, a mighty prayer warrior. I've watched her become a wife. I watched her become a student of the word. This week we watched her become a PhD. And before June, we will watch her become a missionary. She will leave with her husband to follow after the plan of God for her life.
To say I'm proud of you is an understatement in words. Jade is part of the fruit of my obedience.
Now, I want you to pay some attention to the text before I read these last two verses. Everybody watch. I want you to notice when the Lord blessed the food. Pay attention. The scripture says, what did he make them do? He made them sit down before he fed them. Why is that detail important? It shows that the Lord took control over the circumstance. God, it reminds me that in every circumstance, my God is in control. There is nothing too great I will ever face or you will ever face as I'm walking out his will that he does not have control. It wasn't hectic and crazy. He took control over the atmosphere.
"And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up 12 baskets full of broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about 5,000 men, besides women and children."
And they all ate. How many? How many? How many? All. And they were what? What's the word? Satisfied. And they took up 12 baskets full. What number? How many? How many? 12. 12 baskets full. Pay attention. Of broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about 5,000 men.
Pay attention. Every detail is there for a reason. It says that they all ate. And watch this word. They were satisfied. They all ate and they were satisfied. And they took up 12, not 13, not 11, 12 baskets full. And it says there was 5,000 men. That's why I don't like the title here in the text, "not including women and children."
Scholars believe that if you include the women and children, it would have been about 15,000 to 20,000 people that Jesus fed. We see the power of multiplication. But who is writing the text? Matthew, who was he writing to? A Jewish audience. So they would have seen that they took up 12 baskets full. They would have been picking up on some clues.
"This man named Jesus fed us with bread and 12 baskets was taken up. Man, I'm peeping some similarities between Jesus and Moses. For I remember our ancestors. Oh my God. When they came out of Egypt and they were in the wilderness that Yahweh fed them from heaven with manna, bread that fell down from heaven. And now here this man who claimed to be the son of God feeds all of us in the crowd with bread. And in that crowd are people who are Jews and who believed in Christ and people who did not believe. But they took up 12 baskets full. The Lord showing his deity in the middle of the miracle."
But family, listen to me carefully. Now everybody pay attention. I know every time you hear this message preached, all we want you to do is focus on the food and the multiplication. Cuz all we want you to think about is this self-help gospel that I'm going to say to you now: "Anything you give Jesus, he's going to multiply and he's going to make you wealthy and you're not going to have any problems." That's humanistic, family.
The powerful thing about this miracle is not only that God multiplied food. The powerful thing about this miracle is the message behind the miracle that we got to lean into the Christology of the text and not into the prosperity we're trying to force into the text.
Man, this is happening in a society where the people lived on bread. Peep the Christology. Everybody in that society depended on bread. It was inconceivable in that day for anybody to live and not eat bread. Everybody ate bread. Meat was a delicacy. So you're talking about a society where on everybody's table every single day they're eating bread. They're depending on bread. There's no grocery stores. They ate bread every single day.
So when the people at that day heard bread, they heard survival. They heard sustenance. They heard everything I need for life.
What is the message behind the miracle? John 6. Shortly after this miracle, Jesus was teaching the same people that he is the bread of life. Peep the Christology of the text! He is the bread of life. So he's talking to a people to say: "You came to me because I filled you with the loaves but you cannot see that I am everything that you need."
That I, the Lord Jesus Christ, am everything that you need. You need me more than you need clothes, more than you need houses and cars. I am the bread of life come down from heaven. And the message behind the miracle is that we need Jesus desperately and it's in your self-sufficiency.
Look at me, man. It's in your self-sufficiency. You keep running after all this other stale bread. Your cupboard right now—and I ain't talking about the one in your house. I'm talking about the cupboard of your heart. And all across this room, I know your cupboard right now is filled with all of this stale bread and all of this fake bread, all of this stuff. You keep thinking if you get your heart is going to be full of joy and your heart is going to feel assurance.
You think if you get into a certain dollar amount, your heart is going to feel joy. You think if you get the house that you want, your heart is going to be full with joy. You think if you get the husband you want or the wife you want, you think you're going to feel, you think your heart is going to be full. Man, do you know God has put eternity—what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes—in the hearts of every single person. And there is something in your heart that cannot be satisfied by any other thing or any other person except the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, come down from glory, man.
It's like I told the people—this church has grown to about 2,000 people in the last couple months, man. Tens of thousands of people watch across online. Y'all really think that because I'm up here, this satisfies my heart? You think because I'm preaching to thousands of people, you think my heart is fully satisfied in this?
No family, y'all don't know me. Let me tell you what's going to satisfy my heart. About 2 hours from now, when I get to my crib, I'm going to go into my prayer room and I'm going to kneel down and I'm going to spend time with the Lord. I'm going to ring out my heart from whatever mistakes I made today on the platform. And it's in that secret place. It's in that secret place in the presence of my savior is where my heart is going to feel most satisfied than anything I'm doing right now.
You think I need a platform to feel fully satisfied? You think I need lights and a microphone to feel fully satisfied? You don't know me. It's when I'm in the presence of God. Man, I'm so serious. It's when I'm alone with the Father, man. It's when I get alone with Jesus this afternoon. It's the prayer walk I'm already going to take today. When I get home in a park and when I get along with the Lord and I look up into the clouds and I'm just with him is when my heart is going to feel most satisfied.
Man, I'm 20 years in and I'm telling you, you can have platforms and houses and cars and fame and all this stuff and your heart is going to keep itching. It is going to keep itching because eternity can't be scratched by a house. It can't be scratched by Instagram following. It can't be scratched by cars and likes and accolades.
That thing that's scratching in your heart, that burning in your heart, it can only be satisfied with Christ. And I'm telling you right now, all across this room, everybody watching me, people in the lobby and the overflow, you watching me anywhere, you know what? Your cupboard is full of stale bread and fake bread.
Man, hear the cry of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 55, verses 1-2, he says,
"Come, come, come. God says 'Come come to me. Come in my presence. Run to me. How many? Everyone who watches who thirsts come to the waters. And he who has no money, you can't afford salvation. You can't afford righteousness. You can't afford this. Just come buy, eat, come, buy wine, buy milk without money, without price. This is an invitation from God. Run to me. I will satisfy you. Give me all of you. I will satisfy you. Why do you spend all of your money for that which is not bread? And all of your labor for that which does not satisfy. Listen diligently to me. Eat what is good and delight yourselves with rich food. Incline your ear and come to me here that your soul may live."
Look at the cry of God. The Lord is saying to you, man, all this stuff you keep running after, man. All these things you keep clamoring for, you think when I get it—fill in the blank—finally my heart is going to be satisfied.
No! The Lord says all these things, man, are fake bread.
So I'm not going to stop telling you. I don't care if I got to say this every week. The only thing that's going to satisfy the deepest longings of your soul is a deep intimate real personal relationship with the Lord Jesus where it's you and him, you in your prayer time, you in your word, you ringing out your sin in his presence, you laying in his presence, you listening to worship, you shedding tears, you reading the scriptures.
This thing you got to have going on with Jesus—you love him above all things. You exalt him above all things. You want him above all things. You see him above all things. He is above all and he is in all. And he is the deepest desire of your heart. He is your daily bread. That's the Christology in the text.
It's not about multiplying what you want for your flesh. The message of the miracle is that Jesus is the bread of life.
See, all you want is to hear about stuff. No, you need to hear you need Christ. And not just "I'm saved." I mean a burning relationship with him.
And family, I close by saying this to you. I don't care, Frank. You think the Lord stopped talking like this because he's in heaven? No. He's still screaming from heaven, "You give them something to eat." He's still calling his church, his body, his bride to be compassionate, man.
Everywhere we see people separated from God. Everywhere we see people homeless and in need. Everywhere as we see people under the tyranny who are gripped in depravity, homeless, false religion, whatever the man, we should be moved with compassion.
Hear the Lord still saying from heaven, "You give them something to eat. You my bride, you my children, you who I've saved, you give them something to eat. You be the spreaders of truth. You be the heralds of truth. You feed, you clothe, you help, you do outreach, you be my hands and feet, you be my mouthpiece."
Why are we looking at the problems in the world and pointing towards politicians? You think Trump is going to fix this? You think Biden is going to fix this? No. The answer for the world is the gospel. It is Christ. It is the people of God and the prayers of the saints. The answer to the world's biggest problems is the person of Christ, the word of Christ, the church of Christ, the prayers of the saints of Christ.
You give the people something to eat. You feed. You clothe. You pray. You spread truth. You deliver the gospel. You stand 10 toes down. You don't have compromise. You be a bold witness for me. You my body. You my disciples. You give them something to eat.
May we see Christ as our daily bread. And may we be moved with a type of compassion for this dark world that we see ourselves as the agents of Christ in this dark world. As the lights in this dark world, you give them something to eat. You be moved with compassion.
