Meeting the Need

Matthew 14:13 When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. 15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." 16 But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." 17 And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." 18 He said, "Bring them here to Me." 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. 20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. 22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. 24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. 25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." 28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." 29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God." 34 When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out into all that surrounding region, brought to Him all who were sick, 36 and begged Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.

Called out from a rest period with His disciples following hearing the news of John the Baptist’s death, (murdered by Herod,) Jesus was immediately moved to heal the sick present in the multitude who had tracked Him down in His place of rest.

We do not know the kind of physical effort required of Jesus to heal the sick, but we do have a clue: earlier, when the woman who had a flow of blood twelve years touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, He said He, “perceived power going out from Me.” (Luke 8:46)

Then, His healings of the sick of the multitude produced yet another need. As they lingered through the day because of His healings and teachings, they became hungry – and they were in a remote place with no food. What would the ‘Great I AM’ do now? (Of course we know the answer.)

Later, when His disciples were alone in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, in the midst of a storm in the dark of the night, another great need presented itself. Again, what would the ‘Great I AM’ do? (Again, of course we know the answer.)

What kind of God is this that we serve?

-Pastor Bill

The Cost of Defiance

Matthew 14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus 2 and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him." 3 For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. 4 Because John had said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her." 5 And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. 6 But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. 7 Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter." 9 And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. 10 So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. 11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus. 13 When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. 15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." 16 But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." 17 And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish." 18 He said, "Bring them here to Me." 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. 20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. 22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.

We were informed in Matt 4:12 that John the Baptist had been arrested by Herod, and this was the reason Jesus had gone to Galilee to teach and to preach.

John, a personal hero of mine, was not one for mincing words.

Unfortunately, as we are all aware, if you stand for something, someone will oppose that stand. It becomes very obvious as a child of God the only way to avoid all controversy is to avoid taking a side.

It was never in John’s nature to avoid anything. You could lay this off as being caused by his fiery personality, but I think a more likely cause is the fire of the Holy Spirit, which has given John an undeniable passion for the truth, no matter where that truth may land him. (It lands him in jail, and it lands his head on the chopping block.)

By contrast, Jesus Christ has a passion for creating a different sort of controversy: feeding hungry people. When does feeding people become controversial? When it is employed as a tool to distinguish who His followers are, and exactly why they are following him. Do they follow Christ to be fed – or do they follow Christ for the food?

-Pastor Bill

God’s Kingdom

Matthew 13:44 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, 48 which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth." 51 Jesus said to them, "Have you understood all these things?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." 52 Then He said to them, "Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." 53 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. 54 And when He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?" 57 So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." 58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.  

The essential question about “the kingdom of heaven” is: who owns it?

Ownership in every economy is established in one of two ways: by creation of an entity, or by the purchase of it.

On both counts, God establishes Himself as Owner.

If you are looking for a Creator, (AKA – YOUR Creator,) you have two choices: either you believe you emerged from nothing, and that nothing caused everything to exist, or you believe there was a cause for your creation – and that cause is God. If you believe in the only rational position, which holds God as Creator of all things, (including you,) than He is also your Owner.

We know once creation was accomplished, creation itself fell under the control of Satan. In essence, Satan stole creation away from God, and established himself as ruler of the earthly kingdom. That this has taken place is inarguable when you consider the nature of the world - which groans in torment and travail, and is filled with crime and disease, and poverty, and natural disaster. Every day people die of starvation in a world that yields itself to the ownership of Satan by theft. Satan makes people slaves to sin, and then he drags them down to hell in the midst of evil, tormented lives - into a condition of eternal torment. (All the while either blaming God for the torment Satan causes, or deceiving people into thinking God does not exist.) Either way, Satan wins.

For those who will allow it, God re-establishes ownership of His creation – this time through purchase. The cost to God to re-establish ownership, and to purchase the lives of those Satan has made slaves to sin is incredible.

Jesus here tells us exactly what God the Father was willing to pay. Everything. His most precious possession. His only Begotten Son.

Since we know the price willingly paid establishes to value of the entity in the eye of the purchaser, what does that tell us about how God values His Church?

-Pastor Bill

Facing Opposition

Matthew 13:24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' 28 He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' 29 But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." ' " 31 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." 33 Another parable He spoke to them: "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened." 34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world." 36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." 37 He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

The last thing you may expect to face within the confines of The Church is opposition. The Church is perhaps thought to be the one environment where opposition is never found or experienced.

But Jesus teaches otherwise. In fact, one of the greatest clues we have that in referring to “the kingdom of heaven” Jesus is speaking of The Church, is revealed in the fact so much turbulence is to be expected in this earthly ‘kingdom of heaven’ that it can only apply to an earthly kingdom – therefore the ‘kingdom’ Jesus refers to IS The Church.

After all, one of the great things about the eternal kingdom we long for is the fact there will be NO opposition there. (This is in part why it will be ‘heavenly’ to be there.)

But here, in this life, Jesus tells us to expect great opposition. He says there will be tares in the crop, birds resting in the limbs of the tree, and leaven being mixed in with the true doctrine of His Word, all brought into The Church by Satan.

The enemy we face as believers in Christ never rests. To think that we may, even in The Church, is preposterous. The enemy will do everything he can to prevent unbelievers from coming to church in the first place, and then upon arriving he will do everything he can to make their church experience in-genuine.

-Pastor Bill

Soil Condition

Matthew 13:1 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. 2 And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. 8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" 10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" 11 He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; 15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.' 16 "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. 18 "Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

When it comes to productive agriculture, there are many important ingredients, chief among them the fertility of the seed, and the condition of the soil.

If you have ever been involved in any kind of gardening project you are already aware of this. Rain and sunlight are also hugely important, but without soil a seed remains dead, and without ‘good’ soil, a seed may remain dormant.

In Matthew 13, known of as ‘the kingdom chapter’ in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus compares this aspect of agriculture to how it is people will come into His Church.

One of the main things we must point out is that entry into His Church ONLY takes place through His Gospel. There is no other way. His Gospel is His Word, (which, in this case, is the seed.) The condition of the soil the ‘seed’ of His Word lands upon makes all the difference in whether or not a person enters His Church, and thereby eternal life.

-Pastor Bill