A Tale of Two Banquets.

Class Outline:

Sunday May 4, 2025

 

Main Idea: Jesus’ feeding the 5000 reveals that His disciples' life sanctified from the world while happy, healed, instructed, fed, and excited to see what impossible thing He will do next. 

 

The scene: MAR 6:30-32

The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. 31 And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) 32 They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves. 

 

This was to be a time of rest.

 

Text: MAT 14:13-21

 

Contrast Herod v. Jesus’ feasts

 

The place: wilderness v. palace. 

Type of food. Sitting in cushioned pillows vs. ground. Palace vs. wilderness.

 

The people: needy poor v. elite of Galilee. 

Both types of people need healing, only the poor willing to seek it. Needy, listening rather than longing to talk.

 

The host: compassion v. selfish sensuality. 

The difference between Jesus and Herod could not be more striking. Giving life vs. taking it. Courage vs. weakness. Righteousness vs. selfish sensuality.

 

The food: bread and fish v. delicacies. 

 

The result: life v. death. 

 

Learning by images: poetry

 

Many kinds of literature in the Bible. Each has its unique way of teaching you. Poetry does so by images.

 

Theology Corner - Systematic theology: logistical grace support: God will provide the needs of all His children.

 

The image of sitting in the green grass in the wilderness, having been healed, taught knowledge by the Lord, and being fed by Him is an image of this doctrine. The soul feeds on both these types of knowledge as well as others (narratives, prophecy, apocalyptic).

 

Poetry is for images and using images as a way of linking truth to experience.

 

Examples:

Psa 23

The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want. 

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters. 

3 He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

For His name's sake. 

 

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You have anointed my head with oil;

My cup overflows. 

6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 

PSA 24:1-3

The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains,

The world, and those who dwell in it. 

2 For He has founded it upon the seas

And established it upon the rivers. 

3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? [not Herod]

And who may stand in His holy place? 

 

Notice the contrast of the wicked and the good giving of the Lord (Herod v. Jesus). 

 

Psa 36

For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord.

 

Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart;

There is no fear of God before his eyes. 

2 For it flatters him in his own eyes

Concerning the discovery of his iniquity and the hatred of it. 

3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;

He has ceased to be wise and to do good. 

4 He plans wickedness upon his bed;

He sets himself on a path that is not good;

He does not despise evil. [transition to the Lord]

 

5 Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens,

Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 

6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;

Your judgments are like a great deep.

O Lord, You preserve man and beast. 

7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!

And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. 

8 They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;

And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. 

9 For with You is the fountain of life;

In Your light we see light. [transition to prayer]

 

10 O continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,

And Your righteousness to the upright in heart. 

11 Let not the foot of pride come upon me,

And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away. [if the people left as the disciples thought they should, what they would have missed!] 

12 There the doers of iniquity have fallen;

They have been thrust down and cannot rise.

 

Prophetic literature: Restoration of Israel]

EZE 34:11-16

For thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 "As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. 13 "I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. 14 "I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 "I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest," declares the Lord God. 16 "I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment. 

 

What does God mean: blessed are the poor? (in the wilderness)

 

The mind of the rich (money or none)

 

Boasting: Wealth / earthly becomes your own value. The poor in Christ value Him and boast only in Him.

 

PSA 49:6

Even those who trust in their wealth

And boast in the abundance of their riches?

 

PRO 28:11

The rich man is wise in his own eyes,

But the poor who has understanding sees through him.

 

Parable of the rich man: wanted to store it all away and take his ease - attitude of resting, not living. The poor long for this as much as anyone (LUK 12:16-21).

 

Cannot serve two masters. If wealth becomes one’s master, he obviously cannot serve the Lord and walk with the Lord (LUK 16:13-15).

 

PRO 11:28

He who trusts in his riches will fall,

But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.

 

The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil (1TI 6:9-10).

 

REV 3:17

"I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked …

 

ECC 5:10

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.

 

An important depiction of the deceitfulness of riches is the rich young prince who would not give it up to go with Christ.

 

This mind is decidedly not the wilderness.

 

The mind of the poor in Christ (money or none).

 

The poor in Christ see value in a heart that is like the Lord’s. He seeks first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness.

 

That is what is in the wilderness (separate from the world - image: Herod’s banquet)

 

The poor in heart values righteousness more than all the riches in the world. Christ died to give you His righteousness - not riches.

 

At which banquet will you see and learn of righteousness?

 

Application: 

 

Learning curve: Do not assume that you know. There is so much to learn. 

 

Because you have a sin nature and live in a fallen world, you will be consistently tempted to prioritize the flesh and the world over Christ.

 

You will be tested by being asked to do the impossible with limited resources. The temptation above will then rise up in your heart.

 

We have to learn to stop looking at the journey of our lives empirically - looking at the numbers.

 

The narrow road runs through the wilderness. Let God make your life an impossible adventure by trusting Him.