Resource Detail

2025 Study of Matthew’s Gospel

YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT

Matthew 14:13-21

Key Verses 14:16

1. What connection do you see between John’s death and Jesus’ withdrawal (13a, 1-12)? How did the crowds respond when they heard that Jesus was going to a solitary place by boat (13b)? What did Jesus feel and do when He saw the large crowd (14)? What does Jesus’ compassion toward the crowd teach us about His heart for people?
2. What did the disciples suggest as evening approached (15)? How did Jesus respond to the disciples’ suggestion (16)? Why do you think Jesus told the disciples, “You give them something to eat”?
3. What resources did the disciples have (17)? What steps did Jesus take before the food was distributed (18-19)? Why did Jesus have the disciples take part in this work?
4. What was the result of the miracle in terms of the crowd’s satisfaction and the leftovers (20–21)? What “five loaves and two fish” has God placed in your life that He could multiply for His kingdom?

2025 Matthew’s Gospel Samuel S. Lee (August 24, 2025)

You give them something to eat

Matthew 14:13-21

Key Verse 14:16

“Jesus replied, ‘They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

Today we are going to study about the five loaves and two fish. We are very familiar with this story. This miracle is recorded in all four gospels. Jesus wanted his disciples to grow as shepherd for the people. May God bless today’s message, and may we learn about who our God is through the passage.

Chronologically, today’s passage took place after Chapter 10 and 11 where Jesus had sent out the twelve disciples a mission trip to the Galilee towns. The disciples had gone from villages to villages driving out demons, healing the sick and preaching the kingdom of God. The news about Jesus spread and became popular across all the towns of Galilee. This news was also reported to King Herod the Tetrarch in the palace.

Chapter 14: 1 - 12 tells about how John the Baptist died. He was the great prophet bringing great spiritual revival in Israel. But King Herod put him into prison because he rebuked his sin of adultery for King Herod took his brother’s wife, Herodias, as his wife. On King Herod’s birthday, he and Herodias beheaded John the Baptist.

The death of John the Bapitst shocked all the people of Israel. His death was so heartbreaking. The evil killed the righteous. This incident shows how dark power prevailed across the country at that time. People were desperate and wandering like a sheep without a shepherd. Yet, the death of John the Baptist preceded the powerful work of God which was coming soon.

John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. His birth indicates that the Messiah would finally be born; the start of his public ministry in the wilderness projects Jesus’ Messianic ministry would finally start; Likewise, the death of John the Baptist means Jesus would complete his Messianic mission in this world. According to John’s gospel, this incident happened near Passover. Therefore, around one year later, when Passover came, Jesus would die as a Lamb of God on the cross to save the people.

When King Herod heard the news about Jesus, his guilty conscience struck him. He tried to search for him.

Look at verse 13a. “When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.” Jesus did not want to meet him and even speak to him. According to Luke’s Gospel, Jesus went a solitary place called Bethsaida (Map#1). Why? It was King Philip’s territory, where King Herod could not reach Jesus. How miserable King Herod was! Though he wore a king’s robe and did whatever he liked, he never tasted our Lord Jesus Christ’s presence and his eternal words.

There were other reasons for Jesus and his disciples to have a private trip. As mentioned earlier, the disciples had come back from a mission trip. They could not have chance to eat because of so many people around. They needed a short vacation with Jesus. Moreover, Jesus himself needed a personal time of prayer (v.23) due to the death of John the Baptist.

Look at verse 13b. “Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.”

The disciples had been excited with the short vacation with Jesus, but they saw the crowds following them. The crowds did not care about how sorrowful Jesus was and how hungry his disciples were. The disciples must have been disappointed and might have thought that Jesus would go another place apart from the crowds. But “Jesus saw a large crowd and had a compassion on them.” In the parallel passage in Mark 6:34 states “..He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”

We already learned about compassion in Matthew 9:36. Compassion is like a feeling of pain from deep inside the gut. Compassion is like when the prodigal son returned in a stinky beggar’s clothing, the father saw him, ran, embraced, and kiss him. Compassion is like our HBF mothers praying with tears for their children. That is Jesus’ heart when he saw the crowds, like their own father or mother.

So, Jesus met them one by one and healed the sick. Jesus, filled with compassion, did not stop healing before the disciples came to Jesus. As evening approach, the disciples spoke to Jesus. “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” The crowds were around five thousand men beside women and children. We do not know the exact number. But we could estimate 20,000. There was no store to buy anything in the remote place. So, the best way was to send the crowds away and let them buy themselves some food.

Send them away. Let them buy themselves some food. These comments bothered Jesus. Look at verse 16. “Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

First Jesus wanted his disciples to be shepherds.

When Jesus said these, the disciples were shocked, thinking “why should we feed them? We are hungry!” “We need rest!”

At that time, nobody cared for the people. King Herod was busy partying and having affairs in the luxury palace. The religious leaders were like whitewashed tombs. They looked clean the outside, but inside they were full of greed and self-indulgence.  The Roman Empire exploited people’s blood money with heavy taxes.

But Jesus, who is the shepherd for our souls, cared for them. Jesus came into this world to save all people. Jesus came to seek and save the lost sheep.

Jesus wanted his disciples to grow as shepherds for God’s flock like Jesus and succeed his ministry. Saint Peter, the top disciples of Jesus, command us in 1Peter 5:2a and 3 states, “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be... And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” May God bless each of us to grow as shepherds and shepherdesses resembling Jesus.

Then how could the disciples give them something to eat? The disciples already gave up all their jobs to follow Jesus. As Jesus spoke, “You give them something eat,” the disciples’ face must have been turned pale. Because Jesus spoke to them as if he had given them enough salary to buy the crowds bread. But even if they had money, it would have been useless in the remote place.

According Mark’s gospel, Jesus told them, “How many loaves do you have, go and see.”

Second, bring them to me!

So, the disciples started searching for something to eat as Jesus said. Luckily they came across a boy who had a lunch box with the five loaves and two fish. The disciples knew that this was nothing compared to the number of people. So, they just stood in a distance and gave a verbal report to Jesus. “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,”

What was Jesus response? Look at verse 18. “Bring them here to me.” “Bring them here to me” are words that only Matthew recorded. What meanings were implied?

We need to bring them by faith. Jesus heard that just five loaves and two fish were brought for over 20,000 people. If this happened in a real job situation, how would our supervisors respond? If they were hot tempered, they would probably throw the bread and fish in the air and sent them in all directions. “You are kidding me!” or “You are fired!” But our Lord Jesus Christ did not despise the five loaves and two fish. Jesus never scolded them with that. Instead Jesus said “Bring them here to me!” Wow! How gentle and benignant Jesus was! Our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated his love on the cross accepting all sinners who came to him. Jesus accepted all kinds of sinful beings that even we ourselves could not bear. How could Jesus not accept the things - five loaves and two fish- we give? John’s gospel records the detailed information on what they brought. “Five small barley loaves and two small fish.” How insignificant they were! But knowing the fact, Jesus said, “Bring them here to me!”

Therefore, we should not despise or belittle who we are and what we have. We need to have faith in God that God will accept whatever we give no matter how small they are and no matter how sinful we are. We have to boldly bring them to Jesus by faith.

At the same time, we need to be thankful as Jesus did. Look at verse 19b. “Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.” After taking the five loaves and two fish, Jesus was looking up to heaven and gave thanks and broke the bread. Then Jesus used the bread to feed all the people. Jesus was so thankful with five loaves and two fish. When we lack resources, we tend to complain and point our fingers to each other. But when Jesus took the small bread and fish for the crowds, Jesus was looking up to heaven and gave thanks. Thankfulness is a secret way to God’s blessing. Complaints and blaming oust God’s presence from our heart but thankfulness draws God’s presence from heaven into our heart. When we are lacking, we should not worry or blame others. Philippians 4:6, 7 states, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”

Third, we need to bring them to Jesus.

Look at verse 19b, 20. “^19bTaking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. ²⁰They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. ” After the prayer, Jesus broke the bread and gave them to the disciples. Then a miracle happened. The bread began to multiply. When the disciples took out one loaf of bread, another loaf appeared. When the disciples took out one fish, another fish appeared in its place. The food was constantly multiplied and everyone was filled with them and satisfied.

If the disciples had not brought five loaves and two fish to Jesus, they would have remained as just five loaves and two fish, a boy’s lunch. But the disciples obeyed and brought them to Jesus. Jesus made them over 20,000 people’s meals. Jesus is our great shepherd and great chef. He held heavenly banquet in a remote place.

If we do not bring ourselves to Jesus, what would happen? We remain alone and eventually become dust. But we bring ourselves to Jesus, our shepherd Jesus will gladly receive us, bless us, and use us to expand his kingdom. Sometimes, we do not know ourselves. But like last week’s message, God who knows us so intimately will grow us to serve him and his flocks.

John 12:24 states “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” May God bless us to bring ourselves to Jesus and bear much fruits in Jesus Christ!

Fourth, Jesus himself will give the bread.

When Jesus said, “You give them something to eat,” it did not mean, you work hard and make money and buy them something to eat. It means Jesus will give them something to eat that only he can give.

Initially, Jesus wanted to give them something to eat because they were so hungry. As a father, I always ask to my children: Did you eat? Our Lord Jesus Christ is our everlasting father. So, Jesus always likes to feed his people. The Bible records the miracle twice: in Mat 14, today passage, and Mat 15 where Jesus fed four thousand people with seven loaves. At both, the Bible said they all ate and were satisfied. Which bread could give us satisfuaction? It was the heavenly bread that Jesus broke. Fundamentally, Jesus wants to give us the heavenly bread, - the bread of life that leads us into satisfaction, rest, and eternal life. Verse 19 says that Jesus gave thanks and broke the bread. Jesus broke his body on the cross to give us the eternal life.

Mat 26:26, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

John 6:51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Fifth, the bread overflows.

Lastly, we see that twelve basketfuls of bread and fish were left over. Our Lord Jesus’ blessing always overflows. When God created the earth, God filled the land and sea with countless animals and all the creatures according the its kind. Jesus promised that when we give, it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap (Luke 6:38). When we give, God will make it run over. God will bless not only our generation, but also he will bless our children and our children’s children. God said “but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments (Ex 20:6).” This is God who we serve.

Our ministry is all about five loaves and two fish. We are called to evangelize campus since 1961. Students were poor and lay men had no time to visit campus during day. But they brought five loaves and two fish to Jesus with bible study, prayer, and visiting campuses. God has blessed our ministry abundantly. Now our ministry has grown and pioneered over 96 countries with 1800 missionaries. Praise God our Lord, who accepted our five loaves and two fish and blessed them to serve campus mission.

Today is a historical day. Today, we are going to have the first worship service at Riverside Church for Columbia students and neighbors. New York is tough. All we can do is bring our five loaves and two fish to Jesus. May God bless Pastor Juan’s inaugural message and pioneering ministry! May God bless each campus and multiply our ministry over all New York campuses as we bring our five loaves and two fish to Jesus!