Matthew 14:1-21
The Miracle of Compassion
It’s like a spiritual soap opera! King Herod Tetrarch (son of the famous Herod the Great) fell in love with Herodias. Okay, love is good. The problem was this: Herodias was married to Herod’s brother, Philip. So, what did Herod do? He convinced Herodias to divorce Philip and marry him, which she did.
Enter John the Baptist. Evidently he had some kind of entrée and visiting privileges with King Herod. Did they have coffee together from time to time at Starbucks (where I hear they are closing 600 outlets)? We really do not know. We do know that John the Baptist kept confronting Herod about his adulterous move with Herodias. He said: “What you did is wrong. Repent! Turn from you evil ways!”
This prophetic stance of John the Baptist did not seem to bother Herod that much. He must have just shrugged it off. The person who was bothered the most by John the Baptist’s preaching was Herodias! She convinced her new husband to put John the Baptist into prison, which he did, but that was not enough to satisfy her wrath. She wanted John put to death! That is where King Herod drew the line. “No, Herodias, it is not going to happen.”
Time passes. Matthew, in his gospel, tells us that it was on the occasion of his birthday. (Incidentally this story is also told in Mark.) Herod gave a banquet to which he invited high officials, military commanders, and leading men of Galilee. Part of the after dinner entertainment was an exotic dance by his new stepdaughter, Salome, who must have been quite good as she performed “the dance of the veils.” Herod, flushed with the success of the banquet and the exotic dance, invites Salome to speak with him after the dance concludes.
That was a wonderful dance! I want to do something nice for you. What can I give you: A new wardrobe; A New Chariot? What is your pleasure? You name it: it is yours!
Salome says: “You are so nice, Herod. Thank you! About the gifts, let me talk with Mom first.” So Salome talked to Herodias. Herodias is ecstatic about Herod’s generous offer. Here is her chance to get even with that “holier than thou” John the Baptist! So, coached by Herodias, Salome goes back to King Herod and says: “Dad, I want to have John the Baptist killed, and I want you to bring his head to me on a platter.” No doubt, Herod was shocked by his stepdaughter’s request, but he had promised! As we have read that is what happened! The head of John the Baptist, still dripping blood, was brought to Salome, then passed on to the gloating and triumphant Herodias.
Why did I share this biblical soap opera? Is it for your pleasure? Is it to shock you? No, I believe rather to highlight the following words from our Sabbath morning reading. “Now when Jesus had heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself” (14:13).
If you have experienced the death of a close friend or loved one, or heard about some incident on the TV or read some incident in the newspaper that grips you, you can relate to these words. Jesus is hurting. He wanted to get away to be by himself and grieve in private. Unfortunately, this time of healing and solitude would not last long. Our reading states: “But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd” (14:13-14).
I think that it is truly amazing that the crowd could track him down so quickly. After all, there was no TV or radio or carefully choreographed publicity campaign. It was just “word of mouth,” one person telling another. Scholars estimate that 15,000 to 20,000 people were waiting for him.
What is even more amazing is Jesus’ response to the crowd. The reading states: “he had compassion for them and cured their sick” (v. 14).
Before we can hardly breathe, evening has come. The disciples approach Jesus and remind him that there is no food in this deserted place, so it might be a good idea for him to now fold up his “healing tent” and encourage the people to go home.
Jesus replied: (My paraphrase) “Not necessary. Go ahead and feed them.” Their response: (Do I detect a whine in their voices?) “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish” (v.17). Jesus took this meager lunch, looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and asked that the food now be distributed to the crowds. All of them were fed, and when they gathered up the leftovers, they had 12 baskets full!
This story, which is called “the feeding of the five thousand” is called a miracle, one of many miracles that came about through Jesus.
I have read and heard the voices of the skeptics who write off the miracles of Jesus. They say, “I cannot accept miracles. There must be some logical explanation for the healings, the changing of water into wine, and feeding all these people.” Yet these same people may drop a tiny, brown radish seed in the black earth in the spring. That brown seed germinates and comes up as a green plant. The plant matures and when you dig it up, you discover that the root has turned red. You cut into the root and find that the inside is white. The skeptic, oblivious to the fact that this, too, is a miracle – a brown seed planted in black earth, producing a green plant that turns red and white, eats the humble little radish.
Do I believe in miracles? Do I believe it was possible for Jesus to feed 15,000 to 20,0000 people with but five loaves of bread and two fish? You bet I do! For me, the miracles of Jesus gave him the mantle and authority of the Son of God! How about last Sabbath’s School lesson about Jesus’ teaching authority.
Having said that, my focus for this Sabbath’s message remains on the amazing compassion of Jesus. Tired, grieving, and hurting, he set that aside to minister to the crowds of people who looked to him for help. I cannot think of a more powerful example of Jesus’ living his mission statement: “as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve…” (Matthew 20:28).
I have heard a story about children in the early 1900s, as a great number of these children under one year of age wasted away in hospitals and children’s institutions, many of them dying from unknown causes. In some institutions, it was customary to describe all seriously ill infants as “hopeless” on the admission cards. And we have all seen pictures of the problems around the world of malnourished children on our TVs.
The story goes that among the doctors who served in these institutions, one stood out as a beacon of hope. This was Dr. Fritz Talbot of Children’s Clinic in Dusseldorf, Germany. He was unique in that he had a good deal of success in dealing with sick children. Because of this, for many years, medical interns would follow him from ward to ward, trying to learn new ways of handling children’s diseases.
One of the interns took the time to write down his observations in his journal. He observed that when Dr. Talbot came across a child where traditional medication and therapy had failed, he would take the child’s chart and scrawl something on it. Was this some kind of wonder drug he knew of? His doctor’s scrawl could not be interpreted. But in checking the progress of many of these babies later, he saw remarkable improvement!
Finally, the intern asked the head nurse to interpret the unreadable prescription. She chuckled and said: “Oh, that stands for Old Anna.” She pointed to a grandmotherly woman, seated in a large rocker with a baby on her lap. “Whenever we have a baby for whom everything else has failed, we turn the child over to Old Anna. She has more success than all the doctors and nurses in this institution combined.” Compassion and love – that is what Old Anna had to give.
It is true, the variety of medical options in the early 1900s were considerably less than they are now. However, this does not diminish the healing power of caring, compassionate, people like Old Anna.
Jesus performed many miracles. Yet, the miracle of his compassion and caring concern probably helped more people than any other. I believe that Jesus would say, “Go and do likewise.”
