Why Did They Do That?

 NOW, WHY DID THEY DO THAT?

BY

Phoenix Hocking

“When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray.” Matthew 14:13-23

Have you ever been to a party? I mean one whiz-bang bash, with food everywhere, and music, and the drinks flowing freely? The buffet table piled high with goodies? Okay, keep that picture in your mind for a moment.

Now, picture Jesus, one lone man. Picture the crowds who had followed him, five thousand men, and add probably another ten thousand when you include the women and children.

There was no buffet table in that place, on that hillside. No host making sure the guest’s glasses were kept filled, or saying, “Oh, do try the salmon. It was flown in fresh this morning.”

Now, imagine the disciples, surveying the crowd and thinking, “Good Lord, this is going to get real ugly, real fast. There’s no food for this bunch; the kids are crying and some of the people look like they’re getting ready to faint. We need to send them into town to get some food.”

Yeah, like that’s going to happen. What nearby town is going to have enough food for fifteen thousand guests to drop in unexpectedly, all wanting to be fed? You should pardon the slang, but … not bloody likely.

So, here is Jesus. One lone man. “You give them something to eat,” he says.

Ok, boss. Sure, boss. No problem, boss. Um, and where are we supposed to get enough food for this bunch? Maybe Moses could get water from a rock, but I don’t think we can find enough food for this many people on such short notice. Better send them away.

No chance. Jesus has other things in mind. He has the crowd sit down, we’re told in another place, by fifties and by hundreds. A kid with some fish and some bread is willing to share his lunch. Gee, that’s real nice, boss, but have you looked out there? Do you see how many people are out there?

But Jesus blessed the bread and the fish, and miraculously all are fed. All are not only fed, but fed and satisfied, fed and filled. Full tummies. Babies snoozing with contented smiles. Mothers enjoying a meal they didn’t have to cook. Dads just enjoying a real rest.

But now…wait. What? “They took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.” Now, why did they do that? Why collect the remnant of the meal? Why not let those in the crowd have the rest, to take some home or save for later? Or did they only collect what was scattered on the ground?

Were they just being good hosts, cleaning up after the guests? But, no, the guests are still there. Jesus hadn’t dismissed them yet, and what host starts cleaning up a party while the guests are still there?

Picture the disciples moving through the crowd, picking up the broken pieces of bread and fish. Twelve men pawing their way through fifteen thousand people, collecting the leftovers. Just think of the logistics of that. Picture a baseball stadium that holds about fifteen thousand people. Now picture twelve men trying to gather up what was left of the miracle. How long did it take them? Why did they do that?

I’m not so sure Jesus asked them to do that. Scripture certainly doesn’t say he did. I think they did it on their own, and I think Jesus was pissed. Perhaps they wanted to be sure they had enough for themselves later. Maybe they just wanted to clean up the place and not leave a big mess. Maybe they thought they’d have some for the next crowd. Who knows why they did it?

But we’re told that immediately after they collected the remnants, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead to the other side of the lake. Okay, now why did he do that? I think he wanted some time alone with the crowd. I think maybe he wanted to apologize for his disciples boorish behavior.

I mean, how distracting would it be, when you’re trying to listen to someone, to have the cleaning crew come through? “Excuse me, could I just have that piece of fish there? Thanks.” “I’m sorry, that bit of bread under your sleeve, could I have that? Thanks.” “Oops! Sorry! I didn’t mean to get your head with my basket. Are you okay?”

Maybe Jesus had more teaching in mind, now that people could pay attention to what he had to say instead of thinking about how hungry they were. And with the cleaning crew coming through, it was just not the right time to teach what he wanted to teach.

Picture Jesus. He’s watching the disciples collecting the remaining fish and bread. He’s loving them, but he’s not a happy camper. Maybe he’s thinking, “I had something I wanted to do here, but I can’t do it now.”

Now picture the disciples. “Look, Master! Twelve baskets full!” Beaming, smiling, proud. Like they’d done something really good. And Jesus is thinking… Well, who knows what Jesus is thinking? Maybe he’s thinking, “I gotta get these guys out of here. I need some more time with my people, and I can’t talk to them with these yahoos sitting around like the cat that ate the canary.”

So, off to the boat they go. Immediately, Matthew says. Not a few minutes later, not after another teaching, but immediately. What must the disciples have thought? “But, Master, aren’t you coming? Don’t you want just one of us to stay with you? You don’t mean to stay here alone with this crowd, do you?”

But no, Jesus sends them off to congratulate themselves on a job well-done, while he stays behind to have a few last moments with the crowd. Maybe he heals a few more people, hugs a few more broken souls, extends more blessings to everyone.

And then he goes up the mountain, alone, to pray. What must his prayer have been like? “Dear Father, please keep me from bashing in the heads of those numbskulls who just don’t get it?”

Okay, maybe not.

Maybe his prayer was more like, “Father, thank you for what we’ve accomplished here today. People were fed, people were healed, and even my disciples who get it wrong more often than not, have good hearts and were trying to do a good thing. Bless them all. Amen.”

I really don’t know why the disciples collected the leftovers. But I have a theory.

I think those broken pieces of fish and bread represents US, you and me, our pitiful broken selves, lying on the ground, ready to be trod underfoot, left behind, worthless. But not to God. To God we are worth keeping, we are worth gathering, we are worth holding close to His heart, safe, cherished, forever.

And I don’t know why Jesus sent his disciples away and dismissed the crowd by himself. (Imagine Billy Graham at one of his crusades saying to his staff, “Y’all go on now; I’ll take care of the crowd by myself!”)

But I think I know why Jesus went to pray by himself.

I think he went to pray by himself for the same reason we do. It’s because while prayer in concert with others is a very good thing, prayer alone with your Father is even better. Prayer alone with our Father is where we can come clean with what’s in our hearts and our minds. It’s where we can confess our fears, worries, concerns, doubts and questions. We can bring our sorrows and our joys, and know that both are safe. We can just bask in the presence of the Almighty without other people around to judge whether or not we’re “doing it right.” We can weep or we can laugh, or we can get rowdy with the Lord, if the Spirit moves us.

So, even though we may start out as just one person in a crowd of thousands, in the end, we can simply bask in the joy of being in the presence of Him who made us all. For there is no condemnation with God, only love.