Jesus hears that John the Baptist has been executed. He gets into a boat and goes off by himself. He does not get to stay by himself — the crowds find him, thousands of them, and Matthew tells us that when he saw them his heart broke for them.

What follows is the feeding of the five thousand: a passage most of us think we know. But the miracle begins with twelve men telling our Lord plainly that they have nothing. Five loaves and two fish — not enough for their own supper, let alone anyone else's. And he does not tell them to look harder. He says: bring me what you have.

This sermon is for anyone who has been giving for a long time and has run low. For those caring for a parent, a spouse, a child, a person who cannot manage without them. And for anyone who has quietly begun to wonder whether God's compassion runs on the same limited supply as their own.

We look at the Greek word Matthew uses for compassion, at the strange arithmetic by which Matthew makes the supply smaller than Elisha's rather than larger, and at what it means that the disciples fed thousands with bread not one crumb of which was theirs.

"He Gave Them Something to Eat" — Matthew 14:13–21
Preached by The Rev. Devin Hunt at Eternal Hope Anglican Church, Carleton Place, Ontario
Sunday, 2 August — the Ninth Sunday after Trinity (Proper 13)

Sixth in our summer series Now and Not Yet: A Summer in Matthew.

Readings: Nehemiah 9:16–21 · Psalm 78:(1–13) 14–26 · Romans 8:35–39 · Matthew 14:13–21
Scripture from the ESV. Worship from the Book of Common Prayer (2019).

▶️ Full service: https://www.youtube.com/live/J_5lW8IHObc?si=l6uJOAVao6rQvNTl
📍 Eternal Hope Anglican Church, Carleton Place
🌐 https://eternalhopechurch.org/

Eternal Hope is a parish of the Anglican Church in North America.

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