Enacts Hope

In the Northern Hemisphere, winter is about to start. It's autumn there. And so their winters were harsh. People often passed away, died during their winters. And so they spent an awfully long time, a lot of energy in preserving food, bringing in crops, getting ready, preparing.

So October 31 is a few months away. I think it's the second month of autumn. They are ready for winter essentially. They've prepared. So they have a huge feast.

A huge feast getting ready for winter, saying, you know, well, we've done as much as we can. Hopefully there was a good harvest and now we can celebrate with all this food that we have. So it was the harvest feast. And so the church decided, well, it's a time of great celebration. It was the happiest time of the year.

Why not celebrate something great? And so the Protestants celebrate the great thing of the Reformation and, obviously, the Catholics and the Anglicans in their tradition celebrate the saints. So everything is prepared. It's a time of hope. And they celebrate that this is a time where they may eat and drink like this.

That this may be the last time they eat and drink like this, perhaps for many months. And so it's all about hope. It's all about joy and hope. This morning as we're continuing our look at the Gospel of Luke and our breaking bread series, we come to yet another celebration.

Another party that Jesus goes to. But this time He is the host. This time it's a doozy of a feast. Five thousand dinner guests, at least.

Jesus is hosting it, but there's a problem. There's not enough food. There's not enough food. Let's have a read of what happens in Luke 9. We come to our story this morning after an event that the disciples were involved with.

Jesus sent them on their first short term mission trip, and they had been preaching in all the villages in Galilee. Jesus sent them away saying, don't take anything with you. No staff, no bag, no bread, no honey, no extra tunic. All you take is the word of God and you're going to preach. And so they spend days, weeks doing this and then they come back to Jesus.

They come back to debrief. Now, we have to remember or imagine how tired they would have been. They took nothing with them. They may have slept under the stars. Hopefully they were given some hospitality, but they're worn out.

And so Jesus invites them on a bit of a retreat. Jesus invites them to come aside to sort of just recuperate a little bit, and the crowds found out that they have gone to this place called Bethsaida. And they rushed after Jesus. But instead of chasing them away, instead of saying, "Listen guys, we need a bit of time out. Just take the weekend off and we'll catch up again."

Jesus has compassion on them. Jesus takes pity on them. And so Jesus begins all over to teach. The text says about the kingdom of God specifically, and He heals those who needed healing. Mentally and emotionally drained, however, the disciples just get back to the job again and they start bringing the lame and the sick and the blind to Jesus.

They help with teaching, they pray with others who need prayer and the day just goes on again. But by five o'clock, they see, "Wow, these guys have been here the whole day. They haven't had anything except their breakfast that they maybe came with. These guys are hungry. The disciples are hungry."

"We need to do something about this." So the disciples beg Jesus to send the people away, but Jesus says to them, "You give them food." But there's no way. There's no way they can do that. There's five thousand men alone that are there.

They managed to scrape together five loaves and two fish, maybe. We read in another gospel account that it was from a boy who had come with the crowd. And they said, "This is all we have. This is all we have." Jesus takes it.

He prays over the food. He blesses it and He starts breaking it. Hours later, everyone had eaten. Everyone had their fill. They were satisfied, the text says.

And there were leftovers. They had some stuff that they could take back home. Now I don't know if you've ever been asked to cater for a big event. But it's a headache. The ladies here, they are doing an amazing job, but there's been a lot of planning and organising that have gone into it. Some of these ladies in fact were involved in the catering of our national youth convention which was held at the beginning of the year.

Three hundred, four hundred hungry teenage kids. It is a big headache. You have to ensure that you have enough food, that you've taken in dietary requirements, that they're considered, that the food is properly cooked, that the food is ready at the exact right time so that it doesn't get cold. And imagine now if you were asked to do this and you had no food. Jesus asks the disciples to do an impossible task.

They feel totally under resourced, but Jesus is the one who completes the task. I think Luke tells the story of the feeding of the five thousand specifically to bring out the inability of the disciples to help. If you read the other accounts of the feeding of the five thousand, and by the way, this is the only account, the only miracle that's recorded in all four Gospels. The only miracle that's recorded in all four Gospels. So this is an important thing.

All the gospel writers knew this is a pretty big deal. And but the difference with Luke's account is that he puts how many people they were at the start of the story. He says they were five thousand people. All the other ones put it at the end saying, "Well, how able is Jesus? Five thousand people He fed."

But Luke puts it at the start saying, "You feed them and there were five thousand people to feed." So they're not able to do that. They're not able to do that. Luke details and emphasises the inability of the disciples. When it comes down to it, the disciples can't provide for the people.

They have the power of Jesus, but it's His power. They share the ministry, but it's Jesus' ministry. The situation is set up in such a way that it comes down to Jesus having to do a miraculous thing here. It sets it up and it leaves a lasting impression when He does so. But again, as with Jesus' miracles, with all of Jesus' miracles, it's not just some party trick.

It's not some sideshow alley thing to say, "Wow, look how good He is. Amazing. Let's try and figure out how He's done it." As with all of Jesus' miracles, there is a purpose to it. There is a meaning.

There's subtext to this. We're going to look at this a little bit. At the beginning of the chapter, when Jesus sends out the twelve, just after that, Herod, King Herod hears about this movement that started. Disciples being spread all over the countryside. People starting to talk about this guy Jesus.

And Herod is thinking, he's perplexed, the text says. "What's going on here? Who is this Jesus?" And he sort of sends out his spies to go and find out. And they come back and they say, "Well, some say that He is John the Baptist back from the dead."

Now Herod was the one who killed John the Baptist. So you can imagine how he was shaking in his boots. Others come to him and say, "Well, it's Elijah." Elijah, the Old Testament prophet. And then others said that it's another Old Testament prophet.

Not Elijah, but someone else. Perhaps someone like Moses, maybe. Luke begins chapter nine with a question. Who is Jesus? It's on Herod's lips.

"Who is this man? Who is this Jesus?" Then we have the feeding of the five thousand and then in verse 18 that we just read, Jesus asked the question again, "Who am I? Who am I? Who do the crowds say I am?"

"But who do you, My disciples, believe and say I am?" Chapter nine seeks to answer this question. Where do we find the answer? In the feeding of the five thousand. Who is Jesus?

Well, some say He's Elijah or Moses or John the Baptist. But did they ever do a miracle of this magnitude? You could argue maybe. I mean Moses, he prayed and manna came and fed the Israelites in the desert. Elijah lived at a widow's house and provided her with unlimited oil and flour that she could make bread every day and feed her and her son and Elijah.

Even the prophet Elisha had a hundred prophets come to him and he told his servant to go and give them what bread that they had and it was only twenty loaves. But they all ate and miraculously there was some left over. So there's some connection here. Jesus is doing something that God's holy men did. So maybe, maybe Jesus is just like one of these prophets.

Maybe. But there is more to that. Peter says in verse twenty, after seeing this, after witnessing this, "Jesus," Peter, the penny drops for him. We have the first statement of faith in Luke and Peter says, "You are the Christ. You are the Messiah."

"You are the anointed one. The promised one. The new king." That's because this event has another Old Testament significance. One that the people have been waiting for.

One that Israel were hungering for, were praying for. Eight hundred years ago, before this, the prophet Isaiah proclaimed this promise in Isaiah 25:6-9. Have a look at this. This gives me goosebumps. "On this mountain, in Matthew it says that Jesus said for the people to go and sit on the mountain He was teaching. On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples.

A banquet of aged wine, the best of meats and finest of wines. On this mountain, He will destroy the shroud that unfolds all people, the sheet that covers all nations. He will swallow up death forever. The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces. He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth.

For the Lord has spoken. On this mountain, the Lord will prepare a feast." Now in the expectation of Jews for the Messiah, for the promised one, they were expecting someone to lead this messianic banquet. God's Messiah would give rich food. It would be a festival.

And He would destroy and defeat death. He would put the world right and enable every willing person to enjoy God's presence forever. It's a wonderful symbol. It's a wonderful metaphor. It's a wonderful description of the celebration of God making everything right again.

It's an image of provision. It's an image of plenty. It's an image of satisfaction. It's like a harvest feast. All the food is there.

There's hope. There's joy. The feeding of the five thousand pointed to something. It wasn't just a great miraculous event. It was not the feast.

It was a glimpse of it. Jesus is the host of a banquet on the mountain. A miraculous feast brought about from nothing. This feast, however, points to the fact that Jesus is special. They have a feast, it's a celebration, but Jesus does something amazing and shows that He has God's blessing on Him.

It shows that He is God's chosen one, God's Messiah. It confirms or gives a glimpse at least of Jesus' identity. Now our world, we know, is a world of hunger. It's a world of pain. It's a world of suffering, of want.

We're unsatisfied. Whether that be physically for two thirds of the world or whether that be emotionally, psychologically, spiritually. For us personally, it may not be the want or the longing for bread, but we long for something. We long for healing. We long for intimacy. We long for fulfilment.

This feast, however, points to the fact that God is busy fulfilling those needs. We live in a world where famine can strike, where injustice goes unchecked, where wars ravage nations. We live in communities that are fractured, families that are torn apart. You don't have to scratch too far below the surface to see the pain of people around us. This is the kingdom of you and me.

But here in this desolate place, on this mountain, for a moment in history, we see a glimpse, a glimpse of the festival, of the feast, of a coming reality. At least five thousand people ate and were satisfied, were full, making groaning noises. The people would go home, however, and they would be hungry again. But it was a foretaste. It was a glimpse.

It was like that crack in a door. You can just see through. You don't see the whole picture. You just see that little bit. It's a foretaste of the real thing.

Then His disciples pick up twelve basketfuls. Again, another sign that it's not just enough. It is abundant. It is more than enough. The twelve perhaps points to the completion or the restoredness of Israel that God is preparing something to bring back His people, to complete His work.

It's not over. This feast is more than enough. In this desolate place, a group of needy people gather together. They share food. They're super hungry.

Jesus provides. And we see Jesus as the host. Jesus at the centre. Jesus as the provider. And we see looking through this crack in the door another world, another reality.

We see God's kingdom. That's why Peter can say, "You are the Christ." Who is this Jesus? He is the promised one. He is the Messiah.

When our church family gathers like this, when we feast together at the Lord's Supper, it's not a tasting of bread and a tasting of wine that represents the body and the blood alone. It is a celebration. It is a feast together to say, "Hey, one day we're going to be sharing in the real deal. One day we're going to be eating together and celebrating." It is a feast of hope.

But at the same time, when we eat together just normally, as friends, as brothers and sisters together, it is an opportunity for us to be reminded of that every single time. The Christian community in and of itself is a glimpse of God's coming world. Us. This ragtag bunch of people. Our times together together.

Yes. Even our meals together are a foretaste. Are a reminder of the future banquet that we're going to share. Our meals are a proclamation of God's good news, of the hope we have even when we're living in this winter. Even when there's winter approaching.

We have been provided for. We have a glimpse. Isaiah, the prophet, later wrote in chapter 55 of this great banquet again. And he writes on who is going to be invited. Who will be there?

Isaiah 55:1 says, "Come, all of you who are thirsty. Come to the waters. And you who have no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk. The good stuff."

Without money. Without cost. "Why spend money on what is not bread and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen. Listen to me and eat what is good and your soul will delight in rich food."

Who's invited? Everyone who can't afford it. Who's invited? Every single one who is hungry. Every single one who is thirsty.

I read of a man who turned eighty. And for his birthday, his son took him and his whole family to a five star restaurant. The best that there was. His son was a top surgeon. And he took them to a top restaurant.

The family got there and they looked at the menus and these menus were specially printed to have no prices on them. So the family could choose any food, anything they wanted without worrying about the price. The only menu that had the price was the son's. The son said, "Go for it. Anything you want."

They could choose whatever they wanted and did not have to feel guilty. The meal was sumptuous. It was delicious. It was perfect. But it was an expensive one as well.

The son was glad to pay it though. The promise this morning is that God will provide a lavish feast that will surpass any five star restaurant. What's more, God's menu has no prices on it. Come, all of you who have no money. Buy the good stuff.

The milk. The wine. God's banquet has no prices on it because the price has already been paid by the Son. The promise this morning is that God is creating for us this place, this banquet. And at the end of this chapter, the story starts heading in a new direction.

Literally, almost. In verse fifty-one, at the end of chapter nine, it says that as the time approached for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. Another translation says that Jesus set His face upon Jerusalem. All the action in chapters one to nine that we've had a look at briefly takes place in Galilee. But now Jesus is going to pay for that banquet.

Now we're heading to Jerusalem and to the cross. Jesus locks on to Jerusalem. He starts heading there. The feeding of the five thousand comes at the end of the first half of this gospel. Chapters one to nine.

This open air large scale meal is a climax to part one. It is a climax. Who is this Jesus? He's been doing all these amazing things. Who is He?

He's the Christ of God and now He's going to do what He has come to do. The rest of the gospel spells out what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah. He is the Christ who must pay the price. Who must die. Jesus, friends, is the host of God's banquet.

And He provides for this banquet by dying for us. The feeding of the five thousand is a glimpse of the hope of this magnificent feast that we've been invited to. It was not the true banquet. In fact, for us to realise it we need to not look at chapter nine, but we need to look at the cross and what happened there. That's where God provides for us.

In John, Jesus makes this clear. He says, "I tell you the truth, friends. It is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, this manna, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.

This bread is My body which I will give for the life of the world." God has a vast, impressive, magnificent banquet available to us for free for the rest of our lives. And He invites us to join Him today. Today. Today, salvation has come to your house.

To celebrate it today with His people. And to accept His free forgiveness and His everlasting life today. We're going to have an amazing banquet this morning to be a reminder to us of just what is waiting for us. It is a reminder for us. And it is a challenge to think of how we can live as Christians in the same way to celebrate those special moments of meals together, of breaking bread together.

It is a foretaste of the hope we have.