Proper 13
Preaching
PREACHING MATTHEW'S GOSPEL
A Narrative Approach
We move this week from the parables of Jesus (last week's text was Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52) to Jesus' feeding of the multitude in Matthew 14:13-21. The material from 13:53--14:12 is omitted from the lectionary. Some comments on the omitted material are necessary. In the first place, we notice that 13:53 repeats the Matthean formula which comes at the end of the five major teaching blocks in this Gospel: "When Jesus had finished these parables...." (See also 7:28; 11:1; 19:1; 26:1.)
The story in Matthew 13:53-58 is the story of the rejection of Jesus by his own hometown folk. Earlier we have linked this story with that in 11:2-6. In answering John the Baptist's question about his identity Jesus' final word is "...blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me." This word of "offense" sets the stage for the material in 11:1--16:20 which has as a major theme the fact that people are offended by Jesus and they repudiate him. In 13:53-58 it is Jesus' own home town people who are offended (v. 57).
The best they can do in identifying Jesus is to call him "the carpenter's son." This is truly a story of unbelief.
In this story from his hometown Jesus identifies himself as a prophet: 13:57. The identity of Jesus as a prophet is also mentioned in 21:11, 26, 46; 23:37.
As we enter Matthew 14 this theme of identity is still before us. King Herod wonders who this Jesus is. "This is John the Baptist," Herod says to his servants, "he has been raised from the dead..." (14:2). This could sound like a man with a guilty conscience speaking! King Herod feared the people who thought John the Baptist was a prophet. He is a carpenter's son. He is a prophet. He is John the Baptist risen from the dead. These are the identity claims for Jesus in 13:53--14:12. Later in this chapter the disciples will come closer to identifying Jesus. The disciples will confess, "Truly you are the Son of God" (14:33). In Caesarea Philippi Jesus will ask the disciples again about his identity (16:13-20). They give Jesus many proposals before Peter leads the way in confessing: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (16:16). The identity of Jesus, therefore, is a strong theme throughout these middle chapters of Matthew.
The end of the Herod story in 14:1-12 is also the end of the story for John the Baptist. Herod orders a beheading.
So the forerunner completes his work, bearing witness to Jesus not only with his words (3:11-12) but finally also by his execution at the hands of Herod. In his dying, John foreshadows Jesus' own death and burial.1
When Jesus heard of the death of John he withdrew by boat to a lonely place: 14:13. Jesus' withdrawal in the face of the persecution of the forerunner is hardly surprising.
The story in Matthew 14 moves us from one banquet to another. Herod's bitter banquet and Jesus' joyous feeding of 5,000 stand side by side in awful contrast. Herod kills God's prophet, fearing that he will otherwise lose face or even lose his hold on power. Jesus acts out of deep compassion (9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34) to satisfy the needs of ill and hungry crowds. Together the two meals foreshadow Jesus' last meal and execution. Jesus' path to kingship is not paved with slaughtered corpses but only with his self-offering on behalf of many (20:28).2
King Herod presided over a great birthday banquet in the glory and splendor of his palace. His banquet was a feast of death. King Jesus presided over a great banquet in the wilderness. His banquet was a feast of life. The story of the feeding of the 5,000 is one of two feeding stories told in Matthew's Gospel. The feeding of the 4,000 is told in 15:32-39. This story is not included in the Matthean lectionary year.
Both of Jesus' feeding miracles are modeled closely on the Passover meal which Jesus hosted for the disciples: 26:17-29. (This Passover story is only included in the Matthean lectionary as part of a much longer reading appointed for the Sunday of the Passion: Matthew 26:14--27:66.) The language of the miracle of feeding is liturgical. Jesus took the loaves, looked into heaven, and "blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds" (14:19).
Homiletical Directions
We have touched upon two themes that can be put into narrative sermonic form. The first theme is the theme of identity. Our first story could be the omitted text from Matthew 13:53-58. Dramatize Jesus' return to his hometown. What will he find? He found people unable to recognize him. The best they could come up with was that he was a carpenter's son. They took offense at him. You may wish to make reference to Matthew 11:2-6 on this matter of offense.
Story two could well be the story of Herod's attempt to name and identify Jesus. "This is John the Baptist risen from the dead." This is the attempt to identify Jesus on the part of a guilty man. It is hard to see the reality of Jesus through the lens of our own guilt.
Story three would be the appointed text for this week. Contrast Herod's feast of death with Jesus' feast of life. In this feast we see the identity of Jesus as the One who has compassion on all those in need. Clearly such compassion extends also to us. Here is a man who feeds hungry people. Here is a man who holds a feast of life in the wilderness.
Here is a man who offers to stand at our table today and offer us the gift of life as well. Jesus is here today as the Compassionate One, the One who will meet our needs. This is who Jesus is. This is his identity. He is Emmanuel. He is God with us under forms of bread and wine.
If this is a Communion Sunday in your congregation, close this sermon by indicating that this Compassionate One who meets human needs is the host of our table today. He has come to feed us. Take and eat. This is my body. Take and drink. This is my blood.
A second narrative possibility for this week's text is to focus entirely on the meals. Tell first the story of Herod's meal in its grand and glorious setting. But this meal is ultimately a feast of death.
Our second story would be the story of Jesus' feeding of the 5,000. This is a feast of life. We would recommend that you note that this is not the only time in Matthew's Gospel that Jesus has compassion on needy people. There is another feeding story in 15:32-39 that is not included in the Matthew lectionary year. Here is another story of a feast of life. Tell it, too.
Finally, tell the story of Jesus' Passover meal with his disciples: 26:17-29. This, too, is a feast of life. The good news, of course, is that this feast of life is set still today in the midst of the wilderness, in the midst of a world filled with death.
These stories should culminate in an invitation to the needy to come to the table of the Compassionate One. Jesus says to us today: "Come to my table. I have seen your need. I have had compassion. I am here to feed you with the bread of life. Come to my feast of life. Eat this bread which will sustain your life. Drink this cup of forgiveness (Matthew 26:27-28). 'I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.'" Amen.
____________
1. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), p. 185.
2. Ibid., p. 186.
The story in Matthew 13:53-58 is the story of the rejection of Jesus by his own hometown folk. Earlier we have linked this story with that in 11:2-6. In answering John the Baptist's question about his identity Jesus' final word is "...blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me." This word of "offense" sets the stage for the material in 11:1--16:20 which has as a major theme the fact that people are offended by Jesus and they repudiate him. In 13:53-58 it is Jesus' own home town people who are offended (v. 57).
The best they can do in identifying Jesus is to call him "the carpenter's son." This is truly a story of unbelief.
In this story from his hometown Jesus identifies himself as a prophet: 13:57. The identity of Jesus as a prophet is also mentioned in 21:11, 26, 46; 23:37.
As we enter Matthew 14 this theme of identity is still before us. King Herod wonders who this Jesus is. "This is John the Baptist," Herod says to his servants, "he has been raised from the dead..." (14:2). This could sound like a man with a guilty conscience speaking! King Herod feared the people who thought John the Baptist was a prophet. He is a carpenter's son. He is a prophet. He is John the Baptist risen from the dead. These are the identity claims for Jesus in 13:53--14:12. Later in this chapter the disciples will come closer to identifying Jesus. The disciples will confess, "Truly you are the Son of God" (14:33). In Caesarea Philippi Jesus will ask the disciples again about his identity (16:13-20). They give Jesus many proposals before Peter leads the way in confessing: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (16:16). The identity of Jesus, therefore, is a strong theme throughout these middle chapters of Matthew.
The end of the Herod story in 14:1-12 is also the end of the story for John the Baptist. Herod orders a beheading.
So the forerunner completes his work, bearing witness to Jesus not only with his words (3:11-12) but finally also by his execution at the hands of Herod. In his dying, John foreshadows Jesus' own death and burial.1
When Jesus heard of the death of John he withdrew by boat to a lonely place: 14:13. Jesus' withdrawal in the face of the persecution of the forerunner is hardly surprising.
The story in Matthew 14 moves us from one banquet to another. Herod's bitter banquet and Jesus' joyous feeding of 5,000 stand side by side in awful contrast. Herod kills God's prophet, fearing that he will otherwise lose face or even lose his hold on power. Jesus acts out of deep compassion (9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34) to satisfy the needs of ill and hungry crowds. Together the two meals foreshadow Jesus' last meal and execution. Jesus' path to kingship is not paved with slaughtered corpses but only with his self-offering on behalf of many (20:28).2
King Herod presided over a great birthday banquet in the glory and splendor of his palace. His banquet was a feast of death. King Jesus presided over a great banquet in the wilderness. His banquet was a feast of life. The story of the feeding of the 5,000 is one of two feeding stories told in Matthew's Gospel. The feeding of the 4,000 is told in 15:32-39. This story is not included in the Matthean lectionary year.
Both of Jesus' feeding miracles are modeled closely on the Passover meal which Jesus hosted for the disciples: 26:17-29. (This Passover story is only included in the Matthean lectionary as part of a much longer reading appointed for the Sunday of the Passion: Matthew 26:14--27:66.) The language of the miracle of feeding is liturgical. Jesus took the loaves, looked into heaven, and "blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds" (14:19).
Homiletical Directions
We have touched upon two themes that can be put into narrative sermonic form. The first theme is the theme of identity. Our first story could be the omitted text from Matthew 13:53-58. Dramatize Jesus' return to his hometown. What will he find? He found people unable to recognize him. The best they could come up with was that he was a carpenter's son. They took offense at him. You may wish to make reference to Matthew 11:2-6 on this matter of offense.
Story two could well be the story of Herod's attempt to name and identify Jesus. "This is John the Baptist risen from the dead." This is the attempt to identify Jesus on the part of a guilty man. It is hard to see the reality of Jesus through the lens of our own guilt.
Story three would be the appointed text for this week. Contrast Herod's feast of death with Jesus' feast of life. In this feast we see the identity of Jesus as the One who has compassion on all those in need. Clearly such compassion extends also to us. Here is a man who feeds hungry people. Here is a man who holds a feast of life in the wilderness.
Here is a man who offers to stand at our table today and offer us the gift of life as well. Jesus is here today as the Compassionate One, the One who will meet our needs. This is who Jesus is. This is his identity. He is Emmanuel. He is God with us under forms of bread and wine.
If this is a Communion Sunday in your congregation, close this sermon by indicating that this Compassionate One who meets human needs is the host of our table today. He has come to feed us. Take and eat. This is my body. Take and drink. This is my blood.
A second narrative possibility for this week's text is to focus entirely on the meals. Tell first the story of Herod's meal in its grand and glorious setting. But this meal is ultimately a feast of death.
Our second story would be the story of Jesus' feeding of the 5,000. This is a feast of life. We would recommend that you note that this is not the only time in Matthew's Gospel that Jesus has compassion on needy people. There is another feeding story in 15:32-39 that is not included in the Matthew lectionary year. Here is another story of a feast of life. Tell it, too.
Finally, tell the story of Jesus' Passover meal with his disciples: 26:17-29. This, too, is a feast of life. The good news, of course, is that this feast of life is set still today in the midst of the wilderness, in the midst of a world filled with death.
These stories should culminate in an invitation to the needy to come to the table of the Compassionate One. Jesus says to us today: "Come to my table. I have seen your need. I have had compassion. I am here to feed you with the bread of life. Come to my feast of life. Eat this bread which will sustain your life. Drink this cup of forgiveness (Matthew 26:27-28). 'I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.'" Amen.
____________
1. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), p. 185.
2. Ibid., p. 186.
