Is There a Leader We Can Trust?
For any relationship to thrive there must be trust; whether it’s a friendship, a marriage, a business partnership, a family, communities, churches, societies or a nation’s relationship with its government. If there’s no trust, then it will eventually become unsustainable. This gets even more consequential for those of us that have been delegated with the sacred trust of leadership. And I know what I’m talking about, because we’ve seen in recent years the crisis that ensues when leadership fractures the trust of the people they’re supposed to serve. Lies, abuse of power, self-exaltation at the expense of others and rhetoric that emboldens people’s worst passions, creates a divisive, storm-like environment that pulls apart a trust that once brought people together. This is the kind of leader that seeks to retain power and control over others by a show of force, because they are actually fearful that in reality they are rapidly loosing the trust of the people.
These were the exact fears that were fast becoming the obsession of a man nervously pacing the floor in the midst of his servants. He continues to hear the news about the miracle working power of a Man called Jesus, who is the Leader of a movement rapidly rising in the region he rules over. He begins to give voice to his superstitious suspicions, which were inspired by the culture of the time, that this was actually John the Baptist raised from the dead and therefore has been mysteriously given these miraculous powers. It’s this thought that haunts his guilty conscience, for he knows all too well the incredible influence John had over the people, whom he also feared for they believed John to be a prophet. Plus this Jesus Person was proclaiming the arrival of a new Kingdom, which was the same message that John continually announced and this was exciting the hopes and trust of the people. It’s very likely that he wondered if John wanted to make himself the people’s king in his territory. Then heightening his suspicions, John takes direct aim at him by rebuking this morally bankrupt tetrarch of Galilee, called Herod Antipas, for his incestuous and adulterous marriage to Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. In response to her anger over this, Herod regrettably had John thrown into prison, though he privately liked to listen to this prophet and even sought his council. He could already start to see that his actions had significantly weakened the trust of the people in his leadership. Now he begins to perspire at the terrible thought that he made this situation far worse by a pridefully impulsive decision he made at his birthday celebration, which was supposed to be a confidence booster for his leadership since his high officials and military commanders were going to be there. Yet, Seizing this opportunity to trap him by a scandalous dance by her daughter, Herodias manipulates Herod Antipas into a rash decision to have John beheaded and his head delivered to her on a platter, which she received with a sinister smile. Not wanting his servants to see that he was on the verge of trembling, Herod starts to pace in the opposite direction as he nervously wonders what John’s disciple’s, who just buried his headless body, might do in retaliation. If only Herod Antipas had heeded the prophetic warning about the Messiah in Psalm 2, which says,
That is to say it is a vain thing to take one’s stand against the Lord and His Messiah, the Anointed King!
Too often in our world we encounter the very same type of leadership we see here in Herod Antipas, which may have provoked you to ask if there’s even a leader we can trust. This may have been the same thought running through the mind of John’s disciples after respectfully burying him and then going immediately to Jesus. I mean, if He really is the Messiah, who’s inherently a Leader, what could they trust Jesus to do in response to this egregious murder of John the Baptist? Our maybe their question was far more fundamental than this; a question that maybe you’ve never really dared to ask. And that is, “Who is Jesus and why should we trust Him?” Clearly Herod didn’t know who Jesus really was, nor did he trust Him. As a matter of fact, he was afraid of Him. So with Herod’s very familiar leadership style in mind, let’s now take a journey with Jesus in Matthew chapter 14 and see, in sharp contrast, what He reveals to us about Himself.
The first thing we see is that once Jesus heard the news about John’s murder He withdraws to a secluded place to be alone, apparently to mourn. Yet no sooner than He had gotten a few moments alone, crowds of people from the cities, who also heard about this, followed Him on foot, interrupting His time alone. Yet unlike me when my quiet time gets interrupted, Jesus didn’t get irritated, but instead when He saw the large crowd gathered by the shore, He felt compassion for them and healed all their sick. This is the same gut level feeling a mother has for her children, that Matthew described Jesus having for the crowds in Matthew chapter 9, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Like John’s disciples, they were grieving and needed a trusted leader, a shepherd who cared for them. Now when evening had come the disciple’s told Jesus to send the people away so they could find some food to eat in the nearby villages, but instead Jesus challenged His disciples to give them something to eat. When they doubtfully disclosed the little they had to Jesus, just five loaves and two fish, I can just see the smile coming across Jesus’ face as He gets ready to do what comes next in verse 18…
This one miracle of Jesus is recorded in all four Gospels and for good reason. It demonstrates that Jesus is a greater leader than John, whom the people also met in the wilderness. He is also a greater leader than Moses, who took the people through water and into a wilderness where they were ordered into various sized groups and given bread from Heaven. These people have witnessed Jesus do these things and more, even miraculously healing all their sick. Yet in this miracle, instead of the bread falling from heaven, it has come from Jesus, who in John 6, says He is the “Bread of Life” which came down from Heaven to give eternal life to all who believe in Him. Jesus was seeking to reveal that He more than satisfies our physical needs in order to point to the fact that He more than satisfies our deepest spiritual need. So, who is Jesus and why should we trust Him? Well, as Messiah, Jesus is…
THE COMPASSIONATE PROVIDER OF MORE THAN ENOUGH
It’s like this restaurant called Caitlin’s that was across the street from Andrews University when I was their for seminary. They served some amazing vegetarian food, especially this vegetarian chicken called “Sam’s Chicken”, which literally looked, smelt and tasted like real chicken. It was breaded and even peeled off like real chicken when you slowly pull off a piece of the meat! Yet what I appreciated the most about eating food from Caitlin’s is that we never paid more than $10 for one meal including a drink and they always gave us more than enough to eat in one sitting. The food was so satisfying that I would take a nap after eating it, with the joy in my heart that there was more left over in the fridge for later. And this is exactly what Jesus is communicating to us. He not only satisfies us and gives us enough, but He provides more than enough!
This miracle is also significant because of what the numbers in the story signify and are pointing to. The fact that there were “five” loaves of bread that fed “five” thousand men would have been significant to the Jews, because the number five brought to mind the five books of Moses. The twelve full baskets left over would have brought to mind the twelve tribes of Israel. The message here is there’s more than enough bread for the Jews! Then in the next chapter Jesus does the same miracle in Gentile territory and the numbers communicate the same message; there’s more than enough bread for the Gentiles! But wait, there’s more! As Jesus does the miracle each time, He takes, blesses, breaks and distributes the bread to the disciples, who then distribute it to the people. As you follow this theme of bread in the Gospels, the bread riddle gets solved at the last supper, just hours before the cross. Matthew records it as follows,
Commenting on this passage, Dr. Elizabeth Talbot of Jesus 101 says,
In other words, with this miracle, Jesus, the Bread of Life, is saying, “There’s more than enough grace for everybody!”
You see, Jesus is trying to get you to the place where you live trusting Him for every physical need as evidence that He meets all of your spiritual needs with more than enough to satisfy you! He’s got more than enough for you in this pandemic. He’s got more than enough grace to satisfy you and everyone else! His deep compassion for you moves Him to do so!