What does Matthew 14:18 mean?
Disciples of Jesus have just been instructed to perform an impossible task. They are to feed thousands of people gathered in a desolate place at dinner time (Matthew 14:13–16). Later we will learn that the adult men number some five thousand, meaning the total of men, women, and children could have been as many as twenty thousand! The disciples have reported the facts: all they've been able to acquire are five loaves of bread and two fish (Matthew 14:17; John 6:8–9). Jesus now asks that they give this tiny amount of food to Him.In Mark's account of this same moment (Mark 6:37), the disciples also point out that they don't have enough money to even go into a village themselves and buy bread for the crowds. It's not that the disciples had not done the math. They knew what it would take to obey Jesus' instruction. They also knew it could not be done with their limited resources. This is not a brain teaser, or a test of their creativity. This task is literally, clearly, and obviously beyond the means of the disciples. Yet Jesus asks, anyway.
That, in fact, is the point of the miracle. Jesus was about to show them how unlimited His resources are, when we faithfully give Him what little we have.
Matthew 14:13–21 begins with Jesus and His disciples leaving behind the crowds to escape by boat to desolate place. Instead, they find the crowds waiting there for them. Jesus heals people and eventually tells the disciples to feed everyone. The disciples have no food beyond five loaves and two fish. Jesus miraculously feeds more than 5,000 from that simple meal. Twelve baskets full of leftovers remain after everyone has eaten as much as they want. This miracle is recorded in all the four Gospels (Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–14).
Matthew 14 begins with a backstory about the arrest and execution of John the Baptist by Herod the tetrarch, the Jewish ruler of the region. Jesus and the disciples take a boat to a desolate place only to find crowds waiting. Jesus heals many and then feeds as many as twenty thousand people with five loaves and two fish. Later, the disciples row against a strong wind until Jesus walks on the water to meet them and calm the wind. Peter walks on water briefly and then doubts and begins to sink. The disciples worship Jesus. On the other side of the lake, Jesus continues to heal the sick.
