An Appetizer

Old Testament: Genesis 43 & 44

Poetry: Psalm 19

*New Testament: Matthew 14

If you’ve ever been to the Texas Roadhouse restaurant, there is one thing you can always count on: bread and cinnamon butter. This is provided before every meal as a free appetizer, and on more than one occasion, we’ve had enough to be full by the time our actual meal arrived (the same can be said of the breadsticks at Olive Garden). Those rolls were not the meal, and were never intended to be the only thing you enjoyed: however, it gave you a taste of what was to come later, and whet your appetite for more (if you had enough room left in your stomach).

Our passage in Matthew 14 reminds me of our experiences at Texas Roadhouse: it offers us a “taste of what’s to come” in the kingdom of God. There were many people following Jesus at the time, and they were hungry from their journey of traveling after him: so Jesus miraculously offers them enough bread and fish to feed 5,000 men (probably about 10,000 people when you include women and children). What Jesus was doing was showing them what the kingdom of God was going to be like, as he was talking to them about its splendor. In Isaiah 25:6-9, we learn that the kingdom of God will be a time of tremendous feasting and the end of hunger forever: Jesus gives the crowd a foretaste of what this incredible moment will be like by doing this miracle for them.

There are two cautions that all Christians should be aware of when it comes to the kingdom of God. First, there are some Christians who are only focused on the kingdom of God in the future. While we still wait for the kingdom to come fully, we are able to presently experience some of it NOW and offer that to others (notice that Jesus invited his disciples to perform this miracle first). We are able to enjoy some of the kingdom of God’s blessings now, through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as we anxiously await to experience it fully in the end when Jesus comes. We should never neglect the fact that “the kingdom of God is in our midst” when we have Christ dwelling inside of us (Luke 17:20-21).

The second caution for Christians is living too much in this life without having a hope for the future reign of God’s kingdom. Jesus is very clear: the kingdom of God will not come fully until he returns (Matthew 25:31-40). While we can experience an “appetizer” now, it’s not the full meal: never fill up completely on the blessings of this age, but look forward with hope towards the future when Jesus returns. We should LOVE his appearing in the clouds, longing for that day to come soon (2 Timothy 4:8). We need a balance of now and then: living for the future kingdom today, with hope that it is coming soon.

Do you look forward to Jesus’ return and the kingdom of God? How can you enjoy it today?

Talon Paul

Reflection Questions

1. Do you look forward to Jesus’ return and the kingdom of God?
2. How can you enjoy it today?
3. How can you help feed (spiritually and/or physically) those who are hungry for more of Jesus and those in need of an appetizer of the coming glorious feast in the kingdom of God?