Matthew places the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price right next to the feeding of the 5,000 on purpose. Jesus is the one who paid the price, not with silver or gold, but with his holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death. First John gives the order: God loved first, and Christian love comes second. The command to be “100% all in,” even a “100% Jesus freak,” does not finally show up in raised hands or loud singing, but where the rubber meets the road: loving the neighbor as the self.

Matthew then shows Jesus in a moment of real human grief. The story of John the Baptist’s death matters because John was not only the second Elijah and the forerunner of Christ, but also family. Jesus hears that John has been murdered, and he withdraws to a desolate place by himself. Christ is 100% God and 100% man, bad math but good theology, and his mourning is real.

Yet Jesus sees the crowd and has compassion. Christ does not treat them like an inconvenience, a piece of meat, or people standing in his way. Jesus sees people as people, and he heals their sick all day. The call of Christ asks Christian people to see the same way, whether the moment is convenient or not, whether the person is easy to love or not.

The disciples’ answer is wonderfully human: send them away. The command of Jesus is wonderfully direct: “You give them something to eat.” The five loaves and two fish are laughably small until Christ says, “Bring them to me.” The point is not that disciples have enough in themselves. Christ living in them is enough.

Paul says the same thing when he calls himself a servant for Jesus’ sake and when he becomes all things to all people that by all means he might save some. Paul on Mars Hill does not mock the idolaters; he starts where they are and tells them about the unknown God, Jesus risen from the dead. The church’s call is not to demand that outsiders first become church people, but to love them right where they are and love them to a better place.

Matthew 25 calls for bread, drink, clothing, welcome, and visitation. John 6 takes the call deeper: physical bread matters, but the bread of life matters most. Jesus brings needy people into the field of vision, sometimes at three in the morning, and Christ calls his people to bring them himself.