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JESUS FEEDS THE FOUR THOUSAND

Matthew 15:21-39
Key Verse: 15:32

“Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them

away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.’”

Look at verses 21-22. Where did Jesus and his disciples go? Who came to Jesus there? Why did she come to him? What kind of woman was she in the eyes of the Jews? How did she address Jesus?

Look at verses 23-24. What was Jesus’ initial reaction to the woman? (23a) What was the disciples’ reaction and what was Jesus’ reply? (23b-24) Do you think Jesus was sincere or just challenging her?

Look at verses 25-28. How did the woman address Jesus face-to-face? (25) What was Jesus’ response? Why did Jesus challenge her like this? How did she respond? (27) How could she make such a statement? (28) How did Jesus bless her and her daughter? Describe the woman’s faith. How was she “clean”, despite the beliefs of the Jews? (18a,28)

Read verses 29-31. When Jesus left the region of Tyre and Sidon, where did he go? Describe the crowds who came to him. What was the faith of the people who came to Jesus? How did Jesus change the situation of each person?

Why were the people amazed? Why did they praise the God of Israel? What did Jesus’ ministry reveal about himself and about the God of Israel?

Read verses 32-33. What do Jesus’ words to his disciples reveal about him? Why wasn’t it enough to heal them and send them away? What does this show about the love of God? What does the disciples’ response show about their growth? (Matthew 14:15-17)

Read verses 34-39. What did the disciples have? How did Jesus co-work with them to feed the crowd? How many people were there? What did Jesus do after he finished caring for the crowd? What differences do you see in this event and the feeding of the 5,000?

Attachment:

• Matthew 15b.que.docx

Message

JESUS FEEDS THE FOUR THOUSAND

Matthew 15:21-39
Key Verse: 15:32

“Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.’”

In the last passage, we learned about clean and unclean. It has to do with the heart and not external things like food and human rules. If a person’s heart is unclean, evil thoughts, words, and actions come from it. On the other hand, Jesus said in John’s Gospel that the disciples were clean because of the Word He spoke to them. A person’s faith and changed heart by God makes them clean.

In this passage, Jesus teaches us that for all people, even for those to whom we are not primarily called to minister to, we are to have compassion for their physical and spiritual needs. We are to lead them to have faith and grow in faith. We are to be persistent in prayer for them and to use the resources God gives us to take care of them in the most efficient and effective way. Let’s pray today to learn from Jesus about how to conduct our ministry.

Let’s read verses 21-23. “Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.’ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, ‘Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.’”

Jesus had been looking for a place to rest with his disciples. But everywhere He went, the crowds demanded of Jesus or the religious leaders harassed Jesus. Perhaps, this is why Jesus decided to go to a Gentile region away from His mission field of Israel. There, only one person seemed to demand of Jesus. She was a descendant of the Canaanites, but in Jesus’ day called a Syro-Phoenician woman who also had Greek ancestry according to Mark’s Gospel.

The Canaanites were enemies of the Jews in the past and led them astray from God. They were Gentiles and did not worship or know God. They were considered religiously unclean people by the Jews. Surely the woman knew all this, and yet came to Jesus because her need was desperate, for her daughter was suffering terribly under demon possession.

Acts 10:28 He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I" should not call anyone impure or unclean."

Many people in the Old Testament and in the Gospels show courage by refusing to take no for an answer to a desperate need. For example, Abraham negotiating with God for Sodom, Jacob wrestling with God for a blessing, and Jesus’ mother asking His help at the wedding at Cana. They all knew God’s or Jesus’ character and appealed to them, though they initially said no.

It is good for us to be persistent in prayer. Though God may say no now, He may say yes later either because it becomes the right time or because of our appeal to His nature and character as Abraham did to the righteous judge, Jacob did to the provider of blessings and protection, Mary did to the Creator God, and this woman did to the Lord and Son of David with authority over demons and a mission to defeat Satan.

Let’s cry out for Jesus in faith in who He is, the One who can fulfill our needs and prayer requests. Even if we feel unclean or unworthy, as the Jews viewed this woman, we must come to Jesus in prayer and in faith in who He is. And we must encourage others, even those who may be enemies of God, to start their journeys of faith by coming to God in prayer with godly requests.

Look at verses 22-25. This Canaanite woman called Jesus Lord and Son of David. She must have heard of Jesus and known some of the Scriptures. She had greater faith than nearly all of the Jews, for they would not say that Jesus is Lord and Son of David- the Messiah. And yet, Jesus did not answer her. It is possible this was a challenge of her faith to see if she would be persistent.

The disciples did not tolerate her but seemed to be like the unjust judge who wanted the desperate widow to just be quiet and go away. But Jesus did tolerate her and did not say no or send her away. Instead, He told her why He did not address her healing request. “He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” This was true. When Jesus sent out the Twelve, he instructed them, “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.” And Jesus prioritized world mission as “Go into Judea (the Jews), and to Samaria (the so-called lost or misled Jews), and to the ends of the earth (the Gentiles)”. The Gentiles like this woman came last. It was not time for her, like it was not time for the miracle at the wedding at Cana.

God has a time for everything- the best time. But if we pray with faith and appealing to God’s nature, preparing for Him to act as Mary did at the wedding and as the woman did here, God may still answer our need though it was not the appointed time.

But Jesus left the door open to her, and she came right up to him and knelt before Him in submission as Lord, saying “Lord, help me!”. Let’s read 25-28. “The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. 26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” 27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.”

Look at verse 26. Jesus greatly challenged her. Instead of trying to win her over to faith or follow God, Jesus seemingly rejects her. In this parable, the children are the Jews and the dogs are the Gentiles, including this woman. The bread is Jesus, who gives and feeds our spiritual life as bread feeds our physical life.

Jews considered dogs unclean animals, not pets. But Greeks and other Gentiles like this woman considered them as children’s pets. Jesus is saying in a more challenging way that He has come for God’s children the Jews and does not want to leave them out to go minister to the Gentiles in his short time of ministry.

It could be a test of her faith to overcome any offense at being equated with a dog or as lesser than the Jews. It could be Jesus clarifying that he is not one of the magicians like the one we saw in Acts who craved money and power by faking signs of power like healings and exorcisms to Gentiles and Jews. He is the Son of David, Messiah, sent for the Jews. It could be that Jesus wanted her to submit to Israel’s priority in God’s salvation plan and be willing to do anything for healing, like Elisha requiring Naaman to dip in Israel’s Jordan River instead of Naaman’s home rivers.

Because Matthew’s audience is primarily Gentile, all of these make sense. Matthew’s original readers, and us too, need to believe that Jesus was not one of the many fake magicians and powers of the world in that time. We need to understand and submit to this priority of Jew then Gentile too. Paul says three times in Romans that the Jew comes first and then the Gentile: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile…There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”

Although all are united in Christ and equal under Christ- even Jew and Gentile, each of us are sent to a particular mission field as Paul was to the Gentiles, and historically Thomas went to India, Andrew to the Greeks, and Jude to the Armenians. We have a priority for who to reach out to given by God and though not forbidden to reach out to others as Jesus did eventually to this woman, we must not forsake the primary work God has given us. Let’s pray to have the right priorities in our mission to feed others the Word and lead them to salvation in Jesus.

The Canaanite woman shows great faith. She recognized Jesus is not another magician, but called Jesus Son of David, the rightful king and Messiah. Few people, even Jews, had this confession of faith. Her confession of faith was public, crying after Jesus for all to hear and telling her townspeople as the Samaritan woman did of her faith in Jesus. Look at verse 27. Now she accepts that Jesus’ mission is to Israel and she comes second, but believes Jesus will have more than enough power left over from what Israel does not need or want.

Let’s read verse 28 again. Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.”

Jesus recognized her great faith. He did not discriminate against her based on her race- Canaanite, an enemy of the Jews. He did not discriminate against her based on her religion before she came to Him- a pagan religion that did not know God. He did not discriminate against her based on gender or cultural expectations of gender- a woman calling out after a man. He did not discriminate against her based on the human rules of Judaism- she was unclean in their eyes. Jesus recognized her as clean because her heart was clean- full of faith, sincere public testimony shouting His name, and worship bowing down at his feet.

We must learn from Jesus to accept all seekers when they come. Although some may seek only one race to minister to, we must minister to all races. Although some may target one gender to minister to, we must minister to all genders. Although some may think one religion or lack of religion is impossible to turn to faith in Jesus, we must minister to people of all thoughts about religion. Like Jesus, let’s pray to accept all who are willing to be changed in their heart and faith when they are taught or challenged.

Additionally, though Jesus had a firm mission priority for the Jews, He accepted this Gentile and healed her daughter immediately. Like Jesus, though we may have a priority for ministering to NC State students, let’s pray to be like Jesus and accept all people who God sends our way and minister to them as well.

This woman was among the first of many Gentiles to be healed. Let’s read verses 29-31 together. “Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.”

The place along the Sea of Galilee that Jesus went was the Decapolis, a Gentile region. Jesus continued his Gentile ministry with them. Like the woman, they all had faith in Jesus’ healing power, that Jesus was Lord over their physical circumstances. They too had clean hearts through faith in Jesus. For Jews and Gentiles, for people of that time and our time, the way to approach God and have a clean heart is through faith in Jesus. Through faith in Jesus, we receive new life with a new and clean heart that has power to overcome sin with God’s help.

We see here for the first time in the New Testament that God’s compassion extends to all Gentiles and that the work to spread salvation through the Gospel will include Jews and Gentiles alike. Pentecost was the beginning of this work to spread the Gospel to all nations. At Pentecost, the apostles preached the Gospel to people of many nations, though most were Jews. Soon after Pentecost, Jesus called Paul to minister primarily to the Gentiles. It was reassuring to Matthew’s Gentile readers that they were not left out of Jesus’ and God’s compassion.

And we too must have compassion on all people. It is not always easy to have compassion on some groups of people, but Jesus had compassion on the whole world without exception- wanting all people to hear the Gospel and be saved. And as followers of Jesus, let’s pray to also have compassion on all people in the world and help them primarily spiritually, but also physically as we can.

Look again at 29-31. Although Jesus may have preached or taught, we don’t see it here. In today’s passage, we see Jesus’ primary concern was for the people’s physical well-being- the healing of their diseases, the casting out of evil spirits for the woman, and their feeding so they will have a safe trip home after He dismissed them. Let us also be concerned not only with people’s spiritual well-being but also with their physical well-being.

Look once more at verse 31. Though the people came with faith in Jesus to heal all kinds of people, they were still amazed when they saw their faith become reality. They knew their faith was in the God of Israel, even those who were not Jewish, did not worship God or really know God. They praised the God of Israel who has such power and compassion. Though I had faith in God’s help when I passed my Ph.D. exam, I was amazed when I actually passed and praised God to those around me. I think all of us, though we have faith in the kingdom of God, will be amazed and praise God when we enter God’s kingdom and see its glory.

Let’s read verses 32-33. “Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” 33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

Here, Jesus verbalizes the compassion He has for both Gentiles and Jews. The crowd had been there three days and had likely run out of food if they had any to begin with. He challenged the disciples to also have compassion on the crowd. Compared to the feeding of the 5000, the disciples did have compassion because they didn’t want to send the crowd away and tried to solve the problem of how to feed them. However, they did not have faith to understand the feeding of the 5000 and asked how they could get enough bread for the crowd.

Look at verses 34-39. In feeding the 4000 here, they had more food to start with and fewer leftovers than in the feeding of the 5000. It shows that how much God can do or how much we receive from God has nothing to do with what we start out with. God gave more than enough in each case to work with, though humanly the resources were not nearly enough. We will receive as much as we need from God to do His work, not matter how much or how little we have now.

Although Jesus had challenged the Canaanite woman about not taking away bread from the Jews, the Canaanite woman was correct and Jesus had plenty of crumbs and scraps for everyone. Jesus had healed all in the Gentile crowd and fed them all. We too have enough resources from God to do all the work He gives us, not just for the primary mission we have.

What was not humanly possible, having enough bread and fish to feed the crowd, Jesus performed as a miracle. The distribution of the food was humanly possible, however, and Jesus organized it efficiently. Though God gives us resources by miracle and other ways of His provision, we must not waste resources or be thoughtless about using the resources. We are in a time of revival. In previous revivals, there were two very successful men- George Whitefield and John Wesley. Whitefield did not organize those he brought to Christ, wasting the potential to keep spreading the Gospel to the world. But Wesley organized those he brought to Christ, such as raising up lay preachers and founding the Methodist denomination. Being organized, his results have made a greater direct impact on subsequent generations.

Let’s pray to follow Jesus’ example and be well-organized in our events, in coordinating with all those connected to our ministry, and being thoughtful about the way we spend our individual and church resources.

In this passage, we learned that all people are clean whose hearts have faith in Jesus as Lord and Christ, And though we may have priority for a group to minister to, God gives us enough resources to minister to all who come into our lives- especially those with open hearts toward Jesus. We are to have compassion toward all people-spiritually and physically and use our God-given resources in an organized and efficient manner so that the most blessings can come out of them.

Let’s pray to accept all people who are seeking faith and minister to them. Let’s pray to have compassion on all people, especially those who need to know Jesus and grow in their faith. Let’s pray to have a right priority, but leave out no one, efficiently using the resources God gives us to minister to all who come into our lives. Amen.

Key Verse: 15:32

“Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.’”

Attachment:

• Matthew 15b message.docx