Matthew 14 - 16

Feed Them 
Today's reading contains two miracles of Jesus in close chronological proximity.  These miracles are interlaced with a teaching on purity and defilement, an experience with a Gentile woman, and a warning on deception. The miracles, events, and teachings all use a "food theme" to emphasize the lessons.

After hearing of John the Baptist's death, Jesus conducts a healing service in a remote area. The service goes until late in the day and there is no food for the people. At this point the disciples (who had been commissioned to perform miracles in 10:8) had a perfect opportunity to manifest faith. Instead, they come to Jesus fretting about the problem. He rebukes them (v. 16) and proceeds to feed more than 5000 people with two fish and five loaves of bread.  The leftovers are many times more that what He started with.

The food theme continues when the Pharisees question Jesus about His disciples ignoring the tradition of ceremonial washing prior to eating. (v.15:1) They were not as much concerned with the Law as it applied to the disciples as they were in trapping Jesus into saying something they considered blasphemous.  From this experience Jesus teaches the disciples that it is not what a man consumes but it is what comes from a man that defines whether he is pure or defiled. This simple lesson was so radical to the Jewish way of thinking that Peter, in verse 15, asks the Lord to explain it to them one more time.

After this lesson, Jesus and His disciples travel to the region of Tyre and Sidon and are met by a Gentile woman (v. 21) who asks the Lord to heal her daughter.  She addresses Him as "Son of David" which is an improper greeting for a Gentile. He is Son of David to the Jews and His ministry and that of the disciples were not yet sent to the Gentiles.  Accordingly, Jesus ignores her (v. 23), "Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word." The disciples tell her to leave but, sensing the moment, she is undeterred. Jesus confirms that He is Son of David to the Jews only, stating in verse 24, "I was sent only to help God's lost sheep-the people of Israel."  At this point most people would have given up, yet she persisted.

She changes her approach stating "Lord, help me!" in verse 25. Notice now how this incident continues the "food theme" established at the beginning of the chapter. This gets His attention (for Jesus is Lord of all people) but does not garner a blessing. "It isn't right to take food from the children [Israel] and give it to the dogs [Gentiles]." (v. 26).  Once again, this would be the final blow to most people, but the desperate woman is not looking at the circumstances, she is looking to get a blessing.

She makes a statement who profundity and truth moves the Lord. In verse 27 she replies, "That's true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters' table." Personally, I find that attitude refreshing.  She agreed that she was a dog, one not worthy of His time or attention.  But in realizing her status as a dog and affirming this to Jesus, she found the way to manifest faith to receive her blessing. Jesus recognized her faith, "'Dear woman your faith is great. Your request is granted.' And her daughter was instantly healed." (v. 28).

This is so different from the arrogance in the modern church, the feeling that we deserve and have earned the blessings of God.  This attitude is why our walk with the Lord is so weak and lacking in spiritual strength. We begin to think that, in ourselves, we are something when the reality is we are dogs - deserving of nothing and only permitted to eat the crumbs that fall from the table. If modern Christians could adopt this kind of humility and put the Lord back on the throne of their lives where He belongs, the Church would be a 1000 times stronger.

But, like the disciples, we see the Lord bless and perform miracles and then are unable to muster enough faith to defeat a headache.  After the incident with the Gentile woman, the Lord and His disciples have aother large healing service by the Sea of Galilee. The service goes late into the day and the people need to be fed. Once again the food theme is employed. I often wonder why the disciples did not see the same thing happening here that happened in the previous healing service only a few days prior.  They have the power and authority to feed the people, and again they have to rely on Jesus to perform an almost identical miracle. It is painfully apparent that physical proximity to Jesus did not yield faith.

The food theme continues in chapter 16 when the Lord gives a warning about the "leaven (yeast) of the Pharisees" (v. 6). The disciples are so carnal, they misinterpret His lesson and think He is rebuking them for not bringing bread. He has to explain that He was referring to the pernicious teachings of the Pharisees.

These chapters afford a constant and readily available opportunity to develop our faith as Christians.  Every time we eat, every time we prepare a meal or serve a meal to others, we can recall these lessons:

• What we say and not what we eat is what manifests our purity or defilement.
• We have the power to feed the spiritually hungry.
• It is only the grace of God that we receive any blessings from Him.
• We must guard against deceptive teaching.

May God bless you and bless the reading of His Word.