Jesus and the Crowds

“After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down.  Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. 

“Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” The disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?” Jesus asked them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”  Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all of them ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. After sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.” – Matthew 15:29-39

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ancient Mosaic of Loaves and Fish

Today’s reading from Matthew isn’t as ‘heavy’ as the scriptures we’ve been looking at the past few weeks. In fact, today’s reading is so overshadowed by the “Feeding of the Five Thousand” from a few weeks ago that most Bible scholars don’t even bother talking about this passage. But these words are worth hearing because they give us stories of hope and of love – stories to encourage us in our daily lives.

So far in our series Matthew has described the death of John the Baptist; Jesus’ need to have some “alone time” with God after his cousin’s murder; the crowds who mean well but don’t allow Jesus that “alone time”; confrontations with the scribes and Pharisees; and finally a seaside getaway for Jesus and the disciples in a foreign country where, in spite of Jesus’ best efforts, he is still recognized – and he finds, in a conversation with a Syrian woman and a Gentile, a faith unlike any he’s seen so far.

So in today’s reading, Jesus returns from that seaside getaway encouraged by faith, refreshed, and ready to start ministering again.

As Jesus and the disciples leave Tyre and Sidon, they pass north of the Sea of Galilee and then turn south into a region called the Decapolis (Greek for ‘Ten Cities’). Some of this region was part of Israel; much of it was not; and these ten cities were essentially Greek settlements in the region. Many of the cities were not controlled by the Herod family of regional rulers but by Rome directly.

This is important to us because in a crowd from this region many of the people were probably not Jewish. In last week’s reading Jesus made it very clear that he was sent to the people of Israel – but he ended up healing the daughter of a Gentile. In today’s reading, where it comes to a rather mixed crowd, Jesus doesn’t ask where they’re from. We are beginning to approach the end of Jesus’ life and ministry, and the door to the Gentiles is beginning to open. This may explain why Matthew comments “they praised the God of Israel”.  This was not a pro-Israel rally; rather it was an outreach to people on the periphery of Israel who hadn’t heard the good news yet.

So here’s what happened.

First, Jesus came to teach. Matthew tells us he went up a mountain and sat down. In those days (unlike today) teachers sat and students stood. So Jesus sat where he could be seen and heard and he began to teach.

And great crowds came to him: the Greek says ochloi polloi – literally a bunch of crowds. A crowd of crowds. People of all kinds, coming by the hundreds. And they brought with them everyone they knew who needed healing. Jesus came to teach; they came to be healed: and sometimes there’s not a whole lot of difference; but Jesus clearly came because he wanted to share the good news, and he ended up sharing it in actions as well as words.

Matthew tells us the people brought the lame (who would have had to be carried); the blind (who would have had to be guided); those with various physical handicaps; people who couldn’t see; people who couldn’t hear; people who couldn’t speak; and many others with a variety of physical challenges. The people laid them all at Jesus’ feet, and Jesus healed every one. The Greek for ‘healed’ here is therapeuo, the word we get therapy from. So whatever therapy they needed, Jesus provided.

And the crowd was astonished, Matthew says. Even though they came having heard about Jesus’ miracles, even knowing what Jesus could do, when they witnessed it with their own eyes, they were blown away. They saw the lame walking, even dancing! They saw the blind able to see and the deaf able to hear and to speak. And they praised the God of Israel.

This went on for three days. Can you imagine a weekend retreat with Jesus Himself? Jesus met every need in the crowd. And after three days, he looked at his disciples and said, “I can’t send these people home on an empty stomach – we’re in the middle of the wilderness here – they might not make it home.”

And the disciples answer, “Lord, where are we going to find food for so many in a place like this?” Basically they’re saying the nearest Mini-Mart is, like, 30 miles away. What are we going to do?  Jesus asks, “What do you have?” And they answer, “seven loaves of bread and a few small fish”.

So Jesus tells the people to sit down, and gives thanks for the food that is there, and gives it to the disciples to pass around. And everyone eats until they’re satisfied. And when the meal is over, the disciples gather up seven large baskets full of broken pieces. In other words, they ended up with more food than they started with! And the head-count for the meal was 4000 men, not counting women and children.

After the meal Jesus dismissed the crowds, and then he and the disciples returned to the Sea of Galilee and took a boat to Magadan on the western side of the lake.

So Matthew tells us about three days of healings, and thousands of people fed in the wilderness where there is no food – and in the very next verse we find the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to Jesus demanding he give them a sign.  That’s where we start next week.

So as we look at this week’s passage: What a mountaintop experience! Which is something we all need from time to time. Most of the time, most of our lives, even when there’s joy, life is a lot of work. And sometimes,  like in days of pandemics, our days can be tough, tinged with darkness. Sometimes we just need to spend some time alone with Jesus (even if it is with four thousand of our best friends).

We also see that Jesus calls people apart from the world when he teaches. Sometimes Jesus needs to take us out of our everyday circumstances so we can hear His voice.

And we also see that Jesus has the power to heal. This was true back then, and it’s still true today. This is why we bring each other to Jesus in prayer, and why we pray for each other every Sunday.

I should mention there’s a lot of controversy in the churches about faith healings, and while I don’t want to spend a whole lot of time on the subject I’d like to speak to it briefly. Do miracles still happen today? Yes. Do they always happen? No. Even when Jesus walked this earth not every person in Israel was healed of every disease. Why do miracles happen for some people and not for others? I don’t know. Sometimes God chooses to heal us the old-fashioned way – through doctors and nurses – and this has its purposes. For example, if I hadn’t been in hospital last year, our Facebook group No Walls Faith Community never would have come into being, because I got the inspiration for the group when I was in the ICU.  God moves in mysterious ways sometimes!

One thing I can tell you for sure: God is in control, and God knows what we need even before we ask. And Jesus proves this by providing a meal for this crowd, unasked-for, before they need to go home.

Another thing that’s for sure: Jesus has the same compassion for us that he had for that crowd. This amazes us, just like it amazed them. Our physical needs, and the physical needs of our neighbors, are of great importance to God.

Another thing that’s for sure: we were meant to pray for each other – to bring each other to Jesus – just like this crowd did for their friends. And when prayers are answered, we give all the praise and glory to the God of Israel, just like this crowd did, and to the King of Kings whose Kingdom is coming.

One more thing that’s for sure: looking at those seven loaves of bread, and what was left over: if what we have seems small in our eyes – if what we offer God seems insignificant – in Jesus’ hands it will be more than enough. Pray for this.

So today’s story is a foretaste of the kingdom of God, where Jesus will reign, and where there will always be enough, and where people from all races and nations will praise God together, healed at last. Amen and AMEN.

~