A Study Of The Book of Matthew Sermon # 58 120115 1Bt Sm The Essentials For Ministry Matthew 15:30-38 When read about Jesus feeding the 4,000 we immediately think of the miracle He has already performed where He fed the five thousand (14:13-21). Some would have us to believe that it is in fact two different versions of the same event. In fact some use the similarities as an excuse for unbelief, saying they are different versions of the same event, and thus assigning them both to legend. But this is in fact an entirely different incident. There are numerous differences between the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000. The feeding of the 5,000 was at Bethsaida, with a Jewish multitude from nearby, it was in the Spring of the year (they sit in the grass), they are with Jesus for one day, He feeds the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, after they have been fed, twelve (small) baskets are collected The feeding of the 4,000 was at Decapolis, with a Gentile multitude from all over the region, it was in the Summer of the year (grass is gone and they have to sit on the ground), they are with Jesus for three days, He feeds 4,000 with seven loaves and a few fish, and after all have been fed seven (large) baskets are collected. But the single greatest reason to believe that this is a separate incident is that later recorded in the book of Mark Jesus refers to the earlier feeding of the 5,000 (Mark. 8:19). The Word of God is distinctly marking these as two separate events. In this second miracle feeding Jesus demonstrates that He is the Bread of Life for all people not just the Jews. Through His example Jesus taught His disciples to minister to those in need where ever they were. Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them. (31) So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. (32) Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." (33) Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?" (34) Jesus said to them, "How 1
many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish." (35) So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. (36) And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. (37) So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. (38) Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. So what we have here is the record of a different miracle similar to the first but repeated to teach several important lessons. Notice with me as Jesus teaches the Disciples the Essentials Of Ministry. The First Essential of Ministry is Availability. (15:30-31) Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them. (31) So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. To minister one must first make oneself available. These verses tell us that Jesus went where the people were. Verse twenty-nine says that Jesus sat down and allowed the people to bring their needs to Him. He was approachable. He treated no one as an outcast. No was too vile, too dirty, too deformed, too maimed or too sinful for Him to help. The text says that He healed them not just some of them but all of them. Do YOU realize what that means? The word maimed (kuloss) has a unique meaning it means severed or removed. If they did not have an arm He gave them one! No wonder it says that the multitude marveled and the result was that they glorified the God of Israel. The Second Essential of Ministry is Compassion. (15:32) Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." The crowd had been around Jesus for three days in a remote setting. Mark s account says that many of them had traveled some distance to hear and see Jesus (8:3). For three days Jesus teaches and heals. Cries for help mingled with shouts of joy. What if you were the deaf person who received the gift of hearing or the blind person who received the gift of sight, would turn around and leave and act like nothing had happened? No of course not! Now it is into the third day, and because Jesus loves these people he is concerned about sending these people back to their homes on an empty stomach. 2
This is in reality a revelation of the kind of God we serve. He is a God of great compassion. He suffers when we suffer, He feels our pain, and even more important He seeks to alleviate the cause. He doesn t just have compassion for our spiritual needs, and our life threatening physical needs, He even cares about our daily needs. In fact His care extends to every need we could conceivably have. Jesus is genuinely concerned for the needs of people. They had been with him for all this time without food and He would not sent them away hungry. Jesus said, "I have compassion on the multitude (v. 32) and now He desires for His Disciples to share in His compassion! Basically, the word compassion comes from the Latin and means to suffer with; but, really, in the English, it's even enriched beyond that, for the English dictionary describes compassion as this: A feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow... accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the pain and remove its cause. I think that's a marvelous definition of what was in the heart of our Lord, who looking upon anyone in need, identified with that need, felt sympathy and sorrow for that need, and had a strong desire to see its cause removed. [John MacArthur. Compassion For The Outsider. Matt 15:29-39. wwwgty.org/resources/sermons/2314 ] The tender compassion of God extends even to the fact of daily food. The Third Essential Of Ministry Is Willingness To Use The Resources That Are Available. (15:33-34) Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?" (34) Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish." In the past when I dealt with these verses I have somehow assumed that the Disciples failed to remem-ber what Jesus had done at the feeding of the 5,000. I ve changed my mind. How could they have failed to remember the feeding of the 5,000, and how could they not see the relationship between that situation and this one, since it was such recent history for them? It is pretty amazing that we so often forget what Jesus has done for us in the past, never thinking of turn-ing to Him when for help when we are faced with a new need. He may have divided the Red Sea for the Israelites escaping from Pharaoh s army but no sooner are they on the other side than they are complaining against Moses and crying out, Is the Lord among us or not? (Exodus 17:7) He has already told His disciples that He has compassion on the crowd, and that He would not send them home without first feeding them. Perhaps we see a glimmer of change in the hearts of the Disciples, earlier at the feeding of the 5,000 they had questioned Why 3
should we take the responsibility for feeding the multitude? But now in verse thirtythree, the disciples Where can find the food or How can we feed them. There seems to be a world of difference between Why should we and How can we! But at this point all the disciples can think to do is to point out their obvious lack of resources. We tend to be impressed with the overwhelming need and our inadequate resources. All you have to do is be around some Christians for a while and they will provide all the details. They can tell you down to the finest point how overwhelming the need is, and they can also tell you how inadequate the resources are to meet those needs. The problem with them is that this is as far as they go. Any time you want to know how big the problem is and how deep the hole is, just be with them for ten minutes. But it is interesting to see how Jesus copes with this situation. Jesus sent his disciples out to find out how much was food was available. Jesus simply asks, How many loaves do you have?" (v. 34) Between the lines you can read the assumption that whatever they have will be all that Jesus asks for and all that He needs. Can you see the difference in the focus of Jesus and His disciples? The disciples are focused on how great the need is and how inadequate the resources are. Jesus' approach is to direct their attention to what they do have. And they said, "Seven." And in verse thirty-four we are further told, and a few little fish. When we are right on the edge of being used is when we have admitted we do not have the resources. The disciples say, "Lord, we don't have anything to fill this crowd." And they're simply saying, "Lord, we don't have the resources." And I really think in my heart what they're saying was, "Lord, You are the only one who can do it." The miracle is worked in the same way it was with the feeding of the five thousand. The Disciple s resources are given to Christ who takes those resources and multiplies them and gives them back to the Disciples. Then through the Disciples He feeds the multitude. In fact that is always the procedure. The resour-ces we have must be turned over to Jesus Christ. He takes those resources and gives them back through us to the people to whom He wants to minister. Christ did not go around the Disciples in meeting the needs, but He used the Disciples with their inadequate resources as the vehicle to minister to the multitude. Our problem is in spending too much time evaluating how great the problem is and how limited the resources are when we should be giving our resources to Christ so He can do something about it. We all tend to forget God's past provisions when faced with a new challenge to our faith. The Christ who can feed five thousand can surely feed four thousand. The Christ who can save us can surely care for us. Has God ever let us down? In the long history of this church, He has never let us down. No, He has always been faith-ful. 4
The arguments sometimes change. The econ-omy has never been as bad as it is today! Oh, really, it you would talk to someone who lived through the Great Depression they would differ with you! Even if it were true, God s economy is not tied to the Government economic recovery plan. He tells me to place my resources in Him. Is He any different today? But a lot of people are out of work. But, Is He out of work? 'Well, we don't know what is going to happen in the future.' The important thing is; He knows what is going to happen in the future? The hard part is deciding whether we are going to trust Him. The Disciples had to decide that too. Were they willing to trust the Lord who fed the five thousand to do the same for the four thousand? It is better for us if the problems are so over-whelming that we have to pray about them. When we begin praying about them, then we begin turning the little we have over to the Lord. Praise the Lord He does not tell us the future. But as we turn things over to Him along the way, He does far more than any of us could have ever planned. The Fourth Essential of Ministry is Willingness To Minister Where The Need Is. (15:35-36) So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. (36) And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. The need has to be recognized. The multitude that sat listening to Jesus was primarily Gentile. In the eyes of the Jews they were not God s people, they were outcasts and unreachable. The resources have to be inventoried (v.34) Just because we are attempting something for God does not mean we have to go into it blind. Jesus first tells the Disciples to see what they have to meet this need, The people were prepared. The needs of the people were not met in a haphazard way. In spite of what you sometimes see in churches in our day, the Lord was always very organized in carrying out His ministry. The need was identified, the people were arranged and organized for efficiency in receiving the provision. The Fifth Essential Of Ministry Is To Witness The Lord s Power And Provision. (15:37-38) So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. (38) Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 5
As Jesus did the first time (Matt 14:19), Jesus took the small amount of food that was available, and thanked God for it. He then broke it and gave it to the Disciples to pass out to the crowd. Just as it did the first time, the loaves and the fishes multiplied as He broke them. The miracle took place in the hands of the Lord. When the meal was finished and everyone was filled, (v. 37), the Disciples collected the leftovers. In the first miracle, they collected twelve baskets full. In this miracle, they collected seven baskets full. The basket referred to in the first miracle was a small basket that would hold an amount sufficient for one person (kophinos) a lunch basket. The word basket here (spuridas) refers to a basket large enough to hold a man. How do we know it was that large? Because, it is the same word used for the large baskets used to lower the Apostle Paul down over the walls of Damascus when he needed to make a hasty escape. (Acts 9:25) The four thousand that Jesus fed counted only men. If women and children are added, the crowd would have been as twelve to fifteen thousand. And the amount of food that was left over was enormous! It could possibly have been several hundred pounds! The Bible does not tell us the specific reactions of the people who were healed but Matthew does tell us of the general response of the crowd (Matt 15:31). So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. The thing that so wonderfully proves the success of the ministry of Christ in Decapolis and in the area of the Gentiles was, "They glorified the God of Israel." Where the Social Gospel goes wrong is that we do not meet people s physical needs just to meet their needs. We meet their needs so that they having their needs met will be drawn to God. Application So what lessons can we learn from this miracle? Jesus wants the world to know that He is the source of supply for all our needs. He is teaching his Disciples, and through them He is teaching us today; that we can trust Him instead of relying on human resources, or the lack thereof. Jesus wants us to know that His supply always meets and exceeds our needs. In this miracle Christ multiplied the resources until there not only enough to feed the multitude, but more than enough. The seven large baskets of leftover collected are a reminder to the disciples, and to us, of the super-abundance of Christ s ability to satisfy our needs. Here is something to think about: Because He can create whatever He wishes; Whatever the Lord gives you never diminishes anything He has. 6
Jesus does not need us but He is willing to use if we make ourselves available. Let me try to explain by asking you a question. Have you ever allowed a child to help you do some-thing? Maybe it is baking a cake or doing a repair. You really do not need their help- they honestly were not much help but you let them help because you wanted them involved. Jesus really did not need the disciples to be waiters delivering the food he had created but he used them because he wanted them involved in the program. I am so glad that the God of the Universe gives us the privilege of serving with Him. 7
The Essentials For Ministry Matthew 15:30-38 The First Essential of Ministry is (15:30-31) The Second Essential Ministry is (15:32) The Third Essential of Ministry is Willingness To Use the That Are Available. (15:33-34) The Fourth Essential of Ministry is Willingness To Minister Where The Is. (15:35-36) The Fifth Essential of Ministry is To Witness The Power and Provision. (15:37-38) Application - So what lessons can we learn from this miracle? Jesus wants the world to know that He is the source of supply for all our. Jesus wants the world to know that -He was a source to as well as Jews. Jesus wants us to know that His supply always and our needs Jesus does not us but He is willing to if we make ourselves available. 8