Have you ever read Matthew 14 & 15 in one reading? Here is a basic breakdown of those two chapters. In Matthew 14, Jesus feeds the 5000 and then he walks on water… in Matthew 15, Jesus heals a Canaanite woman’s daughter of demon possession and then he feeds the 4000. One feeding took place by the Sea of Galilee, and the second took place in the area of Decapolis.
Of course all Christians are familiar with the feeding of the 5000. Matthew records that Jesus fed 5000 men plus women and children, so the number was way above 5000. Jesus had been teaching and healing people all day long and the crowd stayed with him — I’m sure Jesus was tired and hungry.
Guess who else was tired and hungry… Jesus’ disciples. I can almost hear the grump in their voices as they say, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Matthew 14:15 Translation… “We are sooo done with this, Jesus…. we’ve been here all day! We are tired and hungry — let’s go already!”
I love Jesus’ response… “They don’t need to go anywhere to get food… you feed them.” Well, once five loaves of bread and two fish had been replicated around 10,000 times, everyone had eaten and Jesus’ disciples had learned a valuable lesson about faith and the provisions found in Christ… or did they?
In Matthew 15 we see almost the exact scenario. Crowds of people were with Jesus all day long and it became late in the afternoon. Jesus said, “I have compassion for these people… they must be hungry.” Jesus’ disciples replied, “But where in the world would we get enough food to feed all of these people?”
I absolutely love Jesus’ next words… “How many loaves do you have?” Now here is what I ponder… how did he SAY those words? Did they come out as a sigh? Did Jesus roll his eyes in disbelief at their ignorance? Did he stare off into the near distance in flabbergasted astonishment? Were they said crisply in annoyance? Granted, while Matthew records these two feedings in back to back chapters they, in reality, took place several months apart… but come on… could anyone REALLY forget Jesus feeding thousands from a kid’s sack lunch?
Now, I don’t think they really forgot, but I ponder… did they doubt or were they trying to set Jesus up for another powerful demonstration that he was the Messiah? While I want to think it was the latter, I suspect it might have been the former. But before I pick up a stone to throw at Jesus’ followers, I realize that oftentimes I am guilty of the same lack of faith. God works powerfully in my life in a certain way, but I am so prone to forget… and even sometimes… to doubt.
I am so grateful that Jesus took those seven loaves of bread and two fish… and simply did it again. Lord Jesus, thank you for your patience and your faithfulness. Thank you for not giving up on me… even when I cause you to roll your eyes in exasperation.
Leave a Reply