Matthew part 26
Manna even for the Gentiles
In Exodus 16, we read an interesting little tidbit from the wilderness wandering. Moses has led the Israelites out of Egypt, but they haven’t reached the Promised Land, yet. This particular generation will not be able to enter the Promised Land because of their lack of faith. But that is another point for another day. For today, take a look at the first part of chapter 16.
They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, “At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” And Moses said, “When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD.”
Exodus 16:1-8
The people grumble against the Lord and Moses because they are hungry. Never mind they have been set free from slavery through the miraculous intervention of God, they are hungry now. God hears their grumbles and tells Moses to get the people ready, because He is going to rain bread down from heaven. In fact, it will be twice the amount of bread they have been gathering…since apparently that is not enough.
The people do not recognize their grumbling as against the Lord. They simply grumble against Moses and Aaron who are leading them around the wilderness. But Moses reminds them, this whole scenario has been wrought by the hand of God. Their attitude is not against their human leaders. It is against the Lord God who has brought them out of slavery. And now that same Lord is going to feed them anyway. He is going to offer much more grace than they deserve.
This story has a New Testament parallel in the feeding of the multitudes. When Jesus feeds the 5,000 and then later the 4,000 we are about to read, it is a direct line from theme to theme. Where the Lord provided bread from heaven for a rebellious generation, Jesus will provide bread for a rebellious generation. Where the Lord led His people out of slavery, Jesus is going to lead His people out of slavery.
What is different in Jesus’ day, is that the manna from heaven is not meant to be hoarded by only the Israelites. Jesus is going to extend the blessings of God to even those whom the Jewish leaders had rejected blessings.
The Messiah’s Work Extends to the Gentiles | Matthew 15:29-31
Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.
Matthew 15:29-31
Much more than repeating himself, Matthew is setting the stage for the next miracle of Jesus. We are about to read about the next feeding of a multitude, but Matthew is reminding us of the power of Jesus and how the disciples had front row seats to these miracles. This front row seat serves only to emphasize the irony of the disciples’ reaction to the circumstances and aftermath of the next passage.
Just how Matthew is guiding us, let’s take a moment and reflect on what the disciples have seen so far.
The disciples’ story begins in Matthew 4 when Jesus calls Peter and Andrew to follow him and become fishers of men. Then, they see James and John who are also called. At this time, Matthew records:
So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Matthew 4:24-25
Jesus then preaches the Sermon on the Mount which is found in chapters 5-7. In chapter 8, they see Jesus heal a leper who is to show himself to the temple priests to be welcomed back into the congregational fold. Then, they see the faith of the centurion. They see Jesus heal Peter’s mother-in-law. They see Jesus calm a storm. They see the demon-oppressed set free, and a herd of pigs possessed by these demonic spirits rush off the cliffs of Gadarenes. They see the friends of a paralytic lower the paralytic man through a ceiling and Jesus offers forgiveness of sin and restores the man’s legs. They see a woman who had a blood disorder for years be restored by simply touching the garment of the Savior. They even see Jesus raise the dead!
Then, Jesus does something even more remarkable. He commissions the 12 to go throughout the towns and do the very same miracles! They are empowered to heal the sick, drive out demons, and restore the lame. All the while they are to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven. Last, in chapter 14, they see Jesus feed 5,000 men (plus women and children) with the simple lunch of a small boy—even gathering 12 baskets of leftovers.
Now, as we survey all that Matthew has shown us so far, and compare it to this short passage, we can see the crowds may not understand everything, but they certainly understand the most important thing:
Jesus has demonstrated his ability to restore humanity through the numerous miracles, healings, and power over the demonic forces in the earth.
Regardless whether they recognize him as the Messiah promised by God in the Old Testament, they at least know this is the guy who can heal and restore. Even more, their recognition causes them to glorify the God of Israel.
Earlier in the chapter, we saw a Canaanite woman come to Jesus for her daughter’s healing. Now, all of Syria has heard about this Jesus, and they have come to be healed, also. This woman who was unworthy to be in the presence of Jesus has stirred up a revival in her Gentile lands. Her faith has affected others and catalyzed the Gentiles toward faith in the God of Israel. This little detail in Matthew that we may overlook if we read too quickly brings up an important principle for church ministry:
Revivals can begin in even the most unlikely places as long as we are open to God’s work in the hearts of those the religious have dismissed.
If we were able to ask any of those first century Jews whether they believed any of the Syrians would have turned their hearts toward the God of Israel, I can almost guarantee every single one of them would have said, “No way!” Syria is a region filled with every notable, and notorious, city of the Old Testament that wanted to either eradicate Israel, worship false deities, and every immorality a person wouldn’t want to think of.
Even still, we a large crowd coming out of this land in order to seek Christ for healing and restoration, and they glorify the God of Israel.
And yet, the disciples still seem to marvel alongside the crowds in doubt and disbelief.
The Feeding of 4,000 | Matthew 15:32-39
Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” And Jesus said to them, “how many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And thy all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
Matthew 15:32-39
If this part of the story sounds familiar, it is because it is the same scenario we saw a couple of chapters ago. The crowds have been with Jesus for some time, but they don’t have enough to eat. The disciples do not believe they can feed such a large group, but Jesus instructs them to feed the crowds anyway. This time the disciples find seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. Once again, Jesus gives thanks to God for the provision and gives the food to the disciples to distribute. And once again, the crowds eat and are filled.
This time, however, when the disciples take up the leftovers, they find seven baskets of food left over. The significance of seven is simply 7 being the number of perfection—the combination of the heavenly number 3 and the earthly number 4. Perhaps this second feeding will complete the faith of the disciples, or perhaps the location of these feedings give us a clue. The 5,000 were fed in Bethsaida which is located within the Jewish region of Israel. Here, Jesus feeds 4,000 in the area of Gerasenes which is a Gentile area. Though Jesus was meant to first go to the Israelites, his mission is meant to expand to the Gentile nations. These two feedings demonstrate the promise made to Abraham way back in Genesis.
God promised Abraham would be the father of many nations—a promise fulfilled through his sons Isaac and Ishmael.
God promised Abraham’s son would carry a blessing for all nations—a promise fulfilled in Christ.
These two feedings show how Jesus is meant to provide salvation to both Jews and Gentiles in that both groups receive bread from heaven.
While the fulfillment of that promise is still chapters away in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, we can already see the foreshadowing of that promise. Canaanites, Geresenes, and even wider Syrians have taken a front row seat alongside the disciples to receive heavenly bread and restoration from Jesus Christ.
After they eat, Jesus sends them back home in order to tell the story of what they’ve seen. These first encounters with Jesus will set the stage for after the resurrection when the disciples will be commissioned to go out into the whole world proclaiming the Good News, making disciples.
And this Great Commission has continued down the generations to us, today. We are the stewards of this message. It is our turn to give bread to the crowds, to offer hope and healing, and to tell the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven.