DAY #25: January 25, 2009 - Matthew15:21-16:4

Happy Sunday. I am praying that God will speak to you in a mighty way in our worship service. Today this passage starts by telling of a woman who comes to Jesus. This woman had heard about Jesus’ miracle-working power and how he could cast out demons, so she wasn’t going to miss a chance to see him. The woman called Jesus Lord, Son of David, showing her acceptance of Jesus’ identity as the Jewish Messiah. She may have been a Greek convert. Sometimes Gentiles would convert to Judaism, attracted by its strong moral qualities. This woman came to Jesus on behalf of her daughter, who was tormented by a demon. The woman continued to follow after them, and she continued to shout. (you have to appreciate the persistence) Finally, the disciples urged Jesus to tell her to leave. Jesus, always compassionate, would heal the woman’s daughter, but not just to make her stop following them. He had a lesson about faith that he needed to teach this woman. In so doing, he would teach the disciples a lesson as well.

Jesus told the woman that Jews were to have the first opportunity to accept him as the Messiah because God wanted them to present the message of salvation to the rest of the world (see Genesis 12:3). Undaunted by Jesus’ apparent unwillingness to respond to her request, the woman came and worshiped him, pleading for help. Jesus’ answer comes in the language of a parable; therefore, we must not press the details too far. The simple parable meant that the children at the table should be fed before the pets; it would not be right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs. By these words, Jesus may have meant that his first priority was to spend time feeding his children (teaching his disciples), not to take food away from them and throw it to the pets (just anyone). Jesus was not insulting the woman; instead, he was saying that she must not demand what God had ordained for the Jews. She should wait until God’s appointed time—when the Gentiles would receive the Good News of the gospel.

This Gentile woman understood Jesus’ parable. Her answer was wise, for she explained to Jesus, by extending his parable, that children often drop morsels of food to their dogs. Not all the Jews accepted Jesus, while some Gentiles chose to follow him. Why couldn’t she have some of those crumbs that the Jews didn’t want? She adroitly pointed out that even dogs ate with (not after) the children. She did not ask for the entire meal; she was perfectly willing to take second place behind the Jews. All she wanted right then was a few crumbs—or one “crumb” in particular—one miracle of healing for her daughter. Jesus was greatly encouraged by the faith of the woman. He granted her request because of her humility and persistence. She had made her request in faith that Jesus could perform the healing. She understood Christ’s lordship, and she understood the priorities of his mission. No wonder Jesus exclaimed, “Your faith is great.” On that basis, Jesus healed the woman’s daughter.

We then see a vast crowd had surrounded Jesus. They wanted to be healed, and he healed them all. The phrase and they praised the God of Israel indicates that this was a Gentile crowd. Matthew was showing his Jewish readers that the Gentiles would share with the Jews in the blessings of their Messiah. While Jesus came to the lost sheep of Israel, He did not restrict his ministry to the Jews alone.
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This next story sounds very much like the feeding of the five thousand recorded in 14:13-21, but it is a separate event. In this episode, the crowd had been following Jesus for three days, listening to his teaching and observing his miracles. Jesus took the initiative in His concern for their need for food, and he shared his concern with the disciples. The wording probably does not mean that the people hadn’t eaten for three days. Instead, whatever supplies they had brought along were depleted; so most of them had nothing left to eat. Thus, Jesus was concerned not to send them away hungry.

Although the disciples had already seen Jesus feed over five thousand people, they had no idea what He would do in this situation, and wondered where they would get enough food for everyone. Perhaps they didn’t expect Jesus to perform the same miracle when the crowd was Gentile and not Jewish (thus revealing their spiritual blindness). Jesus had already found the resources in a previous remote place for an even larger crowd, yet the disciples were completely perplexed as to how they should be expected to feed this crowd. People often give up when faced with difficult situations. Like the disciples, we often forget God’s provision for us in the past. When facing a difficult situation, remember what God has done for you and trust him to take care of you again. That is what we are exhorted, over and over throughout the bible to REMEMBER.

In the Bible, the number seven often signifies perfection or completeness, as in the seven days of creation (Genesis 1) and offering forgiveness seven times (Matthew 18:21). Thus, in this passage some have seen the number seven to have symbolic significance. It may hint at the worldwide scope of Jesus’ message. Jesus took the seven loaves and the fish and thanked God for the provision he was about to give. Next Jesus broke apart the loaves and had the disciples pass them out as before. As had happened before, each person in the crowd ate and was filled. No one went away hungry from this banquet. The seven loaves and few fish multiplied so that, again, even the leftovers were more than the food Jesus had started with. As before, the number of those who ate, four thousand men, meant that there were four thousand men in addition to all the women and children who were there.

Once Jesus knew the people had eaten their fill and would not faint from hunger on their journey home, he sent the people home. Jesus and the disciples crossed over to the region of Magadan (also called Dalmanutha), a town located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Magadan was Mary Magdalene’s hometown (Luke 8:2-3). This meant a return back to Jewish territory. There Jesus would face further conflict with the Pharisees and Sadducees (16:1-4).

The religious leaders weren’t going to give up in their relentless attempts to discredit Jesus before the crowds. So, upon Jesus’ return, the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus’ claims. The Pharisees and Sadducees were Jewish religious leaders of two different parties, and their views were diametrically opposed on many issues. The Pharisees carefully followed their religious rules and traditions, believing that this was the way to God. They also believed in the authority of all the books of Scripture that we now call the Old Testament and in the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees accepted only the books of Moses as Scripture and did not believe in life after death. These two groups, however, had something in common: Jesus was their enemy.

They demanded that Jesus show them a miraculous sign from heaven. From their standpoint, this test would show that Jesus was a false prophet. A miraculous sign showed a prophet’s reliability—if a prophet said something would happen and it came to pass, this would demonstrate that in all his prophecies he was telling the truth from God. A sign also authenticated the power and authority of the prophet. But Jesus would not give them the sign they demanded. He had in mind an even greater evidence of his power.

The Pharisees and Sadducees had tried to explain away Jesus’ other miracles as sleight of hand, coincidence, or use of evil power, but they believed that only God could do a sign from heaven. This, they were sure, would be a feat beyond Jesus’ power. Although Jesus could have easily impressed them, he refused. He knew that even a miracle in the sky would not convince them that he was the Messiah because they had already decided not to believe in him. So, instead, he spoke to them in a parable. Jesus’ meaning was that while these leaders could discern the signs of the weather by watching the sky, they could not read the obvious signs of the times. They asked for a sign from heaven; they had the ultimate sign standing in front of them! They could not interpret the coming of God’s Kingdom with the appearance of God’s Messiah. Jesus explained that a sign would come—in his timing—and that this sign would be unmistakable. By using the sign of the prophet Jonah, who had been inside a great fish for three days, Jesus was predicting his death and resurrection. Jesus’ resurrection, of course, would be the most spectacular sign of all.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

Wow Lord, everyday you provide a feast from Your word to chew on and to digest. Today is no different. Lord, Give me, give Sharon, Give our kids and give our church the faith of the Canaanite woman. Help us to pray and step out and belive BEFORE You answer. Help us to not give up as some of us are so prone to do.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9 (NIV)

Build up and mature the people of COV. Lord, give them the persistence to keep on keeping on. Lord, give them Your power to buck the trend of our valley - to be shallow and immature. Lord, out it on their hearts to be men and women of Your word and men and women of strength and women and women of faith. We need some mighty oak tress around here at COV. Build them, grow them and bring them.

PRAYER

Lord, help us not be like the dreaded Pharisees. Those dudes always needed proof. They always needed to be shown some sign or miracle. It seems like so many believers in our day need the same. They need their marriage healed first. they need their fiances healed first. They need a new job first. They need a miracle in the kids lives first. God teach all of us, we need you first. We need to follow you and out You first. Lord, move in power this morning. Help me get out of the way. Speak through me. Use Pastor Dave and the worship team in a mighty way this morning. Draw people here to hear Your message.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)