May 12, 2024
Matthew 15:29–39

Title: Jesus’ Gentile Ministry Begins With The Dull Disciples.

Jesus Heals Many (15:29–31)

29 Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 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, 31 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.

• Jesus is continuing to heal the mute. They are now speaking, the crippled are being straightened, the lame walking, and the blind are seeing. “Jesus heals everyone who comes up the mountain to him. He goes out of his way to heal those who go out of their way to get to him.” (Bruner, 107; Underline added.)
• Who are the people of this part of the passage?
  • We have hints through the section to point us to the answer.
  • First, who were the people in the previous context? >>
    • Gentile but Jesus moved.
    • Is it possible that some of these people followed after Jesus? Yes but this would not be convincing to me.
  • I start to lean yeas because of the last sentence in v 31: “And they glorified the God of Israel.”
  • We will return to the audience—with the text—in a bit.

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand (15:32–39)

32 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.” 33 And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?”

• This time, Jesus has compassion regarding the physical needs of the crowds; last feeding of the 5000 was it was the Disciples who took the initiative.
  • Three days with Jesus total and no food. This speaks to commitment of the crowd to Jesus teaching and healing ministry.
• But that is not the WOW! part.
  • Look at verse 33 again, And the disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?”
  • What!? This verse seems out of place.¹ >>
  • “The disciples’ question (v. 33) amazes the reader, since Jesus had recently fed 5,000 men, plus women and children.” (Constable)
    APPLICATION - Morgan said it well, “How often [do our past] deliverances seem to have no power to deliver us from present anxiety.”[1228, Morgan, An Exposition …, p. 416]
  • How many times has God delivered us yet we are filled with doubt?
  • Sand noted a very interesting application point that we should be thinking about. I softened it a bit. Sand mostly wrote, “In the logic of the Gospel it appears that there [may be (instead of)] is some kind of intimate connection between healing people and feeding them” (A. Sand, Matthäus (1986), p 318). (Bruner, 106)
  • This is something the Church should consider.

Read vv 34-39
34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 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. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 38 Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

• We have another clue that Jesus expanded His ministry to the Gentiles in this paragraph.
• Many have keyed in on the different Greek terms for the English “basket” when comparing Matthew 14 and 15.⁴ The Matthew 14 “basket” in the Greek coffee-nos and was used for Jewish baskets. Whereas in Matthew 15 “basket” in the Greek is sfoo-reece and was used for Gentile baskets.² The difference may have been needed to make sure the Jewish food was not carried in Gentile baskets. This detail seems very significant. >>
• There may be “some significance” in the baskets collected. “However, this symbolism is highly questionable …” (Constable)
• The feeding here of the 4000 has a common event: As in the feeding of the 5000 men, everyone in this “crowd ate and was satisfied.” >>
• This crowd most likely numbered between 8,000 and 15,000 people. (cf. Constable; et al.)
• If Jesus’ previous teaching with the symbolic children and the dogs of the Master earlier merely reveals the “priority in feeding,” then it becomes difficult to not conclude that here Matthew is explaining that kingdom blessing for the Gentiles is now beginning.[1231, Carson, “Matthew,” p. 357]
• With the Greek term for “basket” here, I stand convinced: The kingdom has now come to the Gentile masses.

APPLICATIONS

• Bruner keyed in on the idea of Jesus asking for “an inventory” in reaching out in His ministry to the crowd. Bruner keyed in on this inventory as being a “lesson for the church facing today’s crises.” We need to ask ourselves, “What do we have here in hand, however slight, that we can offer to our Lord for the service of the world?” (Bruner, 109)
  • What can the people of CrossPoint do?
  • How can we reach people?
  • What are you doing to reach people for the Lord?
• “One purpose for the almost back-to-back Feedings (of Matt 14 and 15),” is to highlight the sluggish and dull Disciples. Jesus miraculously meets a human crisis in Matthew 14. "Time passes. Then an almost identical need arises in Matthew 15, and the Disciples “seem to have forgotten everything” they just learned. >> (Bruner, 109)
  • This is a staple of the Christian experience: Christians are stubbornly forgetful of the the things they once knew. (cr. Bruner 109)
  • Collectively, we are no better off either. Denominations forget the Word also.

What can we do as people and as a church?

• Learn to study the Bible.
  • Traina’s book Methodical Bible Study.
• Take the time to study the Bible.
  • Stay in the word.
  • Prioritize the word.
• Commit to application of the word.
  • Illustration: Cynicism
  • Illustration: - five people, three occasions, made up of three men and two women in a sister, conservative church >>
    • Women teaching in co-ed situations and women preachers.
    • Beth Moore
    • Co-authored books
    • 1 Corinthians 14:33b-35, As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
    • 1 Timothy 2:11-14, Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
• Our flesh is directly opposed to us applying the Word of God.
• It’s tendencies?
  • FORGET, IGNORE, OR DIMINISH
• Apply the word of God!

Works Cited

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, there may be numbered notes that are URL linked; these are usually retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and I usually include other citation information from Constable as well (e.g. authors’ names).

Other Works Cited

Note: All of the resources below were cited in at least one of the sermons in the Book of Matthew but not necessarily this one.

Augsburger, David. Dissident Discipleship. Brazos Press, 2006.

Barclay, William. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible. Westminster Press, 1955-1960. Sourced digitally from studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dsb.html.

Blomberg, Craig L. Matthew. New American Commentary, vol. 22, ed. David S. Dockery, et al., Broadman Press, 1992. May be sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/matthew0000blom

________. Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation. Baker Academic, 2004. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/preachingparable0000blom/page/82/mode/1up)

Bruce, Alexander Balmain. The Training of the Twelve. Ed., A.C. Armstrong and Son, reprint 1984, Kregel Publications, 1971 edition.

Bruner, Frederick Dale. Matthew: A Commentary. Vol. 2: The Churchbook Matthew 13-28, rev. and expand. ed., William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004.

Carson, D. A. “Matthew.” The Expositors Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, Ed. et al., Zondervan, 1984.

_______. The Sermon on the Mount : an Evangelical of Matthew 5-7 Exposition. 1978, Baker Book House, fifth printing, 1989. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/sermononmounteva0000cars/page/54/mode/1up

_______. When Jesus confronts the world : an exposition of Matthew 8-10. Originally published by Inter-Varsity Press in 1988, Paternoster, 1995. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/whenjesusconfron0000cars/page/n3/mode/1up

Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Our Daily Bread Publishing, web ver.

France, R. T. The Gospel According to Matthew. Gen. Ed. Leon Morris, W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1985.

_______. The Gospel of Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000fran/page/n6/mode/1up

Gibson, J. Monro. “St. Matthew.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary. William R. Nicoll, Editor. Sourced from Bible Portal. Click here for a list of the authors of the EBC.

Harrington, Daniel J . The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 1, A Michael Glazier Book, Liturgical Press (publ.), 1991. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000harr/mode/1up

Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. Baker Book House, 1984.

Henry, Matthew. Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete).
Six vol., originally written in 1706. Sourced from biblestudytools.com et al.

McGee, J. Vernon. Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee. Thru the Bible Commentary (Series), Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1991.

Phillips, John. Exploring the Gospels: John. Loizeaux Brothers, 1988.

Plumptre, E. H. “Matthew.” Commentary for English Readers, Charles John Ellicott, Compiler/Editor, Lord Bishop of Gloucester Cassell and Company, Limited, 1905. Sourced from BiblePortal.com. Click here for a list of the authors of the CER.

Robinson, Monte. The Way of Discipleship. Independently published, 2021. Web, aimdiscipleship.org/book.html, accessed Oct 2023.

Wiersbe, Warren. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. 2 Volumes, David C. Cook, 2007.

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Zondervan, 1995.

Notes

Notes from above may not be in numerical order.

¹ France seemed to give the disciples an out but I don’t see it when he wrote: “It is also remarkable that after their previous experience they still seem to think only in terms of regular sources of supply (unless they’re we is emphatic, to indicate their own helplessness and to leave the way open for Jesus to make provision again parentheses.” (France, 249)

² See Wiersbe, 46; France, 249; Utley; Rawlinson in Constable; et al.). Monte’s phonic spelling used here.

³ Constable wrote: “See also Michael W. Andrews, “The Sign of Jonah: Jesus in the Heart of the Earth,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 61:1 (March 2018):105-19.”

⁴ Kophinos in 14 and spyris in 15