Bible Study series: Matthew 15:32-39. Jesus’s miracles had a purpose: to help people in practical ways. He did not perform them just to show off. That’s too dangerous, for deceivers, later on, could exploit people (e.g. gold dust and “angel” feathers).
A warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together. I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click on this link:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
I also comment more at that link. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 15:32-39
32 Jesus, summoning his disciples, said, “I am moved with compassion for the crowd because it is already three days that they have remained with me and they do not have anything they might eat. I do not want to dismiss them hungry, in case they faint on the road.” 33 And the disciples said to him, “Where do we get so much bread in a deserted place so that such a crowd may be satisfied?” 34 Then Jesus said to them, “How much bread do you have?” They said, “Seven loaves and a little fish.” 35 Instructing the crowd to sit on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and fish, and after giving thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples and the disciples to the crowd. 37 Then everyone ate and was satisfied. And the overflow of fragments was seven baskets full. 38 The ones who ate were four thousand men, apart from the women and children.
39 And after he dismissed the crowd, he got in a boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan. (Matt. 15:32-39)
Comments:
This is done in Gentile territory, so many scholars say that the miraculous feeding of the five thousand was done for the Jews (14:13-21), while this miraculous feeding for the four thousand (plus women and children) was done for Gentiles, though Jews were certainly in the crowd. Jesus is gradually moving outwardly from his original mission to go to the lost sheep of Israel (Matt. 10:6; 15:23). Gentile outreach, gradually.
32:
“moved with compassion”: In 14:13-21, at the feeding of the five thousand (plus women and children), Jesus was also moved with compassion (14:14). The verb could be translated as “felt compassion,” but this attribute which God shares with us cannot remain static or unexpressed. It has to be active, or else it cannot be compassion.
Do I Really Know God? He Is Compassionate and Merciful
Three days was quite a teaching session. I can see why some Christians get together at a “camp meeting” for several days. Jesus didn’t want them to faint or collapse along the road home, so he had to feed them.
“disciples”:
33:
His disciples were once again skeptical. Where would they get so much food to feed such a large crowd? They had forgotten their recent lesson of feeding five thousand (plus women and children). The children of Israel walking through the desert also forgot God’s mighty power of deliverance. He gave them manna and then wondered later on, going through a tough time, whether God would provide.
Skeptics question whether the disciples would forget such a powerful lesson—never mind that skeptics don’t even believe the multiplication of loaves and fish even happened. Would the disciples have forgotten such a stupendous miracle in such a short time? Carson: (1) The disciples may have realized the first miracle anticipated the messianic banquet, but not this one, so they were not sure Jesus even wanted to perform another miraculous feeding. (2) In John 6:26, Jesus rebuked the crowd for wanting food, so would Jesus perform another miracle seemingly on demand? (3) We all struggle with unbelief, so would the disciples expect another similar miracle? What if the first one was a one-time offer only (p. 358)?
Blomberg says that Jesus may have expected the twelve to feed the people miraculously: “Most likely the disciples think that Jesus’ remarks in v. 32 imply that they should miraculously provide food for the crowd, and they are not convinced they can do it. This makes their question much more understandable, though, in any event, Matthew does not present the disciples in a particularly positive light” (comment on 15:32-34)
But as far as I’m concerned, skeptics don’t have a voice. I have heard too many stories of soup kitchens have food multiply to doubt it. I hope soup kitchen workers pray, when a surge of homeless people unexpectedly show up. Miracles of the Bible can happen again.
34:
Jesus asked a simple question. Not everything he did was activated by the gift of the word of knowledge. He did not say, “I know already by my super-powers how many loaves and fish you have!” No. He asked. Remember his divine attribute of omniscience (all-knowing) was imported with him at his birth, but it was surrendered to his Father. His Father and himself, together, activated this attribute. Jesus did not activate this knowledge attribute by himself, but it was also operated by his Father’s will.
His disciples answered his straightforward question. Seven loaves and small fishes (plural).
35:
Jesus repeats his command when he fed the five thousand-plus. He had them sit down on the ground. This time it does not say grass, as it did in 14:19. So the season changed. It may have been the end of the summer, when the grass burned off, but we don’t know for sure.
36:
Once again, he followed his previous way. He took the bread and fish and thanked his loving Father for the food and the multiplication of it. Doing this must have appeared outlandish to those watching. “He’s actually giving thanks for this little food? Is he going to eat it front of us? Really? This is crazy!” He divided or broke the bread and divided the fish somehow without making a mess, and he gave them to the disciples who gave them to the crowd. I would have been watching carefully at the logistics. How will this work? But the bread and fish never ran out. “Wow!” I would have said. “This truly is a miracle! God is with that man!”
37:
This verse reveals the results. Everyone ate and was satisfied. And the leftovers were seven baskets full of fragments.
“overflow”: it comes from the Greek verb that means “abound” or “abundance.”
38:
“apart from”: this does not indicate that women and children ate apart from the men, but it means in this context “not counting” women and children.
One last theological point, as I noted in my comment on 14:13-21: Jesus indirectly shows himself to be the bread of heaven—indirectly because he does not announce it, as he did in John’s Gospel (6:35), after he fed the five thousand (6:1-14). This refers to the manna from heaven that fed the ancient Israelites going through the wilderness (Exod. 16). Jesus is our bread of heaven. He is our sustenance.
39:
Then he goes off in a boat to another place called Magadan, a vicinity which has not been pinpointed on a map. It may be associated with Magdala on the west coast of the Lake of Galilee, not far from Tiberius (Osborne, p. 609). But maybe by now someone has found it exactly. Google it.
My focus is on Jesus’s ministry. He keeps going and going. He loves people.
A final theological note. Jesus “imported” his omnipotence with him, when he was a baby—yes, even when he was a baby. He did not lose his divine attributes or lay them aside. However, all his divine attributes were surrendered to the Father. As he grew, he became aware of his mission and aware of his attributes. So did he work this miracle by his omnipotence or by the power of the Spirit?
Three options:
(1). He worked this multiplication miracle by his divine omnipotence and the will of the Father.
(2). He worked this miracle by the power of the Spirit and the will of the Father.
(3). He worked this miracle by his omnipotence, the power of the Spirit, and the will of the Father.
The dominant Scriptural testimony of his ministry is the second option (Acts 10:38), but I also like the third one. If it is the second option, then it opens the door for his followers today to work the same miracle by the will of the Father. Too many stories circulate about soup kitchens receiving a supply of food until the last homeless guy is fed.
One thing is certain: the will of the Father is the constant factor. No miracle is done without him.
And I note that he worked this miracle without the faith of the people or the disciples, but he certainly had faith. It carried all of the four thousand men plus women and men and the twelve disciples. He also had compassion on them. So his faithfulness (connected to faith) and his compassion led to the miracle.
Faith has to be present somewhere, even if it comes directly from the Father to one small child.
It is further interesting that he did not pray for them to receive supernatural strength to walk home without fainting or collapsing along the road. He fed them. God works miracles, true, but he also recognizes the human conditions and limitations. They may not have had faith to sustain their journey back home. They needed to be fed. It was a fitting solution to a long and happy three days of teaching and healing. They ate and were satisfied.
Why two miraculous feedings? Jesus was like Moses who had two miraculous feedings (Exod. 16; Num. 11), and so did Elisha 2 Kings 4:1-7, 38-44). See also Elijah in 1 Kings 17:8-16 (Turner, p. 393).
To avoid satanic miracles and to distinguish them from God’s miracles, please go here:
God’s Signs and Wonders versus Satan’s Signs and Wonders
Also go here:
What Are Signs and Wonders and Miracles?
GrowApp for Matt. 15:32-39
1. Jesus once again provided for people practical things, like their daily bread. How has God provided for you? Tell your story.
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1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES AND MORE
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom. You will also find a “Summary and Conclusion” for discipleship.
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