Culver Community Church
Pastor Chris Sweeney
Sermon Notes
June 18, 2018
Matthew 15:29 – 39 Compassion for the Gentiles
{vs. 29} Mark’s gospel tells us in 7:31“Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis.” Decapolis is a Greek word that means “ten cities”. The region of Decapolis was rather long and broad, extending from the south end of the Sea of Galilee toward the Dead Sea, almost to Jericho. Decapolis contained nine cities on the east side of the Jordan and only one on the west side. They were free Greek cities, independent of the local tetrarchy, and answerable directly to the governor of Syria. They struck their own coinage, paid imperial taxes to Rome and were subject to military service. These cities were little Gentile suburbs cut out from the middle of the Jewish territory.
Jesus “went up on a mountainside and sat down” – why do you think that Jesus did this? Remember that the ‘teaching position’ of that day was to be seated – Jesus, did what was customary and sat down to teach the disciples and the crowds that were about to come to Him! This was His mode of operation everywhere He went – He walked, taught and did miracles and in this pointed to the Kingdom and glorified God!
{vs. 30-31} We saw the Lord cast out the demon(s) from the Canaanite woman’s possessed (severely possessed) daughter and Mark’s gospel (7:31-37) recounts the remarkable healing of a man who was deaf and could hardly speak. Even though the Lord commanded them not to tell anyone – they did so all the more, drawing great crowds to Jesus! Notice the reaction and emphasis from Mark’s account “People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."” (Mark 7:37 NIV)
The people were truly amazed but the focus is obviously on the doing - - - the miracles! They were completely astonished and said "He has done everything well" or He did it all perfectly. Everyone who came was totally healed and whole, none were missed, and every healing was fully complete! Every type of healing: blind, deaf, mute, crippled and lame. Why both crippled and lame you may ask – aren’t they the same? The Greek word for crippled here is specifically for those with who have more than lost the use of their parts, they may be maimed, mutilated or completely missing! So we see that more than fixing broken parts – Jesus was giving out new limbs! The result of this is noted in verse 31: "they praised the God of Israel." You see, it wasn't their god. In chapter 9 verse 8, it says that they (the Jews) marveled and glorified God but here it is “the God of Israel”, because it wasn't one of their gods, which reinforces that these were Gentiles. They knew God was in their presence. There was no other explanation for this degree of miraculous power! We have grown accustomed to these stories of healing – but this was unheard of! No traveling snake oil salesman, charlatan or spiritualist had ever healed (or pretended to) heal to this degree! Do you remember a few weeks ago when we saw them start a healing assembly line – walking by and touching the edge of Jesus’ robes? Here, the people “laid them at His feet” but the Greek word for laid is used for dropped or thrown down indicating with haste or lack of care! Since Jesus was healing every need anyway, there is no need to be gentle!
As we noted last time, the Gentiles were ready for a visitation from God; they were not burdened by twisted laws and traditions. In fact, whatever they knew about gods (little g) was idolatry and pagan worship. Where the Jewish leaders had rejected Jesus and said “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” these ‘heathen’ worshipped the God that they had never known (the only true God)! Jesus “came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.” (John 1:11 NAS)
{vs. 32} These people have been hanging with Jesus for three days – and no one is heading home! When it gets dark, they lay down and go to sleep. When it gets light out they roll over and look for Jesus. Day after day, for at least this short time Jesus is the focus of their life. He has been teaching, healing, doing miracles and they are giving God the glory and worshipping or ‘having church’! Finally, things are winding down and those who have come have used up whatever provisions, sack lunches etc. that they had brought. At this point Jesus could have sent them away, letting them fend for themselves after all they’re not His people (Lie! Everyone is Jesus’ person, not just the Jews!). Jesus has already gone above and beyond for them – remember He was sent to the Children of Israel (to the Jew first and then to the Gentiles). But God’s concern does not stop at good enough (praise God)! He did not leave them half healed or half taught – they got all that they needed, all that they could handle and Jesus cared even for their empty stomachs!
Jesus had in mind to do one more amazing miracle for them. Perhaps it was for His sense of equity – He had fed the Jewish multitudes, heaven forbid we get the idea that God plays favorites! More than that however, the miracle He was about to do would serve as a refresher for the disciples!
{vs. 33-34} This is where those of us in the ‘cheap seats’ begin to say things like “I can’t believe they said that” or “How could they have forgotten the feeding of the five thousand?” We look at this and say “It was only last chapter!” but we must remember that time has past, it may be weeks or months later now and the circumstances are different. Maybe they thought that was a miracle for the home crowd and here they are playing an “away game”? Maybe, they thought that Jesus would not do that miracle again after the Jews tried to take Him by force and make Him King (resulting in Jesus giving them that hard teaching, sending them away). Or maybe just like us, they were focused on the moment and the problem and not on God and what He has done and what He can do! This is one of the reasons that I recommend journaling what God has done in your life. This is why God told the Israelites to make monuments and record the great things that He did for them. When we recount the victories, the loving care and concern (like what we see in today’s text) our faith is strengthened! The same God, who healed and fed those crowds, never changes and He is ready to supply all of our needs today! If God has brought you out of trying times, then keep that fresh in your mind! Use it as a primer for praise during prayer and devotion. Remember that you serve a God who delivers as you step out on the water or as you face the fiery furnace! For homework, open Psalm one hundred and thirty-six and see what this kind of recitation can do for your confidence and faith!
Anyway . . . so the disciples don’t know where to get enough to feed this crowd. Some have given them the benefit of the doubt, saying they were putting it back in Jesus’ lap but come on now – we know them too well (we know ourselves too well) to believe that. Jesus, asks them to take inventory – what do you have? Remember the lesson – even a little is plenty, when we give it to Jesus!
{vs. 35-36} This time Jesus tells the crowds directly to sit down, instead of having the disciples organize, group by numbers and seat them. As before, Jesus takes what is available from our hands and gives thanks (as He always did before eating) and the same miracle of multiplication happens in His hands as He is breaking the food! Interestingly, the verb tense for ‘gave them’ is in the infinitive – He gave and kept on giving! That is who Jesus is for us – the one who gives, and keeps on giving until every need is satisfied! Just as He completely healed everyone who was brought and thrown at His feet, He fed everyone present until they were completely, totally satisfied (as verse 37 tells us)!
{vs. 37-38} Now at first glance, this might seem like a downgrade from the last time – only seven basketfuls left over? However, as usual if we dig deeper we find true treasures! The word here for basket is not the same as the one from the last chapter! Last time, the disciples each got a lunch sized wicker basket (by the way, the type used by the Jews), a basket full of bread and fish. However, this time we see a Greek basket used, we would say a hamper – the same type of basket used to lower Paul out of Damascus! God always meets our needs and He does so in a way that we can relate to: Jewish baskets for the Jews and Gentile baskets for the Gentiles!
{vs. 39} At this, Jesus moves on and we are left with these lessons. God/Jesus desire to minister to all who will come! His supply is more than enough to completely satisfy our every need. The proper response is to glorify and worship God. We must remember what God has done in our lives (faith builders) and trust that whatever we have to give is more than enough in His hands also!