NOTES for Mat 15:29-37
29 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. |
30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: |
31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel. |
32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. |
33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? |
34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. |
35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. |
36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. |
37 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. |
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The many healings the Lord performs become something like an illustration of Isaiah's prophecy: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute shall sing" (Isa. 35:5-6). We see the fulfillment of what the prophet says; we see Christ overcoming terrible diseases, incurable as we understand them. But the Lord does this not only to show that He came to embody what the prophets spoke of. He heals the sick because He loves each person brought to Him. In His eyes, the life of each of us is precious. We see that the Lord does not merely give; the Lord gives in abundance. He not only accomplishes everything the prophets spoke of, He not only heals the sick, He also makes sure that all these people are fed. He is concerned that the difficult trip back will drain their strength and rob them of the joy of healing. And He is not stopped by the fact that the disciples have only the smallest amount with them. And so, by God's mercy, the whole crowd of four thousand is fed, and quite a lot is left over.
We too cannot offer God very much; sometimes we have almost nothing at all, and each of us is immeasurably small beside the Lord. Then we become ashamed - truly, what can we give You, Lord? But the Lord shows us how our smallness can become a source of food and help for our brothers and sisters. Only this will no longer be our strength or our power; it will be the strength of His love, His mercy, and His Spirit.
Readings for 3 December 2025
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