Last week we looked at a very strange passage; the feeding of the four thousand (Matt 15:29-39). The reason it’s strange is because it comes less than a chapter after the feeding the five thousand (Matt 14:13-21). So why does Matthew recount 2 almost identical miracles in less than a chapter? As a preacher I thought about skipping this repeat in our sermon series. SO GLAD I DIDN’T!
The reason Matthew includes a second feeding miracle is because of the ONE BIG difference to the first; who Jesus is feeding. In Matthew 15:21 Jesus leaves Israelite territory, where he is met by a Canaanite woman who begs for Jesus’ help. Although Jesus initially refuses her request, due to his mission being to the Jews only, she shows saving faith in acknowledging (i) her unworthiness for Jesus’ help, but (ii) her belief that even a ‘crumb’ from Jesus is more than enough. Jesus gives her that crumb.
The point of the feeding of the four thousand is to show that Jesus doesn’t just throw crumbs to Gentiles. The 7 basketfuls of left-overs shows that when the Jews AND the Gentiles have had our fill of God’s goodness, there is still an abundance left.
Yet this passage does NOT tell us to just enjoy God’s ‘stuff’ (e.g. food, healings, teaching). When the Gentiles saw the goodness Jesus was dispensing, they ‘praised the God of Israel’ (v. 31). They were expressing their inner delight in the manifold goodness of God.
While Christians are to enjoy the blessings God gives us (i.e. his ‘stuff’, such as food, drink, work, love, children, entertainment, etc), the meaning of life is to enjoy God himself. So let us meditate on things like God’s love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, forgiveness, power, beauty, grace, etc – and make sure we’re living according to the meaning of life.
