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The 8th Sunday in Trinity
The Feeding of the 4000
July 26, 2009

TEXT:   (Matthew 15:30-39 NKJ) Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them. 31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. 32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." 33 Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?" 34  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish." 35 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. 37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.
Background of the Lesson
This miraculous feeding takes place after the feeding of the 5000—yet the disciples do not remind Jesus of the previous miracle—the account of this miracle is found in two places in Scripture—in the Gospel of Mark, and in Matthew’s Gospel—we will consider Matthew’s account today—but we will begin with the Old Testament as our foundation of learning—the Old Testament was Jesus’ Bible—and He taught from that Bible throughout His three year ministry—Jesus began this teaching immediately after His baptism and 40 day temptation by the devil in the wilderness—remember, Jesus entered the synagogue in Nazareth, He read the scroll of Isaiah and said I am the fulfillment of this prophecy
 
Jesus Brings His Ministry to Nazareth
(Luke 4:17-21 NKJ) And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
 
Jesus follows this reading and statement with an example of a miracle feeding from the Old Testament—the example of the Prophet Elijah and the starving widow and her son in a land of famine—Jesus used miracles to gather curious crowds so they could hear the Word of God
 
 (Luke 4:23-26 NKJ)  He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me,`Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'" 24 Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 "But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 "but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.
 
Elijah told Israel’s King Ahab that not only would there be no rain upon his land, but there would not even be dew upon the plants—there would be nothing but draught and famine—there are two miracle feedings presented in the account of Elijah—first the Lord led Elijah beside a brook and fed the prophet by sending ravens
 
 
The Story of Elijah and the Associated Miracles
 
(1 Kings 17:3-6 NKJ) "Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 4 "And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." 5 So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
 
When the brook dried up God sent Elijah to a starving widow and her son—and there we have another example of a miracle feeding—Jesus listed this miracle feeding among the examples He gave the people in that synagogue in Nazareth that Sabbath Day when He read the scroll and declared Himself to be the Christ promised
 
Of course Jesus is reminding those in attendance in the synagogue that God gave them the example of Elijah to strengthen their faith—the congregation of the synagogue is made up of Jews—the Old Testament stories have been passed down from generation to generation for centuries—how the Lord saved His people by the plague of the Passover—how the Red Sea was parted—how God sent manna from heaven everyday to provide for His people—the enemies that God destroyed by His miracles—and in this particular instance, Jesus reminds them of the miracle feeding of Elijah—we all need food to sustain our existence in this world—but we must never forget that we also live by the Word of God—that is our spiritual nourishment
 
Nazareth Rejects the Son of God
 
These people in the synagogue do not recognize the Son of God—even though He revealed Himself in Scripture—perhaps an example of the Old Testament miracle feedings might be recalled—every trained Jew would be familiar with this story of Elijah and the widow—it is a story of faith
 
(1 Kings 17:7-16 NKJ) And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you." 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink." 11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."
 
12 So she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." 13 And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 "For thus says the LORD God of Israel:`The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.'" 15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.
 
After this miracle example of God providing food for His people (Elijah, the widow, and the widow’s son)—God provides the healing of the widow’s son—now in Scripture, miracles are provided for a purpose—God provided the example of the widow’s survival and faith to bring attention to His power—ability—and willingness to provide for His people—another Old Testament example coupling the miracle of healing and the miracle of feeding—comes soon after Elijah is taken up to heaven—Elisha continued the work of God—he is known as “man of God”—he befriends a woman whose husband is old—she feeds Elisha as he passes by her house and over a period of time she approaches her husband to help her provide a place for Elisha to rest in their home—she prepares a room for Elisha—Elisha promises her that she will have a son within the next year—the son comes but dies while a child—Elisha restores life to the boy—after all this is recorded in the Scriptures, Elisha performs a miracle feeding
 
(2 Kings 4:42-44 NKJ) Then a man came from Baal Shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack. And he said, "Give it to the people, that they may eat." 43 But his servant said, "What? Shall I set this before one hundred men?" He said again, "Give it to the people, that they may eat; for thus says the LORD:`They shall eat and have some left over.'" 44 So he set it before them; and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.
 
In the New Testament, the feeding of the 4000 is no different for God’s children—we remember and repeat this story often—there is hardly a child in Sunday school that is not familiar with the miracle feedings of the 4000 and of the 5000—the stories demand our attention—they reveal Christ’s compassion and love for man—they remind us that we need two kinds of food while in this world—physical food to nourish our bodies—and spiritual food to nourish our souls
 
Now let us begin with a look at the circumstances of the great feeding—this miracle feeding of 4000 men came after the feeding of the 5000—the feeding of the 5000 was mostly a crowd of Jews that Jesus was teaching—the 4,000 were mainly Gentiles and Jesus did not teach them with words—He healed everyone they brought to Him—and this made them understand that the God of Israel is the true God—the healings attracted attention so the Word could be heard—every full-bellied attendee walked away knowing Jesus is Lord—who else could do such great miracles—if we study the accounts we find that the feeding of the 5000 teaches us that Jesus is the Bread of Life—the feeding of the 4000 teaches us that the Lord provides for our needs
 
It has been 3 days that the crowd is following and listening so intently to Jesus—and it is Jesus Himself who brings up the concern for the people’s welfare—today it would be difficult to find people who have the attention span to endure three days of God’s Word—an hour is sometimes too long—the crowd was there to witness healing—and to listen to Jesus speak—they had never heard any man speak like this—no one in all of history spoke with such authority and confidence concerning spiritual things and the things of God—truly this man was special—Jesus healed all who were brought to Him for three days—and now He has compassion on those who stand before Him—notice they do not cry out for food—Jesus knows they need it—that’s the way it is with God—He knows our needs before we ask for anything
 
If ever we have an example of those seeking first the Kingdom of God—it is this crowd of people following Jesus for 3 days without food—it is easy to understand the hunger they must have had for food—but more so they must have had a hunger for spiritual food—they lived among God’s children—but apparently the priests—rabbis—Pharisees—scribes—must have all been too busy to teach them the things of God—they may not have told these Gentiles about the Son of God—or they may have been waiting for a Savior that met their specifications instead of God’s
 
Every time we eat or drink—God wants us to be reminded that we are His and that He provides for us and sustains us—we must not worry about food—drink—clothing—or any other need in this world—God provides for our needs—we need only seek Him and tell others how to find Him—everything else is provided for our journey we call life
 
(Matthew 6:31-33 NKJ) "Therefore do not worry, saying,`What shall we eat?' or`What shall we drink?' or`What shall we wear?' 32 "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
 
God provides for our physical needs—and God provides for our spiritual needs
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!