Bodily Resurrection - The Greatest Sign of Heaven

“I Have Compassion on the Crowd”

(Matthew 15:29-16:12, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, Nov. 18, 2007)

Matthew 15:29-16:12 ²⁹ Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. ³⁰ And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, ³¹ so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel. ³² Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." ³³ And the disciples said to him, "Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?" ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish." ³⁵ And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, ³⁶ he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ³⁸ Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. ³⁹ And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan. ^16:1 And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ² He answered them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' ³ And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. ⁴ An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." So he left them and departed. ⁵ When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶ Jesus said to them, "Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." ⁷ And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, "We brought no bread." ⁸ But Jesus, aware of this, said, "O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? ⁹ Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? ¹⁰ Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? ¹¹ How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." ¹² Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Introduction – Magic vs. Miracle

Magic is “the art of producing illusions as entertainment by the use of sleight of hand, deceptive devices, etc.” A miracle is different. It is “an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.” The goal of magic may be to create the illusion of a miracle. A real miracle does not require any smoke, mirrors, distracting movements, or loud noises. This is now the second time in Matthew’s gospel where we have read about the miracle of the feeding of thousands of people with only a few loaves and fish. It is done in such a quiet way that is not even clear whether the people in the crowd would have noticed anything unusual, but the disciples certainly knew what they started with, and how many baskets they had in the end. Still, it was very hard for them to let the message of the miracle sink in.

As if once was not enough (29-39)

Last time this had happened Jesus seemed to be with Jews, but the evidence here and in other gospels suggests that this time they were in Gentile territory. Whoever the crowds were, they had been with the Lord for three days. The people came for healing from their physical troubles. Verse 30 says they “put them at his feet.” They were blind, lame, and mute. We are simply told that “he healed them.” Many who were there that day were observers and friends of those who needed help. It says that they all “glorified the God of Israel,” which is a wonderful report.

Jesus had compassion on the sick, but He went on to show compassion for the whole crowd of hungry people, many of whom had to be Gentiles. Remember the Gentile woman from the previous passage who said that if she could just have a crumb from the table of Jesus then her daughter would be well? She did get that crumb. Now we have more than just a few crumbs. Jesus cares about their needs. He will not send them away without food.

What is surprising is that the disciples respond with a question that shows their confusion. Jesus had recently been in a similar situation and had quietly used the disciples to distribute a small amount of food, ending up with 12 baskets of fragments. But they ask, “Where are we going to get enough bread?” This time the beginning of the supply of bread comes from the disciples. Jesus says to them in verse 34, “How many loaves do you have?” The Lord can do great works with what we have, though our supply may not seem to be enough for anything special. As before, Jesus takes the food. He first gives thanks to God. The food then goes from the Lord’s hands to the disciples and then through the disciples to the crowd. Every detail there is interesting – the role of the Lord, our thankfulness for what we have and our willingness to use it, the use of the disciples as a channel of God’s blessing, the result to the crowd, the fullness of seven baskets of fragments after everyone has eaten.

Still not enough (16:1-4)

The disciples seemed to forget the power of the Lord from the earlier similar miracle. Would twice be enough for His closest followers to see something of Him in the sign that He had accomplished? Would the repeated healings be enough for them to have confidence in His power and compassion for the weak? We know from the first four verses of the 16^th chapter that the healings and supply of food were not enough for the Pharisees and Sadducees. They come to Him requesting a sign from heaven. Perhaps they want to see something amazing in the skies rather than miracles of compassion. They are testing Him. Jesus turns this situation around. He will not submit to their test, but He notes that they have failed His test by not recognizing the signs that have already been given. They miss the signs that Isaiah spoke of – signs of the coming of the kingdom of heaven. These were miracles such as the crowds had witnessed – signs that anyone could have seen. These spiritual leaders don’t know heaven, and they miss the signs of the heavenly kingdom. They are evil and adulteress, according to the words of Jesus, because they have a heart only for earth and not for heaven.

Jesus says that the only sign that they will be given is the sign of Jonah. Jonah was an Old Testament prophet who was able to calm a stormy sea by jumping into it. God had a fish capture this prophet to bring Him back to shore. The sign that Jesus is giving is a subtle reference to is His own death, burial, and resurrection. Like Jonah he would be gone, and then He would have life again. This is the second time in Matthew’s gospel where Jesus has given this reference to Jonah. Earlier he explained it with these words in Matthew 12:40: “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” This sign of Jonah in the resurrection of the Lord is the greatest sign of heaven for those who can receive it.

What was the resurrection of Jesus? It was a far greater thing than the appearance of the spirit of someone who has died. This is surely what some thought they were seeing when they saw Jesus alive again after the cross and the grave. Jesus said to Thomas in John 20:27-28, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” And Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus Christ had risen again to physical life with an immortal body, and that was the greatest heavenly sign ever given.

Even the disciples do not understand (5-11)

Speaking of disciples like Thomas, it was not only the Pharisees and the Sadducees who seemed to lack understanding about the miracles of Jesus. It was bad enough that Jesus had to endure trouble from his enemies, but even His disciples did not understand. They may have used up all their supplies of bread on feeding the crowd. In any case they forgot to get more bread.

When Jesus mentions leaven (a yeast-like rising agent used in bread), they think that he is talking about physical bread. Of course, He is actually warning them of the great spiritual danger that they face from false teachers. The disciples need to be aware of this, but they at first miss the point entirely. Their discussions among themselves reveal that they still do not trust Jesus for their daily bread. He has compassion and power to provide for their every need. They missed the signs of heaven too, so they were worrying about the bread that they had neglected to bring.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees (12)

Jesus corrected them on this, and then they were at least able to get the point about the leaven that He was making. It was about the teaching of the scribes and the Pharisees. If you let that teaching go unchecked it will be like a bad leaven that will hurt the church. In the moments that we have left, I want to give a quick summary of what exactly was so dangerous about the teaching of the scribes and the Pharisees.

First, they had a wrong view of the Law of God. They had added so much from their own traditions that the larger issues of the Ten Commandments were often obscured. They became zealous about the outward observances of their customs, and kept these carefully, even though they found ways to rob from widows. The second problem is related. They tried to justify themselves based on their own deeds, and did not know how to relate to the message of faith and repentance that Christ came preaching since they considered themselves in the right before God as observant Jews. Finally and chiefly, when the Messiah came they rejected Him, refusing to recognize Him as the fulfillment of the Scriptures, and they even conspired with others to kill Him.

Their misuse of the Law, their self-justification, and their rejection of Jesus Christ as the Messiah was not just a problem for the first century or for Jews. The heart of Pharisaic teaching and living can create an epidemic of anti-Christian living in the church in any generation. It always needs to be resisted. The answer for us is a supernatural miracle of faith. This faith comes by hearing the word of God. That word of good news plainly and calmly reveals to us the greatest fulfillment of the sign of Jonah in the empty tomb of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, who had compassion on a crowd, and gave them bread through His disciples.

Questions for meditation and discussion:

1. Consider the details of how the feeding miracle took place. Do you see these as incidental details, or do you think that they have some importance for us?

2. Why would the Pharisees and Sadducees come to Jesus and request a sign?

3. Compare his treatment of these leaders with his treatment of the woman in the prior passage who needed help for her daughter.

4. How are we to beware of the leaven of the scribes and Pharisees?