Skip to main content

Matthew 14:13 - Feeding the 5,000 - Day 185

Hello again,

Hoping to catch up this week.  Do not have to work, so should have time to do a couple of devotions each day.  This is another providential selection.  Created the note back on 3/4.  And then found out last Friday that John's version was going to be topic of sermon on 3/14.

Observations:

Jesus' response to the murder of John Baptist.

He had been in Nazareth where he was rejected by his townfolk. He could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

He withdraws to a desolate place but people hear about his departure from Nazareth and somehow get there before he does.  The "great crowd" is waiting for him when he lands.  How did this great crowd get organized so quickly and then actually walk to this desolate place from various towns without bringing provisions?  How could so many people be able to leave home to make this trek?  Could I get 5,000 men from various towns to show up in one place using only face to face contact?

How odd that he went from a town where people rejected him to a desolate place where a "great crowd" came to him.  From a place of unbelief to a place of belief.  From a place of few works to a place of a great miracle.

He has compassion on the people who tracked him down.  And they even brought their sick with them.  

Sermon - desolate is really desolate.  Not just "out of the way".  You really have to want to go there.

Only miracle that is all 4 gospels.

Conclusions

None of this can be explained in natural terms.  It is not just the multiplication of the 5 loaves and 2 fish, but getting that many people to one place without provisions so that they would need a miracle.

Humanity of Jesus - rejection in Nazareth leading to withdrawal from his hometown must have been disappointing combined with death of John Baptist.  The need to be alone with the Father.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revelation 22:3-5 Final and eternal restoration - Day 365

Dear saints in the Lord, Congratulations!  You made it.  We have been through much turmoil in the last year ('20-'21).  But God is faithful to His promises.  I trust that you have been blessed in your reading and have drawn closer to God.   Since we didn't get the blog up and running at the beginning of the challenge, I am going to go back and post entries to cover that first month or so.   Blessings, Jeff Nothing accursed in the city of God, the new Jerusalem.  The presence of sin will be gone.  I am working on memorizing Westminster Shorter Catechism and currently on question 82.  Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God but does daily break them in thought, word and deed. I think our passage today points to the truth of this question.  Do you notice how this answer is not exactly the same as the question. "Any man" bec...
Post a Comment
Read more

Malachi 2:10-12 Here we go again!! Day 363

Good afternoon friends, As we draw to the end of the Old Testament, we see that Judah has rebuilt the temple and the walls of Jerusalem, but they are following in the footsteps of faithless fathers and not in the footsteps of Abraham and ultimately God.  The exile was a low point, but now a new low is about to happen.  The prophetic voice has once again become warning and not encouraging. Faithful reading and preaching of the word is all that keeps us from losing our way.  May we be faithful in our generation. Blessings, Jeff I am sure I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating.  The section summary, chapter and verse are not in the original language.  They are all rather modern inventions to help us.  For example, the section title here is "Judah profaned the Covenant".  That is OK as far as it goes, but which Covenant?  So let's take a look. Observations Starts with 3 questions but who is asking the questions and to whom are they addre...
Post a Comment
Read more

2 Chronicles 35:23-26 Lament for the last good king - Day 364

Good morning fellow exiles and pilgrims, One more day of devotions.  We are indeed exiles and pilgrims in this world as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  The 20th anniversary of 9/11 attacks can serve as a reminder that this world is not our home. Blessings, Jeff The lamentations for Josiah written by Jeremiah.  However, the book of Lamentations does not include any reference to Josiah as they are focused on the fall of Jerusalem.  While these lost lamentations were "made the rule" there are only 4 more kings and none of them were good like Josiah and none died in Jerusalem.  The phrase "to this day" generally refers to the time of the author (post exile).  Taken together, it may be that these laments were for the last good king and during the exile the people were longing for the next good king. Zerubbabel in a way was the next good king as temple and Jerusalem were rebuilt. But Jesus truly was the next king and He...
Post a Comment
Read more