M-G: 7.31.17 // Matthew 14:15-16, Two Major No-Noes, Part 1 of 3

Mat 14:12  “Then his disciples came and took away the body [of John the Baptist] and buried it, and went and told Jesus.”

Mat 14:13  “When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities” [Jn 6:2 explains why].

Mat 14:14  “And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude [including women and children, ~10-20k, Mt 14:21]; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.”

Jesus had compassion for these people because He saw them as “sheep not having a shepherd” (Mk 6:34), “healed their sick” (Mt 14:14), and “spoke to them of the kingdom of God” (Lk 9:11). He had compassion on those needing to be healed, but there was the greater suffering of separation from God because of sin that needed to be healed. The physical infirmities were temporary; the spiritual infirmities due to sin were forever if they rejected God’s offer of salvation and stepped out into eternity without Him. With His bread discourse in Capernaum, many of Jesus’ disciples left Him and “walked with Him no more” (Jn 6:66, note reference…).

There are 35 recorded miracles in the Gospels [see The Bible Knowledge Commentary, by John Walvoord and Roy B Zuck (e-Sword module, on John 2:1), 277.], but there was a myriad of signs and things that Jesus did that were not recorded in Scriptures (Jn 21:25). Also, Jn 20:30, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples [emphasis mine, we will allude back to this later], which are not written in this book.”

What we learn from this compilation and comparison of the recorded miracles by Jesus, in the northeastern area of the Sea of Galilee across the Jordan River, is that the feeding of the 5k+ is the only miracle or sign mentioned in all four Gospels (Mt 14:13-21; Mk 6:30-44; Lk 9:10-17; Jn 6:1-13) and the 19^th recorded miracle. All four writers of the Gospels believed the same about Jesus, but under inspiration, the Holy Spirit had them emphasize a select feature of Jesus. Matthew reveals Jesus as King; Mark presents Jesus as a Servant; Luke shows Jesus as a Man; and John portrays Him as God. John mentioned the least of the recorded miracles (8); 6 of the 8 mentioned are exclusive of John. Matthew recorded 20, Mark, 16, and Luke, 22. What I find interesting is John presenting Jesus as God, and yet, he cites the fewest signs that validated that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God!

The signs (Gk, semeion, also translated “miracles”) validated Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God as the OT prophets predicted, in contrast to all the false messiahs that had preceded Him. Recall that while JB was in prison, he sent his disciples to see if Jesus was the Coming One? In Lk 7:22, Jesus told JB’s disciples, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Jesus was citing from Isaiah, chapters 35 and 61. This was the proof offered to JB that Jesus was the Coming One.

Of the “zillions” of things Jesus did in His ministry (Jn 20:30; 21:25), what was written was sufficient according to John under inspiration, “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing [emphasis mine] you may have life in His name” (Jn 20:31, emphasis mine). This is the purpose and goal of John: validating who Jesus was and salvation through Jesus Christ. This is why I thought that this minimalist approach of mentioning the least number of the signs was peculiar in John’s Gospel account since he was portraying Him as God.

What are you going to do with these infallible proofs of Jesus’ Messiahship and deity as recorded in Scripture? Nicodemus, the Pharisee who came to Jesus alone at night in John 3, was a member of the Sanhedrin, which was the judicial and ecclesiastical authority of Israel. Nick told Jesus in Jn 3:2, “Rabbi, we know [emphasis mine] that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

I believe that the pronoun “we” that Nick referred to was the chatter among his colleagues in the Sanhedrin though they were unaware of his clandestine meeting with Jesus under the cloak of darkness, “This man came to Jesus by night” (Jn 3:2a). The verb “know” (Gk, eido) is an intellectual assent, not an experiential knowledge. That will all change; Nick will span that “18-inch” distance from “head to heart” that evening, and he will never be the same.

Nick came to realize in an experiential way (salvation) that not only was God with Jesus, but He was God! This is another illustration that you can believe the right things about God, and yet, not know Him as Savior and Lord unless you have been “born again” (Jn 3:3). Have you? Never trust in an experience that has never changed your life when it comes to salvation.

We have come to the main body of our text. Here is where we will see two major no-noes that are often overlooked during the events leading up to the feeding of 10 to 20 thousand people in the desolate place of Bethsaida! Jesus had been healing countless people of infirmities and speaking about the kingdom of God. It was getting late, and they were in the middle of nowhere with this massive following: men, women, and kids everywhere. Everyone was tired and hungry, including the disciples. So, the disciples got together and agreed among themselves that Jesus would see the wisdom of their words and that it was time to close up shop for today and send the crowd away.

Mat 14:15  “When it was evening [after 3 PM], His disciples came to Him, saying, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.’”

Now comes the unexpected. <><

To Part 2