It’s very easy to find yourself reading the Scripture and being frustrated with the disciples. They seem to do so many things wrong so often. However, as I find myself frustrated, almost without exception I find myself being convicted of doing the same thing (if not doing it to a greater degree). Tonight’s text lends itself to these thoughts, and I believe it is quite timely in what we have been doing as a church seeking God’s will over what we are supposed to do in certain matters.
As we’ve already seen, Matthew has arranged much of his gospel in themes. That is why, as we looked at Matthew 13 a few weeks ago, we found eight parables in one chapter. It wasn’t as if Jesus decided to go crazy with parables one day, but rather that Matthew grouped many of his parables together in one chapter to prove a point, namely, that the kingdom of God is different than the Jews expected. In Matthew 14 and 15 (and part of 16), Matthew gives us many of Jesus’ miracles, such as his healings, feeding of the 5000, feeding of the 4000, walking on water, etc. And as we see these, we see his disciples falling short at points and Jesus instructing them that they might better understand. These are lessons and principles that I want us to see tonight.
This is clearly seen of Jesus throughout these chapters in Matthew. At the beginning of chapter 14, as Matthew tells us of John the Baptist’s death, he first tells us that Herod recognized the miraculous power and ability of Jesus (14:2) and therefore reasoned that John had come back from the dead. While the Pharisees are explaining away Jesus’ power as God the Son, Herod is taking note of it. However, this is not the only reference in these chapters to Jesus’ ability to do what is impossible with man.
In 14:15-21, we read that Jesus had gathered a great crowd of people around him (5000 men, with their families), and that his disciples told him to send the people away so they could go and get some food. Jesus, however, responds, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” (14:16). Therefore, the disciples responded, “We have here only five loaves and two fish” (14:17). That is to say, the disciples thought it was an impossible task to feed 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish, and they were right concerning man’s ability to do such a thing. Jesus, however, has the crowd sit down, takes the bread and fish, blesses it, hands it to his disciples, and after everyone was fed took up twelve basketsful of leftovers. Thus, what was impossible with man was made possible by God.
After this story, however, his ability to do the impossible does not end. He sends his disciples to get in a boat and go to the other side of the sea. Then, in the middle of the night, as the waves are crashing around the boat, he comes walking to them on the water. And he ultimately enables Peter to walk on water (until Peter begins to look around at the waves). Therefore, the disciples exclaim that which is indeed the right conclusion in 14:33, “You are certainly God’s Son!”
Then, in 15:32-39, Jesus (as he has done before) takes a few loaves of bread and a few fish and feeds 4000, taking up seven basketsful of leftovers. Therefore, it is clear that Jesus is able to do what is impossible with men. The disciples should have understood this. They should have never doubted.
However, in the midst of saying that, I am reminded of the difference between them at that point in history and us in this one. For they hadn’t even seen Christ’s death, resurrection, ascension, and the pouring out of the Spirit at this point. They had not even seen his greatest works. Yet, they should have known and believed that Jesus could do what was impossible with man. And therefore, how much more should we truly believe that in our hearts? What is impossible with man is quite possible with God; for he is able to do all he desires, and his plans are never thwarted.
We’ve already seen that it is not necessary to have enough food to feed 5000 people as long as Jesus is around. But the disciples soon forgot that. We see this in 14:22-32 as Peter attempts to walk to Jesus on the water.
He had just seen Jesus feed the 5000 and had just seen Jesus walk from the shore to the boat on water; however, when he got out on the water and began to see the waves, he became fearful and ceased trusting in Jesus’ ability. This is clear because Jesus asks him (after having rescued him from sinking), “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (14:31). Therefore, though Peter had seen Jesus do all these miraculous things, he still had not learned the lesson that one can and should trust God.
We see the same thing in the middle of chapter 16 (16:5-12). Jesus’ disciples are going across the sea again when Jesus, reflecting on the hard-heartedness and evil nature of the Pharisees and Sadducees warns his disciples, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (16:6). And, of course, he was talking about their false teaching (16:12). However, the disciples think he is upset with them because they forgot to bring bread for the journey, and they begin to discuss this among themselves.
Finally, however, Jesus interrupts their conversation saying, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many basketsful you took up? Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you took up? How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?” (16:8)
Jesus is saying to them, in effect, “Did you get anymore than filled after I fed the thousands? You were supposed to understand that you can trust me to be able to do what is impossible with men, yet you didn’t get it.” Jesus was doing more than providing dinner on a couple of nights; he was teaching a lesson in trust, a lesson in trusting him to do the impossible. And they just weren’t getting it.
But, again, before we are too hard on them, how many of us trust God to do the “impossible” in our lives, continually? I mean, the disciples had not even seen Jesus do his greatest works; we have. When I compare myself to them after all I have known God do, I often fall in much the same category – those with little faith. But let’s go on from here and then come back to wrap it up in the end.
This is the lesson that Nicole shared with us in her testimony on Sunday morning, and it is what I believe we should learn from this text tonight. We read in a few passages (14:13-14, 34-36 and possibly 15:29-31) where Jesus wants to be alone and yet individuals are coming to him and asking for him to heal them. And he does. Then we have an example of a Gentile woman begging Jesus to heal her daughter in 15:21-28. Even after Jesus identifies her with dogs (non-Jews, in this context), she still begs him, saying, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table” (15:27). And Jesus responds, “O woman, your faith is great; be it done for you as you wish” (15:28).
Now, we do not take this story to support a false doctrine that God acts and gives at our every whim, for such is not Scriptural and is blasphemy. However, we must not ignore declarations in Scripture that God rewards those who diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6), or Christ’s exhortations to persistent faith and asking in prayer (e.g. Luke 11:5-10).
“But if God wants to do something,” we might ask, “why does he require that we are in persistent asking and urging?” I believe the reason this is the case is because God has a higher goal than supplying our needs or giving us the answer for which we are seeking. He wants to conform us to the image of Christ. Therefore, as we are in persistent prayer, we are at very least seeking the face of God continually, and as we do this, we will find our knowledge of and intimacy with God growing. I don’t know all the answers, but I do know that God has established prayer as something that should be constant among his people, crying out for our “daily bread,” seeking his will, and worshiping him.
And I know that even as we decided to pray whether or not to purchase a van for the church, the traditions of man might tell us to go about it differently (weighing the pros and cons and just deciding). Therefore, even professing believers will discourage a church truly praying about needs and directions; but let’s be more interested in God’s commands rather than the thoughts of man (15:1-20). Let’s be a people who ask God for direction, guidance, and grace, as a people redeemed by God.
I want to distinguish something here. There are certain people who ask God to do great things in order to prove that he is able, that he is indeed God, etc. That is what I do not commend, (more importantly) nor does Scripture. This is the kind of thing that Jesus condemns of the Pharisees in 16:1-4. They wanted him to prove that he was the Messiah.
This is distinguished from what I’m encouraging us to do and what Scripture encourages in Hebrews 11:6, for example. Let me paint a couple of pictures to show the difference.
Imagine Lili and I are sitting together in the living room and she was encouraging me and telling me how much she loved me, and just making me feel quite loved. And then I say to myself, I wish there were multitudes of people around so they could see how great my wife is and how much she loves me. That’s the first picture.
Now, imagine that Lili and I are sitting in the living room and she says, “I love you,” and I say, “Oh yeah, I don’t believe you. Say that next time there are a ton of people around and prove that you love me!” That’s the second picture.
Now in both pictures, don’t I want to have Lili show her love to me in front of multitudes of people? Yes. But they’re two totally different pictures, aren’t they? In the first, I am a husband who wants the world to see the glory of my wife. In the second, I want my wife to prove to me what she says is true or I will refuse to believe. This is the difference between someone honoring Christ’s exhortation to persistent prayer and asking God to display his glory in great works and the Pharisees who refused to believe until Jesus would give them a sign. We need to be of the former. That is, our motivation needs to be that the world might behold the glory of the God whom we know and love and long for them to behold. And isn’t that the goal in everything we do?
Therefore, realize God’s greatness and ability to do the impossible, trust him to do what we can’t do, ask him to work in and through your life, and ask so that men might behold and glorify your Father in heaven. Amen.