Greatness: Matthew 14-20Sample

As we read through the Gospel of Matthew, we notice how Matthew highlights the compassion of Jesus in several ways. Jesus frequently sees the needs of those following Him and chooses to forsake His own comfort for the crowds. In today’s reading, we see a prime example of Jesus doing this.

Initially seeking some time away, Jesus hears the cries of the people who had come from near and far to seek Him for healing. It is within this setting that the disciples make reasonable attempts to care for the crowd by suggesting that they go to nearby villages to get their dinner. Jesus, though, has something else in mind. Seeing that the disciples had access to a couple of loaves and two fish, Jesus used this opportunity to care for the crowd by miraculously multiplying the bread and fish to more than provide for the people.

Elisha, an Old Testament prophet who operated around eight hundred years before Jesus, was facing a similar situation, albeit on a smaller scale. There was a time of famine in the land, and a man came to the prophet seeking help to feed a hundred men he was responsible for. The Lord, through Elisha, enabled twenty loaves of bread to be multiplied so that the hundred could be fed, and have leftovers.

The two stories give weight to the words of Jesus in Matthew 6 about our heavenly Father providing for our needs. Together with the other episodes that Matthew has recorded for us, the feeding of the five thousand reveals that the compassion of Jesus includes both spiritual and material concerns. In turn, this gives us confidence that He has compassion for us with our needs today.

Today, ponder this: What’s an area of your life where you are seeking Jesus? Pray with trust today, confident in His compassion towards us.