Four Thousand Fed Series

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Decapolis

Lesson: Four Thousand Fed

Matthew 15:32-39, Mark 8:1-9

-Matthew-

32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

33 Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”

34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”

35 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.

37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.

38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

39 And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.

The feeding of the 4,000 had many similarities to the feeding of 5,000 described in Matthew 14:13–21. The similarities were:

1. The people had been listening to His teaching.

2. They were in a rural area.

3. The food was the same.

4. Jesus blessed and broke it.

5. The disciples served it.

But there are also marked differences:

1. The number of people.

2. The time they spent with Him.

3. The different seashore.

4. The initial amount of food.

5. The amount left over.

The incident evidently took place on the southeast shore of Galilee, near the gentile region of Decapolis. Therefore, many Gentiles seem to be among His listeners. This miracle took place after the crowd had been with Him for three days. They were fed with seven loaves and a few little fishes. The food was distributed in a manner similar to the other feeding; however, this time seven baskets full remained, and these baskets were much larger than those in the other feeding.

The lesson to the disciples seems obvious: What you accomplish among the Jews will be duplicated among the Gentiles.

In verse 32 Jesus said, I have compassion on the multitude. He felt pity for them and He wanted His disciples to also feel compassion for them, so when He was about to do this miracle, He called them to Him and let them know the reason for it and talked to them about it. He told them, they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. This was an occasion which showed their passion and the intensity of their affection for Jesus, and for His words; because they left their occupations in order to be there with Him on week-days. They had to undergo hardships to be present with Him and like soldiers in the field they wanted to rest and to be fed; but they had not brought anything with them to provide for their bodily needs, so Jesus said, I have compassion on them. Note, that Our Lord made himself aware of how long they had stayed with Him; for three days: and that they had difficulties. In Revelation 2:2, it says, I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience: and it shall in no wise lose its reward.

When He fed them, we are told, So they all ate and were filled. It was true on that day, and it is true today also that Christ has enough mercy and grace to satisfy any desire.

We can see here the concern that He has for them, because He said, I will not send them away fasting, lest they should faint by the way. I believe that if He had sent them away hungry that it would have harmed His reputation; and it could have discouraged them and those who would come to Him in the future.

This miraculous feeding shows Christ’s great power. His disciples had witnessed His power before on many occasions, so they shouldn’t have doubted that He could provide for this crowd. But the disciples had already forgotten the miracle of feeding the five thousand! And they certainly didn’t know what to do because they asked Him, Whence shall we have bread? I was not that long ago that He had fed the 5,000 and the circumstances are very similar.

Jesus knew that they had very little food, but He wanted them to also know it, so He asked them, How many loaves have ye? Before He did His work, He wanted them to know how little He had to work with, so they would realize how great this miracle was. All He had to work with was seven loaves, and a few fishes; but when He was done, all would have been provided with plenty.