The Needy Once Again Satisfied Matthew 15:32-39

When you hear something once, you need to listen. When you hear something more than once, you really need to listen. When I was four years old, I remember loving going to church, much like the little kids in this church right now.

My mother noticed that I liked church maybe a little more than the other kids. And so she told me and my family, Someday, Seth is going to be a pastor. As the years went by, I continued to hear this. During my middle school years, we had an assignment where we were supposed to tell the class what we wanted to be when we were older.

My father helped with the assignment and told me to write down that I was going to be a pastor. I wasn't sure, but I said okay. During my high school years, pursuing pastoral ministry was the farthest thing from my mind.

I thought I wanted to work in sports. That was my life. I wanted to get by and watch sports.

That was my life.

So pastoral ministry was the furthest thing from my mind. When I went to college, I was a sport management major and a history minor. Now I went to a Christian college and we were required to take a certain amount of Bible classes.

What I found is that I enjoyed those classes more than the classes under my own major. My father noticed this too and he said, Seth, you should be a pastor. But I sharted off, once again, thinking I would get a job in the sports business world after college.

A year or so after college, my pastor was paying close attention to me. He discipled me and we decided that I would do an informal internship while I was working as a sales rep for a running shoe company.

After the internship was over, multiple people came up to me and told me, Seth, you should pursue pastoral ministry. What the Lord was doing was telling me over and over again through different people that this is how I should spend my life.

And so by God's grace, I finally listened. And here we are. When the Lord tells you something once, you should pay attention. But when he tells you something more than once, you should really pay attention.

Oftentimes in the Bible, God communicates something to us numerous times. And when he does, we should pay extra close attention. This morning as we continue our sermon series through Matthew, we are going to see a narrative that is a different setting, but is a repeat of something we saw earlier.

There's a reason Matthew recorded a very similar narrative a second time. So let's pay close attention once again. At this time, I encourage you to turn in a Bible with me to Matthew 15. We'll be looking at verses 32 -39.

If you're using a red Bible in the pews, it's on page 976. This sermon is titled, The Needy Feast Once Again. And here's our big idea. Jesus once again shows his great benevolence to a new people. Let's begin by reading the text.

Because they have been with me now three days, and I have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way. And the disciples said to him, Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?

And Jesus said to them, How many loaves do you have? They said, Seven, and a few small fish. And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples.

And the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadon. Jesus once again chose his great benevolence to a new people. But before we dig deep into this text, let me give you a little recap of where we were one week ago.

We looked at the narrative where Jesus was on the mountain, and the crowds pursued him, as they often did. Everyone who came to Jesus was healed of their infirmity. What the text said is that the crowd marveled, and they gave glory to the God of Israel because of Jesus.

The people knew that he was sent from God, that he was the Messiah. The Jewish elites largely rejected Jesus, but these ordinary folks embraced him, and the response of awe, wonder, and praise is the correct response when one is confronted with Jesus.

As we meet Jesus in his word and in his world, we too should be filled with awe, wonder, and praise. Now once again, this leads us back to our text that we've already read, but right now we will zero in on it.

Once again, the big idea is that Jesus once again chose his great benevolence to a new people. We'll see three manifestations how in these verses. And the first is this, through showing compassion to those in need.

And we'll see this in verse 32. So let's take a close look at this verse where Matthew writes, that Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way. We have seen throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus' desire to help people. When people come to him, he helps them. What Jesus says in verse 32 is that he sees that they are hungry.

Now in the other passage in Matthew 14, when Jesus fed the 5 ,000, he had compassion on the Jews near the Sea of Galilee. We know this because the people who largely lived in this area around the Galilean region were Jews.

And chapter 14 verse 20 said that the disciples picked up 12 baskets full left over. That 12 number is significant in the Bible. There were 12 tribes of Israel. There were 12 disciples who were Jews. What this number may indicate is that this people that Jesus fed in chapter 14 were Jews.

And even if that number doesn't mean that, we can still conclude that they're Jews because, largely speaking, most of the people in this region were Jews. But this people in our text this morning are different.

Now recently we saw Jesus head to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, and he commended the Canaanite woman for her great faith. Now in this text, the Gentile theme continues. We know this from the parallel account in Mark.

In Mark 7 .31, Jesus went to the region of Decapolis after he was in Tyre and Sidon. Decapolis was a Gentile region located on the shore of the southeast region of the Sea of Galilee. The beginning of Mark 8 says that around this time Jesus fed the 4 ,000.

So before he fed a very large number of Jews. And now in this text, he's feeding a different people. The Gentiles. Or the nations. We've seen already in the Gospel of Matthew that Jesus showed great compassion, not only on the nation of Israel, but to everyone else also.

Jesus does not show partiality in his compassion. He shows compassion to everyone. Now when we say the word compassion, what does this mean? Compassion means that one's heart is warm towards someone as he or she sees another in suffering.

The opposite of compassion is indifference. To be indifferent is to see someone in a place of suffering, but to say, You know what? Not my problem. I'm going to go somewhere else. A compassionate person sees a problem and desires to help.

This is what Jesus did during his ministry. He saw a problem and he knew he was able to help the people who found themselves in a place of suffering. When he came to them out of his warm compassion, he gladly healed them.

What a model Jesus shows us. This is what God calls us to do. To show compassion to others. We're to follow the example of Jesus as Philippians 2 .4 says, Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

If people are hurting, do they hear from you? Do you tell them you are praying for them? And not just tell them you're praying for them, but really are praying. Do you send a card? Do you offer meals?

If there is financial difficulty, do you offer financial assistance? When Brianna had her surgery a while back, this church showed compassion to us. And we're so grateful for that. We say, thank you. It was a blessing to us, but it was also a blessing to you.

Now wait a minute. How could this be a blessing also to us? You were the ones receiving the help. You might be asking right now. What I mean is that it is a joyful experience to help someone else out.

Acts 20 .35 is very interesting because that passage quotes Jesus outside of the four Gospels. In that verse, Luke quoted Jesus saying, It is more blessed to give than to receive. In simple terms, you're more happy when you give than when you receive.

You feel much joy when you help someone out. Now in our area, rural, blue-collar area, we are a self-sufficient people. We have a hard time asking for help. And a hard time receiving help when it is offered.

It is my desire, it is my prayer, that our congregation think differently about receiving help than maybe we have in the past. Do you realize that when you do not receive help or refuse to receive a gift from someone, you are actually robbing the giver of that help or that gift?

You're robbing them of joy. This is a new way of thinking that maybe you haven't thought about before. Now there are times when you really don't need help, and it's okay to say no. But what if someone can truly help you?

Here's my encouragement to you. Take the help. What if someone offers a gift to you?

And you might not even need it.

Take it. When someone offers you help, and it would truly help you, receive the help. In this way, not only will you be blessed, but the person helping you will be blessed also. It brought Jesus great joy to help others, and we should pursue that joy as well, as we offer help and God is glorified.

May we give that blessing and receive the blessing when help is offered. Jesus wants us to follow his example of love by meeting the needs of those who find themselves in a difficult place. And he once again shows his extraordinary benevolence to a new people.

And the first manifestation how is through showing compassion to those in need. The second manifestation how Jesus once again shows his extraordinary benevolence to a new people is through enduring patiently his people's amnesia of his past provision.

Amnesia is when you lose your memory. We'll see this in verses 33 and 34. Now what we just saw in the first point is that Jesus had great compassion to help the people on this hill near the Sea of Galilee.

He did not want to send them away hungry. As Jesus says this, you would think his disciples would remember the miracle Jesus performed not long before this when he fed the 5 ,000. But let's hear what they say in verses 33 and 34.

And the disciples said to him, Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd? And Jesus said to them, How many loaves do you have? They said, Seven and a few small fish.

Once again, people are stuck in the middle of nowhere needing food and Jesus is concerned that if they don't get the food they're going to get lightheaded and they're going to faint. This is like being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no vehicle to drive to a grocery or restaurant.

You better have food on hand, otherwise you'll be weak and tired from a lack of nourishment. My brother and I, we went hiking on the Superior Trail up north of Duluth last year. And we went 23 miles and towards the end of it, we were so tired and so fatigued and dizzy and we wanted food.

And we were thinking if we don't find my dad who was supposed to pick us up, we might be in trouble here. Thankfully, we did find him and we were able to go eat. And I was thinking, this is what the people would have felt like.

We need to eat. And Jesus knew that. And these people did not plan ahead. They run out to Jesus, way out from their villages, because they want to see His greatness. They want to receive His goodness.

They want to have help. And the disciples are thinking in earthly ways once again. When they tell Jesus in verse 33, where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed the crowd? They're thinking in earthly ways.

A chapter earlier, the disciples witnessed Jesus feed 5 ,000 people. And that doesn't include women and children. So He really fed about 25 ,000 people. Not only do Jesus' disciples see that miracle, but they saw all of His previous miracles as well.

He raised the dead. He calmed a storm on the Sea of Galilee on a dime. After seeing all that, you would think they would say to Jesus, do what you have already done. Feed these people just as you fed those people before.

But sadly, Jesus once again has to remind them of His capability. At this point, I believe the disciples were genuine believers. They left everything to follow Jesus.

They had ambition.

No question about it. But they were lacking in faith and they clearly needed to grow. By the way, it's worth noting that as we look at their life story and how it finished, these men were full of faith.

11 of the 12 died a martyr's death. While the only surviving disciple, John, was exiled to Patmos, an island in the Mediterranean, these ordinary men became men full of faith. Think about your life. You face trials in the present.

Everyone in this room has a trial of some kind. And you might wonder what the outcome of your life will be. Will you have a life well lived? Will you have a life worth pondering? Will you have a life that matters?

If you're going through a hard time, just think, the end story will be a good one, as God wins in my life. A few years back when Bran and I were visiting Gordie and Barb's house, we took a walk out to Barb's writing cabin.

This is the place where she writes her books. And what I remember is that there was a quote on the wall that said, I'll spoil the ending. The ending is good. As you and I follow Christ, that will be the end of our story.

In the present, there's a struggle. It's hard. But as you persevere with Christ every day, taking steps of faithfulness every day, the ending will be good. Your faith will prevail. And you will have lived a life worth pondering, a life that mattered.

At this point, the disciples' faith was weak, but that would not be the end of their lives. That would not be their story. In verse 33, the weakness of their faith is shown from the fact that they are thinking only in earthly ways.

What they are thinking is that it is impossible that this many people be fed in a short period of time. Now we can look down on the disciples here and say, what's wrong with you? But if we're honest, what's wrong with us?

We say all the time, this can't happen. This can't change. It is true that humanly speaking certain things can't happen. Only a work of God can change the human heart. But when we consider what God can do, we need to believe it.

But what Jesus tells his disciples in verse 34 is that this is no problem, and he only says this because he knows his capability. Now there was a small amount of food on hand, which leads Jesus to ask his disciples in verse 34, how many loaves do you have?

What the disciples answer at the end of verse 34 is, we have seven loaves and a few small fish. Now Matthew includes this question from Jesus and this quotation from the disciples to show us that there isn't some secret stash of food somewhere.

The only way these people are going to be fed is through a miracle. And at this point, his disciples should have figured out what he was going to do with the seven loaves and a few small fish. In Matthew 14 -19, Jesus took five loaves and two fish and he was able to feed about 25 ,000 people.

They've already seen him do many miracles. They've already seen him perform the specific miracle he's about to perform by feeding the multitudes. But sadly, they have little faith at this point. And they forget what he has done in the past.

Remarkably, they do not think he can feed all these people. This is what unbelief does. Unbelief questions what God can do, even though we know deep down he can do it. And as you read this, you're saying, don't they know who stands before them?

That is what we should be saying as we read this text. That's why the author wrote this. If you're honest, how often is this your experience? How often do you forget God's past great works in your life?

You've had times, as I have, where we go through something difficult and you wonder, how in the world did I get through? You may have had days where you wondered, how am I going to get through this day?

How am I going to take one more step? And not only did he get you through that day, but thousands after it. Sometimes I think of a trial I faced from the past and I think about how hard it was. But when I stop and say God pulled me through it and a thousand days after, it brings joy to my heart.

It encourages me in the present. This is why we need to remember God's past works in our lives. What he did in the past, he'll do in the present. Yet in the moment, it's easy to doubt. How easy it is to look at a situation in our lives and say, maybe this time he won't show up.

Maybe this time he won't give me joy. Maybe this time he won't give me confidence. Maybe this time he won't give me peace. Maybe this time he won't give me strength. Maybe this time he won't give me wisdom.

But he will. He always does. To the one who trusts in him. He never leaves his people hanging. We read the Scriptures and we see how he comes through for his people over and over again. And sometimes it's perplexing.

Like the life of Job. But God comes through in the end. Look how Job's life ended. It ended in blessing. And he's in heaven right now. Every true follower of Christ in this room has experienced God's provision.

And yet, if you're honest, you have these thoughts. You think, Lord, will you show up? Is this too big for you? But he always provides. What is so wonderful about Jesus is that he is patient with you and I.

He knows you are a work in progress. He knows what a mess you are. He knows how much work needs to be done to make you and I into what he wants us to be. He bears with you when you forget his past works, doubting that he will help in the present.

This is what Jesus is doing here with his disciples. He knew this is not where these people are going to be. So he's patient with them. He knows the big picture. These disciples who forget his ability to provide would have so much faith down the road.

So much faith that they were willing to die for Jesus. Please understand that it is a strong confidence in God that makes you faithful when you face opposition. It is this built up strength over time that makes you able to face opposition.

It's a strong confidence that God will take care of me. This is needed in 2021 America. To be faithful to Christ through and through will make you a fool to the world. But you know, that's not true. And you are willing to be insulted because how much better to be insulted and stand with Christ than to compromise and receive the applause of the world?

And I wish more Christians would believe that. We have seen multitudes cave to the pressure of the world. We've seen multitudes exposed as loving the world, desiring to receive the applause of the world.

They might take away my book.

They might take away me speaking at a conference.

Stand with Christ. Do what's right.

Christians who have strong convictions truly believe that He will take care of you even when it feels like most of the world is against you. He's always active in your life. Always there to help you. He is the great provider.

And He wants you to know this.

The disciples should have known this.

And you and I should know it.

As we go through our journey through the life of faith. You want your life to be one where you say,.

He will do it. He is faithful.

He has provided before and He'll do it again. He will always take care of me as we go with Him. Jesus once again shows His extraordinary benevolence to a new people. The second manifestation, how, is through enduring patiently His people's amnesia of His past provision.

Here's the third and final way how Jesus once again shows His extraordinary benevolence to a new people. And that is through satisfying fully all your needs. Now what we have seen is that Jesus will provide.

He wants to provide. And now we're going to see this provision in verses 35 -39. Let me read these verses again. And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, He took the seven loaves and the fish and having given thanks, He broke them and gave them to the disciples and the disciples gave them to the crowds and they all ate and were satisfied and they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

Those who ate were 4 ,000 men besides women and children. And after sending away the crowds, He got into the boat and He went to the region of Magadon. So all the disciples have here is seven loaves and a small amount of fish and they have an enormous amount of people before them.

What Jesus does is tell the crowd.

To sit on the ground.

And watch Him perform this miracle. In the second half of verse 36, Matthew writes that He gave thanks and the disciples functioned as ushers passing the bread and fish to all the people. What we see in verse 38 is that Matthew once again highlights the number of men present.

There were 4 ,000 and He once again says that there were also women and children being fed this miraculous food. When He fed the 5 ,000, counting women and children, there were about 25 ,000 people. Now we have 4 ,000.

So counting women and children, we have about 20 ,000 people.

That's a lot of people.

As we ponder what Jesus just did, it is important for us to zero in on verse 37 where Matthew writes, they all ate and were satisfied, and they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

This might sound familiar. When Jesus fed the 5 ,000 plus women and children in chapter 14, Matthew wrote, they all ate and were satisfied, and they took up 12 baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

This meal that Jesus provided gave the people enough where they were able to eat until they were full. There was so much food available that they had a large amount of food left over. Now it's interesting that there were seven loaves of bread picked up here as verse 37 tells us.

Remember earlier we saw that in His first miracle of feeding the 5 ,000, there were 12 baskets full of food left over. The number seven in Scripture, just like the number 12, symbolizes something. And the number seven symbolizes perfection.

If these numbers are indeed symbolic, then the number seven in this text describes the perfection with which Jesus provides for these thousands of Gentiles. When I preached the feeding of the 5 ,000, I said this and I will say it again, reminders are good, as I said in the introduction.

This is what I said in that previous sermon. When Jesus prepares a meal, the meal is first class. It's a feast of delicious food. The meal that Jesus provided is like Thanksgiving dinner, which is not too far off.

It's the best meal of the year. This would have been the experience of these people on this mountain near the Sea of Galilee. The filling of food is a good metaphor for the spiritual filling that Jesus provides.

Just as Jesus provided this great meal for the crowd, so He provides for our spiritual needs like no one else can. This is what this great feast illustrates. It's just as God provided for the Israelites when He caused manna to rain down from heaven, illustrated.

Jesus makes this connection in John 6. In John 6 .35, Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. We have that verse downstairs on our wall.

What a verse to memorize. What a verse to hold in your heart and rejoice over. Then Jesus says further down in verses 48 -50 of chapter 6, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died.

This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.

Jesus uses the illustration of physical bread to explain the need for one's deep spiritual needs to be satisfied. We all have this. A great longing to be satisfied. And what Jesus explains is that physical bread only satisfies for a time.

But what happens is you have to eat again. But Christ satisfies the one who comes to Him fully and forever. When you come to Him, you're satisfied. And it doesn't go away. Why does Tom Brady need to keep coming back every year to win a Super Bowl?

A million Super Bowls won't satisfy him. Or a million whatever it might be won't satisfy people.

We need something more.

We need Jesus.

And what John 6 says is that if we believe in Him, you have eternal life. The one who believes in Jesus realizes that only He can satisfy you fully forever. And I love what the disciples say at the end of John 6.

In fact, I love what Jesus said. I love this conversation between Jesus and His disciples. The disciples are receptive of what He says when Jesus says, are you going to leave too? Because massive crowds left Jesus when He preached.

He was not a church growth guy. He preached the truth and people left. And He was okay with that. But some people were drawn to Him and His message. And when Jesus said to them, are you going to leave too?

Peter, the leader of the disciples, says to Jesus,.

Where else are we going to go?

Only You have the words of eternal life. Only Jesus can make you live forever. Only Jesus can make you joyful forever. Now, I don't commend secular music, but there is an interesting, modern, popular, secular song titled, The Man Who Lives Forever.

And it's written by Lord Huron. And here's a line from it. And here's what I find interesting. God's image bearers, which is every human on planet earth, desire something more. They desire something beyond this life.

They desire to be with God.

In some way.

Now, in a lot of ways, it's not a saving way. But I want something after this life. And you know what? I want to live forever. So the song is titled, The Man Who Lives Forever. And Ecclesiastes 3 .11 says that God has put eternity in man's heart.

So there's this desire in every human heart. When life is going well, no one wants it to end. Listen to this line. I said life is a tale. It begins and it ends, and forever is a word that we can't understand.

Well, I know that my life's better when we're together, so why can't our story just go on forever? Don't want a long ride. I don't want to die at all. I want to be the man who lives forever.

I ain't never going to die,.

And I want you to come. You can hear God's image bearer crying out, saying, I want life to be good,.

And I want to live forever.

And that's a good desire, by the way. Because in the age to come, you know what? Life will be good, and it will be forever. But there will be holiness. The sinner wants to live forever in a sinful place.

And they might enjoy good things, yes. But the difference between a believer and an unbeliever is that a believer hates their sin, and an unbeliever loves their sin. But a day is coming when believers will live in a place where it's perfect, where there will be no sin.

And they will be happy forever. But what we must understand is this person who wants to live forever, and the song is titled, The Man Who Lives Forever, the man who lives forever is Jesus Christ. And everyone who believes in Him, men, women, and children are all the people who live forever.

When the people came across to Jesus on that mountain, they came across this forever man. When you come into contact with Jesus,.

He will satisfy you.

This is who He is.

And this is what He does. And He is the only one who can do that. Every other endeavor will leave people empty. Everyone who ate that day on this mountain was satisfied. But Jesus knows that food or any other gift in life will not satisfy.

They can only satisfy for a time. And these gifts serve as an arrow to point to the one who can satisfy fully and forever. The one who comes to faith in Christ, of course, needs to know this. A conversion.

And if you haven't believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, He went to the cross. He died for your sins. He rose from the dead. Believe in Him this day.

You need Him.

Without Him, you're nothing. Without Him, you will be in hell. Without Him, you will be miserable forever. So the one coming to Christ needs to know this. The unbeliever needs to know this. But so does the believer.

So does the one who's walked with Christ for many years. Do not pursue things that are empty, but pursue the one and live for the one who satisfies the longing of your soul. What I mentioned in the introduction is that God desires to always remind you and I when He tells us something, He wants us to listen.

When He tells us something several times, He really wants us to listen. And we've seen that here today. We saw this in Matthew 14, and we see it here at the end of chapter 15. And He shows His benevolence to new people.

Before, He showed it to the Jews. Now, He shows it to the Gentiles. But either way, He's showing it to all people. And anyone who comes to Him will receive this help. And everyone who comes to Him will receive this satisfaction.

And we need to always remember that and not have spiritual amnesia. So this morning, may you and I remember these precious truths in our journey through the life of faith. Now, next Sunday is our Harvest Festival service.

It will be a different kind of service, and I look forward to that.

And what I will be doing.

Is preaching a special sermon about the spiritual harvest that God is producing that will be revealed at the end of the world. But at this time, let's pray. Father in Heaven, I love You. And I know many here who can hear my voice love You as well.

Help us to love You more, Lord. Help us to realize that when we go to Jesus, we will find help. And that You always help us, Lord. And may we not forget that.

And may we understand that You are the One.

Who fully satisfies us forever.

I ask this in Jesus' name,.

Amen.