Faith, Deliverance, and Provision

Matthew 15:21-39

A Gentile Shows Her Faith

21 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed."

23 But He answered her not a word.
And His disciples came and urged Him, saying,
"Send her away, for she cries out after us."

24 But He answered and said,
"I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"

26 But He answered and said,
"It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."

27 And she said,
"Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."

28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Jesus Heals Great Multitudes

29 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them. 31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Feeding the Four Thousand

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.

Here Jesus answered a woman’s trust in His word and ability to make her daughter whole and many others who came and glorified God as He did the same for them.  He then multiplied the faith of His disciples and many more with a second miracle of multiplying bread and a few fish to meet their needs.  The first encounter with the woman who had a sick daughter at home who was inhabited with a demonic spirit fallen with the devil (Revelation 12:9) from heaven and who was out to destroy the people of God made in His image to keep them from following Jesus Christ.  She begged Him to heal her child but He told her that He came to save the chosen people of Israel as lost sheep of His pasture and not of the nations, but her humble faith asked for whatever mere crumbs of grace He could allow that her daughter would be set free as well.  Jesus praised her simple faith to trust His word and power to save and so set her child free from the bondage of the evil one as well as from her sin in the process.  He said she had great faith to trust Him with such humility that the people of the nation rarely displayed as they should have, considering all the promises of the chosen nation and the covenants given them.  After her daughter was healed, Jesus left and went up onto a mountain where many more who had seen and heard came to be set free of bondage and diseases that held them prisoner.  As Isaiah 35:5-6 foretold, God came among us to make the blind, deaf, mute, and lame whole and still the people marveled as if they had never read nor comprehended the scriptures!  They then gave all glory, honor, and praise to the Almighty in their midst (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23) who set them free at last, the God of Israel who is called Immanuel.  After these things, Jesus gathered the disciples together and told them of His compassion love for them which meant they needed sustenance of the body as well after three days without eating.  His disciples seemed to have forgotten the last time this happened (Matthew 14:16-21) and asked where they could get enough in the middle of nowhere to meet their needs.  Again Jesus started by asking what they did have and not what they seemed not to possess at hand.  This time it was seven loaves of bread and a few fish, little fish to be exact.  The Lord who is the Creator of heaven and earth and all upon it multiplied this feeble showing of what they had into more than enough once more to meet the needs of those He showed compassion for.  He gave them the example of giving thanks for all we have and kept taking more portions from the small amount of food until all had enough to eat and were filled; they did not just have a bite or two, but enough to fill their stomachs and meet their needs!  Then the remnants were gathered and found again to be more than they started with as a perfect number seven to reflect the divine nature of the miracle of His provision.  Only then did the Lord send the people away after they were fed, not before so they could journey far to get food.  He does this with us in our physical and spiritual needs by giving us overwhelming and overflowing provision to meet our needs according to our faith.  Such recollections of His work in our midst give us joy and hope in believing (Romans 15:13) as He provides such abundant provision (2 Corinthians 9:8).  Praise and thank Him for your deliverance from bondage and daily bread.