Biblical Discipleship Pt. 10 Discipleship: Doubts and Faith in Action.
We are continuing to sit and learn at the feet of Jesus in His school of discipleship. We are doing this because a lack of discipleship of believers is a major concern for our Pastors. Therefore, perhaps the Lord might use these simple lessons to encourage Pastors, Parents and Parishioners in their faith.
Christ's disciples were a lot like us. They had a lot to learn and a lot of maturing of their faith needed to take place. Jesus' methods clearly worked because the men He trained were used of God in mighty ways when the Church was birthed (Acts 2).
Each of these men set good examples of faith for us to emulate and they gave us the inspired truth of the New Testament scriptures. Each of them personally sacrificed and gave their all to the cause of Jesus Christ. From them we learn about prayer, perseverance during trials, wisdom from God and sound doctrine.
Jesus spent about 3 1/2 years preparing these men for apostolic duty because they needed it. We are no different because we also need ongoing spiritual growth and ongoing sanctification. It is God's goal for our lives until He calls us home.
Therefore, we can anticipate times of spiritual growth and victory along with times of dark valleys filled with many trials. We may experience days of really walking close to our Lord and other days when our zeal wavers. But faith in Christ will always draw us on, pressing onward in our labors for Him and seeking God's transforming work in our hearts to make us more like His Son.
Disciples witnessed Christ's powerful ministry.
Matthew15:29-31 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. 30) And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: 31) Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus traveled on and came to the sea of Galilee. He walked up to a higher elevation and sat down. Matthew tells us that "great multitudes" came to Jesus. It was a very large and massive throng of people.
Among this vast multitude were many people who could not see or could not hear and speak. Many people had birth deformities that made them lame and other people were injured in some type of accident.
Those who were able bodied carried all of the afflicted people and "cast them down at Jesus' feet." This is the idea of hastily putting them in front of Christ because of desperately seeking Divine intervention. No physician could cure them and their relatives came to Jesus because they heard of His power to heal the sick and afflicted.
Matthew used a simple but profound statement of four words to tell us what happened to all of the sick and afflicted people. "And He healed them." No one was left out and all were healed of the various health issues from which they suffered.
This is another mighty miracle and the disciples of Jesus witnessed all of His powerful works on that day. What was the impact of Jesus's ministry? The entire multitude was filled with wonder and joy because all those who were sick or afflicted were healed. They glorified God!
Jesus tried their faith & the disciples had doubts.
Matthew 15:32-33 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. 33) And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?
Once again, Jesus gathered His disciples because He was going to test their faith. Seeing the necessities of the multitude, Jesus, took his disciples into council, treating them not as servants, but as friends.
They were dispersed among the crowd and Jesus summoned them around him, and put before them the people's need for food which was the object of His attention. Jesus tried their faith, demonstrating that there were no human means available for feeding so many famishing people.
We do not know how many people Jesus healed from among the vast massive crowds, but it must have been a large number based upon the reaction of the people. God was glorified.
Jesus had compassion on this vast throng of people. The word "compassion" corresponds to God's "lovingkindness" which refers to the love, grace, mercy and kindness of God toward all who believe.
Jesus had lovingkindness for the people because they had not eaten for three days. They stayed in place listening to Jesus teach the Word of God. They were hungry and in danger of fainting due to lacking food. Christ refused to send them away without feeding them first.
I want us to see the reaction of the disciples to Jesus' desire to feed the people. They questioned how it could be possible to find enough bread to feed such a large mass of people.
Jesus expressed the possibility of feeding the multitude but His disciples responded with doubt. They did not urge Him to send the multitude away as with the 5,000 that Jesus fed, but they emphasized the impossibility of feeding this group.
Their answer bristled with several objections. The place where Jesus taught was uninhabited wilderness area. The sheer size of the crowds meant that the quantity of food required was enormous. As poor and needy as they were, how could they possibly help them?
It might be helpful to recount the many miracles of Jesus witnessed by His disciples to this point.
- Water turned to wine (John 2)
- Healing of Ruler's son (John 4)
- Cast out demon in Capernaum (Mark 1)
- Healed Peter's mother in law (Matthew 8:14)
- Healed many sick in evening (Matthew 8:16)
- Miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5)
- Leper cleansed (Matthew 8:1-4)
- Centurions servant healed (Matthew 8:5-13)
- Paralytic healed (Matthew 9:1-8)
- Man's withered hand healed (Matt 12:9-14)
- Widow's son raised from dead (Luke 7:11-17)
- Jesus calmed storm on the sea (Matt 8:23-27)
- Cast demons into herd of pigs (Matt 8:28-33)
- Healed woman with issue of blood (Matt 9)
- Raised Jairus' daughter from death (Matt 9)
- Healed 2 blind men (Matthew 9:27-31)
- Healed man who could not speak (Matt 9:32)
- Healed invalid at Bethesda (John 5:1-15)
- Fed 5,000 plus women & children (Matt 14)
- Walked on water Matthew 14:22-33)
- Healed many in Gennesaret (Matthew 14:34)
- Healed Canaanite woman's daughter (Mat 15)
- Healed deaf and dumb man (Mark 7:31-37)
Matthew 15:34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.
Jesus took a quick inventory of what food was readily available and discovered that there were 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish. The resources on hand seemed so small but the same Word (John 1:1-3) who created the heaven and the earth from nothing was present and willing to feed them.
This situation seemed impossible and hopeless, but the same God who used Elijah to feed a poor widow at Zarephath for a long time (1 Kings 17), is with them now in the Person of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Come and see what Jesus Christ would do with such meager resources.
God does all things decently and in order.
Matthew 15:35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.
Mark 6:39-40 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. 40) And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
Jesus instructed the multitude to find seats on the ground in an orderly manner that would facilitate handing out the food more easily.
In Mark's gospel when Jesus fed the 5,000, He commanded them to sit in similar sized groups of people with aisles between the groups of fifties and hundreds. There is no reason to doubt that Jesus did this once again here because food distribution would be much more efficient.
Jesus met all ministry needs of the people.
Mat 15:36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 37) And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.
As before when He fed the 5,000, our Lord took limited resources of bread and fish and gave thanks to His Father for providing the food. Jesus then broke the bread and fish and gave it to His disciples to distribute to the crowd. He abundantly multiplied the limited supply of food so that it was more than ample to feed them all.
Every single person received enough to eat so the entire multitude was full. Notice that there were more leftover bread and fish at the end than what Jesus had to begin with. Instead of 7 loaves of bread there were 7 full baskets of bread and fish left over.
How is this even possible? Because Jesus is God manifested in the flesh and with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37 & 18:37).
After He met their needs, Jesus sent them away.
Matthew 15:38,39 And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. 39) And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.
This crowd was smaller than the group of 5,000 that Jesus previously fed. Yet, 4,000 men means that there were several thousand women and children present too. It is plausible that this crowd numbered around 10,000 or more.
Jesus did not send them away until He met their physical needs. Remember, He preached and taught them for almost three days. He gave them the manna of God's Word to fill their souls but they needed food for their bodies too, or else they might perish on the return trip to their respective homes.
Thoughts to Ponder...
Pastors, Parents, Parishioners and lay leaders have some more important truths to digest concerning discipleship.
Discipleship means being ready witnesses of Jesus Christ's mighty miracles. Each time that we read the inspired record of His works, we become a witness to a the wonderful things that God did. Each time that we tell another person what Jesus did to save them, we are ready witnesses.
However, we are also witnesses to miracles today. How? Each time that God saves a repentant sinner who turns to Christ in faith, the angels in heaven rejoice (Luke 15:7) and a soul is snatched away from the devil's dominion (Colossians 1:12-14). Salvation through the blood of Jesus is certainly a mighty miracle indeed.
Each time that a wayward child returns home in repentance and receives the Father's forgiveness, a miracle has happened (Luke 15:11-32). Each time that one of our children understand the gospel and give their heart to Christ with child like faith, we have witnessed a miracle.
Discipleship means having a sense of expectancy that God will still do the impossible today. He may not feed 5,000 but He will do the miraculous work of saving souls, calling the wayward children home and giving men, women and children a new heart and a new spirit.
Discipleship means having a faith in God that does not waver with our changing circumstances. Pastors, Parents and Parishioners, must all have faith that God will do what He promises to do to bring sinners to Himself through Christ.
Whether our pulpit is in our church, or at our kitchen table or in a prayer room praying with other believers, faith pleases God. A lack of faith by believers is a dishonor to Him.
Discipleship means knowing that our faith will be tried. We have no idea exactly how and when God will try our faith but we have the certainty that He will. Fiery trials purge out the dross from our lives and purify us for His service.
Discipleship means being faithful to our calling no matter how limited the resources may seem to be. We may be called to serve Christ as a Pastor, a Parent a Parishioner, or as a young child. We may think our own talent and resources are too limited. Jesus Christ can take little and make much of it.
Discipleship means relying on Jesus to fully meet all needs. Jesus will meet pastors needs, parents needs and parishioners needs. Sometimes our need is spiritual in nature and other times it may be a physical need. Jesus will meet our needs (Philippians 4:13).
May our Lord find us faithful as His disciples and may we have joyful hearts as we trust our Savior to do the mighty works of ministry in our church, and in our homes and communities.
Bob
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