I. Jesus Feeds the Four Thousands
- In Matthew 15:29-39, we read a story of Jesus healing the lame, the blind, the mute, the maimed, and many others. The crowd was marveled and glorified God. If you all remember in Matthew 12:22-30, Jesus healed the blind, mute, and demon-possessed man. And after He did all these, Jewish Pharisees accused Him of being with Beelzebub. We can see the difference in these stories. After witnessing the miracles, we had Gentiles who believed that Jesus Christ was the son of God and glorified God; and we had Pharisees who accused Him of being with the devil. The Pharisees were supposed to be the experts of the scriptures. They claimed that they were religious and instead of accepting Jesus as the messiah, they slandered Him. Sometimes it is the so-called "religious" people who have hard hearts. They are so stuck in their old ways, that they are blinded by their tradition. Jesus, the messiah, was in front of them, doing numerous miracles of healing, but they still rejected Him. Is this how we also act? We have the Scriptures and testimonies about our living God, and even if His Word is right in front of us, we still ignore Him and continue to live our unrighteous lives. How many more miracles does Jesus have to do for us to follow Him? How many more lives does God have to change for us to believe?
- We continue the story with Jesus feeding 4000 followers. He did this by blessing seven loaves and a fish and distributing these to all of them. After everyone was satisfied, they still collected seven baskets full of fragments. What we need to see here is how His disciples acted when faced with obstacles. They knew that these people had been there for 3 days without any food. And they were starting to worry because they didn't have enough food to share. What they forgot is Jesus fed 5000 people just prior to this with just 5 loaves and bread and 2 fishes. How easily did they throw their hands in despair when faced with tough situations. They failed to remember that they were with the Son of God who can do what is impossible for men. Like the disciples, we often forget that God can do anything. When we face challenges, we forget that God had cared for us and helped us in the past. We need to trust in God when facing tough situations and let Him guide us and direct us to the right path.
II. Loving Others is Obedience to God
- In Romans 13:8-14, Paul explained that loving our neighbors is the fulfillment of the commandments of God in the old scriptures. If we love God , we wouldn't worship any other God, not have any idols in any carved image, not use God's name in vain, and finally, not pray to any dead person but only to God, through his son Jesus Christ. If we love our neighbor, we would not commit adultery, murder, steal, bear false witness or gossip, covet, and we would honor we mother and father. With love, we have obeyed God's commandments. Jesus, also, had commanded this in John 13:34,
'34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another."
- In verses 11-14, we are reminded that now is the time to wake up from our "sleep", repent and accept Jesus as our personal savior. Now is the time to change from our old ways and be "born again" of the spirit into the family of God. We need to stop the drunkenness, lewdness, lusts, quarrels, and also being envious or jealous of others. As believers, we now have Christ in our hearts who will lead our way. Let's walk like true Christians and live a righteous life and follow the way of our Lord so we may inherit the Kingdom of God and receive eternal life.
III. Proverbs for Today/ 8:14-26
14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, I have strength.
15 By me kings reign,
And rulers decree justice.
16 By me princes rule, and nobles,
All the judges of the earth.[a]
17 I love those who love me,
And those who seek me diligently will find me.
18 Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring riches and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold,
And my revenue than choice silver.
20 I traverse the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
21 That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries.
22 “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way,
Before His works of old.
23 I have been established from everlasting,
From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 While as yet He had not made the earth or the fields,
Or the primal dust of the world.
