Kingdom Illustration: Bread

 Matthew 15:21-16:12

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.”  Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”  He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”  The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.  He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”  “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”  Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour. – Matthew 15:21-28
 
The Canaanite woman came to Jesus asking for mercy.  There is nothing wrong in coming to Jesus with requests.  Matter of fact, in James 4:6 we are told, “let your requests be made known to God.”  But the context of those requests must be done in thanksgiving.  She must have known that Jesus had some kind of great authority and power.  You typically do not beg for mercy from someone that is weaker than you or has less authority than you.  I think that this was one of the things that constituted her “great faith”.  She was in a desperate situation, a situation that she did not have any control over.  Have you ever been in a situation like that?  Can you imagine what it would be like to enter their home?  It would have been chaos.  It probably felt like a hopeless warzone.  And it would have been hopeless without Jesus. 

When the Israelites were fleeing the Egyptians, they came face-to-face with the Red Sea.  They had run out of options.  “13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Exodus 14:13-14) Sometimes we get to a point where we run out of options.  It seems like there is no way out.  But isn’t it true that we see God more clearly at work when we’ve run out of options.  When things are great, and we have plenty of options then it can be difficult to see God at work.  For example, we might see that the finances are great, relationships are great, we have a great house, we have a great job, etc.  For this lady her relationships were not great.  Her sanity was probably at stake.  She had come face-to-face with her own personal Red Sea.  She may have come to the end of her rope. 
 
I stand amazed at how God uses circumstances to bring people to meet him personally.  For all we know this woman had probably not known Jesus.  She may have heard about him but never had seen him face-to-face.  I can’t help but wonder how God was working through this situation in her life in order to bring this lady to meet Jesus in person.
 
During this chaotic moment as this lady was crying out to God for help, there was silence from God.  The scripture says that “Jesus did not answer a word.”  Why would Jesus not say anything in this moment when this lady needed so much help?  We know that whatever God does he does it with divine purpose.  Even silence has divine purpose.  As it says in Deuteronomy 32:4, “He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect.  Everything he does is just and fair.  He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!” (Deuteronomy 32:4) Everything God does is fair.  Even his silence is fair.  Maybe Jesus was using silence in order to increase her faith, not to squash it, in order to draw her closer, not push her away.
 
In Matthew 15:26, Jesus said that the lady was the Greek word “kunarion”.  This means “a little dog”, like a family’s pet.  Whenever a family gets together to eat do they feed the dog scraps first, and then they themselves eat the meal?  Or does the family eat first, then the little dog eats last?  Obviously, the family eats first.  God the Father had given Jesus a mission to reach the Jews first.  They would be his instrument to reach the Gentiles.  Jesus communicated this by saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”  Paul understood these marching orders as well, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16)
 
My children have had numerous spouts of disagreement with me over the issue of fairness.  “But, he got it first…” or “She got more than me…”  If you have children or have ever been a child at some point in your life then you understand the friction that comes about with the issue of fairness.  Child #2 is loved by their parents just as much as Child #1.  So, just because Child #1 gets the bigger cookie does not mean that Child #2 has been banished to malnourishment, as they probably feel at the moment.  Maybe the cookie that belongs to Child #2 has 3.126 times as many chocolate chips as the cookie which belongs to Child #1.  Child #2 should just be glad that he got a cookie!  Jesus tested this woman’s faith.  She understood that she deserved nothing of God’s help.  We are not seeking mercy if we think that help is deserved.  We are not seeking mercy if we come with demands of fairness.  When you throw yourself at the mercy of someone you are essentially saying, “Do whatever you please.”  She was not looking for justice.  She was looking for a touch from the savior.  It did not matter to her if she only got what appeared to others as crumbs.  Jesus is the Bread of Life.  The fact that we need the bread is the point, not what our position is in receiving the bread.
 
Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”
“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was four thousand, besides women and children. After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan. – Matthew 15:29-39
 
One of the major reasons why Jesus performed miracles was to show that what he said was the truth: “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.” (John 14:11) He also did miracles out of concern for people.  He said, “I have compassion for these people…” (Matthew 15:32) As a child I had no clue that God cared about me personally.  I knew there was some kind of creator, but I did not think he wanted to get involved in my life.  As I read the Bible for the first time, I finally understood what Jesus was really like.  He was concerned about me.
 
Another thing we can learn about God in this passage is that he will sometimes lead us into tasks that seem impossible.  Sometimes he will put us into situations that we think we can’t handle or do not have the ability to do.  He was asking his disciples to feed thousands of people with seven loaves and a few fish. 
 
We know that Jesus is the king, according to other passages in the Bible.  If a king went travelling the situation would be the other way around.  The people would need to serve him and make sure he and his party had enough to eat.  The disciples were given the task to serve the people.  As you and I get closer and closer to Jesus we will find ourselves serving people more and more.  They were asked to do something that went beyond what the disciples felt they were prepared for.  They had never taken a church training program on how to feed over 4,000 people with just a few pieces of fish and bread.  This was on-the-job training.  He was teaching them as they went.  So, how can this apply to our own lives?  I do not need to have the expectation that the only way I can be used by God is if I have an overflowing amount of training and information.  As you look at all four gospels, you will see a pattern in that the disciples were trained in-the-moment as they followed Jesus.  But there was training...specific training that Jesus put them through.  Jesus was not haphazard in anything he did. 
 
The disciples did not seem to have the same “great faith” as the Canaanite woman.  But I am encouraged to know that Jesus was patient with them, teaching them along the way.  At times, we may feel like we do not have a lot of faith, but it is encouraging to know that Jesus will be persistent with us, teaching us along the way.  If you and I do not “get it” right away, he will stick with us. 
 
There are clear commands in the Bible that Jesus gives all of us.  How often do we only see the obstacles to accomplishing his will?  We might be stubborn to forgive because the other person has not been lovable.  We might be hesitant to “preach the gospel to all creation.”, like Jesus commanded in Mark 16:15, because we feel inadequate.  We might be hesitant to let our “light shine” because we are concerned what other people would think of us.  At some point, all of us have to get to the point where we tell Jesus, “Yes, Lord.” and stop focusing on the obstacles.  I have gotten to the point in my life where I am not so concerned who follows me or not.  One of my number one desires is that I will help everyone I can to say to Jesus, “Yes, Lord.”
 
I had an employee that would say, “Yes, sir.” to nearly everything I would say.  He seemed like such a respectable guy.  I was pretty impressed.  But over time some pretty glaring issues began to surface.  He missed days at work.  The night before he was supposed to show up for work I would send him a text reminding him, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”  His immediate and respectful reply was, “Yes, sir.”  But he did not show up.  This happened over and over and over and over again.  I would be patient, giving him clear expectations and asking him how many hours did he feel like he could handle.  It did not work out.  That guy had to hit the road. 
 
I do not want to be like that with Jesus, saying “Yes, sir.” but not doing what he says.  In Matthew 7:24, Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”  That’s a pretty cool promise, that we can weather the storm of 2020 because we’ve built our house on the rock. 
 
Verse 37 illustrates what it’s like to be a part of God’s kingdom and to be closely following him.  Matthew says, “They all ate and were satisfied…”  What this world offers will only leave us hungry.  What God offers us will leave us satisfied.  I have to remind myself that everyday.
 
The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.” – Matthew 16:1-4
 
According to Jewish superstition, some believed that only God could perform signs in the sky.  Whereas demons could perform signs only on the earth.  So, the Pharisees and Saducees were looking for a sign in the sky, from God.  Their hearts were so fixed on darkness that they hated the light.  When you are in a dark room for a really long time then someone unexpectedly turns on the light, you hate it.  You cover your eyes and shrink back from it or pull the covers over your eyes.  You would rather stay in darkness.  This is the heart of people, until we let God intervene to rescue us.
 
As Jesus commented on the appearance of the sky, he seemed to be taking a jab at the Pharisees’ and Saducees’ pride.  In essence he was saying, “Your knowledge of God, which you think is superior, is actually inferior to your knowledge of the weather, which is common knowledge. 
 
In Matthew 12:40 Jesus stated, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”  Jesus was not going to give these religious hypocrites the signs they were wanting, according to their worldly tradition.  He was going to give them the sign of his death, burial and resurrection. This too was a demonstration that Jesus was God, that he had the authority to forgive sins and that he would judge the world.  All his promises would be backed up by demonstrations of God’s power.
 
When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we did not bring any bread.”
Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Do you still not understand? Do not you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you do not understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. – Matthew 16:5-12
 
The Pharisees and Sadducees had a lot of external practices that would appear to some as godliness.  But Jesus could see their hearts.  In Luke 12:1 Jesus defined the Pharisees “leaven” as “hypocrisy”.  They claimed to be close to God, but they refused to submit their hearts to the one they claimed to be closed to.  They also did not lift a finger to help people even though the Old Testament is filled with commands to do so.  In Matthew 16 Jesus seems to be talking about their doctrine (beliefs).  Their doctrine and hypocrisy kind-of went hand-in-hand.  In Acts 23:8 it says that Saduccees believed that there was “no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit…”  Of course, without a resurrection our faith would be in vain.  These two groups had a firm influence on the whole Jewish culture.  I think we would do well for each of us to have our own sober evaluation of everything that we allow to have our hearts during these days.  This influence can come from many different directions. 
 
A common theme throughout several of these stories is bread.  Jesus is the bread.  He provides the satisfying bread.  And he warns against contaminated bread.  Jesus has divine purpose for our circumstances so that we can be drawn to him, the bread of life.  His on-the-job teaching illustrations have divine timing so that we can learn that he will provide and that he wants to give bread that satisfies.  His warnings bring out revelations that we can’t see without his help.  He provides insight into things that could be harmful to our relationship with him. He shows us those harmful things even though society may not see them as harmful.  What are we hungry for...the worldly bread that will leave us hungry or the bread that will satisfy?