Matthew 15:29-37
At that time:
Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there.
Great crowds came to him,
having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute,
and many others.
They placed them at his feet, and he cured them.
The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking,
the deformed made whole, the lame walking,
and the blind able to see,
and they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus summoned his disciples and said,
“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
for they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
I do not want to send them away hungry,
for fear they may collapse on the way.”
The disciples said to him,
“Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place
to satisfy such a crowd?”
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then he took the seven loaves and the fish,
gave thanks, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets full.
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I've read this passage many times. Somewhere in reading it over and over, I've let it lose its meaning. I've become almost numb to it. On top of that, at times I'm so interested in writing something theological or some great insight or something that "sounds" smart, that I forget to stop and think hard about the words I'm writing about. It just happened when I read the passage again today.
In the first paragraph, we have the mute speaking, the lame walking, the blind seeing, and the deformed made whole. People are truly and obviously healed, in a way that is completely convincing and undeniable. After that we get the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.
One problem I have at times is that when I read about them, I have no perspective. These displays are so "off the charts" that it's impossible to really "get." None of us have ever seen anything so crazy. Not even close. We really can't even fathom it.
I wish I could have seen some of this stuff go down. But they occurred at a singular point in history, for a specific purpose: to announce the presence of the Christ by displaying the very signs of God that are foretold in the ancient Scriptures. For us in 2010, they were meant for us to hear about and believe, but not see.
As I think about this now, though, I realize that He does continue to do things like this. He performs miracles with us, and with people we know, all the time. He makes people whole. He allows people to see things they weren't able to see. Go places they weren't able to go. Say things they weren't able to say. Do things they weren't able to do.
Here I am, wishing I could see some of these great physical things happening, when all of the time He is performing miracles right in front of me. Even WITHIN me -- so gradually and subtly that I'm not aware of it.
His thoughts and ways are FAR above mine!
