Matthew 15:32-39  (Also in Mark 8:1-13)

(32) 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? (34) And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. (35) And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. (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. (38) 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.

  Another great miracle performed by Jesus.  I love the line "I have compassion on the multitude”. This speaks volumes. After reading both passages for Matthew and Mark, that is the one line that sticks out to me every time. I will get back to that here in a bit. It amazed me when Jesus tells His disciples he will not send the people away for they have been with him for 3 days and have not eaten anything. The faith and the desire to be around Jesus and pretty much sacrifice everything. 3 days of possibly not going to your job, taking care of the house, not caring about eating, etc. etc. literally putting everything else on hold just to spend time with Jesus. Psalm 16:11  "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” To be in God’s presence we must one hundred percent be giving Him our undivided attention. There are times when we must put everything aside and get ourselves in the presence of Jesus. We often want to multitask with Jesus, I know I am guilty of that. Psalm 16 says there is fulness of Joy in His presence. We cannot be full of His joy if we are multitasking while trying to be in His presence. I believe when we do that we are truly missing out on God’s goodness.

   I am curious on why the disciples did not pick up on the possible hint Jesus was giving them about the multitude had not eaten. They have already seen this scenario play out before. Do you think possibly He was hoping one of then would step out in faith? Though there is nothing in the scriptures hinting that, it does make you wonder. Or a better question is, maybe being around Jesus for so long, they were kind of numb to step out themselves and just automatically expect Jesus to do it. Even though they said to Jesus, where are we going to find so much food out here in the wilderness. Would you think that a better response would be, Well, we do have these few loaves and fishes, and we have seen what you can do? How great of a faith statement that would have been. Jesus once again takes the loaves and fishes, gave thanks and broke them, and everyone did eat. They even had more food left over than they started with. Philippians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” John 6:35 "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

Let’s take a look at this word compassion.

1 Samuel 23:21   And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye have compassion on me.

Psalm 145:8  The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; Slow to anger, and of great mercy.

Psalm 111:4  He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: The LORD is gracious and full of compassion.

Luke 7:13  And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.

The dictionary describes compassion like this. A feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. This is a very profound way to look at other people. In God’s eyes we are those who are stricken by misfortune that started in the Garden of Eden. From the very beginning, we have been stricken with sin by the acts of Adam and Eve. It is a misfortune that has plagued us from the beginning.  When we see Jesus say He has compassion for us, He so desires to see us not have to suffer.

Matthew 11:28   Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Matthew 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Psalm 55:22  Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Lets go one step further.

1 Peter 3:8  Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous

Galatians 6:2  Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

It is very important we also show compassion for each other, those around us. In todays World, there needs to be more compassion to the people. There is so much hate toward one another, and we must start in our own lives by living up to Jesus’s words and examples.