Thursday, May 19, 2011

Jesus has compassion

Matthew 15:32-39 (ESV)
Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." [33] And the disciples said to him, "Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?" [34] And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish." [35] And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, [36] he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. [37] And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. [38] Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. [39] And after sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

Jesus seems to do this trick often. Feeding hundreds and thousands with a very little amount of food. The different accounts often have different numbers. Some would say this is a contradiction. It is not. It might be if they were all recording the exact same event. But there is every reason to consider that Jesus often did similar miracles in different places. It is for the sake of compassion that he does this. He really cared for the people. Even today, it is not just the spiritual needs that Jesus takes care of, but also our physical needs.

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