After the great faith of the Canaanite/Gentile woman in Mt. 15:21-28 Matthew tells us of another feeding of the multitudes. He had given us the account of the feeding of the five thousand in chapter 14 where twelve baskets of leftovers were taken up, the number twelve representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Here in chapter 15 he tells of Jesus feeding four thousand with seven baskets of leftovers. Seven is the number that represents completeness or totality. So, would this feeding be of a Gentile group or at least have a large Gentile element? Does the seven indicate the whole people of God, Jew, and Gentile, being fed?
The exact location of this feeding is not mentioned. We know that He passed along the Sea of Galilee and went up on a mountain and sat down. Generally speaking the west side of the Sea of Galilee was Jewish and the east side was a Gentile area. Notice in 15:30-31 that the crowds were amazed at Jesus’ healing of the blind, the lame, and others. Would a Jewish group who had been following Jesus for some time have been amazed with His miracles of healing? Notice also in verse 31 that after seeing the miracles that the crowd gives “glory to the God of Israel.” Wouldn’t a Jewish group just give glory to God? A group giving glory to the ‘God of Israel’ would most likely not be Israelites. Further evidence that this happened in a Gentile area can be found in Mark’s account. In Mark 7:31 leading up to the feeding of the four thousand Mark tells us that after leaving Tyre and Sidon that Jesus went through or into the region of the Decapolis. Decapolis was a region east of the Sea of Galilee containing ten Greek cities, the meaning of the word Decapolis.
Also, in the reading for this week (Mt. 16:13) Jesus leads his disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was located about 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. It was built by Herod the Great’s son Philip, who was known as Herod Philip, and named after himself and Tiberius Caesar. Josephus, the Jewish historian, said the area was mostly non-Jewish. It was in this region that Peter made his great confession that he understood Jesus to be the Messiah.
These glimpses of Jesus interfacing with the Gentile world foreshadow the ‘Great Commission’ in Mt. 28 to take the Gospel to all the world.
The exact location of this feeding is not mentioned. We know that He passed along the Sea of Galilee and went up on a mountain and sat down. Generally speaking the west side of the Sea of Galilee was Jewish and the east side was a Gentile area. Notice in 15:30-31 that the crowds were amazed at Jesus’ healing of the blind, the lame, and others. Would a Jewish group who had been following Jesus for some time have been amazed with His miracles of healing? Notice also in verse 31 that after seeing the miracles that the crowd gives “glory to the God of Israel.” Wouldn’t a Jewish group just give glory to God? A group giving glory to the ‘God of Israel’ would most likely not be Israelites. Further evidence that this happened in a Gentile area can be found in Mark’s account. In Mark 7:31 leading up to the feeding of the four thousand Mark tells us that after leaving Tyre and Sidon that Jesus went through or into the region of the Decapolis. Decapolis was a region east of the Sea of Galilee containing ten Greek cities, the meaning of the word Decapolis.
Also, in the reading for this week (Mt. 16:13) Jesus leads his disciples to the region of Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was located about 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. It was built by Herod the Great’s son Philip, who was known as Herod Philip, and named after himself and Tiberius Caesar. Josephus, the Jewish historian, said the area was mostly non-Jewish. It was in this region that Peter made his great confession that he understood Jesus to be the Messiah.
These glimpses of Jesus interfacing with the Gentile world foreshadow the ‘Great Commission’ in Mt. 28 to take the Gospel to all the world.
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