Gospel – Matthew 14 – 16
We return to the life of Jesus in…
Bible Passage: Matthew 14 – 16
I thought I’d focus on a group of people this time – the followers of Jesus.
Just take a moment and imagine you were amongst them during this passage. What would you have seen? What would you have heard?
- Jesus fed 5000 men with just 5 loaves and 2 fishes! And we did not even count the women and children. Not only that… there were 12 baskets of fragments of the loaves and fish left over!
- Jesus walked on water! Not only He walked… Peter could walk on water as well. But I think he got too ‘kan cheong’ and needed Jesus to save him.
- There was a constant stream of people seeking healing from Jesus. There were the blind, the lame, the mute, the maimed and many others. Many just had to touch the hem of Jesus’ garments and they were made well!
- Jesus fed 4000 this time and 7 baskets left over. Oh yes… it is with 7 loaves and a few fishes.
Hmm… quite a lot of miracles isn’t it?
And in between all these miracles, Jesus spoke & taught them things which they still do not seem to understand.
Are we like that today?
Some of us have witness our fair share of miracles. Some of us actually are part of the miracles. We have followed Jesus for some time and have read and heard His words.
And when Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (Matt 16:13).
The disciples replied … “John the Baptist”, “Elijah”, “Jeremiah” or “some prophet”.
Despite following and seeing what Jesus did, many still did not know who Jesus really is.
But Peter was different. He said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter was sure. Peter was confident. Peter knew who he believed in.
Do we have the same confidence in our Church today?
When someone asks you what is the name of our Church, do you mumble something and quickly change the topic?
When someone asks you what does you Church believe in, do we give an answer with firm conviction that we are the blessed true Church of the Lord because we believe we have the presence of the Holy Spirit and we follow the Bible faithfully?
Or are we unsure? And not able to give a definite answer?
Something for us to think about today as we go about our daily lives.
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PS
Imagine myself as Peter:
Jesus said,”…no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” ‘Peter’ thought to himself,”Ok, Jonah was in the belly of fish for 3 days.”
Jesus said that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, be killed, and be raised the third days. ‘Peter’ panic. Jonah didn’t die, he was just in the belly of the big fish. Many miracles were performed bec Jesus is here. How can Jesus die? If He died, who would raise Him from death?
Jesus said,”(Peter)you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of man.”
Yes, ‘Peter’ has forgotten about God. Yes, ‘Peter’ must be mindful of God. God will raise Jesus from death.