Jesus's compassion on the multitude (feeding 5000)

Chris · #1 (**permalink**) 02-23-2007, 01:01 PM

Last night I was going through Matthew. Not reading in depth, but scanning to make a list of passages that had a common theme.

Anyway, doing this never works out - I always end up getting caught up in a passage and digging into it.

Ok, so here's what I noticed last night - forgive me if this gets convoluted before I get to the question:

After John was beheaded, Jesus went out to a desrt place - to be alone I assume - and a great number of people followed Him.

(Matthew 14:1-12)

Ok, apparently, Jesus went out to be alone, but these people followed Him. So He looked upon them and was moved with compassion upon them, and healed their sick.

(Matthew 14:14)

Then, in the evening, Jesus fed them - all of them. Then He sent them away.

Ok, now let's switch to John chapter 6:

My understanding of the Gospels (harmonized) is that the feeding in Matthew 14 is the same as the feeding in John 6.

Ok, so the group fed in Matthew 14/John 6 is the same group. The same group that Jesus had compassion on earlier, healing their sick.

In John 6:15, Jesus departed into a mountain. The next day (skipping the events of that night, for the purposes of this thread), people came seeking Him (6:22-25). It appears that these were, at least generally, the same people who had been fed John 6:26), the same people upon whom He had showed compassion by healing their sick (Matthew 14:14).

Jesus then begins His discourse on the Bread of Life. In verse 6:41, we find that the Jews rejected His discourse.

Ok, stop here for a moment: Was the whole group (the 5000 fed) Jewish, or does verse 6:41 refer to a Jewish subset of the whole group?

----moving on now----

Either way, soon after we find the warning in verse 6:44, and this is repeated in 6:65 in a manner that leads me to assume that the group addressed in 6:65 is the same addressed in 6:44, therefore the group addressed in 6:65 is the same as the Jews addressed in 6:41.

In verse 6:66, apparently everyone went away except the 12.

Ok, so here's a summary:

Jesus had compassion on a multitude. He healed their sick and fed them. Soon thereafter He whittled this multitude down to 12 true disciples, 12 elect men.

John 6:64 tells us that Jesus had known from the beginning who these 12 elect were, and He also knew who were NOT His people.

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Ok, here's my question:

Apparently, the multitude upon which Jesus showed compassion in Matthew 14:12 were not elect. Jesus knew they weren't His, but He had compassion upon them. He fed them, He healed them....but they were not His.

Is this correct? Has my logic failed somewhere as I moved through these passages?

Is this an example of 'common grace'? Or is this a matter of many being called, but few chosen?

How do we describe this?

What are the implications of this - is this a picture of the Church showing compassion, healing and feeding the masses, knowing that (generally speaking, at least) they're not going to be saved, but we follow Christ's example by showing them compassion anyway?

Hamalas · #2 (**permalink**) 03-01-2007, 09:59 PM

Good question. What we must remember is that this is one story in the life of these people. Jesus could have been planting seeds that would later be watered by either Him, or His disciples. Just because they did not fall on their knees in immediate, visible, repentance doesn't mean that they were not elect.

This story also acts as a visible reminder of our own sin, even those of us who are elect. God feeds us, loves us, heals us, and teaches us. Yet when it comes time to change our lives and truly follow Him, we scatter. It makes me wonder what the "Prosperity preachers," and televangelists would do with this passage?