Matthew 15:29-31 On Another Mountain
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: April 22, 2019 Matthew 15:29-31
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.
(Understanding the Text) Jesus made the trip from the area of Tyre and Sidon back to the Sea of Galilee. We are not told what part of the sea, only that He was walking by the sea. How long did Jesus stay away from the area before returning? I don’t know. It would have taken a couple of days to walk there, so I would think that He would stay there for at least a week. Thus, Jesus stayed away for 2 weeks to a couple of months. When He returned, the crowds began following Him again.
This is the introduction to the feeding of the 4,000. I have heard that this group contained Gentiles. There is some indication of this in the wording that “they glorified the God of Israel” rather than just “they glorified God.” On the other hand, there does not seem any other indication of Gentiles in this passage, certainly not in the location by the Sea of Galilee. The people who said this might get it from Mark. After the Syro-Phoenician woman is healed, Mark says “Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis” (Mark 7:31) giving a story about a healing and then going on to talk about the feeding of the 4,000. Thus, Jesus and His disciples were on the move keeping one step ahead of the Pharisees. First, they were way up northwest on the coast of the Mediterranean. Then they traveled to the southwest side of the lake. That was quite a journey. I wonder if they went to Capernaum and took a boat over, or if they walked around to it because Decapolis is on the opposite side of the lake from Capernaum. I’m leaning towards walking because Matthew makes it a point to say that “Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee.” Then He went up on a mountain. Why say that Jesus walked there unless it was a long walk? Or a walk versus a boat ride. But with Matthew it’s not safe to make those kinds of assumptions, so I’m not firm in this idea. In fact, when I look ahead to the end of the chapter, it says that Jesus went in the boat to another place, so they probably came by boat from Capernaum and then walked aways by the lake and up onto a mountain.
(Revelation of God) It seems to me that Jesus was sensitizing His disciples to working with Gentiles. First, He exposed them to Gentiles by taking them out of Galilee into the district called Phoenicia where they encountered the Canaanite woman. They probably encountered a lot of other Gentiles there also as they went to the market and wandered around the area. Then Jesus took them back to their home of Galilee but to an area full of Gentiles, the area of Decapolis. Thus, Jesus was showing them that there was more to the world than the Jews and teaching the disciples how to interact with these people. Jesus provided healing and feeding for the Gentiles in the same way that He had provided healing and feeding to the Jews. Jesus’ message to them was clear. The Gentiles were to receive God’s mercy and be treated with the same mercy as the Jews. This training was important since most of the apostles would be sent to live outside the borders of Israel to interact with Gentiles who knew nothing about the God of Israel.
(Application) My application for myself is that God has a purpose when He asks me to go somewhere and do something. I usually won’t know what that purpose is, but I need to trust that God knows what He’s doing and that what He asks of me is necessary. I don’t know what purpose was served by me going to the Hispanic women’s retreat, but I know God called me there. I don’t know what purpose is served by a lot of what I do nowadays because I don’t see the final results, but it’s not needed for me to understand. What is necessary is that I trust that God has everything planned and knows what He’s doing and will always act with my best interests at heart. My other application is that I need to show compassion to those in need. I’m not always very good at that.
(Prayer) Remind me to trust You and to not worry about knowing the end from the beginning. Thank you for the many signs that You have given me of Your presence and Your guidance. Teach me to show compassion to Your other children, especially when I don’t feel a natural affinity for them.