Body and Soul | Matthew 14:13-21
Sermon Summary:
In this well-known miracle story about how Jesus feeds a crowd of over five thousand people, we see a powerful demonstration of the compassion of God. In this story, Jesus has compassion on the crowds because of all the sick people He sees, so He heals them. But throughout His ministry, multiple times Matthew tells us that Jesus had compassion on others. His compassion extends to the whole person–physically and spiritually. God is concerned about ALL the needs that people have. Sometimes we (just like the disciples in this story) do not look to Jesus for help with our needs, or we figure that He won’t be able to or won’t be willing to help. But Jesus shows that He has come precisely to compassionately provide for all of our needs in body and soul.
The feeding of the 5,000 shows the miraculous power of Jesus, but more importantly it shows His compassion.
Matthew shows us frequently in his Gospel that Jesus has compassion for the whole person–body and soul.
Just like the disciples, we struggle with both a lack of compassion and a lack of understanding.
We look at needy people as problems to go away.
We think God can’t or won’t have compassion on us in the midst of our problems.
We may have different ideas or expectations for how God will provide. Regardless, God will compassionately provide in the way He sees fit.
Jesus brings salvation for the whole person.
Jesus provides an abundance of compassion for His needy people. All will be satisfied.
In Christ, I am ready because I’ve been made ready (through faith).
NEWS: Catch up on all the latest St. Paul Westlake news in our Monday and Friday emails or read it here: https://bit.ly/News8326
Not seeing our emails? Check your junk file or contact churchoffice@stpaulwestlake.org to update your information.