Original Entry Date 2/24/2021: Wouldn’t it have been AMAZING to have been alive back in the New Testament Biblical Times and to have physically walked with Jesus?! I wouldn’t have necessarily wanted to live, live back then because I enjoy the creature comforts of my home, technology, etc… BUT to have been there while He was in the flesh on earth and to teleport home afterward; now that’s what I am talking about LOL!
We may not be able to teleport back to that time, unfortunately. But, as we read the accounts of Jesus in the Gospels there is a clear resemblance of what it is like to Find Jesus and Walk with Him in this very day and age. Let’s examine an account in the Gospel of Matthew. We begin at a point where Jesus is leaving the region of Tyre and Sidon.
Matthew 15:29-31 NKJV:
29 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them. 31 So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.
The first thing to point out is how Jesus goes up on a mountain (this symbolizes a mountain top experience. To be full of the Holy Spirit, full of power, full of joy, to be in God’s presence. Remember Moses went to the top of Mount Sinai to be in God’s presence.)
**if you wish to read more about Moses and mountain top experiences, see the following post: https://baptizemyheartlord.com/2021/05/02/symbolization-moses-is-called-to-the-mountaintop/
When we first find Jesus (or recommit to Him) we are like that multitude of broken people coming up the mountain, in need of Him and His healing touch.
(*note: I am thinking that the gift of healing occurs when we are on a mountain with Jesus.)
The scripture, here, states that He specifically heals the mute (this is how He gives us the ability to speak spiritual truths of Him). He heals the maimed (He makes us whole, healing our brokenness of heart and soul). He causes the lame to walk (He empowers us, lifting us up onto our feet so that we are able to Walk alongside Him). He causes the blind to see (He opens our spiritual eyes so that we are able to understand and to see).
**read more about this at the following link: https://baptizemyheartlord.com/2021/04/29/symbolization-the-deaf-can-hear-the-mute-can-speak/
Matthew 15:32-39 NKJV:
32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
33 Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”
34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”
35 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. 37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.
At the beginning of the scripture just above, it sounds like this happens right after the healing on the mountain. But I believe 3 days have passed and that’s why Jesus says He has compassion for the crowd.
They had been following Him having no food (to have no food is to have an intense hunger for God’s Presence and for His Word. To thirst is to be in need of the refreshing power of Jesus, the Living Water). They still follow Jesus even though they are hungry (this symbolizes our faithfulness in Jesus). They are walking through the wilderness with Jesus, like being in a Valley experience but keeping our hearts set on Him.
Just as Jesus has compassion on this multitude, so He has compassion on us. He feeds them just as He does now for those who follow Him through the mountains and valleys of this life. As we hunger for Him and commit our hearts to follow Him…He will feed us.
***You may be interested in reading the following: https://baptizemyheartlord.com/2021/03/04/symbolization-passing-the-broken-bread/
