Devotional:

“29 Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. 30 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, 31 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.” — Matthew 15:29-31

You may or may not have noticed, but this miracle, where Jesus heals many, is the same as our last devotional and we will look at this same account again in tomorrow’s devotional. I am using three texts from Matthew and Mark to highlight three significant ways God showed His power and glory to this particular crowd.

Jesus and the disciples were with them for a few days and a lot happened. Mark chose to write specifically about the deaf and speech-impaired man in this group of healed people. Matthew wasn’t specific, but gave us a broad view of multiple healings during Jesus’s time with this crowd and how they reacted to Him and these miracles.

The people had been with Jesus for days and were no longer afraid like they were the first time Jesus came to this region. Witnessing the healing of a deaf man was much less frightening than watching demons leave a man’s body, jump into a herd of pigs and be forced over a cliff to their death. We also know that Jesus had been gone from Galilee for a while.

Galilee and other Jewish areas were getting more dangerous for Jesus and the disciples because of the threats from the Pharisees. Honestly, the Jewish people were more resistant to believing Jesus than the gentiles, but Jesus continued to teach in gentile regions without the threat of being arrested, continuing to advance the gospel for as far and as long as He could.

Jesus walked by the sea, climbed a mountain or hill and sat down. We see in many places in the Gospels that Jesus sat while He taught. It seems odd because we are used to preachers standing and it’s only logical to stand to be better seen and heard. But in the Jewish tradition, it was customary for rabbis to teach sitting down and they only stood while reading Scripture. The two different postures helped the people distinguish between the rabbi reading the Scripture and the rabbi’s teaching of the Scripture.

We don’t know if Jesus sat down planning to teach that day. Maybe He taught as He healed people, it doesn’t mention Jesus talking at all. We know that Jesus had to reveal God’s plan differently in this region than in Galilee. Teaching out with the old covenant and in with the New Covenant and reciting Isaiah’s prophecies wouldn’t have made much sense to them because they didn’t follow the Jewish religion. I think Jesus knew He had to build relationships and trust with these people before He could reveal Himself as God through these miracles.

Jesus, fully human, sat face to face and eye to eye with the crowd, loving them unconditionally. Then, Jesus, fully God, revealed Himself by healing every single hurt, sickness and disability that was brought to Him that day. The glory of God became tangible and undeniable. They were amazed at all the miracles they saw and it says they “glorified the God of Israel.”

People in need of healing were brought to Jesus and it says they were placed at His feet. I love this detail because it reminds me that we are all equal at the feet of Jesus no matter the burden, pain or sickness. We are all welcome and He wants us to bring all that junk we carry around day after day to His feet. And we do! Every Sunday, we come down to the altar to pray for our burdens, addictions, pains and struggles and we get up, wipe our tears and carry it back to our seats with us. We don’t trust Him enough to leave it sitting at His feet. We carry the burden everywhere, unable to let go of that control.

Sometimes, it is easier for those who believe in nothing to grasp onto something that promises hope. You come to Jesus completely broken, admitting you have tried everything else the world has offered and nothing has worked and this is your last shot. It is a desperate place to be, but sometimes that hopelessness is the only thing that will open your eyes to see the love of Jesus Christ, bringing you to your knees in complete surrender. 

What’s even scarier, is walking around proclaiming you believe, when really you are just going through the motions because of traditions, family beliefs or even a political stance. You don’t really think you need a Savior because everything is just fine the way it is: you have a good family, a good job, good friends, good neighborhood. Why do you need to be the weirdo Christian when the fake you is doing just fine? Church on Sunday, check. Pray before dinner, check. A few dollars in the offering plate, check.

Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah in Matthew 15:8-9 saying:

8 “‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Jesus didn’t heal people to show He was powerful. His miracles always pointed to the fulfilled promise of a Savior for all the world. The blind man didn’t just see; he saw the promise of heaven. The mute man didn’t just speak; he spoke to proclaim God’s glory. The deaf man didn’t just hear; he heard the good news of a Savior. The hungry were fed because everyone got a seat at Jesus’s table. The crippled were healed because of the promise that no one in Christ Jesus would ever limp again.

Do you believe Jesus is who He says He is and always keeps His promises?

Do you come to Jesus, desperate for Him, laying everything at His feet, trusting Him enough to leave it there?

Or do you pick it up, afraid to leave it for fear of losing control?

Is your relationship with Jesus so tangible and undeniable that people around you want to know how to experience the same?

Or do you quietly go through the motions, hoping the checklist is enough to pass without looking like a Jesus freak to your peers?

God, we want to come to You in full surrender. Help us to trust You enough to leave our burdens at Your feet instead of carrying them around with us. God, use us to help others see Your love so they can also come to You, leaving everything at Your feet in complete surrender. Amen