How Many Loaves Do You Have?

Mat 15:29-16:12

Key Verse 15:34

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

1. Read verses 29-31. Where did Jesus go from there? Describe the crowds and His ministry to them. How did the people respond?

Mat. 15:29-31, “29Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.”

Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee and went up a mountainside.

‘Great’ crowds gathered around Jesus.  They brought the lame, blind, the crippled, the mute and MANY others who were in great need.  There were not a few exceptional cases, but MANY who were brought to Jesus to heal and help.

Everyone that was brought to Jesus was healed; no one was too difficult for Him to help.  Everyone was completely restored to perfect health.

The people all praised the God of Israel.  They were so thankful that God had sent them such a Good Shepherd like Jesus to help them all in their great need.

2. Read verses 32-39. Jesus had compassion on the crowds, so what did He want to do? What was the disciples’ problem? What did Jesus ask them?  How is this event similar to a previous event? Different?

-    Mat. 15:32-39, “32Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way." 33His disciples answered, "Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?   34"How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked.  "Seven," they replied, "and a few small fish." 35He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38The number of those who ate was four thousand, besides women and children. 39After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.”

-    Jesus wanted to feed the people because they had been with Him three days and there was no place close to go to get food.

-    The disciples were probably hungry and tired as well.  They ALSO had been with Jesus the last three days (actually they had been continuously with Jesus since they began following Him).  It must have been difficult to think about the needs of the people, besides wanting the people to be independent and take care of their own needs.  They might have thought that Jesus had already done ENOUGH for them by healing any and all who needed it.  At the very least they could look after their own food needs.

-    Perhaps the disciples were thinking to themselves that they themselves would collapse if they had to think about and take care of all the people’s food needs.

-    Plus the disciples didn’t have enough with them to possibly feed this ‘Great’ crowd.  When the disciples asked, “Where could we get ENOUGH” they were revealing that they really didn’t think they had enough to help this great crowd.

-    Jesus asked His disciples ‘How many loaves do you have?”

-    This event and the event where Jesus and His disciples fed 

3. Read verses 1-4. Who came to Jesus?  Why did they ask for a sign? When had a similar thing happened? (12:38-40)

Verses 1-4, “The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. 2He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' 3and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away.”

The Pharisees and Saducees came to Jesus to test Him.

They were not looking for Jesus to prove that He was the Christ.  They tested Him in order to prove that He was not the Christ.  They had already made up their mind that they were not going to accept Jesus as the Christ.  They already decided He was not.  They did so because they did not like what He had to say to them.  They rejected His message, so therefore they could not accept Him as the Christ.  He was challenging their way of life, their high position and calling them to actually be shepherds of God’s flock, including living for others over themselves.  They did not want any of this.

By asking for a sign, they revealed their attitude.  They thought that they were right with God and were in a position to ‘judge’ who Jesus was.  If they thought Jesus was truly the Christ, they would never have done such an arrogant, preposterous thing.

Mat. 12: 38-40, “38Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you." 39He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

This reveals that they never had in mind to listen to Jesus or to learn what the sign of Jonah really meant.  They were not looking really for a sign at all.

4. Look at verses 2-4 again. Why should the religious leaders not need for Jesus to show them a sign? What did Jesus say about that generation? What sign did He promise? (Compare 12:38-40) Why did He call them wicked and adulterous?

Verses 2-4, “He replied, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' 3and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away.”

The religious leaders did not need a sign because a sign had already been given.  If they really wanted to ‘know’ if Jesus was the Messiah, they could have interpreted the signs already given, just as they could tell the weather by the color of the sky.

Jesus called the generation a wicked and adulterous generation, because they were so proud and arrogant and worshipped idols and themselves.  They thought they were alright and could stand before God just as they were.  They refused to believe Jesus because they loved themselves and this world.

Jesus promised the sign of Jonah.

The Ninevites repented at the words of Jonah, without any signs.  Jonah only warned them with five words and they immediately humbled themselves down and repented in sackcloth, even their animals did!

Jonah was a prophet, Jesus is God Almighty.  Jonah performed no miraculous signs, Jesus performed many signs.  Jonah did not like the Ninevites and really was not a good shepherd for them, he was angry when they repented, he wanted God to punish them for all their crimes.  Jesus was a Good Shepherd and forgave and loved His wayward people.  Jesus and Jonah could not have been more different and yet even then the religious leaders rejected Jesus’ message, whereas the Ninevites instantly accepted the message and repented.

5. Read verses 5-7. Where did Jesus and his disciples go? What were the disciples worried about? What did Jesus warn them about? What did they think He meant? Why?

Mat. 16:5-7, “5When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."7They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread."

They went across the lake.

The disciples had forgotten to take bread along for their trip.  They may have been afraid that they would meet up with a new large crowd and Jesus would spend three days with them and they would be caught without food enough to feed any unexpected crowd they might be asked to feed again.  This had already happened twice, they did not want it to happen a third time.

Jesus told them, “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees”.

They thought Jesus was talking about physical bread, because they had not brought any bread with them.  Again, they may have thought that because the last two times Jesus had told them to feed the crowd and were caught not ready or prepared, that Jesus was telling them this so that they would not be unprepared a third time.

6. Read verses 8-12. How did Jesus rebuke them? Why did he say that they had a lack of faith?  What must they understand in this case?  What should the disciples remember?

Verses 8-12, “8Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 12Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Jesus rebuked them because of their lack of faith.  They were worried about not having enough bread, even though Jesus had twice now provided not only bread for themselves, but even for a ‘Great’ crowd.  They saw Jesus use almost ‘nothing’ and was able to feed a great multitude.

They should have remembered what Jesus had already done in the past.  They should remember the times that Jesus delivered them in their time of need.

7. What is the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees? Why does Jesus compare their teaching to yeast? How can we guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees?

The yeast of the Pharisees is their teaching and their influence and lifestyle and life goals, etc.

As the religious leaders and shepherds for God’s flock, their teaching gives great influence to the flock under their care.

Fix our eyes on Jesus and follow His example.