4000

Matthew 15 

29 Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down. 30 A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. 31 The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.

32 Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.”

33 The disciples replied, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”

34 Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”

They replied, “Seven loaves, and a few small fish.”

35 So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.

37 They all ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. 38 There were 4,000 men who were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children. 39 Then Jesus sent the people home, and he got into a boat and crossed over to the region of Magadan.

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I find the attitude of the disciples curious, in that just a couple of chapters before in Matthew, Jesus fed a crowd of 5000 men, plus women & children.

Wouldn't it makes sense if Jesus could do that just a few days before, that maybe He could do it again?

Being that as it may, let's talk about the crowd...

Matthew states there were "4000 men, plus women & children." I think it's odd that they calculated the number like that, but that's an conversation for another time.

Here's what I see - 4000 men...

Now I've never been to a coed religious event where men outnumbered women. But for the sake of the conversation, let's say there were at least as many women as there were men.

So let's see - 4000 men + 4000 women...

Now, back then there was no such thing as daycare, so that means the women probably had children with them. Back then, married couples had lots of kids, mostly to help with whatever living the couple had to support themselves. Also, infant mortality was pretty high, so continuing to have children was necessary. Also, there was no practical birth control, so children came along often, whether couples wanted or needed them.

But, for the sake of conversation, let's say the women has a couple of kids with them. Some probably had more, some probably had less or none. But on average, let's say each lady has 2 children with her.

So, let's see - 4000 men + 4000 women + 8000 children

That comes to a total of 16,000 people.

Can't wrap your brain around that many people?

Have you ever seen on TV a segment from a college or professional basketball game or a professional ice hockey game? They usually occur in these large round or oval arenas. Most of them can seat around 16,000 people.

THAT'S how many people Jesus fed that day, with SEVEN baskets of leftovers.

Think of the logistics of doing such a thing - just getting the food out to people.

Think about people consuming enough of that food that they were eventually so full that 7 baskets were left.

Think about what the cleaning up after a meal like that must have been like.

Now, just between us, if I had seen someone pull off something like that with that many people, & just a few days before, had seen Him feed an even larger crowd, wouldn't make sense to think, okay, this dude must have some sort of huge hookup with God & maybe I should pretty much believe whatever He says or does?

And by the same token, many of us have experienced many things that can only be explained that God made them happen. Wouldn't it makes sense for us to think that maybe we should pretty much believe whatever He says or does?

Just a thought...