Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Sep 13 2020 - Matthew 15:29-16:12 – Give us this day our daily bread

Matthew 14 records Jesus feeding the five thousand from five small loaves and two fish. Matthew 15 records a similar feeding, now of four thousand with seven loaves and a few fish. In both accounts the background is similar: Jesus had sought to find a place where he could be alone with his disciples but the crowds had sought him out. They had come bringing their sick for healing. Jesus not only healed their various diseases, he also had compassion on them and fed them before sending them away. In both accounts it is emphasised that the crowd were fully satisfied; they ate their fill and there was food left over.

Jesus' actions with the crowd stand out in strong contrast with his conduct when tempted by the devil after his baptism. Jesus had been fasting for forty days in a desert place when the devil tempted him to turn stones into bread. Jesus would not use his miraculous powers for his own benefit but answered that God's people should live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. And this was how he continued to live; this was the food he had that the disciples failed to understand (John 4:32). But here, on two occasions he feeds the crowds in the "desert" place – the uninhabited countryside. Jesus will not use his powers for his own comfort, but he will use them to meet the needs of the crowds, for he has compassion on them. He heals their sicknesses and provides food to sustain them.

In his Gospel account, John tells us that the crowds saw a parallel between Jesus' feeding of them and the manna which the Israelites ate in the wilderness. And they were right to do so, for the God who had compassion upon their ancestors and provided for them in the desert is the one who now stands among them showing the same compassion. But they fail to see the depth of God's compassion for them. They would be satisfied with bread in their stomachs but Jesus has come to give himself for their healing.

The Pharisees and Sadducees came asking Jesus for a sign. Jesus refused to offer them yet another sign. They had seen the things he was doing and had heard the things he was teaching and that should have been sign enough if they only had eyes to see it (see 15:31). Yet he does tell them that they will witness one further sign, the sign of Jonah. By this, Jesus refers to his own death and resurrection. This is the ultimate sign and the ultimate display of his compassion. Jesus gave himself that we might live. He is the Word of God by which we live. His death has defeated death and his resurrection is the beginning of the life of the age to come.

Guide me, O Thou great Redeemer
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no more.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of deaths, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to thee;
I will ever give to thee.

Father in heaven, give us this day our daily bread. Jesus, Lord of compassion, feed me and satisfy me with your goodness. Lord, open my eyes to see the needs of this crowded world. Give me your heart of compassion that, by the power of your Spirit and out of the abundance of your provision, I may minister freely to those who are hungry, those who are sick and to those in desert places who thirst for the water of life.

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Sep 13 2019 - Daniel 2:24-49 – Daniel interprets the King's dream

In response to the prayers of Daniel and his friends, the Lord revealed to Daniel both the king's dream and its meaning. Daniel immediately went to Arioch whom the king had commanded to oversee the execution of the wise men of Babylon and informed him that he would interpret the dream. The executions were postponed and Daniel was brought before the king.

King Nebuchadnezzar asked Daniel, "Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?" (v. 26). Daniel is quick to respond that no human power could do what the king was demanding, "but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries" (v. 28). The living and almighty God gave the dream to Nebuchadnezzar, and this same God has revealed the dream and its meaning to Daniel, not because he has any greater wisdom than anyone else (v. 30), but that the king might understand what will happen in the days to come. Daniel then recounts the dream.

In his dream, the king saw an enormous statue with a head made of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. A rock, cut out and shot from a mountain without any human agency, struck the statue on its feet and smashed them causing the whole statue to crumble into dust that was then swept away in the wind. The rock, however, grew into a mountain that filled the whole earth.

Daniel tells the king that he is currently king of kings – the one who reigns over the many kingdoms and peoples he has conquered. He is the head of gold (vv. 37-38). He will be succeeded by three more kingdoms, each inferior to the one before it but nevertheless increasing in the violence of its oppression. Daniel then explains the significance of the rock in Nebuchadnezzar's dream:

The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure for ever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands – a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. (vv. 44-45)

The king knows that Daniel has not made all of this up for this was indeed his dream. So, in an amazing turn-around, this "king of kings" falls prostrate before Daniel, the Hebrew captive and acknowledges, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries" (v. 47). Daniel is then appointed as a ruler "over the entire province of Babylon" (echoes of Joseph), and is placed in charge of all its wise men.

What does this dream mean? The exact identity of the kingdoms referred to in this dream can be debated – Babylon perhaps succeeded by the Persian, Greek and Roman? empires – but what is clear is that all human empires will crumble into dust (see Shelly's poem, Ozymandias). The honours system alone remains as vain witness to the British Empire on which the sun never set.

But there is a kingdom that will endure for all eternity; that is the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is truly King of kings and Lord of Lords. To quote John Ellerton's famous hymn:

So be it, Lord; thy throne shall never
Like earth's proud empires, pass away;
Thy Kingdom stands, and grows for ever,
Till all thy creatures own thy sway.

Father God, we thank you that, in the Lord Jesus, we are heirs to a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We want this kingdom to come and to fill the whole earth. Help us to tell others the good news of the kingdom of our gracious Saviour that they too may share in the blessings of his kingdom now and for all eternity.

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Peter Misselbrook