Matthew 15:30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them.
When I come to Matthew 15, I hardly know where to start. As I sometimes say, “I’m as distracted as a Labrador Retriever at a picnic.” I just don’t know which story to go after. There is so much in Matthew 15 in a short space that I hardly know where to focus.
In any event, if there is one umbrella under which all the stories in Matthew 15 fit, it is that the Lord responds graciously to lowly people. Verse 29 says, “And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into the mountain…and great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them.” This multitude was not a select group of people or religious people like Pharisees or scribes. These were just common people, maybe even Gentiles.
Here is a busload of needy people, infirmed in various ways, and it is amusing how the Bible says that the people who brought these needy people just dropped them at Jesus’ feet, almost flung them. Verse 31 says, “Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw” what Jesus did. Why would they wonder? Would they be amazed that Jesus healed them? I don’t know, but the Bible ends by saying, “And they glorified the God of Israel.”
That is in stark contrast to the first several verses of the chapter where scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus and actually chided God in flesh by saying, “Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.” Jesus went on to say, “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” These religious leaders were very smug. They put more weight on their traditions then they did on God’s eternal Word.
What do you get from all this, Jesus’ response to these religious men who rejected Him and later His response to a Canaanite woman with a devil-possessed daughter? Jesus had compassion on these common people who had all kinds of problems. Later He says about the multitude, “I will not send them away fasting.” And Jesus never does. That is indicative of His entire character. He will not send away hungry those who come to Him.
What we learn from the contrast between how Jesus responded to those in need and how Jesus responded to those who were arrogant is that the Lord responds graciously to lowly people. The fact is that all of us are lowly. It doesn’t matter if you are a Bible scholar or if you have some terrible disease; in either case you are in need. Do you see yourself that way?
I’d be better off being a common person with no physical eyesight then to be a very educated person who is spiritually blind. The higher and more exalted I am, the lower Jesus is. The more I see myself for who I am, the higher I see God and His Son the Lord Jesus to be, and the more help I am going to get. The Lord responds graciously to lowly people.