Day 15 – September 21, 2026 – Matthew 15

Doesn’t it seem like yesterday when Jesus was feeding the five thousand, and now here he is feeding the four thousand? Well, yes, it was yesterday. We have two accounts in Matthew of Jesus miraculously feeding large crowds of people with baskets of food left over. Why is this, and why is Matthew the only Gospel that does this? I am a firm believer that we trust that which is written. I don’t believe that what Scripture contains is in error, certainly not the Scriptural truths. We say and we believe that Scripture has authority, more than any other book every written, because it was inspired by the Holy Spirit when it was written and now when it is read. But that doesn’t answer the question, except to say that yes, Jesus fed thousands of people twice. I’m okay with that.

Jesus does come down hard on the religious leaders when they criticize him for not following the Jewish customs. He sees that as the pinnacle of hypocrisy. The religious leaders were teaching their people ideas that were beneficial for them and the temple, but had nothing to do with the law. Now they have the guts to criticize Jesus for something that was not essential. We don’t often see Jesus this critical, and speaking so strongly, but here we have it. He doesn’t suffer hypocrites.