Come Follow Me LDS- Matthew 14-15, Mark 6-7, John 5-6 Part 2
Mar 21, 2019
'The 5,000, A Walk & Dirty Hands'
- Jesus feeds the 5,000
- He walks on the sea, Peter tries
- What comes out of your mouth is more important than what goes in.
Raw Transcript
in this episode we're gonna talk about
the 5,000 a walk and dirty hands here we
go okay in this episode we're gonna go
back to the Gospel of John and we'll go
to chapter 6 and here Jesus is in
Galilee and he goes off into a mountain
and remember we're talking about again
there's all this parallelism between
Jesus and Moses constantly but
especially in this time of Passover so
this is around the time of Passover and
so the themes that we see are very much
about the Exodus and so Jesus goes out
and he goes up into a mountain which
would be a hill in Galilee and there his
disciples are with them and he's talking
with them and from all corners of
Galilee most likely he gets this huge
crowd of people that gather around him
and listen to him they just want to hear
him talk and here we have in chapter 5
it says when Jesus lifted up his eyes
and saw a great company come unto Him he
saith unto Philip whence shall we buy
bread that these may eat and this he
said to prove him for he himself knew
what he would do so he's asking Philip
this is most likely around Philips
village and so he's asking and he's kind
of leading him in this question right
well what should we do what do you think
we should do here Philip and Philip says
you know hey we've got five loaves of
barley and we have to fish these would
be pickled fish and that's all we've got
and we've got a little bit of we've got
200 pence here that's not gonna buy very
much if we went and bought any bread so
Jesus says have the crowd sit down and
he takes the loaves and he takes the
fish and he himself distributes it
distributes the the loaves of bread and
the fish and he feeds everybody
with it right the miracle of the loaves
and the fish and they're all filled from
this and then he has them go around and
gather whatever is left over afterwards
so in other words there's plenty for
everyone
that what's the point of that to saying
that there's there's something that has
gathered afterward everybody is filled
up and then here interestingly in verse
14 it says then those men when they had
seen the miracle that Jesus did said
this is of truth that prophet that
should come into the world so this is a
direct reference back to Moses and his
prophecy of the Messiah in the Old
Testament Moses talks about the Prophet
that will be coming into the world
specifically talking about the Messiah
so this is again a correlation between
Jesus and Moses here in this example
also to understand here would be that
these are the loaves of bread that would
be equivalent to the manna that fell
from heaven for the Israelites in the
wilderness and then it says that the of
the remnants there were twelve baskets
that they filled up now possibly again a
an allusion to the twelve tribes of
Israel going back to the time of the
exodus and Moses as well and then the
men that are there say is this the
Prophet that was prophesied to come into
the world this is another illusion back
to Moses because Moses had prophesied
about the Messiah about what he called
the Prophet that would come into the
world so he's bringing that together
again here this is Jesus and Moses being
coupled here together and when they said
this then Jesus perceives that they are
going to want to make him a king so
pretty interesting here that they would
say that that again we talked about the
king of the Jews that Jesus is the king
of the Jews here there's already a
reference to him as the king as the
Melchizedek there is an example in the
Old Testament when David
brings the Ark of the Covenant from I
believe it was Shiloh into finally get
that into Jerusalem and he distributes
the bread to everyone it could be an
allusion back to that as well kind of a
temple centered theme here and the Ark
of the Covenant that the Israelites
carried in the desert as well and then
we move over to Matthew 14 to talk about
Jesus walking on the sea so they leave
this area Jesus has the disciples leave
in a boat and Jesus goes off to a
mountain to pray again another mountain
where he's gonna go up and pray again
another allusion to Moses and they leave
and go out into the sea and then in the
middle of the night Jesus comes out
walking on the water and the disciples
are all afraid thinking that this is a
spirit of some sort and Jesus says the
following to them he says and Jesus
spake unto them saying be of good cheer
it is I be not afraid now when he says
it is I the translated Greek on that is
ego a me or ego a me which means
basically the same term that he uses
with Moses up on Mount Sinai which is I
am that I am same thing it is I and in
fact he uses this phrase several times
throughout the New Testament and so
Peter answers him and says lord if it's
you then bid me to come out to you and
so he does and so Peter gets out of the
boat and he starts walking on the water
just like Christ I see a lot of lessons
learned here in in this example he goes
out he walks on the water just as Christ
is walking out on the water for maybe a
few steps maybe more and then he looks
around him he sees the storm the wind
the waves and he starts to doubt and so
he starts to sink and of course what
happens at that point he says lord save
me and immediately the Savior reaches
out his hand
and grabs Peter and saves it so this is
a great story a great example of a great
experience that shows us a number of
different lessons first I would say
Peter has the faith I mean he sees the
Savior out there and he has enough faith
to try I think that's important he wants
to be like the Savior the Savior is that
has the ability to do this and now Peter
wants to be able to do it as well so
he's reaching up to the Savior he's
trying to be like him and he's exerting
the faith that allows him to start
moving toward Christ like we all are
trying to do and so he's exerting enough
faith to start taking these steps so we
can think of the sea in a sense as a
spiritual walkway not as a spiritual
road and not a physical road where we go
out we step out of the ship of the world
and we are going to try and step on this
new road this new spiritual path that
leads us to Christ and we have enough
faith to maybe get started with that and
to try and become more like the Savior
and to move toward him and then as we go
and there are distractions in our lives
and there are threats and there are
obstacles and and and the the adversary
works on us we start to doubt can i
really keep walking toward him can i
really do this
do i really want to and take our eye off
the ball and we start to sink and then
here Peter this may not be the case for
everyone but here Peter as he starts to
sink he says lord save me and so here he
gives the example of the Lord in the end
saves him so he has the faith to move
forward
but he doesn't have the perfection to
make it all the way to Christ on his own
he has to rely on not just his own faith
but he has to rely on the Savior or have
faith in the Savior to be able to save
him at the end so that's kind of the
example that we all of all of us we're
all Peter most of us that would listen
to this podcast probably have had enough
faith in their lives at times at least
to take a step out of the ship and just
start moving toward Christ
but most of us also at least in one
degree or another have probably started
to sink a little bit and are bothered by
distractions or threats or whatever it
might be and hopefully we have or will
reach out to the Savior and ask him to
help us and to save us and to help us
get all the way to him so then they all
arrive at the other side of the shore
the people are a little confused as to
how Jesus got there because he they know
that the disciples had left in the boat
by themselves from where they were all
fed and that Jesus had gone off on his
own so they can't quite figure out how
it is that he got over across the Sea of
Galilee to them as well but Jesus says
look the reason you're looking for me
is because you want me to feed you
remember they wanted to make him a king
because they had they he had fed them
all and had all these miracles but that
was the whole point of what he was
saying here is that manna from heaven is
going to sustain you physically the
bread will sustain you physically but if
you're back here again because you want
me to sustain you physically you're in
the wrong place this is the whole point
and he says to them labor not for the
meat which perisheth but for that meat
which endureth unto ever
lasting life and we use the word meat I
know at least in the book of John the
the term here is Bissau or the Hebrews
verse our which is meat or flesh it also
by the way interestingly enough is the
word used in Isaiah 52 7 which is how
beautiful upon the mountains are the
feet of those or he that bringeth good
tidings or the gospel good news which is
a reference to the Savior and the good
tidings is actually Bissau it is
actually who brings flesh who brings the
meat or the fruit and so this is a
reference I think also in a way tying
back to Isaiah here a little bit this is
who the Savior is he's the one who is
bringing the bread the meat the flesh
and of course he talks about the flesh
of his own body
as representative of the meat and he
continues and says which the Son of man
shall give unto you for him hath God the
Father sealed and he says our Father is
going back to the example of the Exodus
our fathers did eat manna in the desert
this is down in 31 as it is written he
gave them bread from heaven to eat and
then jesus said unto them verily verily
I say unto you Moses gave you not that
bread from heaven but my father giveth
you the true bread from heaven for the
bread of God is which cometh down from
heaven and giveth life unto the world so
again it's the higher and the lower law
here trying to get them out of the idea
of the manna being what physically
sustains you to the manna or the bread
of life Jesus being the bread of life is
what is going to sustain you move beyond
the physical world here and think of the
spiritual world and it is the atonement
it is me says Jesus that is going to
sustain you if you can have faith in me
and not in
physical bread and not in Moses but
actually have faith in the atonement and
in the Messiah which I am he says and so
the people respond and said Lord give us
this bread that gives us life giver to
give us this bread and he says in 35 I
am again eggo ie me
Raa me I am that I am the bread of life
he that cometh to me shall never hunger
and he that believeth on me shall never
thirst okay so a couple things here we
can go back and see a couple of
parallels here first we can go back to
the woman at the well where the Lord
says I am the living water we talked
about that in the the streams coming out
from Eden and from the idea of coming
out from the temple but he is the living
water here he is the living bread he is
the bread of life but remember this is
the time of Passover and these are
themes of Passover and so with those
themes he's talking about manna and he's
talking about water and the water would
be the water that was the the Red Sea
that was parted and then of course the
water when Moses struck the rock with
his the staff the water that came forth
from there into 12 streams so that is
also what is being talked about here
that is constant throughout the New
Testament it is this comparison between
Moses and Jesus and if we look for that
often you're going to see that he's
trying to elevate the people into this
new line of thinking they are stuck with
Moses right Moses to them is the highest
so he's trying to move them beyond that
and say look what Moses was about was
looking forward to me right we don't
stop there he was he was looking forward
to me and that's what the law of Moses
really is about and I am now here and I
am bringing you the fullness of the
gospel which is the spiritual side the
Melchizedek Priesthood all of the temple
ordinances and he's bringing this
comparison in constantly he follows that
up when 49 was saying your father's did
eat manna in the wilderness and are dead
in other words the manna that they ate
kept them alive in mortality it did not
keep to give them eternal life right
this is the bread which cometh down from
heaven that a man may eat thereof and
not die talking about himself so then we
get a foreshadowing of the sacrament we
have Jesus then and where he's talked
about the manna and he's walked on the
water we have these two examples here of
the Passover where they're associated
with the law of Moses Jesus now takes
that and raises it up to the higher law
and he says the following he says I am
The Living bread which came down from
heaven If any man eat of this bread he
shall live forever and the bread that I
will give is my flesh which I will give
for the life of the world
so his sacrifice his body is what he is
going to give for the life of the world
right that's the true manna in a sense
that's what's going to sustain help
sustain us spiritually and they the Jews
said well how they're there I said how
can how can he give us his flesh to eat
they don't understand what he's saying
but before I go on to the next part on
this think about the sacrifices that are
made in the law of Moses that look
forward to the sacrifice of of Jesus
that is that they would make the
sacrifice of the animal and they would
all partake of that animal as well they
would burn have a burnt offering
basically barbecue the the animal on the
altar and then the priest would eat of
it the family would eat of it that
brought the sacrifice and they would
partake of the of the of the flesh of
the animal and that was part of them
internalizing partaking of the sacrifice
as well right they were they were
partaking of it as well and that's what
Jesus is is kind of talking about
I think because he is the sacrifice he
is the final sacrifice then he also says
whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my
blood hath eternal life and I will raise
him up at the last day for my flesh is
meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed
he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my
blood dwelleth in me and I in him so
he's saying that he is the sacrifice he
is the final sacrifice that all these
other sacrifices are actually looking
forward to so the Sakura Jews the
sacrificing prices that you are making
now are supposed to be looking forward
to me and to my final sacrifice and just
as you would partake of those in a sense
you will be partaking you need to
partake in my sacrifice as well and have
faith in it and trust in my sacrifice
and/or a commitment to that a
representation of that would be
eventually the sacrament where we
partake of the bread and the wine or the
water we are in a sense partaking of his
sacrifice of his flesh and of his blood
of the lower law of flesh and the higher
law of the blood where our
representations of the ironic and the
McKissack priesthood but many of those
that are there don't like what they're
hearing they don't it's too much for
them they and what I think is is I don't
think that they're just saying how are
we gonna partake of his flesh and his
blood I mean this is cannibalism I think
really maybe what they're thinking here
is they don't like the higher law I
think that's what's the pushback is here
we're not gonna you know we have our
sacrifices they don't look forward to
anything else necessarily and we want to
stick with where we're at I think that's
where they may have the harder issue
here is understanding the higher law of
what to set all the sacrifices represent
they represent his sacrifice
and the atonement and something
spiritual and this man here before them
is going to perform this act by proxy on
their behalf and be the sacrifice and I
think that's just too much for them to
handle and then lastly we go to chapter
15 of Matthew and here we have an
interesting principle that comes up and
Jesus is contending with the scribes and
the Pharisees here and there are a
couple of principles here that I find
are pretty interesting the scribes and
the Pharisees come to Jesus and they say
the following they say why do they
disciples transgress the tradition of
the elders for they wash not their hands
when they eat bread
now here Matthew says specifically wants
to make sure we the readers understand
what is being said here he says why did
I disciples transgress the tradition of
the elders it's not the law it's not the
part of the law of Moses it's the
tradition of the elders for they washing
out their hands when they eat bread and
he answered unto them and said why do ye
also transgress the commandment of God
by your tradition so he inverts it he
flips it around and he brings up this
point he says for God commanded saying
honour thy father and mother and he that
curseth father or mother let him die the
death okay so one of the Ten
Commandments honor thy father and honor
thy mother right and so what they're
saying is with the elders why aren't you
following this tradition of our parents
and their bear parents and their parents
and he's saying well wait a minute well
you do not honor your parents this is
what he says he says but ye say
whosoever shall say to his father or his
mother it is a gift by whatsoever thou
mightest be profited by me and honor not
his father or his mother he shall be
free thus have ye made the commandment
of God of none effect by your tradition
so in other words there is a teaching
here going on that basically says as
children or as the children of whatever
age
whatever has been given to you by them
by their teaching by their goodness by
their sustaining you whatever it might
be you look at that as a gift and you're
not honoring actually honoring your
father and your mother for everything
that they've done so there's something
going on in the society here where there
is maybe rebellion or disrespect a lot
of disrespect toward parents at this
time that's what it seems like to me and
he's saying you don't even obey the
commandment you're asking me about the
tradition of the elders in washing hands
the tradition of your parents and the
grandparents and yet
you don't even really honor the parents
and that's something you can't even
honor in other words you'reyou're being
complete hypocrites here and so he
refers to them by using the words of
Isaiah he says you know Isaiah which is
si es here in in Greek Isaiah prophesied
well of you in his time talking about
you in our time he said this people
draweth nigh unto me with their mouth
and honoureth me with their lips but
their heart is far from me so where else
do we hear that of course we hear that
in the first vision it's the same thing
where there's a lot of words that are
spoken there's a lot of honor that we
can speak right but their hearts are far
from me it's the same description that
was given to Joseph Smith when he was
looking for the right church and and
what he should do which church he should
join and he's told the same thing right
there's and and we can see that right I
mean one of the principles that we learn
here in the New Testament again is about
you shall know them by their fruits I
think that's a really important
principle because whatever comes out of
people's mouths is one thing but the
actual fruits that are born here in a
religion and in a society can be
something completely different we think
of the zoramites for example right the
zoramites
everything was about what they said up
at the pulpit and but nothing you had
the poor people outside they were
waiting there was that the fruits that
they bore were were not good but their
words were great what he says is that
what really matters is what's coming out
of you right it's not what you're what
you're eating and whether your hands are
clean or not he's talking about what
comes out of you and he says the
following he says but those things which
proceed out of the mouth come forth from
the heart and they defile the man for
out of the heart proceed evil thoughts
murders adulteries fornications thefts
false witness blasphemies these are the
things which defile a man but to eat
with unwashen hands defileth not a man
so again higher law and lower law the
lower law which the the scribes and
Pharisees are focused on here is the
actual dirt on their hands and not the
dirt maybe in their minds or in their
hearts that comes out through their
mouths and so that's the contrast that
we have here being cleaned basically
what he's saying has to do with your
spirit and your mind and if your heart
I'll talk to you next time
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