Jesus’ Compassion and Provision
The multitude that came to Jesus was both fed and healed by Him, demonstrating His promises:
“God shall supply all your needs.”
He reminded them not to worry about what they would eat or drink, saying,
“Your Father knows you need all these things.”
In doing so, He showed them that just as He could meet their physical needs, He could also nourish their nourish their souls.
This sets Jesus apart from other gods, whose worshippers bring sacrifices hoping to receive provisions—yet these gods can neither provide food nor fulfill spiritual needs. But Jesus can do both! Isn’t that wonderful?
A Spiritual Vision Fulfilled
I imagine Jesus looking upon the great multitude, envisioning the scene described in Revelation 7: a multitude that no one can number, standing completely healed before Him because they chose to accept His provision. His greatest heart’s desire was for them to eat and drink from His table, to be among the redeemed.
As a human like us, Jesus had to claim promises from Scripture. He lived out the words of Psalm 37:4:
“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
His heart’s desire—just like ours—will one day be fulfilled!
The Call to Spiritual Nourishment
The crowd fed by Jesus and His disciples sought food for their stomachs, but Jesus wanted to fill their hearts. Revelation 7 fulfills this desire, showing His beloved sheep will neither hunger nor thirst anymore. They had made it their habit to eat the manna of heaven and drink from the wellspring of living water, offered by Jesus every morning as they sat at His feet, like Mary, to learn from His Word.
What the crowd didn’t realize was their true need: to partake of Jesus’ flesh and blood, to come to Him not just for food but to learn of Him, who is “meek and lowly in heart.” Those who inclined their ears to His teachings found the satisfaction they had long craved. Their souls were nourished, and fattened up.
When we fill our souls with His words, our hearts overflow with gladness and joy, enabling us to praise and sing for Him now, and for eternity.
Healing the Heart and Spirit
The fainting multitude could be numbered, but the clothed multitude in heaven cannot be. The first group didn’t understand their need for spiritual healing; the second group realized it and embraced it.
Jesus’ physical healings had a deeper motive. By healing their bodies, He was expressing His desire to heal their hearts—the root cause of their suffering. He wanted them to understand the principles of the kingdom of heaven, taught in the Sermon on the Mount. Those who accepted these principles became the innumerable multitude standing before His throne, praising Him, fearing Him, and crying,
“Salvation belongs to our God!”
Gazing upon the fainting multitude, tears filled the eyes of Jesus. He longed to wipe away their sorrow and lead them to the springs of living water—not to the troubled waters of Bethesda as a remedy for their troubled hearts. He saw the people as sheep without a shepherd, and His heart ached with compassion. His promise, to wipe away every tear from their eyes, will be fulfilled today and forever.
The Path to Salvation
Even wolves in sheep’s clothing can be transformed. Persecutors and the persecuted, wolves and lambs, will one day dwell together in peace.
“A little child shall lead them.”
Jesus became like a little child, fully trusting His Father. The Lamb will be their Shepherd. With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and the weak things to confound the strong.
(Matt. 7:15, Isa. 11:6, Matt. 19:26, 1 Cor. 1:27)
Eating His flesh and drinking His blood means following in His footsteps. It involves enduring hardship, sacrifice, toil, and sometimes persecution. But through His sacrifice, our hearts are washed, our robes made white, and we receive the desire to live as He lived.
Conclusion
It is a joy to connect these verses and see how they weave together a beautiful picture of God’s plan. Jesus longs for us to be among the countless multitude standing before Him, fully healed and filled with joy.
Today, Jesus looks at you with compassion. His arm is outstretched to lead and guide you, to heal your heart’s pain, and to bring you rest for your soul. As He looked upon the fainting, suffering multitude and envisioned their future glory, He sees your potential too.
Jeremiah 17:14 says:
“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.”
Spiritual food—the bread of heaven, the body of Christ—can heal our souls, minds, and hearts. As the old adage says,
“Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.”
When we feast on this heavenly bread, we find divine rest. I have experienced this rest, and it is truly divine.
Reference Texts of Scripture
Matthew 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
Mat 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Mat 14:16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
Mat 14:20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
Mat 14:21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Joh 5:3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
Joh 5:4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
Isa 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Isa 55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Joh 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Isa 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear (eat and drink), and your soul shall live (be nourished, filled, delight in fatness); and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me (eat and drink); for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Jeremiah 17:14: Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” Isaiah 53:5:
Psalm 67:1 God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.
2 That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.
3 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
4 O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.
5 Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
6 Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
Rev. 7:9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Because He judges the people righteously)
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (they came to Jesus and drank His blood and ate His body)
15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”