Title: Topga/Matthew 14:13-21
Contents The Great Pilgrimage of Life (11) Tapga/Matthew 14:13-21
Today, we will depart together to Tabgha, the site of miracles, the epicenter of this ministry. Originally, the word ‘Tapga’ is known as the name derived from the Arabic word for the Greek word “Heptapegon” (seven springs). It is said that the name was given when a pilgrim (Nun, Egeria) discovered this place where there were 7 springs as the site of 5 people and 2 languages in AD 384. The so-called 'Palboksan' also belongs to this pagoda area, and this place with Capernaum, Palboksan, and the Five People and Two Eo Memorial Church forms a topographical triangle. It is also within walking distance. The site of a 5th century Byzantine church was excavated here, and the entire floor of this church is made of beautiful mosaics. Among these mosaics, round loaves of bread between two fish depicting the miracle of 5 bottles and 2 fish were unearthed. will be So in 1936 the Catholic Church built the "Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes" on this mosaic. On the pulpit side inside the church, this mosaic of 5 people and 2 languages is preserved as it is.
*Then what is the missionary lesson suggested by this famous miracle of five fish and two fish?
1. It is the fact that missions must begin with the motive of love.
The situation in which today's text starts begins with seeing a large crowd in the empty fields and feeling pity for them. Verse 14. “When Jesus came out, and saw a great crowd, he had compassion on them and healed the sick among them.” This compassionate love can be said to be the starting point of this miracle. This word is used as "compassion" in the English Bible. com together and passion comes from pssio, meaning pain. A love that hurts their pain as if it were their own, this love was the cause of their healing, and furthermore, it was the motive for performing miracles for those who were hungry. The only motive, and the only reason, of our Christian missions should be the love of compassion for the suffering of our neighbors.
2. The fact is that missions must be prepared with "possible" devotion.
3. It is the fact that missionary responsibility is not a one-time commitment.
How does today's text record the results of this miracle? See verse 20. “They ate all they were full and gathered up the leftover pieces in twelve baskets.” Was it to teach thrift rather than waste? It could have been. But perhaps the twelve baskets were not a reminder of the twelve disciples? Perhaps at the scene of this miracle, each of the 12 disciples had 12 baskets and diligently gathered the remaining bread and could not help but think of the people in the other village who were still starving. And wouldn't they keep thinking about the words Jesus had given before the miracle in their ears? “Give me something to eat.” “You should also give food to the villagers across the empty fields,” he said. “Your ministry of sharing food is not over yet,” he said.
Among Messianic Jewish scholars, there are those who think that if the 12 baskets mean the responsibility of the 12 tribes of the Jewish mission, the 7 Gwangju-ri means the responsibility of the Gentile mission like the letter sent to the 7 churches in Asia Minor. I think that's a very sensible interpretation. Now is the time to prepare a basket, not a basket, and go to the field of world missions. The harvest field, wider than when Jesus lived, needs baskets (spurs), not baskets (kopinos). If you prepare a basket, God fills only the basket. When you prepare the basket, God fills the basket. We must fill our basket with the bread of the gospel and the bread of love and go to the global market. There are more hungry neighbors in the 21st century than the poor in the 1st century. They are hungry for the bread of life. As long as they are there, our missionary responsibility is not over. For the miracle of 7 bottles and 2 fish, no, 8 bottles and 2 fish, we must take up the basket again and follow Jesus.