Jesus
departed there, and came near to the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there. Great multitudes came to him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others, and they put them down at his feet. He healed them, so that the multitude wondered when they saw the mute speaking, injured whole, lame walking, and blind seeing—and they glorified the God of Israel.
Matthew 15:29-31
Matthew 15 [28.] Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Be it done to you even as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Matthew 15 [29.] Jesus departed there, and came near to the sea of Galilee; and he went up into the mountain, and sat there. Great multitudes came to him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others, and they put them down at his feet. He healed them, so that the multitude wondered when they saw the mute speaking, injured whole, lame walking, and blind seeing—and they glorified the God of Israel.
Matthew 15 [32.] Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away fasting, or they might faint on the way.”
Meaning:
In the region of Tyre and Sidon, Jesus had healed the daughter of a Canaanite woman because of her great faith (Matthew 15:28). Now he returns to the Sea of Galilee. Matthew gives a summary of a period of healing on a mountainside, where great crowds brought their sick and disabled to him. This scene prepares for the feeding of the four thousand that follows.
- “Jesus departed there, and came near to the sea of Galilee”
Mark gives more detail about the route: Jesus “departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the sea of Galilee, through the middle of the region of Decapolis” (Mark 7:31). The Decapolis, “ten cities”, lay mostly on the eastern side of the lake. Its population was largely Gentile, with Greek cities, temples and culture. This helps explain the end of the passage, where the crowds “glorified the God of Israel.”
- “He went up into the mountain, and sat there”
Sitting was the posture of a teacher in Israel. Matthew’s readers would remember an earlier mountain: “Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him” (Matthew 5:1). There Jesus taught; here he healed. In Scripture mountains are often places where God meets his people, as at Sinai (Exodus 19:18). Jesus sits on the mountain like a king receiving those who come to him.
- “They put them down at his feet”
The crowds brought the lame, the blind, the mute, the maimed “and many others.” Many of these people could not come on their own; others had to carry them and lay them at Jesus’ feet. This is a picture of intercession and love: friends and families bringing those who cannot help themselves to the only one who can.
- “The mute speaking, injured whole, lame walking, and blind seeing”
Matthew lists the healings in a way that echoes the prophets. Isaiah had foretold the day when God would come to save his people: “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing” (Isaiah 35:5-6). When John the Baptizer asked whether Jesus was the one to come, Jesus pointed to these same signs: “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear” (Matthew 11:5). The healings on the mountain showed that the promised time had come.
Mark tells of one of these healings in detail, a deaf man with a speech impediment, after which the people said, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear, and the mute speak!” (Mark 7:37).
- “And they glorified the God of Israel”
The crowd did not only marvel; they gave glory to God. The phrase “the God of Israel” suggests that many of them were Gentiles, praising the God of a nation not their own. Earlier, crowds in Israel had said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!” (Matthew 9:33). Now people from beyond Israel were also praising Israel’s God, a foretaste of the nations coming to worship him.
The Significance of Matthew 15:29-31
- Jesus fulfills God’s promises
The healings were not random wonders. They were signs that God was keeping his word through Jesus, the promised Savior.
- Bringing people to his feet
The crowds carried the helpless to Jesus. Christians today can do the same through prayer, care and invitation.
- All glory to God
The right response to Jesus’ works is to glorify God. When he heals, helps or saves, the praise belongs to him.
Cross-References:
Isaiah 35:6: "Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing;" The prophecy fulfilled on the mountain.
Matthew 11:5: "the blind receive their sight, the lame walk," Jesus’ answer to John.
Mark 7:37: "He has done all things well." Mark’s account of the same period.
Conclusion: Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee, went up a mountain and sat there. Great crowds laid the lame, blind, mute and maimed at his feet, and he healed them all. The people were amazed to see the mute speaking and the blind seeing, and they glorified the God of Israel. The passage shows Jesus fulfilling Isaiah’s promises, invites us to bring the needy to him, and directs all praise to God.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible