The True Sign

This chapter is based on Matthew 15:29-39; 16:1-12; Mark 7:31-37; 8:1-21.

In Decapolis, where Jesus had healed the demon-possessed men of Gergesa, the people had insisted that Jesus leave. But they had listened to the messengers He left behind. As He came into that region again, a crowd gathered, and a deaf, stammering man was brought to Him. Taking him aside, Jesus put His fingers in his ears and touched his tongue. He sighed when He thought of the ears that would not be open to the truth, the tongues that refused to acknowledge the Redeemer. At the command, “Be opened,” the man’s speech was restored.HH 185.1

Jesus went up on a mountain, and there the crowds flocked to Him, bringing their sick and lame. He healed them all; and the people, though they were heathen, glorified the God of Israel. For three days they swarmed around the Savior, sleeping at night in the open air, and through the day pressing close to hear the words of Christ and see His works.HH 185.2

At the end of three days, their food was gone. Jesus would not send them away hungry, and He called on His disciples to give them food. At Bethsaida they had seen how their small supply of food became enough to feed the large crowd, yet they did not bring all they had to Him now, trusting His power to multiply it for the hungry crowds. Again the disciples revealed their unbelief. The people He fed at Bethsaida were Jews; these were Gentiles and heathen. Jewish prejudice was still strong in the disciples’ hearts. “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”HH 185.3

But obedient to His word, they brought Him what they had—seven loaves and two fish. He fed the multitude, and they had seven large baskets of fragments remaining. Four thousand men, besides women and children, were refreshed in this way.HH 185.4

Then with His disciples, Jesus crossed the lake to Magdala. In the border country of Tyre and Sidon, the remarkable trust of the Phoenician woman had refreshed His spirit. The heathen people of Decapolis had received Him gladly. Now as He landed once more in Galilee, where He had performed most of His deeds of mercy, He was met with unbelieving contempt.HH 185.5