Bread in the desert: the four thousand

After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?’ Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ They said, ‘Seven, and a few small fish.’ Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all of them ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. After sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

- Matthew 15:29-39

As in Mark's gospel, Matthew includes a second feeding of the multitude - this time four thousand people. It's important to understand that Jesus remains in Gentile territory, after yesterday's story of the Canaanite woman. In Matthew's gospel, the Canaanite woman is the beginning of an awareness that the future Church will spread to all people. Jesus is not only the Messiah to the Jews, the Son of David, but this Messiah is Lord for all people. Following that story, we immediately have the story of this feeding of four thousand in Gentile territory. There is the allusion, again, to the Eucharist, to the compassion that Christ extends to all who are there in faith, who want and value that which he has to offer. When one hears the phrase in Church, "The Holy Gifts to the Holy People," we can understand how this relationship is determined not by birth but by faith. These gifts are there for those who want them in faith, who value what it is that is offered in this relationship.

Once again, it is a sign of Jesus' divinity that he creates a multiplicity of food for feeding the people, new matter where there previously was not enough. So the signs and wonders that have gone out among the Jewish people are now also shared with many Gentiles.

It says something to me that this story begins with Jesus leading the way, so to speak, up the mountain. He does not go to the crowds. The crowds follow Him. Therefore, all of these people who have come for one thing or another - many healings: the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute - have come as followers, out of volition. We have a clear allusion to the words of Isaiah:

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness
and streams in the desert.

Isaiah's prophecy then, is not only for the children of Israel, but Israel will be expanded to include Gentiles. All Jesus has to do is simply go up the mountain, and sit down. All who need him will come to him, they will follow him. And his work leads to a universal praise, in this passage, for the God of Israel.

So, Israel, in its spiritual sense, is expanded by faith. Those who have followed, who value the gifts that are offered, who want all that Jesus has to give, are those who become a part of this kingdom, who enter into its citizenship. One could immediately ask the question: "Well, who wouldn't want these gifts on offer? Great healing, miraculous feeding, and all that is included in our reading?" But I think there is much more to this story. Jesus' gifts to those who follow are not merely "free" bargains in a marketplace where he's seeking followers. They are the result of the faith within the hearts of these believers, those who will truly wish to follow. There is a great circuit created by faith, that links us up into this relationship that determines citizenship in this kingdom. Jesus leads, and those who are drawn to him are those who are led to greater understanding and faith. It is an ongoing process, not just an exchange as in a marketplace. A deepening relationship that grows, and rewards that are startling and surprising are conveyed by this relationship and this deepening understanding of faith. There is the revelation of understanding of the God of Israel. I don't think that this can be underestimated. Varying degrees of spiritual comprehension and understanding existed at all times and all places in the world, if you ask me. But what we ask from faith is not just to think the "right" things, to worship the "right" God, but to discern a deepening and expanding spiritual reality that reveals itself to us through time and through faith. We ask not so much for a kind of equal exchange, but for a deepening revelation, a deeper understanding, for that "God of Israel" that is after all the foundation of spiritual reality in our faith to become more to us. We want to understand more of divinity, more of beauty and more of truth. We want to understand more of what love is and how it works. And we wish to become more like God as we grow in relationship. This is why this adventure of spiritual understanding is not simply for one people or another, and it does not exclude anyone either, because it is a discovery of a greater and greater field of spiritual power and its reality. It is a deeper revelation of the reality of what constitutes this "Other" addition to life that we call spiritual, that is God. We recall St. Paul's sermon on the "unknown god" which he preached in the vicinity of the Acropolis to the Greeks who already had so many gods, they had even included a shrine to the god which they were aware they did not yet know. Spirituality, worship, a reaching for the divine and for the things that are worthy of worship, has always been with us and I trust always will be. But we ask, in our faith, for more. Ultimately, it is this for which we will always continue to hunger and thirst, and this is the food that Christ has given to us and continues to give.

He leads, and we who wish for more will follow. We wish to know this God of love, this God of Israel, this God exemplified in Jesus. What do you wish for in this relationship of faith? What more would you like - with what spiritual food do you wish to be fed? Ultimately, the search for a spiritual life is one of asking to empty in order to be filled, that we may know this glory, this beauty, this truth, and this love. And that we may be so blessed as to live more deeply in expansion of these qualities in ourselves through our faith and our relationship to its Source. Jesus has led the way. How do we follow? For what more do you seek?