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In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come from afar." Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?" he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven." So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them, and they set them before the multitude. They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
- Mark 8:1-10
In yesterday's reading, we read that Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon, on the coast of Palestine. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs." Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way, the demon has gone out of your daughter." And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed. Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee. Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him. And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it. And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."
In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come from afar." This is similar to what happened in an earlier incident, in which Jesus fed five thousand men (and more women and children) in a deserted place far from cities. In this case, we observed again Jesus' compassion and also the deep hunger and thirst of the crowds for the teachings He has to offer. They have been with Him already three days, with nothing to eat, just to attend to His teaching and preaching. In the earlier similar incident, we were told that Jesus had compassion because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. Here in the region of the Decapolis their devotion is so great they have gone with Him three days and now have nothing to eat.
Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?" he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven." So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them, and they set them before the multitude. They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha. A note here in my study bible reads, "Mark here reports a second feeding of a multitude, which now includes many Gentiles in the region of the Decapolis, southeast of the Sea of Galilee. To feed the hungry in the wilderness is a messianic sign, fulfilling the prophecy, 'Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? . . . Can He give bread also?' (Ps. 78:19, 20). This miracle has special significance: seldom does Jesus refer back to a miracle He has performed, but to the feeding of the four and five thousand He does (Mark 8:19-21)."
In this second feeding miracle, we look at some of the numbers for symbolism. This time there are seven large baskets of leftover fragments; in the feeding of the five thousand there were twelve, one for each Apostle. In the number seven, we read a traditional understanding of "completeness." Here in the Decapolis, there is an underlying theme that continues in Mark that this gospel is to go to the whole world, it cannot be contained (see yesterday's reading). It is a cosmic gospel, meant for the whole world, and Jesus' divine power is a cosmic power, a universal one, which will be implied in His Ascension, after Pentecost. Four thousand is a number that also implies a worldly abundance of community, a gospel that cannot be hidden nor contained, but must go everywhere, and there is more than enough for this fullness of community that will continue to go around the world in the seven large baskets of leftover fragments. We see for the second time a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, only this time this Eucharist is among mixed peoples including Gentiles in the Decapolis -- a region of ten cities among the Semitic peoples but having Greek and Roman origins and culture as well. This makes it an entirely "worldly" region, something we can relate to in our world that has grown so much smaller in this beginning of the third millennium of Christianity, in a world connected by communications that allow this blog to be read all around the world. We are familiar with "mixed cultures" and influences. In yesterday's reading, we read that although Jesus commanded people to tell no one about His healing miracles, it simply could not be contained. The more He commanded them, the more they proclaimed it. Today this gospel of Jesus Christ continues to be proclaimed, and it is proclaimed in places everywhere, connected by internet and communications that increasingly link us all in the same place. Let us consider what it is to feed our hunger and thirst from this same place, from the love and truth of Christ, and what it means that we all go to the same Teacher. He is yet feeding us, and giving us what we need, responding to us when we are like sheep not having a shepherd, and full of compassion. Let us consider our great Shepherd, who holds us all in His love, and gathers us to Himself, bringing us all together. We remember the words of St. Paul, as they apply to this miracle in the Decapolis, as they apply to us today: "Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all" (Colossians 3:9-11). Christ is all in all, and this continues to be our truth, even as the world becomes closer and closer, as His words teach us even more powerfully about community than ever before. He is with us in our wilderness, He is all in all in the vast community of the entire world.
