Posts
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 Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon. (This was after His encounter with Pharisees and scribes who'd come from Jerusalem and criticized Him and the disciples.) 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." 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. This is a second feeding of a multitude, distinctly different from the first (in which five thousand men, and more women and children, were fed in the wilderness). I think it's significant that this feeding occurs after Jesus has used His power to heal the daughter of a Gentile woman, in the region of Tyre and Sidon. We note some of the differences between this feeding and the earlier one: there were five loaves in the first, which my study bible says symbolizes the Law. Here seven loaves are present. Seven is a number symbolic of fullness or completeness, my study bible suggests "spiritual perfection" in contrast to the Law. In the first instance, it says, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, but here it is He who grants spiritual perfection. We note the crowds had been with Him three days, the number of days He would be in the tomb before Resurrection. My study bible says, "Participation in His perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5)." After the previous feeding of the five thousand, there were twelve baskets of fragments left over, symbolizing the work of the Twelve Apostles. But here, there are seven, again the number of completeness, symbolizing the gospel message that will be sent out universally, to the whole world, Jew and Gentile.
Two feedings, two central acts for the Gospel. The great surprise is the first, but we remember after that one that we were told the apostles' heart was "hardened" -- when Jesus walked on the sea they were "greatly amazed . . . beyond measure, and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened" (see Wednesday's reading). But this second feeding is impossible to miss in its repetitive aspects. Jesus will say He is the door (or the gate), He is the light of the world, that He is the way, the truth, and the life. In the first feeding, Jesus said that the people were like sheep not having a shepherd -- and He has taught that He is the good shepherd. But here it is affirmed for us twice now that He is, as He has said, the bread of life. What He has brought into the world feeds the world. In the Eucharist, He feeds us with Himself -- just as He will lay down His life for the sheep, and for the life of the world. He gives us Himself. Food is an image of something universal and necessary. It is something versatile, affirming of culture everywhere in the world, giving us what is both necessary and pleasurable. Food is used to express love, it is a form of beauty and even devotion. Those who prepare it are those who serve us, whether it is a mother feeding her children or those who serve others at a more formal setting. In food, we have the universal metaphor for Christ: needful and beautiful, giving us necessary nutrition and also healthful and blessed rest. Meals are also a time for communion with one another -- traditional in all cultures universally. We call the Eucharist communion: it begins with our communion from Christ, the Good Shepherd, who feeds us the "supersubstantial bread" which we pray for in the Our Father, and that communion extends through Him to one another. This is the image of His Church. His is the bread of life -- life that is given so that we may have it "more abundantly" -- not just for bare necessity but also far, far beyond. This is the affirmation we get in this double feeding, via this second feeding -- that this bread of life is for the whole world: first to the Jews and then to all the nations. The few "little fish" present here may symbolize that, along with the number four thousand meaning both Jews and Gentiles. In this symbolism we have the affirmation that He is the bread of life, who came down from heaven, so that we may receive of everything He has to give, including most fully the sacrifice of Himself. Let us be with Him, as these people were; we remember the three days in the tomb. Our devotion to Him is rewarded via what He offers us, even in our own wilderness. It is faith that makes the difference, giving us the power to receive what He offers, even multiplies immeasurably.
