Posts
Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them. So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.
Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." Then His disciples aid to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?" Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish." So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.
- Matthew 15:29-39
Yesterday, we read that after confrontation with scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem who had questioned Jesus about His disciples' transgression of a tradition of the elders, He went out from there and departed to the north, to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed." But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cried out after us." But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them. So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel. In yesterday's reading, we witnessed the great faith of a Gentile woman. Here, Jesus heals the multitudes with clear signs fulfilling prophecies of the time of the Messiah, and they glorified the God of Israel. The Gospel invites us to remember and understanding the growing hostility of the Jewish leadership, the accusations of those who had come from Jerusalem, and Jesus' withdrawal into Gentile territory. St. John Chrysostom contrasts the immediate healings here (and the lack of faith of the scribes and Pharisees) with the tenacious faith of the Canaanite woman in yesterday's reading despite Jesus' delay in healing her daughter.
Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way." Then His disciples aid to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?" Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish." So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala. This is a distinct second feeding of a multitude; we read about the first in chapter 14 (see Thursday's reading). They are two distinct miracles, but each gives us a clear preview of the Eucharist in the ways in which this bread is distributed. There is significance seen in the variance in the number of loaves. Five loaves in the earlier miracle symbolized the Law (the five books of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament). Here there are seven loaves, and seven large baskets full of fragments that are left. Seven is a number symbolizing completeness, here indicating spiritual perfection. My study bible suggests that in the first instance, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, but here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection. Significant also is the number of days the crowds have been with Him: three days, the same number of days He would rest in the tomb. St. Paul teaches that salvation comes through participation in Christ's death, and thereby also Resurrection and newness of life (see Romans 6:3-5). In some sense, His ministry is expressing this truth; the four thousand in this feeding symbolize the whole world's involvement now in this ministry, both Jews and Gentiles.
There's a kind of fulfillment expressed in today's reading, and it's a fulfillment predicated upon events in yesterday's reading, in which a Canaanite woman, through tenacious faith, humility, and love, receives the blessings of Christ's ministry. It is a sign of the evolution of this ministry to reveal faith that will go out to all the world, and include all the world. It's a sign that the Messiah isn't only the Messiah of the Jews, but the Messiah of the world. Christ's ministry continues to expand in its surprising effects and revelations, even as the Jewish religious leadership begins to confront Jesus more aggressively. In the seven baskets filled with leftover fragments, we have a symbol of spiritual completeness, signifying the universal ministry of Christ to go out to the world. (In the previous reading, there were twelve leftover baskets, suggesting the twelve tribes of Israel.) Perhaps most importantly, the significance of what we are seeing in the growth of Christ's ministry as time passes is the "newness" of it, a kind of rebirth of faith -- passing from the religion of one people to an expansion of the covenant, of the "people of God" (Israel). It is an unfolding of world-changing events, the seeds planted of something that will grow throughout the world, as it continues to grow today in yet "new" ways in the world. The fastest changing religious demographics are in the Southern hemisphere, in Africa and Asia, where Christianity is growing. Migration also factors into religious change; in the United States and Europe, many migrants are bringing their own Christian faith into countries where traditional Christian beliefs are being questioned. The leaven that changes the whole of the meal continues to make its "enzyme-like" presence felt in the religious demographics of the world, and its growth continues to surprise those who keep track of such phenomena, and to confound statisticians. In China, for example, the growth of Christianity is very high, but nearly impossible to track in its fullness with great accuracy because of conditions in the country. Two millenia after Christ's ministry, the growth of this faith continues to surprise us in ways we can't predict, true to the parables of the Kingdom given by Christ, such as those of the mustard seed or the leaven. Matthew teaches that the hidden truths of Jesus' parables are "things kept secret from the foundation of the world." Those surprising secrets are still being revealed to us today, if we but look around with eyes to see and ears to hear.
