I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat

 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 said 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 a confrontation with scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem, Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from the 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 he cries 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.  My study bible quotes St. John Chrysostom, who comments with a comparison between these Jewish multitudes and the woman of Canaan in yesterday's reading (see above), a healing that comes immediately before these verses.  We also recall that by this time the scribes and Pharisees are contending with Jesus.  Christ healed the woman "with much delay, but these immediately, because she is more faithful than they.  He delays with her to reveal her perseverance, while here He bestows the gift immediately to stop the mouths of the unbelieving Jews."

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 said 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 second feeding of a multitude that is quite distinct from the first (see this reading from last week).  Its differences all have significance.  There is first a difference in the number of loaves.  In the first instance, there were five loaves, symbolizing the Law.  Here there are seven.  Seven is a symbol of completion.  My study bible says that here it indicates spiritual perfection.  In the first instance, then, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, while here it's shown that He is the one who grants spiritual perfection.  There is also the difference in that the crowds in today's reading had been with Christ for three days, which is the number of days in which He would rest in the tomb.  My study bible notes that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5).

The events in today's reading give us a sense of transition in Jesus' ministry.  After the revelation in the healing of the Canaanite woman's daughter, that faith also is revealed among Gentiles, this feeding in the wilderness gives us hints in symbols about the nature of the ministry that is to come.  My study bible comments on the symbolic seven in the number of loaves, a number not simply of perfection but also of fullness, completion.  We may note in addition that the number of baskets of leftover fragments is also seven -- enough for the whole world and for the age initiated by His ministry.  The number four thousand, moreover, in some sense symbolizes all the people of the world, both Jews and Gentiles -- as in the four directions of the world to which the faith will go, and the four points of the Cross uniting God and man.  As the authorities begin to grow more hostile, and seek to curb Jesus' ministry among the Jews, something else begins to take shape.  There is a branching out, new ideas breaking through assumptions, new forms of God's power at work in the world.  All are surprising, surpassing expectations.  It is a new age being initiated.  The important thing to remember is that all is made possible through faith and is dependent upon faith.  Our union with Christ is dependent only upon faith.  Our participation with Him is as well dependent upon faith.  It will be characterized by worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24).  The connection the Canaanite woman made with Christ was done purely through her persistence in faith, despite the obstacles He seemingly put in her way.  This is the great thing we need to remember, through all the changes our lives in the world will put us through:  every obstacle to faith is simply another curve in the road through which we learn to persist in faith.  All that confounds and surprises us simply calls for all our own resources to be brought to the table in faith.  We always have tools such as prayer, reading, services for worship -- both public and private, which we use in difficult and changing times.  Wisdom, intelligence, awareness, alertness:  these are all things praised in the Gospels in the service of faith.  Let us remember that we have one anchor, the Cross, which teaches us to have faith also in that which we don't see.  The really important place of faith is in the heart that is anchored to Him, and endures through all things.