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

Healing the Multitudes.  Fresco, late 20th century.  St. John the Baptist Monastery, Makrinos, Greece

 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 the criticism of the 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 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 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 comments that Christ's healing of the multitudes in this passage shows that these Jews had actually less faith than the Canaanite woman in yesterday's reading (above).   St. John Chrysostom, it notes, writes that Christ offered the Canaanite woman the healing she wanted for her daughter "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."  The mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing are all prophesied signs of the coming of the Messiah.

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, separate and distinct from the first (see this reading).  In the next chapter, Christ will explicitly refer back to both (see 16:8-10).  There are details that distinguish each.   My study bible comments that the variance in the number of loaves is significant.  In the first instance (in the reading from Friday last week), there were five loaves, which symbolized the Law.  Here in today's reading there are seven loaves.   Seven is a number which symbolizes completeness; here it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first feeding miracle, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the law, while here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  Also, these crowds in today's read had been with Christ for three days.  This is the number of days He will rest in the tomb.  My study bible comments that this symbolic detail reveals that perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

The two distinct feeding miracles seem to indicate an evolution in Christ's ministry; that is, a movement from one thing and toward another.  In the earlier feeding, the people found themselves stranded in the "middle of nowhere" so to speak, because they had followed Christ, so desperate were they for His healings.  In today's reading, the signs revealed through Christ's healing of the multitudes are specifically those that distinguish the coming of the Messiah in prophecy.  They are abundant and explicit, clear signs of the ministry of Christ and its significance for Israel.  It's significant that this takes place after Christ's encounter with the Canaanite woman and the great display of her tenacious faith.  With these multitudes, the God of Israel is glorified, even after the criticism of His disciples by the Pharisees from Jerusalem.  But the detail in the number of loaves is significant, as it indicates the future of Christ's ministry, and its going out into all the world, both Jew and Gentile.  The seven large baskets of leftover fragments point not only to the fullness or completeness of ministry, but also of time and the age, an initiation into an apocalyptic meaning, and toward judgment.  This number seven is indicative of the "end point" toward which this ministry is going, and its fullness culminating in the end of the age, and the "end times" which are initiated through Christ's Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension.  It is in this sense of "fullness" that this feeding miracle appears with its symbols at this stage of Christ's ministry, accompanied by the signs of the Messiah and the God of Israel.  In this second feeding miracle are the signs of the Christ in whose "name Gentiles will trust" (12:21, quoting from Isaiah 42).   That is, the God of Israel who will go to the fullness of the earth and the fullness of time.  Even the number 4,000 is symbolic, as it indicates the four sides of the Cross, and the four directions of the entire world.  As the Pharisees from Jerusalem have already begun their attacks upon Jesus and His ministry, we observe that things are ready to evolve and move into the next certain phase, and toward the Cross.  The glorification of the God of Israel by the multitudes will turn toward something quite different, with new meanings and new indications that go beyond the expectations of these crowds.  The Cross itself will become a sign of rebirth, a victory of overcoming the world, and a way of life that means both sacrifice and transcendence.  We should not mistake the fullness of this time in its limited sense for the faith which we as Christ's followers inherit.  It is important to understand that He is heading toward the Cross, and as St. Paul writes in Romans 6:3-5 (cited by my study bible, as noted above), we are meant to participate with Him in that Cross, and our baptism is indicative of the same.  This is a turning point toward something unexpected, which His disciples in no way can imagine at this time.  So should it be in our own lives, when we experience an ending of one thing and a turning toward another.  The Cross, as does our baptism, will always indicate a rebirth, a transcendence, as well as ending and sacrifice.  Let us not be dismayed when our own lives, in faith, take a new turn, and point toward the need for a new birth, and leaving something else behind.  Even in our moments of greatest joy and fulfillment, the Cross remains, as does our promise of baptism, always pointing toward the fullness of our faith, and of time.