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 the 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 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 master's 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 here shows that these Jews actually had less faith than the Canaanite woman in yesterday's reading (see above).  To quote St. John Chrysostom, Christ healed the woman's 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."  To behold the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, the blind seeing are all prophesied signs of the Messiah (see Isaiah 35:5-8).

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.  My study Bible tells us that this second feeding of a multitude should not be confused with the first (see this reading from Friday last week).  They are two distinct miracles (see Matthew 16:8-10, in which Jesus refers to each one).  There is traditional significance ascribed in the variance in the number of loaves.  In the first feeding in the wilderness, there were five loaves, which symbolized the Law.  Here there are seven.  Seven is a symbol of completeness, and here it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first instance, Christ is revealing Himself as fulfilling the Law.  But here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.   Also, my study Bible remarks, these crowds had been with Christ for three days, which is the number of days that He would rest in the tomb.  To participate in His perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

Why do we suppose that Jesus does two separate feedings in the wilderness?  Certainly we can understand that the circumstance arose more than once, and also that there must be a special significance to each, as this is the way that His ministry evolved, and these are the events the Evangelists have recorded as part of what the Church commemorates and honors.  These specific events are given to us for a purpose, by God and by the Church in the recording of the Gospels.  But one thing we can learn from these different miraculous feedings is that we are to take note of Christ's ministry and its characteristic of evolving through time.  It does not simply stay the same or repeat itself in the sense of never changing.  If Christ was to go first to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel," as He said to the woman of Canaan in yesterday's reading (see above), then we can understand the evolution of ministry as Gentiles also begin to be included as examples of faith as in occasions for miraculous works by Christ.  Every part of this ministry is important, necessary, and significant.  Just as the feeding of the five thousand with five loaves is understood as fulfilling the Law (the first five books of the Bible, also called Penteteuch or Talmud), so Christ also comes to fulfill spiritual perfection , especially through His Passion, which is understood in the various symbols of today's reading, such as the three days and the seven loaves.  As Christ's own ministry and mission evolves through the Gospels, so we should also come to understand our own spiritual journeys and faith, because God's love is always active and working in this mission that takes place within us and in our lives.  We remarked earlier on the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Messiah that we read in the first few verses of today's reading.  Isaiah writes, after he prophecies that at the time of the Messiah "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing . . .."  But the prophecy continues:  "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein" (see Isaiah 35:5-8).   Christ's ministry expresses for us "The way of holiness," the "highway" He also refers to when He speaks of Himself as "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  That "way" in Greek literally means "road," and it delineates the path that Christ gives us, the journey of faith such as we read about as His ministry evolves, and also as our own faith journey evolves through new challenges and new lessons in discipleship.  It is an important concept to understand, for if even Christ's understanding and ministry evolves for Himself, how much more, then, as His disciples shall we expect this for ourselves?  The spiritual life is not simply a stagnant repetition of the "same old thing," but a constant evolution of new understandings, new discipline, new teachings to learn.  Just like caring for a home, a garden, an agricultural enterpriese or business, things are constantly in flux:  there will be new things to cast out, new things to take on and learn, new practices we must start, and old things we will learn to discard.  This is the spiritual life, for in Christ we have an eternal life, and one that never stops growing in its dynamic engagement with our life.  Let us keep in mind the journey, and be ever alert to where He asks us to go and offers His counsel and teachings for each new step.  The multitude continues with Jesus for three days; we continue with Him for our lives, even unto eternal life.