So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments

 

 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 

 

Yesterday we read that, following a dispute with the Pharisees and scribes, Jesus went to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  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 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 is 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 the multitude, and should not be confused with the first (see this reading).  They are two distinct miracles.  There's a significant variation in the number of loaves, for example.  My study Bible notes that in the first, there were five loaves, which symbolize the Law.  Here, there are seven.  Seven is a number which mystically symbolizes completeness; here my study Bible says it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first instance (the feeding of five thousand men, and more women and children), Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law.  But here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  It's also noteworthy that the crowds had been with Christ for three days, the same number of days He would rest in the tomb.  Participation in Christ's perfection only comes through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5).

 

 My study Bible comments on the differences in the numbers given in the readings of the two separate feedings of a multitude in the wilderness.  There is another number that's significant, and that is the number of people.  In the first instance, it was five thousand, a magnification in some sense of the number of the loaves, which, according to traditional commentary, symbolized the Law.  Here this multitude comprises four thousand.  Four is a very significant number in terms of symbolizing the world and even creation.  Four plays a role in terms of the directions on a compass, the directions and dimensions of the world divided into North, South, East, and West.  Of course these also correspond to winds.  Moreover, they correspond to the four points of the Cross.  Christ's life, death, and Resurrection is forever known by the Cross, which leaves its mark on our world, continuing in its effects and ongoing.  This ties in with a pattern we have taken notice of in recent readings, in which Jesus' work has continued -- seemingly unplanned by Him -- in Gentile regions.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus healed the daughter of a Gentile, a Syro-Phoenician woman, after she persisted in making this request, showing herself not only persevering in faith with Him, but also humble but engaging Him with her heart, soul, mind, and strength.  He had gone into a house wanting to be hidden in this place away from the eyes of the Pharisees and scribes that came with public scrutiny among the Jews, but even in Tyre and Sidon "could not be hidden."  So His healing power, perhaps surprisingly to His disciples, has now gone to believing Gentiles, although He Himself said that He was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6; 15:24).  Perhaps the numbers of people in these feedings give us another indication of the shape of Christ's ministry and its own continuing growth and development.  He is not only the fulfillment of the Law, but also the Giver of spiritual perfection, the One to whom every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11).  These are perhaps hints that this ministry is to go out to all the world, both Jews and Gentiles in its fullness, an activity which is ever-renewing and ongoing, for which we have not yet seen its fullness, a mystery we do not yet know.  Those seven large baskets of leftover fragments symbolize that food for spiritual perfection (especially in the Eucharist) that will continue to go out to the world.  Let us keep in mind this mystical reality, that works seemingly even beyond the immediate plans of Jesus when He marvels at developments, or cannot keep Himself hidden, nor prevent people from speaking about Him (see yesterday's reading, above).  For it continues today and is ongoing beyond where we know as well. 

 

 

 

 

 

How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?

 

 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 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples went to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  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 to 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.  Here is a second feeding of the multitude, which should not be confused with the first (see this reading from Tuesday).   These are two distinct miracles, which Jesus affirms later (Mark 8:19-20).  My study Bible cites the variance in the number of loaves as significant.  In the first instance (see Tuesday's reading), there were five loaves, which symbolize the Law.  Here, however, there are seven loaves.  Seven is a number that symbolizes completeness.  Here, my study Bible says, it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, therefore, in the first feeding in the wilderness, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, but here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  My study Bible asks us to note also that these crowds had been with Christ for three days, the same number of days Christ would rest in the tomb.  It says that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5).  

 

Why two feedings in the wilderness?  As my study Bible pointed out, the differences are important, and distinguish the two from one another.  We do know that the prior event in St. Mark's Gospel is the casting out of a demon from the daughter of a Gentile, a Syro-Phoenician woman, who continued to make this request of Christ although at first He refused (see yesterday's reading, above).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus interestingly spoke of food and feeding, as a way to refer to His ministry and what He offers.  In a reference to "the children" of Israel, He said, "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."   For this answer, Jesus healed her daughter.  As St. Mark's Gospel then immediately takes us to the feeding of the four thousand, with its images of fullness and perfection, we might assume this is a kind of symbolic reference to the Christ's message being carried to the Gentiles.  We see in this second feeding a kind of expansion and evolution of Christ's ministry, just as the early Church itself would continue to expand.  Feeding is also, of course, symbolic of the Eucharist, in which Christ Himself becomes our food.  The four thousand would seem to symbolize an expansion of notions of the number four; these would include the Cross with its four arms, the four points on the compass symbolizing the world, and perhaps God the Trinity and humankind.  Again, the symbolic understanding here is of Christ and the world, not only the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24).  In St. John's Gospel, Jesus says, "For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (John 6:33), and, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:51).  Perhaps the key to the fullness and perfection symbolized in today's reading is here, in the bread of God given for the life of the whole world, meaning all of the created order, the cosmos.  St. Paul writes, "Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28).  "All in all" begins with a few disciples, but continues to expand, with no discernible limit in terms of the creation itself.  Let us be grateful for this food which we receive from Him for the life of the world.  When we find ourselves in the wilderness, so to speak, we should remember this ever-expansive, creative gift.  For it is given to us freely, and it is the gift of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?

 

 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 

 

Yesterday we read that, after a disagreement with the Pharisees, Jesus arose and went to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered into 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 the second feeding of a multitude in the Gospels.  My study Bible says it should not be confused with the first (see this reading), for they are two distinct miracles.  There is a significance in the variance of the number of loaves, it says.  In the first feeding miracle, there were five loaves, which symbolizes the Law.  But here there are seven.  Seven is a symbol of completeness, and here it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first feeding miracle of the five thousand, Jesus reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law.  But here is, in some sense, the New Covenant, as Christ is shown to be the One who grants spiritual perfection.  We must note also that the crowds have continued with Him for three days; this number is clearly significant as the number of days Christ would rest in the tomb prior to the Resurrection.  My study Bible comments that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

Why two feeding miracles in the wilderness?  As my study Bible explains, these are clearly two distinct miracles, meant to be included in the Gospels.  One clear explanation seems to be in the symbolism noted by my study Bible.  In the first miracle, there was the exposition of the fulfillment of the Law in Christ.  Perhaps we should note that just as He distributes fish and bread, He is also the Lord, the giver of the Law of the Old Testament.  In today's reading, He repeats this giving and distribution, but of something new.  Four thousand is a number that indicates the whole world, or perhaps the whole universe, as four is a number symbolizing the four directions, and the four points of the Cross.  This is the New Covenant being giving to all, and both Gentile and Jew, for which Christ will lay in the tomb three days before His Resurrection.  The number seven, as my study Bible points out, is an indication of completeness.  This is the spiritual perfection, the granting of that eternal life of the Resurrection in which we may participate also, through the life, death, and Resurrection of Christ.  It is He who makes this possible for us, and we take life from His hand, so to speak, in the distribution of the Eucharist, the memorial of His sacrifice to make this abundant life possible for us.  So while the first feeding miracle reminds us of the Covenant given to the Jews, and the feeding in the wilderness as they journeyed to the Promised Land, this second miracle is the giving of the New Covenant, as we journey in faith toward a different promised land, and the life of the Kingdom.  We "continue with Him" taking in His teachings, and relying upon Him to provide what we need for the life He offers.  Let us remember to do just that, to continue with Him, to endure in faith, even through the difficulties we encounter in life.  For this is where He asks us to go, and how He asks us to walk with Him and to grow more dependent upon Him.  He is the One who feeds us what we need, and multiplies His blessings, grace, and teachings as we need them.

How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?

 

 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 

 

Yesterday we read that, having engaged in an open confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes who came to Him from Jerusalem, Jesus arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  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 yet a second feeding of a multitude (see the first at this reading), and should not be confused with the first.  They are two distinct miracles.   (Jesus will refer to each in our following reading.)  The differences between the two miracles are significant, especially in the symbolic values of the numbers we're given.  In the first instance, there were five loaves.  Five symbolizes the Law (as in the five books of Moses, or Torah).  Here there are seven loaves and also seven large baskets of leftover fragments for the disciples to carry away.  In the symbolism of Scripture, seven stands for completeness.  Here my study Bible says, it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first feeding, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law; here, He shows it is He who gives spiritual perfection.  We should understand also that in the Greek, "perfect" also comes from the word meaning "end," and so indicates a fullness of something.  Additionally, in today's reading, the crowds have been with Christ for three days.  This is the number of days He will rest in the tomb.  My study Bible comments that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5).  

 

 There are additional symbolic meanings we can look at in today's reading.  Again, we start with a significant number, the four thousand who had eaten.  Four is a number that signifies the world, and especially an identity vis-a-vis the world.  We see it in the four directions of the compass, and the four arms of the Cross.  In this sense, the perfection of Christ is also continually manifest in His gospel going out to the fullness of the world.  That this number is four thousand symbolizes the vast, even uncountable multitudes that are reached in Him.  His will be one sacrifice for all time, for all the world, continually giving and feeding multitudes upon multitudes.  Moreover, the significance is there in the region this takes place.  For now we are in territory that also has Gentile populations in it, further away from  the religious leadership in Jerusalem.   So the expansion of Christ's word and even the bread of Christ to all the world, including Gentiles, is here in the symbolic meanings of this event.  Additionally, this feeding in the wilderness, even in this area which also has Gentile populations, tells us that the fulfillment of the Lord's feeding of Israel in the wilderness is also made present to all the world in Christ (Exodus 16).  The bread of heaven is fulfilled for all the world, for all time, in Christ. 

 

 

 

How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?

 

 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, broken then and gave the 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 the away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

 

- Mark 8:1–10 

 

Yesterday we read that, after another confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus arose and went to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  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, broken then and gave the 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 the away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.  My study Bible comments that this second feeding of a multitude should not be confused with the first (see this reading).  As conveyed in the Gospels, they are two distinct miracles.  Christ's teaching to the disciples in our next reading will make this explicitly clear (see Mark 8:14-21).  My study Bible adds that the difference in the number of loaves mentioned is significant.  In the first feeding, there were five loaves, which symbolizes the Law (contained in the first five books of the Bible).  But here there are seven loaves.  Seven is a number which symbolizes completeness or fullness.  Here, my study Bible says, it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first feeding, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, but here He shows that He is the One who grants spiritual perfection.  My study Bible asks us to note also that these crowds had been with Christ for three days, which is the same number of days He will rest in the tomb.  Participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

 

One may ask, why two different feedings in the wilderness?  What purpose does this serve for us, and in the salvation ministry of Christ?   Today's reading, in which we are presented with a distinctively different, somewhat contrasting feeding in the wilderness to the first, reveals to us in some sense the particularities of needs and the appropriate manifestation of what is necessary at different times and in different circumstances.  My study Bible has explained the significance in the differences in the number of loaves, and in the number of baskets.  Each number gives us a particular sense of what is being revealed and given to us.  They also tell us a story about the evolution of Christ's ministry, as the crowds grow, and even as His reputation grows within areas of mixed Jewish and Gentile populations.  We must also consider that contemporaneously with these events, the opposition and scrutiny from the Pharisees in Jerusalem has also grown.  Even now, in our next reading, we will read that the Pharisees now come to dispute with Him (Mark 8:11-13), a more aggressive stance than in the past.  So this change in the significance of the numbers, to seven loaves signifying completion or perfection, and to seven large baskets taken up within the "future" of the Church for those who will enter later, teach us something about the evolution of Christ's ministry -- in particular, in response to the growing hostility of the Jewish religious leaders.  We may also see the significance of three days as noted here in the text, giving us a hint of the death of Christ to come, and what that means for our salvation.  The salvation that will be given by Christ will be for a fullness of a promise extending far beyond what had been conceived in the past, one which will be extended out to the world and beyond what was considered the "nation."  Let us also examine the number four thousand, in terms of its significance spiritually.  In the number four we may read the significance of the four corners of the world, and also the four corners of the Cross.  In each case, and with a multiplication by a factor of one thousand, that also indicates a fullness of another sort -- of the entire world.   In this symbolism is now a prefiguring of the Great Commission to come, in which Jesus will tell the disciples, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  It is of great significance, then, that we can observe the gradual and evolving changes within Jesus' ministry, as He first sends the apostles out only to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:5-6), but eventually, in the Great Commission, to "all the nations."  It teaches us that in our own lives, as much as we often would wish life would stand still, and a decision taken today will be sufficient for tomorrow, each day brings with it new evolution and new change, and what we need spiritually may also evolve and grow.  So we may also be challenged, as are the disciples throughout the New Testament, to grow our faith as necessary as well, to meet the new things God has in store for us, the new places we may go, the growth God asks of us.  For life does not stand still, and we have a Savior who moves with us, in whom we may "live and move and have our being."

 

 

 

 

He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven"

 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

Yesterday we read that, after a confrontation with the Pharisees and some scribes who had come from Jerusalem, Jesus departed from His ministry's "home territory," and went to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, north of Galilee.  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 in the wilderness, and is not meant to be confused with the first, as there are significant details to note.   They are two distinct miracles.  My study bible calls the difference in the number of loaves significant.  In the first miracle, there were five, which symbolizes the Law (the Pentateuch, or Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament).  Here in this feeding in the wilderness there are seven loaves.  Seven is a number symbolizing completeness or fullness; here, my study bible says, it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first feeding miracle, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law.  Here in the Decapolis, in this mixed region of Gentiles and Jews, He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  My study bible notes also that these crowds had been with Christ for three days, the same number of days He would rest in the tomb.  To participate in Christ's perfection, my study bible notes, can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5).  Here there are four thousand, a large number symbolizing the world, as in its four directions.  We note once again the details that suggest the Eucharist, as Jesus gave thanks (the meaning of the Greek root from which we derive "Eucharist"), Himself breaking the loaves and distributing them through His disciples.  That there are seven large baskets leftover is once again significant of completion or fullness, that this is the bread that is given for the life of the entire created order, for the world (John 6:51).

As the hostility of the religious leadership begins to be manifest, and the open conflicts with Jesus begin to show as well (see this reading), Jesus withdraws into Gentile territory and seeks to get away from public attention and controversy.  First He went north into Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile region north of Galilee, where He didn't want anyone to know He was there.  But He simply cannot be hidden, and we read of His encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman there in yesterday's reading, above.  He returned to Galilee by way of the Decapolis, a Greek-speaking region (its name meaning "Ten Cities" in Greek) of Greek and Roman culture, and mixed Jewish and Gentile populations.  We can see small changes in His ministry that begin here:  there is first of all the faith and persistence of the Syro-Phoenician woman, although Jesus initially refuses her, making it clear that He was sent to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel"  (Matthew 10:5-6; 15:24).  But we remember that the wind of the Holy Spirit blows where it wishes (John 3:8).   While it is the clear that salvation is of the Jews (John 4:22), the Holy Spirit of God moves among all the people of the world.   This is clearly meant not only for all the people of the world, but the Greek word "cosmos" covers the whole of the created order of things, both visible and invisible.  The sense of completeness or perfection of the  Lord of lords and King of kings (Deuteronomy 10:17; 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14, 19:16) cannot be limited.   What may come from the Jews is meant for all of creation.  This is the working of God's Spirit in the world and the direction begun to be taken in Christ's ministry.  That mysterious wind we can't limit or control rather comes to us, and takes us along with it, if we but respond with our faith.   And faith is the real path of that Spirit and that ministry:  Christ takes root in hearts which are receptive, those who have spiritual eyes and ears, and who hunger and thirst for what He offers.  The feedings in the wilderness give us an image, in the understanding of the Gospels, of people who are like sheep having no shepherd (Mark 6:34), of those who deeply need what He offers, a world in need of  His healing and the food He gives.  The real question becomes whether or not we can recognize that need, or our own woundedness or incompletion, imperfection -- or do we grasp onto other things in our self-declared notions of perfection?  If maturity can be said to be the recognition of our own imperfection, then our response to that maturity is the courage to accept this mystery, this wind, this movement of the Holy Spirit that teaches us a path, a surprising way to go, the places we need to travel to fulfill what is possible through His name and the righteousness He offers.  We may always be surprised at what that kind of perfection looks like, the strangeness of the saints, the deep love of devotion we find in the Scriptures -- but it is meant for each of us, and to find in our own hearts.

How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?

 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

Yesterdays we read that after a dispute with some scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem, Jesus left Galilee and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  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.  We might confuse this feeding in the wilderness with the one that we read about last week, in Thursday's reading.  But the Gospels clearly set these two events as separate occasions, and there are particular differences.  First of all, Jesus has recently had an open clash with the authorities from Jerusalem (Saturday's reading), after which He went to Tyre and Sidon where a Gentile woman's daughter was healed from a demon, and then He went into the Decapolis, a mixed region of both Gentiles and Jews (see yesterday's reading, above).  So our context at this juncture in Mark's Gospel is a little different from that previous setting.  Moreover, there are other particular differences.  In the previous event, there were five loaves on hand.  This time there are seven.  The number of baskets of leftover fragments in the previous occasion were twelve; now there are seven large baskets.   Previously, Jesus fed five thousand in the wilderness; but this time, the number is four thousand.   Each of these differences is quite important, because each has symbolic meaning that linked to the evolution of Jesus' ministry, and where it is ultimately headed.   In the earlier episode, the five loaves symbolized the Law (the first five books of the Bible), but here there are seven, a number which symbolizes completeness, indicating spiritual perfection.  In the earlier incident, Jesus reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, but here we may begin to discern that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  The seven large baskets give us another figure of completion or fullness, the readying of the Gospel to go out to all the world.  The four thousand is also a number that symbolizes all the world who will be included in the Gospel message:  four directions, four corners of the Cross, Christ as Incarnate and also the Holy Trinity:  man and God.   Another important number here is that these crowds have specifically been with Him for three days, the number of days He will spend in the tomb, linked to the Resurrection that will "feed" all people in the world, Jew and Gentile.

It is so tempting for us to assume that somehow the Gospel writers got confused, that there must have been only one spectacular feeding miracle in Christ's ministry, and to invent all kinds of rational reasons why this could not have happened twice.  But the writers of the Gospel -- including the Holy Spirit, of course -- are far more brilliant than it seems we assume.  Moreover, Scripture is not historical writing nor is it a science textbook.  It is, in fact, something far more than that, and works on seemingly infinite levels to "feed" us what we need.  We could read these same passages every day of our lives, and they would convey to us some possible insight that we need that particular day and moment.  A science or history textbook cannot do that.  With Scripture and the work of the holy in the world, there are dimensions of meaning that we can't yet grasp, but which will always be waiting for us.  The significant details of each feeding miracle in the wilderness are marked out; each has meaning.  And this gives us something important to face in our own lives.  We are not meant to be stagnant creatures.  Our lives are marked out by time, by separate incidents, and hopefully by growth.  Christ's ministry grows and evolves.  It meets obstacles; He clashes with the leadership from Jerusalem.  But each new juncture brings a kind of growth, a new branch or offshoot, a new direction, each a new creative response through the Holy Trinity:  Father, Son, and Spirit at work in the world.  Christ's ministry is evolving and, through the apostles, will eventually go out to both Jew and Gentile, the whole world -- even though He is sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24).  Christ's evolving ministry and response to experience gives us a message about our own lives.  It would be wonderful to retain the company we've known all our lives, our friends and what is familiar.  But life does not work like that, and in particular, spiritual life does not necessarily work like that.  We are time-bound creatures and we are meant to grow.  In fact, we are always going in one direction or another -- we never stand still.  We are headed toward a deeper communion with our God, or not.  We face obstacles within ourselves we either meet with Christ, or we don't and we become more deeply enmeshed in struggles we need to face differently.  This is the struggle of the internal spiritual life, and the growth and change within Christ's ministry at every new step is a mirror of our own internal lives as a mirror of our faith.  We meet all the changes we need to make with prayer, and with faith.  It is there we find the direction that we need, the grace to accept the things we can't change and the courage to change the things we can -- to echo the words of a popular prayer widely used in a movement to help with personal struggle (The Serenity Prayer, by theologian and pastor Reinhold Niebuhr; adopted by Alchoholics Anonymous).   It really doesn't matter where we come from, faith as set out in Christ's ministry, is a journey.  It is a path, a way, as He tells us ("I am the way, the truth, and the life" - John 14:6).  That word used in the Gospel, translated as "way," means "road" in Greek.  Let us remember that we are not infinite beings outside of time, who live in an eternal fixed point.  We are created as finite beings, with a purpose for growth and evolution, experiencing time so that we may choose to meet life and experience with Christ, His way.   This path or road is not mean to be simple and effortless.  Faith is a struggle, but one which we are specifically created equipped to make, so that faith itself will test and expand who we are, take us into new foreign territory, and ask us to make hard decisions to do so.  His is the food we need, and His supply is endless.  Let us remember to turn to Him in all our choices. no matter what they are.  His is the constant bread for all of our own times in the wilderness -- no matter how frequently we may find ourselves there.

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

 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

From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  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 hears, 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, and should not be confused with the first feeding of five thousand (see here).  They are two distinct miracles, which Jesus will reference in our next reading in this chapter (Mark 8:19-21).  My study bible cites the variation in the number of loaves, and the spiritual significance attributed to the numbers.  In the first feeding in the wilderness, there were five loaves, which symbolize the Law (the first five books of the Old Testament, also called the Pentateuch or Torah).  Here there are seven.  Seven symbolizes completeness, here indicating spiritual perfection.  In the first instance, therefore, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law.  But here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  Also symbolic is that the crowds had been with Christ for three days, the number of days that He would rest in the tomb.  My study bible says that participation in His perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5).

Why two feedings in the wilderness?  One other interesting difference between the two is also the setting of each.  The first one happens when Jesus tries to take the disciples aside for rest after the completion of their first apostolic mission.  But the second happens during a different phase of His ministry, in which Jesus is avoiding communities where the Jewish leadership is solidly in control, after a confrontation with Pharisees and scribes.  In the first the disciples had just returned from their mission to Jewish towns, and His mission had grown so popular that the people followed Him.  In today's reading, Jesus has come from spending time in Gentile territory; first in the region of Tyre and Sidon, and then returning to the Sea of Galilee via a long, out-of-the-way route through the Decapolis, a region of mixed populations but whose culture was primarily Greek-speaking (see yesterday's reading, above).    It mirrors the whole of Jesus' ministry, in which His word and mission come first primarily to the Jews, but will be taken to the whole world.  Even the seven baskets of leftover fragments (again, seven symbolizing completion) tell us that story spiritually.  The four thousand people represent the world that is waiting for Christ of the Cross.  Whichever ways we choose to look at these readings, they tell us of the abundance from Christ that is unstoppable and unlimitable.  It is such not only for those to whom He was first sent, as child born to Mary in Bethlehem, but to the whole world to whom His message continues to spread.  That is, to those everywhere and all who will be born in the future.  The three days symbolizing His time in the tomb can even be taken in reference to the time in which the Word went even to those who were deceased.    The abundance with which His life and word can feed us is simply incalculable.  It is there for us at any time, at any moment in our lives.  At the very end of Matthew's Gospel, in His final appearance to the remaining eleven disciples, Jesus says to them, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."   To say that "I am with you always" means much more than we think it does at face value.  Jesus uses an expression that literally means "all of the days" -- meaning every moment of every single day until the completion of the age.  As He is addressing these words to His disciples, we can understand very well its timelessness, in that it applies to everyone in the Church, those who were, and those who are, and those who are yet to come.  Born to Mary in a cave where animals were kept, Jesus fulfills His mission quite clearly as One who must go out to the whole of the world, and not stop until this time is full and complete.  The abundance from the two fish continues, as wide and as deep as all the seas and all the abundance in them, but without any discernible end.

How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?

 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 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

Yesterday we read that Jesus went to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, after being criticized by Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem.   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 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.  Although this feeding in the wilderness may seem like a "duplicate" of the feeding of the five thousand which we recently read about, there are distinct differences that make this second feeding separate and significant.  First of all Jesus is now in a country of mixed Gentiles and Jews.  He has gone to Tyre and Sidon, and healed the daughter of a Syro-Phoenician woman.  Yesterday's reading also told us He then came through the Decapolis, a Greek-speaking region of ten cities, to the Sea of Galilee.  It is here, in this mixed territory of populations, that the multitude follows Him and this feeding takes place.  My study bible cites the number of loaves as one of the notable differences in the stories.  In the feeding of five thousand, there were five loaves, which symbolize the Law (the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch).  Here there are seven loaves.  Seven is a number that symbolizes completeness; here it indicates spiritual perfection.  In the first feeding, in Jewish territory, Christ is revealed as fulfilling the Law.  Here, among a mixed population, He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.   The three days that this crowd had been with Him echoes the number of days He would rest in the tomb.  Perfection comes through uniting with Christ through death and rebirth (especially via baptism, see Romans 6:3-5), manifest in the New Covenant that will come.  Some scholars note the difference in the types of baskets taken up.  In the earlier feeding of five thousand, the Greek indicates a small basket, sometimes translated as "hand-basket" (Mark 6:43-44).  These were twelve, one for each apostle.  But here, they are a different type of basket, translated as large baskets.  (It is the same word for basket, in the Greek, as the one in which St. Paul was lowered through a hole in the wall in Acts 9:25).  Again, seven baskets indicates completeness.  This is the bread of life that will go out to all the world, both Jews and Gentiles.

Jesus has come through the region east of the Sea of Galilee, that of the Decapolis.  He makes His way back from Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile region to which He'd withdrawn after Pharisees and scribes had come from Jerusalem, criticizing His ministry and His disciples (Saturday's reading).  The healing of the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman (yesterday's reading, above), and the healing and feeding of four thousand in the mixed population, Greek-speaking region of the Decapolis tells us a story about the growth of this ministry and its evolution.  The Syro-Phoenician woman said to Jesus, "Even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  In today's reading, we see the bread that prefigures the Eucharist going to what is likely a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles.  It is an evolution of spiritual understanding, of what is to be offered in salvation to those who may, as my study bible put it, unite with Christ through His death in baptism.  What we observe in Christ's ministry is a fascinating growth and transformation of the ministry itself, as Jesus first goes to the "children" but later will also include those who are not of this fold, and who will also be brought into His flock.  What Christ teaches us, that seems to transcend all other things that we know about Him, is that following the will of God will always be a kind of adventure.  We must prepare for the unexpected.  Even Christ marvels at the unbelief of His townspeople in Nazareth when He comes to His hometown to preach.  Although He is divine, the "Heart-Knower," Christ marvels at the response He finds.  This rejection not only assures us that human will and choices are free, but it also tells us about this ministry.  Christ will go where it is the Father's will He goes, even if that means to His own death - even where His own human will is not in agreement (Luke 22:42).  Christ knows He was sent to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel," and yet we see now a new development beginning in His ministry.  As we watch and walk with Christ, think about one's own life and the many surprises we encounter when things go differently from what we had thought or planned.  Friends fail us, organizations let us down, people turn out to be something unexpected.  Through it all, there is one thing we place first, the one thing necessary that guides us even through storms and the unexpected.