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

In yesterday's reading, Jesus was in the Gentile region of Phoenicia. He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden. But a Syro-Phoenician woman, who had a young daughter with an unclean spirit, found out where He was. She fell at His feet, begging for help for her daughter. He told 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." He told her that for this saying, she could go her way, and her daughter was healed. Later, He went through the Decapolis, another Gentile region of mixed races. A man who was deaf and mute was brought to Him. He took the man aside, away from the crowd, put His fingers in his ears and spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." The man could then hear and speak. 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." Here we are again, in similar circumstances to those from a few readings earlier. But there are some differences. We are, first of all, in Gentile territory now. So, the crowd is different from the one in the previous episode in which Jesus and the disciples find themselves with a large and hungry crowd to feed. At this time, the crowd includes many Gentiles, as they are in the Decapolis, which is southeast of the Sea of Galilee.

Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?" These questions poignantly reflect the Psalms: "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? . . . Can he give bread also?" The allusion to Scripture teaches us (and the early hearers) that the scene is set for a messianic sign, a fulfillment of prophesy.

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 see the similar circumstances unfolding as in the miracle of the feeding of five thousand men in the earlier passage in Mark. With a few small differences: seven loaves instead of five, the number of fish not reported, seven baskets leftover instead of twelve, and four thousand fed instead of five. We can make some significance of the symbolic nature of the numbers: seven is a number of fulfillment, completion -- the good news of the kingdom, the Messiah is now present and at work even among the Gentiles and will therefore be present to all the world. The twelve baskets in the earlier sign were for the twelve apostles, but here we have seven -- again, for fulfillment, to go to the whole world, to which God has sent His Son. Four can be considered a number of inclusion, the whole Body of Christ, as there are four points on the Cross, linking man and God.

It's of great interest that in yesterday's reading, we read Jesus' words, goading the Syro-Phoenician woman in her faith: "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." In this Gentile region, as He continues His ministry, this is just what happens: the bread of the children is now a part of the world of the Gentiles, and will go to all the world, to include all of the nations. Jesus has come first to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (at the previous feeding of five thousand, Jesus was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd), but now His ministry is spread, and in a decisive and powerful way. What is open to the lost sheep is also open to the sheep, His children, who will come from elsewhere as well. The tremendous spread of the gospel cannot be stopped. Sonship -- the kingdom of God -- will expand and grow beyond all expectations, just as Jesus taught in the parable of the mustard seed. Let us consider today what this means: the internet offers us truly a global system for the spread of the word; we are in a place in the history of the world where telecommunications are instantaneous, and having effects far beyond what we can measure, in real time. The powerful spread of the word, of His kingdom, continues. Let us consider the words of St. Athanasius: "The Son of God became man so that we might become God." He offers us sonship by adoption, and this kingdom continues to grow. I hope my blog also feeds some who want it, nurture it, grow the kingdom. In whatever way it helps your faith, whoever and wherever you are, I hope that it does so. We are in a time of great change, it seems to me, and the world needs faith now more than ever. The miracle in today's reading will be referred back to by Jesus, a powerful significance that is entirely rare in the gospels. Let us give thanks for His bread even as we do our best to "feed His lambs."

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

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

In yesterday's reading, we were taken to Gentile territory of Tyre and Sidon. A woman of Canaan -- traditional "enemies" of the Jews -- came to Jesus and His disciples. She said, ""Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed." The disciples asked Jesus to send her away, and three times He rebuffed her Himself. He told her, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." But she replied, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table." Jesus told 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. Here Jesus is still in Gentile territory. The miracles or signs reported here are the same as among the Jewish multitudes in Jesus' ministry, and they are the prophetic signs of the Messiah: the mute speak, the lame walk, the maimed made whole, the blind seeing. And, among these Gentile people, like with the woman of Canaan in yesterday's reading, the God of Israel is glorified. Again, we're reminded that this Gospel was written with a Jewish orientation. My study bible notes, "Though Jesus focused on Jews, He taught and healed all who came to Him, thus transcending racial distinctions and prejudices."

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's gospel gives us a second feeding, this time a crowd of four thousand men, besides women and children. Earlier we read about the feeding of the five thousand men (besides women and children). The difference in the story here is primarily that now the crowd includes many Gentiles. There's a significance in the number of baskets, once again. Previously, there were twelve baskets of fragments left over, suggesting the Twelve Apostles who will be sent out to all the world. But the the seven baskets in this story give us a number that frequently meant completion in the Old Testament. In this miracle, the whole world is filled with the holy bread of Christ, Gentiles included. It is again evocative of the Eucharist, and another sign of Jesus' divinity; and, yet again here, what has happened among the Jews is also happening in Gentile territory. It is a kind of cementing of the episode in yesterday's reading with the Canaanite woman, that the people of God, Israel -- and the God of Israel -- are for all the nations, a fulfillment of God's promise, and a promise of a New Covenant.

I believe we have to truly strain a little to see and hear with the eyes and ears of the contemporaries of Matthew for whom this Gospel was written. We should consider the great good news that is also somewhat shocking. Even the traditional enemies of the Jews, those who were considered to be peoples rightfully subdued, are included in this expanded understanding of God's kingdom, the people of Israel. What a shocking understanding indeed, demanding great awareness of the need to change, to change one's mind in order to grasp the new things. If we read it correctly, it is a startling revelation, one which really turns life in a new direction -- and the Good News of the Gospel means a broadening and turning out in new directions of what is considered holy. We contrast the faith of these Gentiles (especially the woman in yesterday's reading) with the outright hostility and possibly arrogance of the scribes and Pharisees in their encounter with Jesus in the reading of the day before. Jesus called them "the blind leaders of the blind" and said that, with such leadership, both leaders and followers will fall into a pit, or ditch. And what is the difference? Faith, certainly, but also a sense of humility. The ones on whom are bestowed miraculous signs of healing and feeding are the ones with the humility to come to Christ in worship, sitting at His feet, recognizing the signs He does, and glorifying the God of Israel. Let us, once again, consider their example.

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

-Psalm 51:16, 17