For this saying to your way

 

 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 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."

 

 - Mark 7:24–37 

Yesterday we read that the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.  Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.  For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.  When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.  And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.  Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"  He answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:  'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'  For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men -- the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do."  He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.   For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'  But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban" -- ' (that is, a gift to God), "then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.  And many such things you do."  When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, "Hear Me, everyone, and understand:  There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!"  When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.  So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also?  Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man  from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"  And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.  For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man."  

 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.   Tyre and Sidon were cities in a Gentile region on the coast, north of Galilee.  They were ancient Phoenician cities, and still exist today in modern Lebanon.  Jesus has withdrawn to this place, and wanted no one to know it, in order to get away from the scrutiny of the Pharisees and scribes who now seek Him out to find fault and oppose His ministry.  But, as the text says, He could not be hidden.  It's likely that His reputation follows Him even here. 

 

 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."  In St. Matthew's version of this story, Jesus declares, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 12:54).  These are what is meant by the children.  Little dogs is the translation of the Greek, indicating puppies begging under the table, a reference to her persistence, as she kept asking.

 

 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.  Note that this woman first showed her faith by her persistence; here she shows it in her humility in response to Christ.  My study Bible comments that she accepts her place beneath the Jews, who were the chosen people of God, but she still desires a share in God's grace.  Christ's hesitancy, it explains, was not a lack of compassion, but a conscious means of revealing the virtues of this woman, both to the disciples (see Matthew 15:23), and for her own sake.

 

 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."  My study Bible comments on the verse that tells us that Jesus sighed.  It calls this a sign of divine compassion for the sufferings of our fallen human nature.  

 

 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."  My study Bible comments that here, our Lord shows us we must not seek acclaim or praise when we do good to others.  Interestingly, it says, Theophylact upholds those who disobey Christ in this situation, seeing them as a good example -- that we should proclaim those who have done good to us even if they do not want us to. 

 

 As pointed out by my study Bible, persistence is an important quality in our faith.  In the case of Jesus and the woman who repeatedly asked for a healing for her daughter, we can consider Christ's identity as Lord in this story.  According to the story in St. Matthew's Gospel, at first Jesus did not respond to her.  This seems to correspond with what we read here in St. Mark's version also, as we're told that she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  We also have His response in St. Matthew's Gospel, that He wasn't sent except to the Jews; that is, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  But according to my study Bible, Christ's methods are not meant to be cruel nor rejecting of this woman, but actually to draw out both her persistence and her humility.  In His true divine identity, it seems important to understand that He does no healing without faith; that, in fact many of Christ's healings are openly attributed to the faith of the one being healed, or the faith of friends or a loved one.  In this case, His delay in this sense offers the woman a chance to establish a correct relationship with Christ by demonstrating her persistence, and her willingnss to accept Him as Lord in this sense.  He's already known for His healings, but we have increasingly come to know the role faith plays in them.  See, for example, His experience in His hometown of Nazareth, where, we're told, "He could do no mighty work there" because of their unbelief.  Elsewhere, Jesus reminds us of the precious quality of what He offers which is found in our faith, such as in the Sermon on the Mount, when He teaches, "Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces" (Matthew 7:6).  Through her persistence she demonstrates that she truly wants what He offers, but more than that, she understands who He is and relates to Him in a proper way befitting who He is.  This is no demand for honor, but rather an important distinction between those who wish to use Him for what He can do for them, and those who will recognize and come to faith in Him.  And we should never forget this important understanding.  Christ offers to the world salvation, but this is not possible without faith, without a kind of understanding of who He is, and the right relationship with Him that would ask of us.  While this woman persistently asks for His help, and with great wit, intelligence, and humility responds to Him so as to elicit His help, in the second part of the reading we encounter a person who is deaf, and whose speech is hindered.  If we think of it symbolically in the context of the reading, where the woman could appeal to and listen to Christ, this man has truly a great impediment:  he cannot hear Him, nor can he clearly speak and request what he wants.  But those who bring him to Christ beg Him to heal him.  Note that this is also in the Decapolis, a region of mixed Gentile and Jewish populations, the home that the man healed from a Legion of demons returned to.  The restoration of this man's hearing and speaking once again enables that "right-relatedness" to the Lord in a spiritual sense; he's given back the capacity to directly speak to and hear Him.  Within the Decapolis, we assume he is Jewish, and so Jesus continues to draw up those who will come to Him, gathering into salvation those who come in faith.  With today's reading, we might consider carefully what we ask for, and whom we ask.  When we approach Christ, is it with an understanding, acceptance, and truly valuing what He offers to us?  What are the conditions of faith for us, and how do they teach us the ways to live our lives, what relationship that we have with God?  Are we, ourselves, lost sheep?  And how do we consider ourselves to be found?  All of these questions have an answer to be found in that relationship of faith, one that asks of us -- as well as the Syro-Phoenician woman -- persistence and humility, and repeated prayer.  Let us find ourselves in our proper relation to Him. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Son of David, have mercy on us!

 

 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.  And the multitudes marveled, saying, "It was never seen like this in Israel!"  But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of demons."

 

- Matthew 9:27–34 

 

Yesterday we read that, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Jesus, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.   

 

 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"  And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"  They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."  Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith let it be to you."  And their eyes were opened.  And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, "See that no one knows it."  But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.  As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed.  And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke.   My study Bible comments on these events of today's reading that, according to Isaiah, the messianic age is signified when "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear" (Isaiah 35:5).  These healings are a sign that Jesus is the awaited Messiah, as is the use of the title Son of David by the blind men, which expresses their faith indeed He is.

 

But the Pharisees said, "He casts out demons by the ruler of demons."  My study Bible says that to cast out demons by the ruler of demons is impossible, for the aim of the devil is to consolidate power, not destroy it.  Further, Jesus cleansed lepers, raised the dead, and remitted sins -- works demons could not perform.

 

Today's reading teaches us about the fulfillment of the prophesied signs of the Messiah, a clear indication that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the One who was awaited in Israel.  He heals the blind, and makes the mute speak, signs of the time of the Messiah.  One may begin to wonder why Christ was not more widely accepted as the Messiah, but then again we don't really know how many of His contemporaries were believers and how many were not.  We can think back to the time of Christ and ponder the different political tides of the time, the dangerous and violent times of warfare and conflicts between big powers, as well as the various forces within Israel trying to retain their power.  That would include the leadership in the temple, the Council, the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Romans and their various "kings" who ruled for them.  All of these factions exist still yet in new forms, including those of the type who would seek to make their own revolution to throw off the Roman rule, like Barabbas.   All of these struggles with expectations and hopes and demands still clash, and yet how many could have understood or prophesied the effects of history to come?  We can look now at the same region and think about the conflicting struggles and powers and hopes, all magnified through new technologies, vast wealth, and great power of the type of this century, and think to ourselves, where we can find Christ in the story today?  Who awaits the Christ?  Who seeks His way?  Is there a place for Him in the hearts of people?  Can we see Him playing a role in the midst of the turmoil of our time?  If nothing less, let us ask ourselves where He is in today's picture, or if amidst so many demands, desires, conflicts, mercenary fights and retaliations, does anyone seek Him?  Perhaps we should say that He is the one thing that is truly needed, the one place to find our peace, the only way to find and an answer to the growing problems that plague us.  He is, after all, the way.  Let us, who suffer from so much blindness, say with the blind men, "Son of David, have mercy on us!"

 

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.

 

 

So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel

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

 Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.

- Matthew 15:29-39

Yesterday we read that, after the criticism of the Pharisees from Jerusalem, Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.  My study bible comments that Christ's healing of the multitudes in this passage shows that these Jews had actually less faith than the Canaanite woman in yesterday's reading (above).   St. John Chrysostom, it notes, writes that Christ offered the Canaanite woman the healing she wanted for her daughter "with much delay, but these immediately, because she is more faithful than they.  He delays with her to reveal her perseverance, while here He bestows the gift immediately to stop the mouths of the unbelieving Jews."  The mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing are all prophesied signs of the coming of the Messiah.

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.  This is a second feeding of a multitude, separate and distinct from the first (see this reading).  In the next chapter, Christ will explicitly refer back to both (see 16:8-10).  There are details that distinguish each.   My study bible comments that the variance in the number of loaves is significant.  In the first instance (in the reading from Friday last week), there were five loaves, which symbolized the Law.  Here in today's reading there are seven loaves.   Seven is a number which symbolizes completeness; here it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first feeding miracle, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the law, while here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  Also, these crowds in today's read had been with Christ for three days.  This is the number of days He will rest in the tomb.  My study bible comments that this symbolic detail reveals that perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

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