Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?

 

 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation." 

 

And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?" And they said, "Seven."  So he said to them, "How is it that you do not understand?"   

 

- Mark 8:11–21 

 

On Saturday, we read that 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.

 

  Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."   A sign from heaven, my study Bible explains, means a spectacular display of power.  It says that the time of the Messiah among the Jews was expected to be accompanied by signs, but the Pharisees have not recognized the sign already being performed by Jesus, because their hearts were hardened.  They thus ignored the works happening all around them.  A sign is never given to those whose motive is to test God, my study Bible adds.  

 

 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?" And they said, "Seven."  So he said to them, "How is it that you do not understand?"    My study Bible explains that the leaven of the Pharisees is their doctrine (Matthew 16:12) and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  In Scripture, it notes, leaven is used both positively (as in Matthew 13:33) and negatively, as it is here.  In either case, it explains, leaven symbolizes a force powerful enough -- and frequently subtle enough -- to permeate and affect everything around it (see 1 Corinthians 5:6-8).  

 

In today's reading, we have two kinds of "hard-heartedness" or lack of belief that we read about.  One is of the Pharisees and Herod.  They seek a sign, and it must somehow be proven to them that Jesus is a truly holy man, let alone the Christ.  It doesn't matter how many "signs" are present in Christ's ministry, doesn't matter how much of what He does is a reflection of God the Father, they won't believe.  Clearly, they don't want to, and have particular interests to guard that might be threatened by the holiness of Christ and His ministry.   Essentially, they want to be "manipulated" into faith, shall we say; that is, forced into it by some spectacular act that will leave no doubt.  But this is not Christ's mission nor ministry.  He seeks those with eyes to see and ears to hear (Isaiah 6:9-10).   What we call hard-heartedness seems to take on two forms.  There is first of all the kind of hardness of heart that Jesus refers to when He speaks to the disciples in today's reading, asking them, "Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?"   This is based on a Scriptural understanding of "the heart" as the seat of understanding and perception.  This "heart" is the door upon which Christ knocks when we read, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20).  In this sense, a hardened heart is one that will not open to truth, will not open to the perception of spiritual truth and understanding to receive Christ, who is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  Then there is the "hardness of heart" that has developed as an understanding of the passage given in St. Mark's 3rd chapter, when Jesus is challenged over healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath.  The text tells us that Jesus entered the synagogue, watched over by the Pharisees to see whether or not He would heal on the Sabbath, something they had already faulted.  Jesus asked them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent.  Then we're told that Jesus look around at them with anger, and was grieved by the hardness of their hearts.  This incident led to the Pharisees plotting with the Herodians how they might destroy Jesus (see Mark 3:1-6).  This hardness of heart has come to mean a kind of cruelty, that in a modern secular usage seems to be divorced from the things of God.  But, in essence, we're speaking about quite similar things.  The message seems to be that a heart divorced of the things of God, will be divorced from even what is naturally good to us, like the healing of a man with a withered hand.  So, hard-heartedness in today's reading takes the form of this demand by the Pharisees whom Jesus condemns in their asking for some great sign -- but also in the form of Christ's questioning of His own disciples, when they fail to grasp what He tells them about "the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod."  They, the disciples, have certainly seen enough to know that He would not be complaining to them for lack of bread!  Here is the place where we have affirmed that the feeding of five thousand, and later of four thousand (see Saturday's reading, above), are clearly two separate incidents, in Jesus' words here to the disciples.  But the near-incredulity we can read into Christ's questions to the disciples teaches us that even He seems somewhat mystified at their lack of understanding, as if these feeding miracles had never happened.  We can think of at least one reason that might explain their repeated lack of understanding, and that is the encroachment of a threat from the religious authorities and the state against Christ.  It will be a long road toward their acceptance and understanding of what is to come ultimately in Christ's ministry, in His Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection.  So let us consider "hard-heartedness" as a term that means a lack of perception of the things that belong to God, the natural goodness of human beings, and the love that we know is of God (1 John 4:8).  For the text shows us that although we might stumble as human beings, there is redemption in the long road of faith, as for the disciples -- while there are still others who have no sense of repentance nevertheless.  Let us ask ourselves where our own hearts are hardened, and what thing we may need to learn to accept today, even if it is difficult for us.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 is it you do not understand?

 

 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighted deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."  

And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments  did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."

 

- Mark 8:11–26 

 

Yesterday we read that, 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.

 

  Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But He sighted deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."   What is a sign from heaven?  My study Bible explains that such a sign that is sought here would be a spectacular display of power.  It says that the time of the Messiah among the Jews was expected to be accompanied by signs.  But these hypocrites (Matthew 16:1-3) have not recognized the many signs already being performed by Jesus.  Their hearts were hardened, meaning they have rendered themselves incapable of understanding -- and they ignored the works happening all around them.  Jesus seeks followers capable of faith.  These men only demand to test Him.  Such tests set their own standard, and have nothing to do with the desire to perceive the things of God.

And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments  did you take up?"  They said to Him, "Twelve."  "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"  My study Bible explains that the leaven of the Pharisees is their doctrine (Matthew 16:12) and their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).  In Scripture, it says, "leaven" is used both positively (as in the parable at Matthew 13:33) and negatively, as Jesus does here.  In either case, leaven is symbolic of a force which is powerful enough -- and frequently subtle enough -- to permeate and affect everything around it (see St. Paul's usage at 1 Corinthians 5:6-8). 

Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.  So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town.  And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.  And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking."  Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up.  And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.  Then He sent him away to his house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town."  My study Bible points out that the people of Bethsaida were unbelieving (Matthew 11:21); and so, Jesus takes this blind man out of the town in order to heal him, away from the people who would scoff at the miracle and thus bring greater condemnation upon themselves.  (See also the healing of Jairus' daughter, in which Christ put those who ridiculed outside; He shored up the faith of her parents with His exhortation, "Do not be afraid; only believe" and with the presence of His three closest disciples.)   Moreover, it explains the healing of this blind man in stages as showing that he had only a small amount of faith.  Healing occurs according to one's faith (Mark 6:5-6). But this little faith was enough, and it increased with the touch of Christ.  In addition, my study Bible states that Christ's command not to return to the town is symbolic of the need not to return to our sins once we have been forgiven. 

Today's reading once again takes us back to the essential issue of faith, and how important it is to our lives.  But we go into some details here, in the few stories offered, and so the reading gives us to examine various issues about faith and what it does, and how we need it.  All of these issues remain pertinent to us today, regardless of when they first occurred, or the ancient context of the Gospel.  Taking the stories in today's Gospel reading in order, we first come to the Pharisees, powerful religious leaders from Jerusalem who seek themselves to regulate the faith.  They come yet again to Jesus, after having engaged in an open confrontation (and challenge from Jesus) which subsequently sent Him temporarily into Gentile territory, where He wished to remain hidden.  This time, they come to Him with their own challenge, which we can see as a sort of line drawn in the sand.  They demand of Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  Let us consider what testing Jesus means.  First of all, this is a test of their own devising.  But Jesus is in the world not to please human beings, nor effectively to offer proofs on others' terms, but to follow the will of God the Father.  In terms of the works of God, it's up to these men, and all the rest of us, to seek to discern that same will -- not to impose tests upon God.  For this reason, and likely many others, Jesus will not offer proofs on demand.  His mission is to seek and find the lost sheep of the house of Israel, who will come to Him by faith.  These men test Him out of envy for their positions.  This is "the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod," which comes in the form of desire for proofs on demand, essentially a way to test power, and a dangerous game of finding fault.  But we can see that even the disciples are in some way affected by this, for they are effectively blinded to it.  They don't understand when Jesus tells them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod, this type of gain-saying that sets traps by demanding proofs that cannot be delivered.  If we look around, we can still see today similar sorts of traps set by those whose real desire is to reject God and faith for themselves, proofs that can't come, straw men which in fact prove nothing.  These are forms of heresies asserted, such as claiming that if God is good there would be no evil in the world, or even echoing the taunting of the Pharisees at the Cross, that if Christ were really holy or divine He would not die on the Cross.  These are very human ways to doubt God, whose thoughts are not our thoughts, and whose ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8).  As such, they can become temptations for us, too.  Here, the disciples are so set in thinking a particular very "earthly" way that they cannot understand what Jesus is talking about, and assume that He's upset because they've forgotten to bring bread with them.  Apparently, they've also forgotten that Jesus has, in recent times, fed five thousand people in the wilderness out of a few loaves, and subsequently four thousand on another occasion in the same manner.  Even Jesus seems to be perplexed at their lack of comprehension:  "How is it you do not understand?"  If ever we needed an example of how "proofs" do not work when it comes to questions of lack of faith, this is it.  Nonetheless, such examples of the failure of Jesus' personally chosen disciples to understand are in the Gospels for a reason, and they are instructive to us for our own journeys of faith.  Finally, there is the story of the blind man and his healing.  It's most important that we pay attention to Christ's open efforts to find ways to shore up the man's faith -- first of all, in order to facilitate his healing to begin with, and second of all, in order to retain his faith and his well-being.  My study Bible points out that the man begins with a little bit of faith, but this increased with the touch of Christ.  The emphasis for us has to be on the recognition of the importance of taking steps to shore up our faith, even daily.  For while some would seem to suggest that be "saved" means simply a one-time declaration which we can then take for granted, this isn't the story of faith the Gospels reveal to us.  In fact, we really cannot take things for granted in the sense that, while God always extends love to us, we, however, have to do a little work.  We must "work the works of God" (John 6:29).  We need to work at shoring up our faith,  including perhaps avoiding those who seek to tear it down when necessary, and finding ways for Christ to "touch" us, in worship services, in prayer, through our friends who help to shore up our faith, the communion of saints, good studying materials and literature that helps us, and so many other helpful things, even the beauty of nature or the goodness of a kind gesture.  This remains essential for us to remember, not to take our faith for granted, but to remember how important it is to feed, nurture and protect it.  Moreover, like the blind man and like the disciples, faith is not a one-time declaration, but a journey in which we're meant to grow throughout our lives.  It remains of the greatest significance for us to remember that the joy of the Lord is our strength, as Scripture tells us (Nehemiah 8:10).  Let us feed and nurture that joy, guarding our hearts and protecting the faith that makes us see, doing all we can so that we grow in that light.

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

 

 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 Jesus went out from the place where He disputed with the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem, and departed too 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 here shows that these Jews actually had less faith than the Canaanite woman of yesterday's reading, above.  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ healed the woman "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."  Let us also note that this outpouring of God's grace and power, manifesting in marvelous varieties of healing, is a kind of affirmation of Christ in the face of the scrutiny and criticisms of the religious leaders in Monday's reading.

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 comments that this second feeding of a multitude should not be confused with the first (see this reading), for they are two distinct miracles (see Matthew 16:8-10, in which Jesus refers to each).  There are distinctive differences in specific details.  My study Bible first suggests that the variance in the number of loaves is significant.  In the first instance, there were five loaves, which symbolize the Law, while here there are seven.  Seven is a symbol of completeness, and here indicates spiritual perfection.  So in the first feeding Christ revealed Himself as fulfilling the Law, while here in today's reading He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  Also, these crowds had been with Jesus for three days.  That is the number of days which He would rest in the tomb.  My study Bible comments that participation in His perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5).  

Some comment that, as Jesus has gone to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon (for the healing of the Canaanite woman's daughter in yesterday's reading), and in today's reading seems to be in a region of mixed populations, the healings and feeding in today's reading suggest the evolving understanding of spiritual perfection as belonging to all people, and that the salvation that is of the Jews (John 4:22) is destined for all the nations through Christ (Isaiah 49:6).  As mentioned above, we can also look at this outpouring of blessings and manifestations of God's power and activity in the world as a kind of affirmation or proof of Christ's ministry:  the flowering of such creativity and miracles -- both in healing and in feeding the people -- is an affirmation which manifests among the faithful.  But it will not be so for the religious leaders, whose blindness Jesus has recently commented on (in Monday's reading, He called them "the blind leaders of the blind").  It is an affirmation to us that the things which move us to our faith, which serve to dig us more deeply into our faith, which go unobserved and unnoticed by others, are nonetheless powerful and important.  So often it seems that the things that guide us to our own deepening faith are things to which others are impervious and imperceptive, and maybe that is just the way it's meant to be, the nature of the things of faith.  That certainly seems to be the story in the Gospels, where it is often only later in hindsight that people realize the value and power in the outcome of faith.  Even the disciples will be slow in understanding, such as the two who traveled on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35).  It is in the personal glimmers of insight that faith grows, and enlightenment of the heart that tinges the mind and brings about conviction and deeper understanding, and these things are often nearly impossible to explain.  Certainly to those who do not share the experience, communication of such is seemingly impossible.  So, at this stage of Christ's ministry, the beginnings of the attention and scrutiny of the establishment are beginning to bear down on Him, and to criticize His ministry.  Herod Antipas has begun to be afraid of Him and His powers (that He is, in fact, John the Baptist raised from the dead) -- see this reading.  The scribes and Pharisees have also come from Jerusalem to question and criticize (Monday's reading), and in tomorrow's reading they and those of their fellow ruling party in the Council (the Sadducees) will together begin to demand proofs from Jesus, "a sign from heaven."  But faith does not come from proofs on demand, nor does it entertain to choose to provide them.  Faith comes through quiet revelation, in secluded corners of sudden light, illuminations of the interior heart -- and not with gigantic spectacle.  For that, we await Christ's return which will only signal sudden judgment (Matthew 24:30-31).  But for those of faith, we must be content with what we understand that comes upon us in ways we can't calculate nor knowingly predict, for this is the way that faith works.  We can pray, and participate in worship, study the Scriptures, and strengthen our discipleship and encourage others, but that is all we can do to bring other people to faith, save to live in such a way as to glorify God (Matthew 5:16).    Let us be assured in our journeys of faith, and in the quiet strength we sometimes surprisingly receive (Nehemiah 8:10, also part of today's lectionary reading).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Jesus went to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, after yet another confrontation withe the Pharisees.  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 of a multitude reported in Mark's Gospel (see this reading for the first).  These are two distinct miracles.  My study Bible comments on the variance in the number of loaves.  In the first, there were five loaves, symbolizing the Law.  Here in this instance there are seven loaves.  Seven, my study Bible says, symbolizes completely.  Here, it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first feeding of five thousand, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, but here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  Moreover, here the crowds had been with Him for three days, which is the number of days that Christ would rest in the tomb.  My study Bible also notes that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5).  

With Christ's movement in Mark's Gospel, we really must come to consider the evolution of the Church and its extension to the Gentiles.  Throughout this Gospel, we read of Christ and the disciples crossing over the Sea of Galilee, from one region to another, and back and forth where He is well known and to regions of more Gentile influence.  In yesterday's reading, He spent time in Tyre and Sidon (where He healed a Gentile women's daughter), and also the region of the Decapolis with its Greek and Roman culture, although also many converts to Judaism.  These remind us of what will come to be with regard to the, as yet, future Church.  So it is hard to view this second feeding in yet a new wilderness without seeing it in that light, as yet another hint of the opening to the Gentiles that will come.  The symbolism in the reading which is discussed by my study Bible seems to hint at this future gospel that will go out to the Gentiles:  spiritual perfection through participation in the death and Resurrection of Christ.  This is a new covenant that will go out to a new people, those people being a combination of Gentiles and Jews, but perhaps ironically where there is "neither Greek nor Jew" (Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11).  We can pick another number from today's reading and see it symbolically:  the four thousand who are fed.  Four is a number that clearly symbolizes the world, such as in the four directions of the compass.  To magnify that number by one thousand is to speak of the whole world as well as the world to come, the many faithful who will be in the future Church, a future we still move toward, a number uncountable.  The seven large baskets of leftover fragments give us again the number seven, but this time as a number of completion for the gospel that will go out to the world, the bread of heaven with which the world will be fed through the Eucharist and the teachings of the apostles and the Gospels (John 6:33; 50-51).  We might view Christ's ministry as distinctly evolving, moving into its future that will be left for we who were to come, and those to come after us.  As we do, we begin to get some idea of what this concept of "perfection" is, and how it is related to the fullness of what that will eventually become.  This is a process that continues, and we don't yet know its end or what all of that process of perfection will look like.  What we know as "end times" is called teleology, from the Greek word "telos."  This word is usually translated as meaning "end," but this is not a perfect translation.  It is better understood as a fullness, the "end point" of something being its most full expression, carried to its furthest point.  That furthest point is also "perfect."  In fact, the Greek word telia (coming from telos) means "perfect."  And this is the sense in which we should understand what "end times" are, for we have been in "end times" since the beginning of the Church, and will be until Christ's return.  It is this fullness that we must keep in mind, even as we see that the many thousands are "filled" even in the wilderness, and all leading to "perfection" in the seven baskets that promise this food for the life of the world.

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 

 

Yesterday we read that, after having had a dispute with the Pharisees and scribes who'd come to Him from Jerusalem,  He 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 impedimet in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on them.  And He took him aside form the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighted, 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.  My study Bible reminds us that this second feeding of a multitude should not be confused with the first (see this reading), as they are two distinct miracles (see Jesus' remarks in Matthew 16:8-10).  There is significance, for example, in the variance in the number of loaves.  In the first instance, there were five loaves, which symbolizes the Law, while here, there are seven.  Seven is a number which symbolizes completeness; here, my study Bible says, it indicates spiritual perfection.  Therefore, in the first feeding, Christ revealed Himself as fulfilling the Law, while here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  My study Bible also makes note that these crowds had been with Christ for three days; this is the number of days He would rest in the tomb.  To participate in His perfection only comes through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5).

 

 Why two different feedings in the wilderness?  Why did this need to happen.  One thing that we can see is a growing hint of the Gentile participation in the Church that would come in the future.  At the previous feeding in the wilderness there were twelve baskets of fragments taken up; twelve might be symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel, and it is also symbolic of the twelve apostles.  That is, in symbolic fashion, these twelve baskets represent the spiritual supply which would be taken out of Israel and distributed through the work of the apostles.  But here there are seven baskets, a number, as my study Bible said of the seven loaves, which symbolizes completeness.  That is, the mission of Christ is now showing signs of what its completeness will look like, a grace sufficient to heal an entire world; in fact, the creation, the cosmos.  That is, the grace that is always a step beyond the Law, which can come only from the divine, a justice or righteousness beyond the Law.  Here there are four thousand people.  In some way the number four symbolizes the world:  four corners, the four points of the compass, the directions of the world.  Four also reminds us of the Cross with its four points.  In this sense, these four thousand people symbolize all the people of the world, both Gentile and Jew.  The "thousand" multiplies the symbolic impact of the number, making it for all and through time.  Moreover, this seems to take place while Christ is still in the Decapolis.  In Greek this name means "ten cities," and it is a region of Greco-Roman cities, a population of mixed Jews and Gentiles.  So, as we read of the Greek woman, a Syro-Phoenician living the Gentile area of Tyre and Sidon in yesterday's reading, who begged like a little puppy for Christ's healing for her daughter, there are clues here of Christ's ministry expanding beyond Israel, although He was first to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6, 15:24).  Now here in the Decapolis, He has opened the ears and mouth of one who was deaf and with a speech impediment (see again yesterday's reading, above), and now there is this great feeding of a multitude in the wilderness.  As Christ has done in Israel, so He will also do for the world, not through the Law but by grace.  My study Bible has pointed out the significance of the three days this crowd has been with Him, similarly to the days in which Christ will remain in the tomb before resurrection.  And there we get much deeper into the mysteries of grace and of the work that will go out into the entire world.  For grace works through our own interaction in life; it is not simply a gift which comes out of the blue or in answer to a plea, but it rather comes through participation and engagement with Christ, as we also enter into His struggle which He engaged in with the world in its imperfect state.  We grapple in our own lives with the sin that is around us and within us -- not as a permanent sort of stain but as something in our environment, as a kind of legacy we're born into.  People hurt us, we want to hurt them back, we develop habits of selfishness and blindness just as we see and take in from all around us, a world caught up in its own blindness and deafness to God's message and God's grace.  We struggle with corruption and disappointment and failure and ailments of all kinds.  But engaging in this life with Christ, and participating in His same life and ministry, means that we engage these things through a prayerful life and with Him.  We seek His guidance and grace for how to cope, how to respond, how to move forward in such a sea of snares and potential troubles.  Like Christ has borne the Cross on the way to the Resurrection, so we also bear our own crosses and may therefore come to experience our own resurrections on the way of life through God's grace and participation in that life.  This is the way it seems to me; and He's given us the tools to live that life of participation in His own life and death and Resurrection.  I was once speaking to a priest of a very difficult experience I was going through, and I said, "I feel like I'm being crucified."  He told me that was good, because after Crucifixion comes Resurrection -- and He was correct.  It was not easy, but I had to go through it with prayer and faith and reliance on Christ.  I needed to make the difficult choices and struggle that entailed for me, with Him and through Him and His saints and all the help available and stored in the Church, in those baskets of fragments that await us all as the treasure of the entire Church and the experience of all the faithful.  Our grace does not come from sitting on the sidelines; but as with Jesus' life and ministry, the way out is the way through -- with God.  That is, through participation in His life, death, and Resurrection.  He told us we must each take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23).  St. Paul spoke about this experience of living faith when He wrote, "I die daily" (1 Corinthians 15:31).  No one said this was going to be easy -- but what it means to "die daily" is that we are truly alive, in Him and with Him and by His grace (John 10:10).  And lest we forget, through His great compassion for us, even in the midst of our wildernesses.

 

 

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

Then 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 these multitudes, following immediately the story of the Canaanite woman (see yesterday's reading above), shows that these Jews actually had less faith than she did.  St. John Chrysostom writes that Christ healed the woman "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."  In terms of St. Chrysostom's comment, we must keep in mind that Jesus had withdrawn to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon in order to escape the Pharisees just after confrontation with them (see Saturday's reading).  Here He has returned to Jewish territory.

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 the multitude, which should not be confused with the first (see this reading from Thursday).  They are two separate and distinct miracles.  My study bible tells us that the variation in the number of loaves has significance.  In the first feeding, there were five loaves, which symbolizes the Law.  Here there are seven.  Seven is a symbol of completeness.  Here, my study bible says, it indicates spiritual perfection.  Therefore, this tells us that in the first miraculous feeding, Christ is revealed as fulfilling the Law.  Here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  My study bible also asks us to note that these crowds had been with Christ for three days -- the number of days He would rest in the tomb.  It reminds us that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death, as in baptism (see Romans 6:3-5). 

One of the things that become noticeable -- once we accept that this is the second of two separate miraculous feedings in the wilderness -- is the expansion of Jesus' ministry.  The healing of the daughter of the Canaanite woman is like a dividing line sandwiched between these two events, at least in symbolic terms.  She is a Gentile, and the power of her faith is surprising, eye opening -- and opens up new avenues of Christ's power in response to faith.  In the healing of the four thousand (today's reading) there is additional symbolism.  Four thousand is a number that symbolizes the world, magnified:  the four directions, or even the four points on the Cross.   The perfection of seven is hidden here within the message of the gospel being taken to the world, a faith that works in both Gentiles and Jews.  As Jesus went in the first place to Tyre and Sidon to remove Himself from the immediate wrath of the leadership (to be specific, the Pharisees), so this begins a new turn in the ministry, revealed in the healing of the Canaanite woman's daughter and also in this new feeding -- this time on a mountaintop.  How can we imagine the human Jesus proceeding with His ministry?  What are the feelings of this person who is both God and man?  Does He know what will happen, and where He will go?  While we can understand His vision as divine, He still goes through the evolution of His ministry, each encounter giving off new meaning and revealing more about where He is headed.  Regardless of what He knows about the final outcome of His ministry, He still tries to save at each juncture, even preaching and speaking the truth to His enemies.  We read that He marvels in His hometown at their lack of faith.  Although He knows He will bring His friend Lazarus back from death, He still weeps with compassion, being moved by the sadness and grief of His friends whom He loves.  While our Savior is divine, and understands human hearts, He still goes through each reasonable movement in His ministry, allowing things to play out, enabling people to make choices, speaking the gospel message to save even those who hate Him, spreading His word as it all must play out in accordance with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  This tells us something important about the world we live in and those who are faithful to Him and to His ways.  We can't take anything for granted.  He who knew the hearts of all yet spoke to the ones who wanted to kill Him.  He did it for the sake of all of us, He didn't leave out one step, not one iota (or "jot") of what He was supposed to be or do or preach.  In keeping with the lessons yesterday about humility in the encounter with the Canaanite woman, let us consider Christ's own humility in this "adventure" of His evolving ministry.  He follows faithfully the Father step after step.  He does not assume that, knowing the outcome of His "departure" from this world, He can skip anything (see John 8:21-28).  He must be faithful to His call.  We might think we have all the answers at times to our problems and in our encounters with others, but even Jesus does not make assumptions about where He is headed or what He is supposed to be doing.  His faith and confidence in the Father takes Him step by step through all that He must do, as each new thing evolves, and teaches the response of human beings to His word.  If we, too, wish to bear witness properly, let us adopt His humility and patience.  Let us remember the judgment is not now and is in His hands, and we may have things to do as well rather than assume we know where we are headed and try to take shortcuts.  We don't know what God asks of us, or will ask around the corner.  Let us be like Christ and make each step small so that we are led where we need to be, even if we don't always understand or know why.  Let us pray to find our own lives His way!  Even the symbolism in this crowd that remained with Him for three days reminds us of the Passion, death, and Resurrection to come.  But Jesus knows, and will continue, as each new step evolves as it must, and as He must live it for us.

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.

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.