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, following a dispute with Pharisees and scribes 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.   Christ's healing of the multitudes, according to my study Bible, shows that these Jews actually had less faith than the Canaanite woman in our reading from yesterday (see above).  According to commentary of St. John Chrysostom, Christ healed that woman's daughter "with much delay, but these immediately, because she is more faithful than they.  He delayed with her to reveal her perseverance, while here He bestows the gift immediately to stop the mouths of the unbelieving Jews."

 

  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 second feeding of a multitude is not to be confused with the first (see Friday's reading), for they are two distinct miracles, my study Bible comments.  In the following chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel, it is reported that Jesus chastised the disciples, with reference to the two miracles (Matthew 16:8-10).  My study Bible says that the variance is the number of loaves is significant.  In the first feeding of five thousand, there were five loaves, which symbolizes the Law (the first five books of the Old Testament Scriptures, or Torah).  In today's reading there are seven.  Seven is symbolic of completeness or fullness; here it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first feeding miracle, Jesus reveals Himself 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, which is the number of days He will rest in the tomb.  Participation in Christ's perfect, it notes, can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5).  

 

 Jesus now meets another circumstance with a miraculous feeding in the wilderness.  Clearly these are understood as two separate events, as my study Bible has pointed out.  But we might ask ourselves why:  why the two distinct miracles?  My study has already cited commentary regarding the differences in the numbers, particularly the seven loaves in this story as opposed to the five in the first feeding miracle.  Seven, it notes, is a number of completeness, of fullness.  In the symbolism of the Bible, it helps to understand the Greek word τελος/telos, usually defined as meaning "end."  But this word means much more than that; it signifies fullness of purpose, something fully played out and manifest.  Therefore it doesn't describe an end so much as it describes the fullness of a plan and its complete fruition.  This is how we should think of the "fullness" of number seven in the seven loaves, and the spiritual perfection my study Bible describes.  There will be no further Messiah, no greater Savior, for the One is here, and it is He who multiplies the loaves and the fishes to feed a multitude.  Not once, but twice, for now something else has happened in between, and that something is found in yesterday's reading, when a Gentile woman, justified by her faith, becomes the recipient of the grace of Christ to heal her severely demon-possessed daughter.  We could also take a look at the number four thousand, and associate it with historical liturgical services of prayer for the world, which bless the four corners of the earth, the four directions, indicating the fullness of the world and all it contains.  (See this example from the Armenian Apostolic Church.)  In the Eastern Orthodox Church, such a liturgical service takes place to commemorate the Elevation of the Holy Cross; it includes a blessing of the four directions of the earth with Cross, affirming the universal nature of Christ's salvation, belonging not just to the world but to the entire created order, the cosmos (κοσμος).  In feeding the four thousand, then, we see the number four symbolically multiplied to indicate the fullness of all that is, and all creatures in existence, all people for all time.  This is the reality of the spiritual perfection offered by Christ, for it is offered for all, even to those souls in Hades who awaited the good news of His gospel.  Four thousand, in light of this symbolic understanding, becomes uncountable, containing all and for all.  Today we live in a world connected through networks to all corners of the world through telecommunications of all kinds.  We have universal organizations which seek to bridge the entire world, and popular concerns, cares, and institutional drives that address problems that face the whole world, such as concerns over pollution, for example.  But let us consider that we have been given a Savior, who came into the world to give His flesh "for the life of the world" and that this universal meaning of the Cross with its four corners is our very symbol for the world He seeks to save; that is, indeed, for the life of the world.   As in the previous feeding in the wilderness, this feeding of the four thousand once again affirms and prefigures the Eucharist to come, with His flesh, the Cross, and Christ's identity as Savior all tied in together, all these elements in His saving mission for all of us.  When we consider the problems of the world, let us pray also to the One who came to save us all, to help us find our way to Him, and for the life of the world once and for all.  For that is a gift that will always be repeating and multiplying, as only God can do.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

 

- Mark 8:1–10 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples went to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Then He said to her, "For this saying to your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.  Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him.  And he took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed,  and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."  Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.  Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.  He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

 

 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.  Here is a second feeding of the multitude, which should not be confused with the first (see this reading from Tuesday).   These are two distinct miracles, which Jesus affirms later (Mark 8:19-20).  My study Bible cites the variance in the number of loaves as significant.  In the first instance (see Tuesday's reading), there were five loaves, which symbolize the Law.  Here, however, there are seven loaves.  Seven is a number that symbolizes completeness.  Here, my study Bible says, it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, therefore, in the first feeding in the wilderness, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, but here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  My study Bible asks us to note also that these crowds had been with Christ for three days, the same number of days Christ would rest in the tomb.  It says that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5).  

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

 

- Mark 8:1–10 

 

Yesterday we read that, having engaged in an open confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes who came to Him from Jerusalem, Jesus arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.  Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him.  And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."  Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.  Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.  He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

 

 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.   This is yet a second feeding of a multitude (see the first at this reading), and should not be confused with the first.  They are two distinct miracles.   (Jesus will refer to each in our following reading.)  The differences between the two miracles are significant, especially in the symbolic values of the numbers we're given.  In the first instance, there were five loaves.  Five symbolizes the Law (as in the five books of Moses, or Torah).  Here there are seven loaves and also seven large baskets of leftover fragments for the disciples to carry away.  In the symbolism of Scripture, seven stands for completeness.  Here my study Bible says, it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first feeding, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law; here, He shows it is He who gives spiritual perfection.  We should understand also that in the Greek, "perfect" also comes from the word meaning "end," and so indicates a fullness of something.  Additionally, in today's reading, the crowds have been with Christ for three days.  This is the number of days He will rest in the tomb.  My study Bible comments that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5).  

 

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

 

 

 

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

 

 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broken then and gave the to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand  And He sent the away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

 

- Mark 8:1–10 

 

Yesterday we read that, after another confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus arose and went to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.  Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him.  And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."  Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.  Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.  He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

 

  In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broken then and gave the to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand  And He sent the away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.  My study Bible comments that this second feeding of a multitude should not be confused with the first (see this reading).  As conveyed in the Gospels, they are two distinct miracles.  Christ's teaching to the disciples in our next reading will make this explicitly clear (see Mark 8:14-21).  My study Bible adds that the difference in the number of loaves mentioned is significant.  In the first feeding, there were five loaves, which symbolizes the Law (contained in the first five books of the Bible).  But here there are seven loaves.  Seven is a number which symbolizes completeness or fullness.  Here, my study Bible says, it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first feeding, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, but here He shows that He is the One who grants spiritual perfection.  My study Bible asks us to note also that these crowds had been with Christ for three days, which is the same number of days He will rest in the tomb.  Participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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 dispute with the Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem, Jesus 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 who had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on them.  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 this 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 have already read that Jesus fed a multitude of five thousand men (and more women and children) in this reading from Thursday of last week.  This is a second feeding of a multitude which should not be confused with the first.  They are two distinct miracles in the Gospels.  My study Bible comments that there is a significance in the variance of the number of loaves.  In the first feeding miracle, there were five loaves, which symbolizes the Law (for the Five Books, the Penteteuch or Torah).  But here there are seven.  Seven is a number which symbolizes completeness; here it signifies spiritual perfection.  So therefore, in the first instance, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, while here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  My study Bible asks us to note also that these crowds had been with Christ for three days, the same number of days that He would rest in the tomb.  Participation in His perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

 

 There are some other things we need to note about today's reading in addition to the ideas which my study Bible offers.   Mark's Gospel has just reported to us two significant events of Jesus' ministry which took place in what is Gentile territory.   In yesterday's reading (see above), we read about the Syro-Phoenician woman who begged Christ to cast the demon from her daughter, and then in the Decapolis, he healed a deaf and mute man, "opening" his ears, and "loosing" his tongue.   In today's reading, we can presume that this event takes place in what is nominally Gentile territory; that is, it is likely a region still on the east side of the Sea of Galilee.  (We're told in the end of the reading that Jesus and the disciples sailed to Dalmanutha, likely just opposite to the place where this feeding took place, in lower Galilee, and so closer to home territory for Jesus.)  In light of the Gentile influence which would be present (even if those who follow Him are Jews), we can look at the number four thousand and see its correlation with the wider world.  The number four signifies the four points of the compass, the four directions; magnified by one thousand, it tells us of the great multitudes of the world.  While Jesus is sent first to the Jews, also instructing the disciples to do the same (Matthew 10:6, 15:24), and "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22), the text seems to open up the ways that Christ (or rather, His word and gospel) will eventually go out to the whole world.  The number seven in the amount of the loaves, in this respect, is significant, as my study Bible says it signifies spiritual perfection, as contrasted to the five loaves representing the Law in the feeding in Jewish territory.  "Spiritual perfection" would indicate that regardless of where the gospel message goes, Christ's spiritual teaching will bring all to perfection, whether that be those who begin with the understanding, for example, of the Hellenistic world of the philosophers and pagan myths of the Greeks and Greek-speakers, or out to the world beyond.  In whatever place, beginning with any spiritual tradition, it is Christ who will bring understanding and spiritual perfection out of the cultural concepts and practices which people already know.  While the Jews already have Jewish spiritual history, and know and understand the Lord through their Scripture, whatever is true or good or beautiful in other traditions will be brought to spiritual perfection through Christ's message and teachings as the gospel is carried to the world.  He has said that He has come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:17), and most certainly He is the One about whom they testify (John 1:45), but Christ is also the Lord of all -- God of gods, King of kings, Lord of lords (Deuteronomy 10:17; 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14, 19:16).  Let us note that for these people also, Christ says, "I have compassion on the multitude," just as He had compassion on the previous five thousand who had followed Him into the wilderness from His home territory in Thursday's reading of last week.   The whole world needs His compassion, and this has never been more true, and will always remain so.  In the Psalms we read the people's question, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness?"  (Psalm 78:19).  In today's reading, we learn that what Jesus offers is food for the world (John 6:51), for all in their own wilderness.

 

 

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 His confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes who'd come from Jerusalem to test Him, 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.   My study bible remarks that we should not confuse this second feeding of a multitude with the first (see this reading).  There are a number of elements which distinguish them from one another, and therefore we must approach it as significant to the Gospels that these are two separate miracles.  There is first of all a significance of the number of loves.  In the first feeding miracle, there were five loaves, which symbolize the Law (as in the first five books of the Old Testament, or Torah).  Here there are seven.  The number seven symbolizes completeness; here it is an indication of spiritual perfection.  So, if we are to understand the language and poetry of the Gospels, in the first instance Christ revealed Himself as fulfilling the Law (see Matthew 5:17).  But here Christ shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  My study bible also notes a significance in that the crowds had been with Christ for three days.  These are the number of days that Christ will rest in the tomb.  It says that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

 

 Apparently this second feeding miracle takes place in the region of the Decapolis.  The name Decapolis means "ten cities" in Greek, and this was a region of cities first established during the Hellenistic Period (by the ruling Ptolemaic dynasty which followed Alexander the Great).  Its development continued through the Roman period.  They were therefore cities of Greek and Roman culture, and a region with a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles.  So this is one possible way to look at this second miracle.  In this context, it's noteworthy that Jesus has just healed a Gentile woman's daughter, and the significance of His dialogue with the Syro-Phoenician woman (in yesterday's reading, above) becomes deeper.  If for no other reason, we can look at this second feeding miracle as a portent of the direction of the Church to come and an expansion of Christ's ministry.  With its symbolism of spiritual perfection, and also the symbolic focus on aspects of Christ Himself -- including the three days in the tomb before Resurrection -- it seems to suggest a focus meant for the world of both Jew and Gentile, in which Christ Himself is the means of salvation.  The number four (as in four thousand) is also a symbol of all the world, such as in the four directions of North, South, East, and West.  It also suggests the four points of the Cross, another addition to the suggestion that it is the communion of humankind and Christ that will become the focus of this saving ministry in the world.  If we take a look at a map of the region, we might understand that Christ is still avoiding the territory in which He had His confrontation with the Pharisees who'd come from Jerusalem to question Him.  Mark's text tells us that "departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee" (Mark 7:31 NKJV).  But if we look closely at the Greek, it suggests He left Tyre and went through Sidon (therefore going north, away from Galilee), and came east through the Decapolis, a clearly roundabout way of returning toward the Sea of Galilee, and avoiding the familiar ground of His ministry.  So, these people who follow Him in today's reading are an indication of the spread of His fame into areas of mixed populations, beyond the Galilean focus of His ministry so far.  His renown has not only spread to Jerusalem (from which the Pharisees and scribes came to question Him) but also into these other regions.  Whether or not the crowds here consist only of Jews, or if they are a mix of Jews and Gentiles, little matters in terms of the suggestions of expansion both in terms of geography and in terms of the symbolism contained in the miracle itself.  It is as if we are symbolically watching the expansion of the "new wineskins" Jesus spoke of to the Pharisees on an earlier occasion (Mark 2:18-22).  And here we come to an important realization about change and transformation through the work of grace:  it does not come noticeably and with great fanfare.  For those always searching for symbols and signs, explosions of vast social change, the Gospel message here is that they are looking in the wrong place.  Transformation is not advertised, because it comes in an organic fashion, and mystically, from the "inside out" so to speak.  Christ ostensibly goes to where the Pharisees cannot pursue Him, retreating away from conflict for the time being.  But the shift in ministry is already beginning through the happenstance of encounter -- through the Syro-Phoenician woman who approaches Him to cure her daughter, through these people who've followed Him into the wilderness although outside His home region in Galilee.  God's work transforms in mysterious ways, and so often the "signs and symbols" can only be read clearly in hindsight.  Our faith has developed in its traditions as an "organic" kind of faith.  That is, God's work happens within us and among us.  In Luke 17 we read:  "Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, 'The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, "See here!" or "See there!"  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you' " (Luke 17:20-21).  If we are looking for grand signs, we are likely to miss the boat, because the signs come after the seeds start to sprout, and frequently they are small and meek in stature (1 Corinthians 4:9-13).  Our prayer practices, our worship traditions, our constant study of the Scriptures, repetitions of the Psalms, and all manner of the historical development of practices in the Church teach us one thing:  that life in Christ begins in the heart, is shaped through the soul, and reaches into our lives in both distinct and myriad ways that start small.  One day we respond to another with a gesture of kindness we might not have considered before, another day we pray with a saint we'd never thought relevant to our lives.  Through our experience, we repent of our ignorance and past behavior we want to change.  We don't judge by signs and wonders, we live a life in Christ.  As He did, we leave God's plan for salvation to unfold, for it's not ours to put into our terms and on our own level of understanding or craft (Isaiah 55:8).

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 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 the 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 he 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 quotes St. John Chrysostom, who comments with a comparison between these Jewish multitudes and the woman of Canaan in yesterday's reading (see above), a healing that comes immediately before these verses.  We also recall that by this time the scribes and Pharisees are contending with Jesus.  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."

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 that is quite distinct from the first (see this reading from last week).  Its differences all have significance.  There is first a difference in the number of loaves.  In the first instance, there were five loaves, symbolizing the Law.  Here there are seven.  Seven is a symbol of completion.  My study bible says that here it indicates spiritual perfection.  In the first instance, then, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, while here it's shown that He is the one who grants spiritual perfection.  There is also the difference in that the crowds in today's reading had been with Christ for three days, which is the number of days in which He would rest in the tomb.  My study bible notes that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5).

The events in today's reading give us a sense of transition in Jesus' ministry.  After the revelation in the healing of the Canaanite woman's daughter, that faith also is revealed among Gentiles, this feeding in the wilderness gives us hints in symbols about the nature of the ministry that is to come.  My study bible comments on the symbolic seven in the number of loaves, a number not simply of perfection but also of fullness, completion.  We may note in addition that the number of baskets of leftover fragments is also seven -- enough for the whole world and for the age initiated by His ministry.  The number four thousand, moreover, in some sense symbolizes all the people of the world, both Jews and Gentiles -- as in the four directions of the world to which the faith will go, and the four points of the Cross uniting God and man.  As the authorities begin to grow more hostile, and seek to curb Jesus' ministry among the Jews, something else begins to take shape.  There is a branching out, new ideas breaking through assumptions, new forms of God's power at work in the world.  All are surprising, surpassing expectations.  It is a new age being initiated.  The important thing to remember is that all is made possible through faith and is dependent upon faith.  Our union with Christ is dependent only upon faith.  Our participation with Him is as well dependent upon faith.  It will be characterized by worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24).  The connection the Canaanite woman made with Christ was done purely through her persistence in faith, despite the obstacles He seemingly put in her way.  This is the great thing we need to remember, through all the changes our lives in the world will put us through:  every obstacle to faith is simply another curve in the road through which we learn to persist in faith.  All that confounds and surprises us simply calls for all our own resources to be brought to the table in faith.  We always have tools such as prayer, reading, services for worship -- both public and private, which we use in difficult and changing times.  Wisdom, intelligence, awareness, alertness:  these are all things praised in the Gospels in the service of faith.  Let us remember that we have one anchor, the Cross, which teaches us to have faith also in that which we don't see.  The really important place of faith is in the heart that is anchored to Him, and endures through all things.

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 confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes who came from Jerusalem, Jesus went north to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.  Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him.  And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."  Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.  Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.  He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

  In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.  This is a second feeding of the multitude, which should not be confused with the first (see Mark 6:30-46).  They are two distinct miracles (and Jesus will refer to them as such in 8:19-20).  My study bible notes that the variance in the number of loaves is significant.  In the feeding of the 5,000, there were five loaves.  These symbolize the Law (the first five books of the Bible, the Torah or Pentateuch).  Here in today's reading there are seven.  Seven symbolizes completeness; here it indicates spiritual perfection.  In the first feeding, therefore, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law.  But here in today's reading He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.   My study bible notes also that these crowds had been with Christ for three days; this is the number of days He will rest in the tomb.  A note tells us that participation in His perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5).

Two distinct feeding miracles in this shortest of the Gospels can only teach us about the importance of food; that is, what it is that we feed ourselves.  In the parables, Jesus takes elements of everyday life, things all common people know and can relate to, and transforms them into stories that reveal truths to the people about the kingdom of heaven.  In these feeding miracles, Jesus takes the most common of substance for all human beings, nourishment, and turns it into an understanding that we are more than food.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus asks, "Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" (Matthew 6:25).  He knows the people are hungry, and that we all need food to survive, but the occasion for feeding becomes a universal teaching that we must be fed with more than mere food to sustain ourselves in the fullness of our lives, as children and creatures of God.  Here, as in the first feeding, food becomes the distribution of blessings of God, true life given by the One who has come into the world for the life of the world, a clear prefiguring of the Eucharist.  A second feeding affirms the need we have for the food that He offers, and our dependency upon His "bread of life."  Seven in today's reading gives us a number of completion, fullness, perfection.  In connection, we note what transpired in yesterday's reading:  after a confrontation with the Pharisees, Jesus "retreats," so to speak, to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, where He does not want people to know He is there.  But, the text tells us, He cannot be hidden.  A Gentile woman begs Him to heal her daughter.  He at first refuses, saying He should not give the children's bread to the little dogs -- and we note again the use of bread, the significance of feeding.  Who are the children?  The woman replies that even the little dogs eat the children's crumbs under the table.  Highly pleased and praising her reply, Jesus heals her daughter.  In this number of completion, we can see the stirrings of what is meant not only for the children of Israel, but for all those children who will come through faith to this Gospel, and who will hunger with desire for His food, the bread of life He offers.  In these miraculous feedings, we are to understand His effect for the world:  everything we know becomes transformed in Him.  Our most basic needs and desires are meant for transfiguration.  His is the life that keeps giving, that changes everything, even as a cross becomes not an instrument of horrific death by crucifixion, but rather salvation through the life that He offers for us.  Food, then, is so much more than food.  It is an occasion for consideration of what we truly need.  It becomes an occasion to consider what we need to take in, what's going to feed every piece of body, soul, spirit, and mind -- and what in turn nurtures the growth of each of us as full persons.  We rely on Him to teach us our true needs, and to give us in turn true food that supports an abundance of life.   Lent is a time to consider what is true food, and what is truly necessary for life in abundance.   Let us give ourselves time to do so.

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

 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.   Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

- Mark 8:1-10

From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.   Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him.  And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his hears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."  Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.  Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.  He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

  In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.   Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.  This is a second feeding of a multitude, and should not be confused with the first feeding of five thousand (see here).  They are two distinct miracles, which Jesus will reference in our next reading in this chapter (Mark 8:19-21).  My study bible cites the variation in the number of loaves, and the spiritual significance attributed to the numbers.  In the first feeding in the wilderness, there were five loaves, which symbolize the Law (the first five books of the Old Testament, also called the Pentateuch or Torah).  Here there are seven.  Seven symbolizes completeness, here indicating spiritual perfection.  In the first instance, therefore, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law.  But here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  Also symbolic is that the crowds had been with Christ for three days, the number of days that He would rest in the tomb.  My study bible says that participation in His perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5).

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