Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?

 

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

 

 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples aid 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 dispute with the Pharisees who came 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 desires."  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 (see above).  According to St. John Chrysostom, Christ healed that 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 aid 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, separate feeding of a multitude that Christ has done in the wilderness, and it should not be confused with the first in this reading.  They should not be confused with one another as they are two distinct miracles, which Christ will refer to as such later (Matthew 16:8-10).  My study Bible asks us to look at the variance in the number of loaves, for it is significant.  In the first instance, there were five loaves, which symbolize the Law (the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah or Pentateuch), while here there are seven.  Seven is a number symbolic of completeness; here it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first miraculous feeding in the wilderness, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law.  But here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  It's also important to note that these crowds had been with Him for three days; this is the same number of days Jesus would rest in the tomb.  My study Bible adds that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

 

We might well ask the question, why two feedings in the wilderness?  Why would it be important for Christ to make one miraculous feeding of five thousand by multiplication of loaves and fishes, and then another, feeding four thousand men (and more women and children)?  My study Bible gives us an explanation in the symbolism of the numbers.  The first was symbolic of Christ as fulfillment of the Law, and the long-awaited Messiah in this sense.  In so doing, He is also the Lord who gave the Law.  The second offers us the dawning of the new covenant, spiritual perfection in Christ.  The three days, as my study Bible said, preview the three days that Christ will spend in the tomb, and through which He will defeat death on all of our behalf.  We enter into and participate in Christ's life, death, and Resurrection through Holy Baptism, and this leads us into Christ's life for us, through faith and grace.  The number four thousand is highly symbolic of the whole world; four is already consonant with the four corners of the earth, the four directions, and the four corners of the Cross, which is for the whole world.  Multiply that by one thousand and it teaches us the infinite resourcefulness of Christ to reach every person, and for all the future (and indeed, even to those who had died before His coming into the world).  So the two miraculous multiplications of food not only preview for us the Eucharist, but they teach us of the progression of spiritual history, the fulfillment of the Old, and the offering of the New for all, for the whole world.  Significantly, the first crowd of five thousand was among a predominantly Jewish region; here He is in a region of mixed Gentiles and Jews.  Coming right after our reading in which the Canaanite woman received a healing for her daughter, this is also significant in that it indicates the gospel going to the world, including the Gentiles.  Let us remember who feeds us the bread from heaven, for He is the bread of heaven and fills us with good things for the life of the world.

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

- Mark 8:1–10 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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, 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.

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 an encounter with Pharisees and scribes who came from Jerusalem, Jesus went out from there and departed to the Gentile 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 here that Christ's healing of the multitudes in this passage shows that these Jews actually had less faith than the Canaanite woman in yesterday's reading, above.  According to St. John Chrysostom's commentary, Christ healed the Canaanite 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.  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.  There is a variance in the number of loaves that is symbolically significant.  In the first feeding of five thousand, there were five loaves which symbolize the Law (the Torah or Pentateuch, meaning "five books").  Here there are seven.  Seven is a number which symbolizes completeness or fullness, and here, it indicates spiritual perfection, according to my study Bible.  So, in the first feeding, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, but 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.  It says that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to Christ's death (see Romans 6:3-5).  

In a certain way, we might view today's feeding of four thousand men (and more women and children) as a kind of comment on the expansion of the kingdom of God through Christ's ministry to the Gentiles.  Coming just after the report of Christ's encounter with the Canaanite woman in yesterday's reading, in some sense the symbolism of the numbers which my study Bible commented on affirms the fullness of this ministry going out to the whole world, the continuation and extension of Christ's saving mission toward not only "the lost sheep of the house of Israel," but also to Gentiles.  In this is the fullness commented on by my study Bible, and hidden in the symbolism of the seven loaves.  But there is also the number four thousand.  In the previous feeding miracle, there were not only five loaves, symbolizing the Law, but also five thousand men (and more women and children) fed.  This number five in this case may easily symbolize change:  a great change coming into the world, Christ's ministry bringing something entirely new and unknown in the Incarnation of the Son.  But four thousand has at its root the number four, symbolizing the four directions of the globe, and perhaps more importantly the four arms of the Cross; in this we can see Christ as Son of Man, Savior to the whole world, and not just to the Jews.  It reminds us what a tremendous breakthrough it is in terms of spiritual history and revelation that He is now understood as Messiah by Gentiles, and has extended His grace to Gentiles as well as Jews.  The God of Israel has acted now through grace to gather in all who will come by faith, Gentiles becoming thereby "sons of Abraham" by virtue of faith in the promise to Abraham.   As St. Paul writes, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:26-29).  Let us be grateful for the revelation of 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, 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. 

 

 

 

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.

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."

 

 

 

 

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

 

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

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

 

- Matthew 15:29-39 

 

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

 

  Jesus departed from there, skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there.  Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.  So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.  My study Bible comments that Christ's healing of the multitudes here shows that these Jews actually had less faith than the Canaanite woman in yesterday's reading (see above).  To quote St. John Chrysostom, Christ healed the woman's daughter "with much delay, but these immediately, because she is more faithful than they.  He delays with her to reveal her perseverance, while here He bestows the gift immediately to stop the mouths of the unbelieving Jews."  To behold the mute speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, the blind seeing are all prophesied signs of the Messiah (see Isaiah 35:5-8).

Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."  Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"  Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.  Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.  And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.  My study Bible tells us that this second feeding of a multitude should not be confused with the first (see this reading from Friday last week).  They are two distinct miracles (see Matthew 16:8-10, in which Jesus refers to each one).  There is traditional significance ascribed in the variance in the number of loaves.  In the first feeding in the wilderness, there were five loaves, which symbolized the Law.  Here there are seven.  Seven is a symbol of completeness, and here it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, in the first instance, Christ is revealing Himself as fulfilling the Law.  But here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.   Also, my study Bible remarks, these crowds had been with Christ for three days, which is the number of days that He would rest in the tomb.  To participate in His perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5). 

Why do we suppose that Jesus does two separate feedings in the wilderness?  Certainly we can understand that the circumstance arose more than once, and also that there must be a special significance to each, as this is the way that His ministry evolved, and these are the events the Evangelists have recorded as part of what the Church commemorates and honors.  These specific events are given to us for a purpose, by God and by the Church in the recording of the Gospels.  But one thing we can learn from these different miraculous feedings is that we are to take note of Christ's ministry and its characteristic of evolving through time.  It does not simply stay the same or repeat itself in the sense of never changing.  If Christ was to go first to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel," as He said to the woman of Canaan in yesterday's reading (see above), then we can understand the evolution of ministry as Gentiles also begin to be included as examples of faith as in occasions for miraculous works by Christ.  Every part of this ministry is important, necessary, and significant.  Just as the feeding of the five thousand with five loaves is understood as fulfilling the Law (the first five books of the Bible, also called Penteteuch or Talmud), so Christ also comes to fulfill spiritual perfection , especially through His Passion, which is understood in the various symbols of today's reading, such as the three days and the seven loaves.  As Christ's own ministry and mission evolves through the Gospels, so we should also come to understand our own spiritual journeys and faith, because God's love is always active and working in this mission that takes place within us and in our lives.  We remarked earlier on the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Messiah that we read in the first few verses of today's reading.  Isaiah writes, after he prophecies that at the time of the Messiah "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing . . .."  But the prophecy continues:  "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein" (see Isaiah 35:5-8).   Christ's ministry expresses for us "The way of holiness," the "highway" He also refers to when He speaks of Himself as "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  That "way" in Greek literally means "road," and it delineates the path that Christ gives us, the journey of faith such as we read about as His ministry evolves, and also as our own faith journey evolves through new challenges and new lessons in discipleship.  It is an important concept to understand, for if even Christ's understanding and ministry evolves for Himself, how much more, then, as His disciples shall we expect this for ourselves?  The spiritual life is not simply a stagnant repetition of the "same old thing," but a constant evolution of new understandings, new discipline, new teachings to learn.  Just like caring for a home, a garden, an agricultural enterpriese or business, things are constantly in flux:  there will be new things to cast out, new things to take on and learn, new practices we must start, and old things we will learn to discard.  This is the spiritual life, for in Christ we have an eternal life, and one that never stops growing in its dynamic engagement with our life.  Let us keep in mind the journey, and be ever alert to where He asks us to go and offers His counsel and teachings for each new step.  The multitude continues with Jesus for three days; we continue with Him for our lives, even unto eternal life.