Bread for the World
Reflecting on the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost: Three Days after Sunday (Year A)
Scripture
Semicontinuous - Psalm 17:1-7, 15; Isaiah 43:1-7; Matthew 15:32-39
Complementary - Psalm 78:1-8, 17-29; Exodus 16:2-15, 31-35; Matthew 15:32-39
(What are semicontinuous and complementary readings?)
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Prayer
Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer)
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Reflection
Matthew gives two miracles of feeding the crowd, which has led readers to ask whether we really have two incidents, or whether the evangelist is just copying and pasting the same one. Later on in the text, the disciples appear to differentiate the two when Jesus says they need... “the five loaves for the five thousand, and... the seven loaves for the four thousand” (Matthew 16:9-10). It is obvious that Matthew wants us to treat both stories as two different miracles.
In the feeding of the four thousand, Jesus’ opening words are
I feel sorry for the crowd.”
They have been with him for three days, hearing him teach and watching him perform healings.
This fits into Matthew‘s picture of Jesus. He does not perform the miracle to please the crowd; he does it from a compassionate heart. The God of Israel in Jesus is one who looks after needs, both spiritual and physical. The kingdom of heaven does not neglect hungry mouths while verbalizing only heavenly facts.
The link between the two stories is purposeful. Matthew is asking his readers to make a comparison. The situation is the same. A large crowd in a deserted place, the disciples with the question, “How will we have enough bread for all these people?” Jesus takes the bread, gives thanks, breaks the bread, and passes it to the disciples to hand out. Everyone eats to satisfaction, and baskets of leftovers remain after everyone is satisfied. Jesus will always be the one to feed the people of God. As God fed the people of Israel with manna in the wilderness, so Jesus is here to feed us.
The differences in the two stories are important too. The feeding of the five thousand takes place within predominantly Jewish territory. The feeding of the four thousand follows Jesus’ ministry within Gentile regions, which includes the healing of the Canaanite woman‘s daughter and the healing ministry at the Sea of Galilee where many Gentiles praise “the God of Israel” (15:31). Matthew highlights the expansion of Jesus’ mission as God’s blessings are no longer exclusively for Israel, but extended to the nations following the provision of bread for Israel. As God’s people receive bread, so all the world now receives the bread Jesus has to give.
The numbers themselves might also be telling. After the feeding of the five thousand twelve baskets are left over, a reminder of the twelve tribes of Israel. Seven baskets left over after the feeding of the four thousand. Seven is often used in scripture as a symbol of completeness or wholeness. There is a danger of reading too much symbolism into this; however, it seems clear that Matthew is hinting that God’s provision now extends to the whole world; the Messiah’s table is big enough for Jew and Gentile.
The disciples have a role too. They see only nothing, whereas Jesus sees plenty. By asking where it is coming from, they demonstrate their lack of human vision. They count what they do not have, but Jesus shows what God can do when people are obedient and trusting. Jesus acts to show that the church in ministry can never be sustained by its own resources without the generosity of Christ.
Matthew preserves this second feeding because it pushes the story of the Gospel forward. Jesus is not just a one-stop provider. He is establishing the divine reign of mercy not limited by the borders of Israel. The very Lord who gave bread to God’s covenant people is now offering bread to the nations. In him, there is bread enough for all who hunger. His followers testify that heaven’s kingdom is growing, and God’s wedding feast is offered to the world.
PRAYER: O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer)
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