Feeding the Four Thousand (Mt. 15:32-39)

Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way.”  33 The disciples said to him, “Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd?”  34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.”  35 He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.  36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.  37 They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over—seven baskets full.  38 Those who ate were four thousand men, not counting women and children.  39 And when he had dismissed the crowds, he got into the boat and came to the district of Magadan.

The evangelists Matthew and Mark record the multiplication of the Loaves as two separate events (Mt. 14:15-21; 15:32-39 & Mk. 6:34-44; 8:1-10) and refer to them as two separate events (Mt. 16:9-10; Mk. 8:19-20).  While the two events are placed close together in the Gospels, they occurred at different times in Jesus’ ministry which were most likely months apart.  

In his compassion, Jesus was concerned about the crowd that had been with him for three days.  Whatever provisions they brought with them would have been depleted.  He did not want to send them away hungry because they were far from their homes and may collapse on the way.  They were in a deserted place (v. 33) reminiscent of the Israelites in the desert (Ex. 16:1-3).  The disciples had seven loaves and a few fish left, and again Jesus gave thanks, broke the bread, and gave it to the disciples to feed the crowd (v. 36) just as God fed the Israelites in the desert (Ex. 16:4-12).  The crowd ate and was satisfied, and seven baskets of fragments were left over indicating the hospitality and abundance of the Kingdom of God.  Jesus was fulfilling his Messianic role.  `

Almighty God, grant that the spiritual food and drink we receive sustain us during our pilgrimage through this earthly desert until we receive our abundant reward in your heavenly Kingdom.  This we pray through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

                Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.