Scripture Daily

Context No. 1100 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 15:32-39: in context

32Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have continued with me now three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away fasting, or they might faint on the way.” 33The disciples said to him, “Where could we get so many loaves in a deserted place as to satisfy so great a multitude?” 34Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground; 36and he took the seven loaves and the fish. He gave thanks and broke them, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes. 37They all ate and were filled. They took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over. 38Those who ate were four thousand men, in addition to women and children. 39Then he sent away the multitudes, got into the boat, and came into the borders of Magdala.

A great crowd has been with Jesus for three days in a deserted place, and their food is gone. Jesus calls his disciples and says, I have compassion on the crowd; they have nothing to eat, and I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint on the way. The disciples, oddly forgetting the last time, ask where they could possibly get enough bread. Jesus asks what they have, seven loaves and a few fish, has the crowd sit, gives thanks, breaks the bread, and feeds four thousand men besides women and children, with seven baskets of leftovers.

The phrase that opens the miracle is worth dwelling on: I have compassion on the crowd. Jesus notices something the disciples have not, that these people are physically hungry and far from home, and it moves him. He is not only concerned with their souls; he sees their empty stomachs and their long walk back, and he cares about the very ordinary problem of people who need to eat. His compassion is practical, attentive to bodies as well as spirits. And notice the detail, or they may faint on the way. Jesus thinks ahead to the walk home, to the weakness of tired, hungry people on the road; his care includes the aftermath, not just the moment. This is the heart that broke bread for thousands, a Savior whose love reaches all the way down to daily bread and the strength to get home. The disciples see an impossible logistics problem; Jesus sees hungry people and feels for them, and then acts. His compassion is not a vague sentiment; it produces bread, enough and more than enough, so that no one is sent away empty or faints on the road.

Do I let the plain physical needs of people around me move me the way the hungry crowd moved Jesus, or do I see only problems where he sees people to feed?

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