Matthew 15:29-39

Matthew 15:29-39 NIV

Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.
Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”
“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

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The miraculous feeding of the 4000 begins with 7 loaves of bread and "a few fish". Considering that the fish is a symbol for the church, perhaps not as early as the writing of Matthew, the meaning of a few fish cannot be certain, if there is any deeper meaning at all. It could simply be that there were only a few fish on hand. However, it could mean that the number of believers on hand were only a few. I think the fact that there is no specific number attached to the fish, there's no need to probe for a deeper meaning. It is interesting though that Matthew tells us there are two fish in the feeding of the five thousand, but is nonspecific in this story. ( Mat 14:17)

As for the seven loaves I shared several passages in my previous post about the Canaanite woman and her demon possessed daughter to show the meaning of seven in this context. Seven usually means complete or fullness. But in this case the number has a more specific meaning. The number seven represents non-Jewish people, the Gentile nations.

Deuteronomy 7:1 NIV

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—

This passage in Deuteronomy is a source for the number seven's association with the Gentiles. Over time "the nations" became a way of speaking about non-Jews and a numerical way to represent them was 7 or 70. These numbers are pointing to the whole of the Gentile nations.

The number 4 represents the earth. In this case the four directions or the four corners of the earth. Again the meaning had to do with totality. When Jesus commissioned His church to be His witnesses He said,

Acts 1:8 NIV

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The ends of the earth is all of the people in the world. I've already explained in the posting about the feeding of the five thousand that 10 is the sum of 7 + 3, which means a complete work of God, a fulfillment of divine promise. 1000 is 3 x 10, which is a way of overstating the point. 4000, therefore is pointing to the fact that the lifegiving good news of God's love and mercy through Christ will reach the whole earth.

The prophets of the Old Testament often speak of the day when all the nations will come to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel.

Isaiah 60:3, 5-7, 9, 11 NIV

Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come. Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. All Kedarʼs flocks will be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth will serve you; they will be accepted as offerings on my altar, and I will adorn my glorious temple. Surely the islands look to me; in the lead are the ships of Tarshish, bringing your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor. Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations— their kings led in triumphal procession.

This restoration prophecy is tied to the messianic leader who will usher in this age of wealth and radiance for Israel. The feeding of the four thousand is stating that the Messiah is here ushering in the reign of God and the restoration of Israel, but it's not in the way the prophet imagined. Instead of the gentiles bringing the wealth of the nations, Jesus is preparing the Jews to be a source of sustenance for the gentiles, that is the Jews who became the church of Jesus Christ.

There are seven baskets of bread left over, meaning that there is more than enough, there is an abundance of lifegiving grace for all the nations, all the people of the earth. The source of this grace is Jesus and His church.

The world is filled with mute, blind, and lame people. We are blind to the glory of God in our everyday lives. We are deaf to the truth. Even when we know the truth we do not speak it publicly out of insecurity or ignorance. And we do not move into world changing ministry. We are lame and crippled by our earthly burdens and practical excuses. But Christ came to set us free of our infirmities, both the spiritual and the physical. And He has more than enough grace to change your life and satisfy the depths of your soul. Come to the mountainside for the healing touch of the Saviour and learn to hear, see, join in praising the God of Israel, and walk with God in serving up lifegiving hope through the grace and love of Jesus Christ.