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29 Jesus went from there to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a mountain there. 30 A large crowd came to him, bringing their lame, their crippled, their blind, their deaf, and many others whom they placed at his feet, and he healed them. 31 The crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they glorified the God of Israel.

32 Jesus summoned his disciples and said to them, “I am concerned for the crowd, because they have stayed here with me for three days and have not had anything to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on their way home. 33 His disciples said to him, “In this deserted place, where could we get enough bread to feed such a large crowd?” 34 Jesus said to them, “How much bread do we have?” They said, “Seven loaves, and we have a few fish.” 35 He told the crowd to sit on the ground. 36 Then he took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples to distribute to the crowd. 37 Everyone ate and was satisfied, and they collected seven baskets full of leftover pieces of bread. 38 There were four thousand men who ate, plus the women and children. 39 He dismissed the crowd, got into a boat, and went to the region around Magadan.

Comments

Jesus leaves the region of Tyre and Sidon and goes to the Sea of Galilee. Mt does not specify which area he goes to, but in the corresponding passage in Mk 7.31-37, it is made clear that Jesus goes to the eastern shore, to the territory of the Decapolis, i.e. another majority Gentile region. A large crowd gathers, and Jesus heals their blind, their deaf, and their lame. These people are Hellenized polytheists, but Jesus’ acts lead them to glorify the God of Israel.

Jesus, once again, is concerned about the crowd having something to eat, and again multiples loaves of bread and fish to feed the people. At first sight, this story may seem confusingly similar to the feeding of five thousand in the previous chapter, and the two stories do have very similar structures and phrasing. The point is that Jesus healed and fed a crowd of thousands in a majority Jewish area, and then he healed and fed a crowd of thousands in a majority Gentile area. What Jesus did for the people of Israel he now does again for Gentiles. This is the climax of the arc of Jesus opening his ministry to Gentiles, revealing him as the savior come for all people.