From Five to Four

It may have been a little bit of a stretch to suggest to you that the feeding of the five thousand was actually a rabbinic story about numeric values and larger allegorical teachings.

And I may have asked too much of you in the last post to imagine Jesus had to learn about his calling.

But now I ask you to consider the next story in light of what Matthew is doing in his gospel. If you will remember, we suggested the following in the earlier post about the feeding of the five thousand:

Jesus takes the Law (five loaves [Books of Moses] and two fish [tablets]; this makes the complete law [5 + 2 = 7]) and he gives it to his disciples. His disciples feed the people of God (the Jewish people; five [Books of Moses] times ten [complete community] times ten times ten). When the people take and eat the Law that they received from the disciples as they received it from Jesus there is more than enough for all of God’s people (twelve [tribes of Israel] baskets of leftovers).

Jesus’s larger teaching point seems to be: “I am the second Moses. (Remember Jesus putting the people in groups of fifty? Think about the story of Jethro. What comes next? Moses gives them the Law.) When you let me interpret the Law and completely trust me with it, there is more than enough to go around for all of you.”

If we were to take those same principles and apply them to the next story, we might find something incredible about Jesus’s rabbinic methods. (NOTE: If you need to refresh your mind on what the numbers represent, please go back and read that post.)

First, consider the context. Jesus has now returned for the second and final time (as far as we’re told) to the region of the Decapolis. This time, he feeds a crowd of 4000 (compared to 5000 previously). If the number five was a Jewish number (“books of Moses”) and the number 1000 was meant to convey complete community, then we suggested that 5000 men would communicate a Jewish community in the Jewish region of the triangle.

But now we are in the Decapolis. We don’t have a community of “books of Moses” people; we have a community of pagan Gentiles. Hence the number is four (“corners of the earth” = the Gentile nations). Not only this, but we aren’t told how many fish there are, because apparently the Holy Spirit couldn’t remember this time (that’s a joke). Instead, we are told there are seven loaves. Jesus distributes the food to his disciples, who give it to the people. This time there are seven baskets of leftovers (compared to twelve).

I find it interesting that in the story which takes place in the Jewish setting, the feeding is full of Jewish numbers: fives, twos, and twelves. In the story which takes place in the Decapolis, the numbers change to the Gentile numbers: four and seven.

Jesus is tricky.

His point appears to be — after his startling revelation with the woman in Syrophonecia — “Not only am I enough for the Jewish people, I am enough for the Gentile nations, as well.”

Consider the story that follows this in the narrative of Matthew. The Pharisees and Sadducees come asking for a sign and Jesus tells them that the only sign he will give them is the sign of Jonah (the prophet sent to the Gentiles). While Matthew’s other reference (in chapter 12) to the sign of Jonah will add the note about Jesus being in the heart of the earth for three days and nights, that addition is mysteriously absent in this reference and all the other references in the other gospels. The “sign of Jonah” is about the Gentiles believing and repenting.

Jesus’s response to the Pharisees and Sadducees is, “You want a sign? I’ll give you a sign. The Gentiles are believing this stuff.”

Jesus then warns the disciples to beware the “yeast” (or teachings) of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Why? Because they teach you not to interact with these mumzers. Even to mention the name of the Decapolis will make you unclean for a week. They would never be caught dead in a place like the Decapolis.

And Jesus tells them to be careful of that kind of teaching, because you’ll miss out on what God’s doing to bring shalom into chaos.