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The death of the Baptist has left Jesus saddened
and he withdraws to be alone with the disciples.
But even his personal sorrow is overwhelmed
by compassion for the people who had followed
him and he cures their sick.
The crowd stays with him even into the evening.
When the disciples ask Jesus to send
them away to eat, Jesus’ response is a challenge
to the disciples: feed them yourselves.
He is training them to take the initiative,
to be confident leaders of the community
after he has gone.
Jesus employs the ritual of the daily Jewish meal
in blessing, breaking and giving, but this ritual
now points to the actions of the Last Supper.
All are fed; all are satisfied. There are overtones of the
messianic banquet, a common image in the
Hebrew Scriptures describing the reign of God;
there is an abundance.
The crowd represents all of Israel gathered
by Jesus and the twelve baskets of remainders
represent the twelve tribes of Israel gathered
by the twelve disciples.&l   

REFLECTION
The contrast between the good and bad seed
Jesus continues to convey his teaching about the
kingdom using the imagery of everyday life.
Pearls were highly valued in the Near East and were
regarded as a symbol of wisdom-thus the saying
‘pearl of wisdom’. In the first two of these parables,
the protagonists commit everything they own to
acquiring what is beyond price.
According to Jesus, the kingdom is worth the sacrifice
of everything we value most to gain a place in it.
The parable of the dragnet tells us something more of
the kingdom. There will be those who have not
recognised its value and are unworthy of the kingdom.
However, it is not for people to judge who is worthy
and who is not. That belongs to God. Jesus is very
concerned that his followers clearly understand his
message and he questions them directly:
“Do you understand all this?” There must be no
confusion over the meaning of the Gospel! Matthew
stresses that believing in Christ does not mean a total
rejection of Judaism. Indeed, both the old and the new
have value. Jesus did not come to overturn the law
but to fulfil it and those who recognise this truth will
honour both the old and the new.   

REFLECTION
The contrast between the good and bad seed
reflects a reality within Matthew’s community.
This text highlights the difficulty of being a
Church called to spread the good news
while there are some within its ranks who
scandalise others by their bad behaviour
or decadent way of life.
This parable counsels patience.
The answer to the dilemma is to let both the
righteous and the lawless members of the
community grow together until the harvest time
and then let God be the judge.
Ultimately, this parable assures its hearers that
God will not allow evil to destroy what is good.
In the longer version of this gospel,
the short parables of the kingdom compare it to a
mustard seed and to the yeast in dough.
Both are small and insignificant but both develop
almost imperceptibly and once begun,
there is no stopping them.

REFLECTION
This parable would have had great appeal
to the rural population living on the
fertile land around the Sea of Galilee.
There, the gentle undulating hills are
green and verdant.
This is a sharp contrast to the
desert wilderness of the southern part
of the province of Judea around Jerusalem.
In the longer version of today’s gospel,
Jesus explains the meaning of the
parable of the sower.
The different soils represent different
human responses to hearing the Word of God.
The message is that, despite some failures,
the sower’s work ultimately succeeds.
Not everyone is open to receiving the
Word and acting on it but there is
encouragement for those who allow the Word
to take root and bear fruit.

REFLECTION
Matthew’s community must have been
deeply troubled by the fact that the
‘learned and clever’ religious leaders of the day
did not accept the message of Jesus.
Surely they, of all people, should have
been in a position to recognise the truth.
But in this passage, Matthew explains
that it is not from a position of knowledge
or power that one recognises the truth;
rather it is from an attitude of openness
and simplicity.
Jesus’ intimate address of
Abba (Father) is used five times.
This intimate relationship is characterised
by God’s entrusting all things to the Son,
and the Son in turn revealing them
to those who have faith.
Jesus is the perfect teacher,
describing himself as gentle
and humble in heart.
There is an interesting contrast here
between the burden of following
the restrictive laws of the Pharisees
and the ‘easy burden’ of faith in Christ.
The rules and laws of the Pharisees
often added to the burden experienced
by people of the day,
while Jesus tried to lift the burden
from the people.