Mat 15:34 How many loaves do you have?

This chapter began with the Pharisees accusing Christ's followers of being impure for eating bread without washing. Christ goes on to explain that it is what comes out of people, not what goes into them, that makes them impure.The chapter then goes to the woman of Canaan, who begs Christ to cure her daughter, where bread is used again as a symbol. It is interesting that the chapter returns to the topic of bread again at its end, with Christ asking his apostles and us, how much bread do we have?

This final question may seem trivial. After all, it precedes the miracle of the loaves and fishes, where four thousand are fed. The starting amount hardly matters. Why then does Christ ask? I believe it is because he is asking us to focus on his use of "bread" as a symbol for physical life. In asking us how much physical life we have, he is asking a question that we cannot answer. He is pointing to the fact that we don't know exactly how many years we will get, but that it is limited. By multiplying the bread in this miracle, he is telling us that God can mulitply our physical life.

We have to understand that Christ is consistent in his symbolism. Bread stands for the physical reality, that is, the temporary nature of life. He makes this clear describing what goes into our mouth as eventually going into the sewer. He uses bread when talking to the Canaanite as a symbol for the physical health of her daughter. At the end of the chapter, the bread is needed to sustain the temporary physical condition of his audience.

As an aside, I know traditional Christianity doesn't believe in reincarnation, but there are many subtle indiciations in Christ's words that point toward the multiplication of physical life. This multiplication of the loaves is one of them.

In every part of the chapter, the word translated both as "bread" and "loaves" is the same in Greek. It is artos , which was a thin 1/2 inch thick round or loaf of wheat bread, meant to be torn into pieces and not cut.