32Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."
33Then His disciples said to Him, "Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?"
34Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?"
And they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."
35So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. 37So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. 38Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.
Jesus didn't just pause here in His journey in order to do some quick healing for these needy Gentiles so He could hurriedly get back to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He stayed three days. To me this is another indication that when in Matthew 15:24, He said "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel", I don't believe He was trying to say that the lost sheep of the house of Israel had His highest priority. The took the time to stay three days helping these Gentiles!
Not only that, but these Gentiles stayed three days to be with Jesus! They didn't just come to be healed and then leave. They stayed so long that they may have fainted from hunger if they had tried heading for home now. Jesus had compassion on them. They had a hunger and Jesus fed their bellies. They had a hunger to hear more about the God of Israel, and Jesus stayed for three days feeding that hunger too.
He fed these Gentiles in a manner reminiscent of the way in which we take communion today. These Gentiles were not raised in the way of the Jews. They did not know God's commandments, probably had broken some without realizing it. This chapter began with the Pharisees putting down those who did not observe every single law in the tradition of their elders -- why didn't Jesus' disciples wash their hands before eating? Jesus welcomed all, even those who followed none of the Jewish laws. Jesus welcomed them all to His table and fed them all.
Whatever Jesus gives He has in abundance and He gives in abundance. After feeding these four thousand men, besides women and children, there were still seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. The Gentile woman in Matthew 15:21-28 had been hoping for at least the crumbs from the master's table. There are never crumbs, but more than could possibly be needed.