Mark 8:1-10

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

1During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2"I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance."

4His disciples answered, "But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?"

5"How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked.

"Seven," they replied.

6He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people, and they did so. 7They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9About four thousand men were present. And having sent them away, 10he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.



BACKGROUND READING:


Genesis 1:26-31


Genesis 3:17-19


Matthew 15:29-39



Dig Deeper

Anyone who watches sports very often will know that upsets can happen. A seemingly lesser team that is fully expected to lose, will somehow find a way to beat the supposedly better team. A strange thing happens, though, after an upset win. The team that wins the upset, is still not usually considered the better team. It is supposed that any fluke can happen once. An unheralded team must generally pull off another shocking win to demonstrate that they are 'for real'. Once they have done it twice, then it can be believed that they are really capable of such a thing.


Perhaps this is something of the effect going on here, the reason that Mark chose to include a second, and similar, account of Jesus feeding a hungry crowd. Does doing it a second time prove that it was no fluke? Perhaps Mark wants us to see that Jesus did, indeed, have power over the physical realm. We have to wonder what the reason would be for including such similar accounts. So similar, in fact, that some critics of the Bible have claimed that they are two mythical accounts of the same supposed incident.


A careful look, however, will demonstrate that these are two separate and reliable accounts of two separate incidents. There are some significant differences in this account. Mark draws attention to the fact that the people had been with him for three days already. They were not near any towns or villages as they were in the first incident. They were in a remote place, so the situation was much more dire than it was in the first instance. Of the course, the most obvious differences in this story from the first is the fact that we have four thousand men present rather than five thousand, and that there were seven basketfuls of bread left over rather than twelve.


So, why did Mark include this mirror-account of Jesus' miraculous feeding? Was is simply to demonstrate that it was no fluke? Certainly that's part of it, but apparently Mark also wanted to set the theme for the next section when Jesus confronts the disciples about their lack of understanding. Jesus seemed to find specific purpose in the amount of bread that was left over each time (we'll discuss that more in the next section). Mark does seem to be emphasizing that Jesus was demonstrating that the feedings, the exorcisms, and the healing, are ways in which the true Messiah was being unveiled to the world. We cannot be too harsh on the disciples for not getting all of this on the first, or even second take (and Mark is certainly not, although he does demonstrate their lack of understanding). No Jew in the first century expected this kind of Messiah, one that was more concerned with multiplying fish and bread than with creating an army that would defeat Rome. This was all very difficult to compute.


It is also quite possible that the inclusion of this second account has to do with the point Mark is trying to make about the need for people around him to take a second look in order to clearly see (or understand) who he really is and what he is really doing. Mark will do more of this quite clearly later in this chapter.


There are perhaps a couple of practical lessons that we can take from this account. The first thing is that Jesus continues to have compassion on those who follow him. He provides for them. He is demonstrating in living color, his words recorded in Matthew 6:33. If people will seek God's kingdom above all else, God will provide for them, even if it is in very unlikely ways. This is how it is with God's people going all the way back to the Garden of Eden. When we are in a pure relationship with God we will be able to follow him and work for him. In turn, he promises to provide all of the things in life that we really need that we might otherwise be tempted to spend our time going after and worrying about. When we find ourselves focusing on providing for ourselves, that is a sure sign that we are working for ourselves rather than God. Seeking to provide our needs first is a sure sign of rebellion against God.


The second point of interest is that Jesus didn't just feed the crowds by himself. He had his disciples help in the work of distributing and collecting the food (of course Jesus had done the difficult and miraculous work but expected the disciples to do what they could). Jesus wants to bring his followers into the work in which he is engaged. The closer we are to him, the more assuredly we will be called to share in his work of compassion.



Devotional Thought

Whom do you find yourself working for most of the time? Do you worry about your own affairs, where you will work, what you will eat, or what you will wear? Or do you take Jesus' words to heart and seek first the kingdom of God? When we are in a restored relationship with God we will take part in his work of compassion and not worry so much about our own affairs.