In
those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat,
Jesus called His disciples and said to them, "I feel compassion for the
people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to
eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and
some of them have come from a great distance." And His disciples answered
Him, "Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate
place to satisfy these people?" And He was asking them, "How many
loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven." And He directed the
people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks
and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and
they served them to the people. They also had a few small fish; and after He
had blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well. And they ate and were
satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of
the broken pieces. About four thousand were there; and He sent them away.
This story seems like just a repetition of a the
previous text about feeding the five thousand (6:33-44). Many of the elements are similar—Jesus having
compassion, questions about how much food, giving thanks and breaking the food,
the disciples serving the people, having leftovers and a huge crowd.
Mark repeats quite a bit here to show two
things—the continuing ignorance of the disciples, and some items that are
highlighted because of differences in the two texts. The disciples are placed again in a situation
where a large crowd of people need to eat.
If they had learned from their previous experience, then they would know
that they could just break the bread under the authority of God, distribute it and
everyone will be fed. God’s provision is
so sufficient, that no one will be hungry.
But the disciples, although having more bread than the previous time,
are still claiming that the bread was insufficient. Thus, Mark is pointing out their ignorance,
although they should have learned.
A couple
items are different from the previous story.
In the previous story, the disciples noticed that the people didn’t have
food. In this story, Jesus goes to the
disciples and offers them a test of what he had taught them before. They failed.
Also the amount of food collected afterward is different. The first amount of leftovers was twelve
baskets—enough for each one of the apostles to carry. This amount is seven—the same amount as the
bread they started with. They had seven
loaves, they fed four thousand people and they came out of it with one basket
of bread for each loaf of bread they began with. That should teach them—but it doesn’t.
It is easy to point out the flaws of Bible characters. We laugh at the ignorance of the children of Israel in the desert, are shocked at David's immorality, and shake our heads at the disciples continued ignorance. As usual, it is easy to look at the problems of others and ignore what is in ourselves.
No matter how often I am faced with the same situation, I am anxious about money. Will I have enough to pay the bills? Can I keep my financial promises? No matter how often the Lord steps in, I am concerned about my health. No matter how often the Lord helps others more generously than I, I still worry about them and if they will be safe or cared for.
Mind you, it is easy to presume that the Lord will do something that He didn't promise to do. But it is easier to fail in my faith, not believing that the Lord will step in an help when He said He would.
We live in a society of skepticism This has its benefits. Questioning things means that we don't get taken by foolish superstition or presupposition. But it also means that we are influenced by doubts and questions and frank disbelief in God's power and love. God save us from that. Just like the disciples, we not only doubt the Lord, we don't give a second thought to Him stepping in with another miracle.
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