Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away."And his disciples answered him, "How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?" And he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven." And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.The Pharisees Demand a Sign
The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod
Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?"They said to him, "Twelve." "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven." And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"
Boom, we start off with a miracle of Jesus feeding 4000 people out of a couple loaves of bread and a few fish. One part that I find interesting is that the disciples almost seemed reluctant to give up the bread that they had. Each one of them would get at least half a loaf of bread. Giving up their bread would mean giving up the food that they needed so that they too would not faint.
Side note: when I think of a loaf of bread way back in the day, I think of it as just enough for each person to have one loaf and have their fill. A loaf was not something that you cut up and share with a bunch of people. I could be completely wrong, but that is the way that I see it.
Now I say that we can't separate these sections because each one talks about a boat that went from here to there or there to here and it just seems like Mark decided to record these events one after another and I think because they happened in that order.
Now onto the pharisees, they want a sign from Jesus. And I can only think, if you had only been there to see him feed 4000 people, then you would have seen a sign but Jesus goes on to say that no sign will be given to them.
It just keeps getting better and better. Now they are back on a boat and Jesus tells his disciples to be careful of the leaven of the pharisees and of Herod. Now they are back to the point that they have no bread again, okay, so one loaf, but to them it must have seemed like none. It almost seems as if Jesus gets irritated with the disciples. He tells them, "Do you not yet understand?" What are they supposed to understand here?
It makes me think that they are worried about their food which brings to mind Matthew 6:25-34 where it tells us not to worry about such things. That if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, God will take care of the rest. I want to think that the disciples were not thinking about kingdom matters but about how hungry they were.
I get from all of this that Jesus will take care of us. The disciples seemed to have forgotten that Jesus feed 5000 and 4000 with just a little. I almost also think that they didn't want to ask him for a miracle. With just a little faith, Jesus can do a whole lot. But I think Jesus wants us to bring him lots of faith, because that means there is that much more to work with.
Stay tuned for an update on Zach's life and big things that are happening there.
1 comment:
Another thought on that last section where they are discussing bread in the boat. In the ancient near east, the sea was usually symbolic of chaos. So this last pericope takes place when they are actuall in the sea in the boat with Jesus. Jesus seems to be reminding them that God's provision that they learned about on the land is just as sure when they are in the midst of chaos.
Think about Mark's immediate audience, the early church, persecuted and oppressed by both the Jewish authorities and the Roman empire. This message assures them, and us, that though they find themselves in the midst of terrible chaos, God had not abandoned them - indeed, God's compassion, care and provision is as certain in the chaos as when times are calm.
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