The Feeding of the 4,000 | Mark 8:1–9
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, 2 “I
have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and
have nothing to eat. 3 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.” 4 And
his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in
this desolate place?” 5 And
he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 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. 7 And
they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also
should be set before them. 8 And
they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over,
seven baskets full. 9 And
there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.
Jesus remains in Gentile territory (7:24–37), now in the
area of Decapolis (7:31). This region had
sparse population, so people were probably streaming in from the surrounding
Gentile nations. They heard the
testimony of His ability (7:36–37) and picturing the future gospel ministry of
Christ’s church to the lost sheep of the Gentiles (John 10:16).
Some skeptics allege that Jesus only fed the multitudes once,
and that two legends cropped up because Jesus’s followers couldn’t figure out the
details. However, the differences are
big: the number of those fed (5,000 vs. 4,000), the identity of the people fed
(Jews first, and now Gentiles), and how long they were with Jesus (a single day
or, as v. 2 here reveals, three days). These
are separate miracles, and to assert otherwise is to assume that they must refer to the same event and an
anti-supernatural bias.
Indeed, Jesus Himself says that there were two feedings, and
that both spoke of a theological reality that His disciples were missing (6:52;
8:18–21). What does this teach us?
First, we need to
trust in the Lord for provision. The
verb for “giving” is imperfect, meaning that He was continually handing them
bread. As such, the multiplication of
the bread was occurring in the Jesus’s hands.
Jesus knew what it was to experience hunger (Mt 4:2), and He will
provide (Ps 34:10; Mt 6:25–34). We
should shun temptations for quick cash and instead trust the Lord as we work
and gather little by little (Pv 13:11; Hb 13:5).
Second, the Gentiles
can come to Christ just like the Jews.
Jesus gives to them in a similar manner as He broke bread in the Last
Supper (14:22–23). We can see the
confidence and trust of these Gentiles, for the children of Israel were scarce
out from Egypt before they complained of want.
The disciples see the great faith of the Gentiles in following Christ. Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile and you believe
in Christ, you’ll be included in the coming Marriage Supper of the Lamb!
