1In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2"I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."
4Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"
5He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"
And they said, "Seven."
6So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. 7They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. 8So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. 9Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, 10immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
I had a tough time with this passage, not because it seems to be saying something difficult, but because it is so similar to the story of feeding the five thousand in Mark 6:30-44. What is the lesson in this text? That Jesus was able to perform the miracle to feed the four thousand? Big deal, he fed five thousand a couple chapters ago! That Jesus had compassion on the multitude? That is hardly new news because Jesus' level of compassion seems to be the point of many previous stories. That the disciples who had witnessed the feeding of the five thousand were once again questioning how to feed such a large group? OK, there might be a minor point here, but the disciples inability to grasp what was really going on around them is still hardly new news.
I'm sure Mark had to choose from many different stories to include in this book. He must have had some reason to include this story. I read and reread this text and was very much taken by surprise when I finally saw a lesson I really needed to hear at this point. This story is very similar to the feeding of the five thousand, with a few subtle differences. Note that Jesus says this multitude has been following him for three days.
Just at the end of the last chapter I was starting to feel very sad for Jesus and disappointed that people just weren't getting what Jesus was trying to do here. It seemed like they were interested in his healing abilities and that was all. But to follow Jesus for three days? If they only came to be healed and their afflictions were removed, they would have no reason to stick around for three days! Or if they were only there to witness miracle after miracle, they wouldn't have stuck around past the point of being able to return home without fainting of hunger.
No I think the people were there to hear Jesus preach. They had a hunger for the good news that Jesus was able to provide them. This hunger took precedence over any physical hunger. There are hints of this need in the particular choice of words used here. The disciples ask of how to "satisfy" the people, not how to feed the people. I think the people needed more than food to be satisfied. Also, the text used in describing the breaking of the bread and giving thanks is very reminiscent of our receiving communion today. I think this text hints a little at what it will be like to feed the people with the bread of life.
And look at the multitude! It wasn't just a crowd. This group was more than three times the size of the town I grew up in! That's a lot of people who are there hungering for Jesus. Yes, the feeding of four thousand is a miracle. But the real miracle is the response of the people with a need to follow Jesus.
As I said, this is a lesson I really needed to hear at this time. Much of what I have been reading in the Bible has reinforced my faith in our God. This text is just what I needed to hear to restore my faith in human kind. This is definitely good news!