Four Thousand Fed. Mark 8:5-10.
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.
Dear Pilgrims and Sojourners,
Jesus is patient with his disciples. He understands that they have been blinded by their traditions and experience, to the point of reverting to the position of not seeing that Jesus is divine and unlimited in what he is able to do.
Repetition (vv. 5-7). Jesus does the same thing he did when he fed the five thousand. He asks for what they have. He wants the disciples to appreciate the fact that he only needs them to offer what they have. The rest is up to him. The people sit down, Jesus says a blessing, and the disciples distribute the bread and fish to the people. Repetition is an effective way of reinforcing what is taught.
Refreshment (vv. 8-9). The people are to their fill and the disciples collected seven baskets of leftovers. Numbers are important. In the previous incident, twelve baskets were collected. This would have caused observers to make a connection with the twelve tribes of Israel, and the disciples would have noted that they also were twelve in number, as though representing a new set of patriarchs. In this case, seven causes one to reflect on the completed work of God and the implied perfection. After thousands have been fed, the leftovers are still “perfect,” as though nothing has been spent.
Relocation (v. 10). It is evident that Jesus was traveling a lot, crisscrossing the sea and land. He wanted to reach as many people and as many places as possible, in the shortest time possible. Jesus knew that it was a matter of time before things came to a head and he would be taken to the cross. It is not known with certainty where Dalmanutha was located. In the parallel account, Matthew says Magadan, which has led some scholars to conclude that this was Magdala, a town on the western shores of the Sea of Galilee, the home town of Mary Magdalene (Magdalene actually means “of Magdala”). This may be the case, or Dalmanutha could have been some other place. The important thing is that Jesus was constantly on the move because the time was short. There is an urgency to God’s work. No one should be casual about it.
Your Loving Pastor Chris.