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Frontline Ministries - Jesus, God's Servant: A Survey of the Gospel of Mark
Jesus, God's Servant
A Survey of the Gospel of Mark
CHAPTER FOUR: THE SERVANT'S MIRACLES
by Massimo Lorenzini
IV. The Servant's Miracles (6:30-8:26)
A. Feeding the Five Thousand (6:30-44)
Feeding the Five Thousand (6:30-44)
30 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. 31 And He said to them, "Come aside by
yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. 32 So they departed to a
deserted place in the boat by themselves. 33 But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived
before them and came together to Him. 34 And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were
like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. 35 When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a
deserted place, and already the hour is late. 36 Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they
have nothing to eat." 37 But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat." And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii
worth of bread and give them something to eat?" 38 But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they found out they said,
"Five, and two fish." 39 Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in
fifties. 41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set
before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. 42 So they all ate and were filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.
44 Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.
This miraculous event echoes several themes in Scripture:
- The feeding recalls the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and their being fed in the desert (Exod 16). The multitudes being organized into groups of fifty and
one hundred, also reflects the encampment of Israel (Exod 18:21 25).
- The feeding foreshadows the messianic banquet seen in Isaiah's invitation (Isa 55:1-2). This is contrasted with the drunken debauchery of Herod's feast for
the high officials, captains, and the leading men of Galilee (6:22). Herod's feast, with its exotic fanfare and dancing girls, cannot ultimately satisfy human
hunger. Only the spread offered by Jesus in the desert can satisfy human needs.
- Psalm 23 also is pictured in the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus is seen as the Good Shepherd.
v. 30 apostles gathered to Jesus - Apostle means messenger, sent one, or commissioned one. The apostles were Jesus' authorized agents or representatives.
They were returning from a third preaching tour in Galilee.
v. 31 rest a while - Doing God's work is very important, but Jesus recognized that to do God's work effectively requires periodic rest and renewal.
v. 34 was moved with compassion - Jesus had every right to be annoyed with the crowd. They had prevented Him and His disciples from having a much
needed rest. But instead of being irritated, He responded compassionately and in love.
Application. How do we respond when the needs of others interfere with our plans? Do we reflect the love of Christ?
The process of compassion - He came out, [He] saw, and [He] was moved.
Application. Are you actively going to where people are, considering their plight apart from God, and being moved to minister to them? Out of sight, out of
mind (and heart!).
v. 34 like sheep not having a shepherd - Dietrich Bonhoeffer observed, "There were questions but no answers, distress but no relief, anguish of conscience but
no deliverance, tears but no consolation, sin but no forgiveness."
The Jews had a religious system, but they had no shepherd. What Jesus saw was spiritually and physically hungry people wrapped up in all sorts of religious red
tape and nobody seemed to care. Those whom God appointed as shepherds to the Jews had failed in their responsibility (Ezek 34).
Disciples of Jesus need to do more than lament the crowd's hunger while sending them away with nothing. See James 2:15-16 and 1 John 3:17-19. Disciples are
always servants of others--called to feed the sheep and not just themselves.
v. 37 you give them something to eat - Application. How do you react when you are given an impossible task? A situation that seems impossible with human
means is simply an opportunity for God. We must do everything we can (like the disciples), then in answer to prayer, God does the impossible.
v. 37 two hundred denarii worth of bread - a Denarius was about a day's wage for a common laborer. So 200 denarii is almost a year's wages. Today we
would be talking about $10,000 -$20,000 worth of food.
v. 38 Five [loaves] and two fish - Adam Clarke wrote, "When we are deeply conscious of our own necessities, we shall be led to depend on Jesus with a firmer
faith. God often permits His servants to be brought low, that they may have repeated opportunities of proving the kindness and mercy of their gracious Lord and
Master."
v. 41 gave them to his disciples - The verbs had taken, looked, blessed, broke are all in the aorist tense in Greek, signifying instantaneous action. But the
verb gave is in the imperfect tense, showing, in contrast, that He kept giving to the disciples. It is at this point that the miracle of a multiplied supply occurred.
v. 42 they all ate and were filled - Matthew Henry wrote, "None are sent empty away from Christ, but those that come to him full of themselves."
v. 44 five thousand men - not counting women and children. This number is an amazing in light of the fact that the neighboring towns of Capernaum and
Bethsaida probably had a population of only 2,000 - 3,000 each.
Precious lessons from the feeding of the five thousand:
- Disciples of the Lord Jesus should never doubt His power to supply their needs. Matthew 6:33 "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added to you."
- How can the perishing world ever be evangelized? Jesus says, "You give them something to eat!" If we give Him what we have, however trivial it may seem,
He can multiply it in blessing to multitudes.
- He handled the work in a systematic way by seating the crowd in groups of hundreds and fifties.
- He blessed and broke the loaves and fish. Unblessed by Him, they would never have availed. Unbroken, they would have been utterly insufficient. "The reason
we are not more freely given to men is that we are not yet properly broken."
- Jesus did not distribute the food Himself. He allowed His disciples to do this. His plan is to feed the world through His people.
- There was enough for all. If believers today would put everything above current necessities into the work of the Lord, the whole world could hear the gospel
in this generation.
- The fragments that were left over were more than He started with. God is a bountiful giver. Yet notice that nothing was wasted. The surplus was gathered up.
Waste is sin.
- One of the greatest miracles would never have happened if the disciples had stuck to their plan to rest. How often that is true with us!
- This incident also emphasizes the need to combine teaching with social concern: Taught and hungry or hungry and untaught? We need both.
Next lesson, Chapter Five: The Servant's Miracles, continued
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