I was planning on covering the healing of the blind man today, following the theme of healings in chapters 7 and 8 but after studying it more, it makes more sense to place it next week. So, if you read Wednesday's, I lied when I said I'd cover the healing of the blind man today. 😕 sorry
Mark 6:30–44
30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered 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 it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
This account immediately follows the account of Herod's banquet in which he is duped into executing John the Baptist. Mark positions this banquet of Jesus' community here as a contrast to the banquet of rulers like Herod. Herod's banquet is to celebrate himself on his birthday; Jesus' banquet was forced upon him by a crowd that was desperate to be with him and motivated by compassion for the crowd which was like sheep without a shepherd. Herod's was for only the elites; Jesus' was open to everyone in the open air. Herod's banquet ended in an unjust death; Jesus' banquet ends with life-giving sustenance for the crowd.
Jesus calls the disciples to withdraw with him to a desolate place and rest awhile. Again, Mark notes that Jesus doesn't demand constant work of his disciples. He himself practices a pattern of withdraw and return, as we saw in chapter 3. He also calls his disciples to this pattern of life.
As the hour grows late the disciples are concerned with a very practical reality—how will all these people eat? Jesus turns down their idea of letting the people go to the neighboring villages to eat, which is a reasonable suggestion. Instead he tells the disciples to feed them. This would cost 200 denarii in their estimation (a denarii was a day's wage for a laborer, so almost a whole year's worth of income). They almost certainly don't have that.
Dividing up the crowd into groups of hundreds and fifties may have simply been utilitarian, but it also may have reflected Moses' division of the people in the desert into thousands, five-hundreds, hundreds, and tens (Ex. 18:25). This coupled with the miracle of multiplying food certainly recalls God's provision for the Israelites in the desert.
The early church also saw a parallel between this event and the Last Supper (14:22). Both events involved taking bread, blessing, breaking, and giving to the disciples. So this event ties together the covenants and the testaments, making a profound theological statement—Jesus is the bread of life as John's gospel states (John 6:35) after John's account of this event. He is the manna in the desert that sustained the Israelites and he is the bread of life that gives life to the world (John 6:25-59). So our life isn't found in bread that perishes but in Jesus, in whom when we eat we will "never go hungry" and "never grow thirsty" (John 6:35).
Notice as well Jesus chooses to use the measly five loaves and two fish. Jesus could certainly have performed a miracle without these, like the devil tempts him to do in the wilderness temptation (Matt. 4:1-11). He also didn't need the disciples to administer the food here. Over the next few days we will see that they lacked understanding of the significance of this event. This whole event is a picture of the church. Jesus taking and multiplying our measly gifts (financial, etc) and abilities, even though we don't fully get it, to accomplish his mission.
The word "all" is significant here as well. It's almost certain that in this group of 5,000+ (the word "men" implies only males and there were certainly women and children present as well) there were many Gentiles who didn't practice the kosher dietary laws of the OT. Under the Law they would not be permitted to eat together. Note Jesus doesn't divide them up by Jew-Gentile, so they could eat separately. They "all" ate and were satisfied. Again, this is a picture of the Lord's Table and the inclusion of the Gentiles in the people of God which would require the fulfillment of the dietary laws.
They also pick up 12 basketfuls of food left over. We've already discussed the significance of the number 12 in a previous devotional.
This devotional is already long but there are a number of cues in the text that suggest the crowd was less of a tame group of families (as our childhood stories indicate), and more of a large band of people hoping to start a military uprising with Jesus as their king. John's gospel makes explicit note of this (John 6:15). But Jesus' actions here and his later comments in John won't allow it. Their misunderstanding of the Messiah will not be forced on him. Instead of a military leader Messiah, Jesus is the humble, suffering servant who will soon give his life as a ransom for many.