Mark 8:1–10
Mark 6:34–44
1 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.
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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.
Because of the similarities between this event and the feeding of the 5k in chapter 6 many scholars believe this is a duplicate account of that same event. However the differences are just as numerous and suggest this to be a separate event. I've highlighted the similarities and differences in the parallels above. I didn't include the obvious similarities like the multiplication of food, etc. The display on a computer will show these side by side if you have that option available to you.
In those days places this event during Jesus' travel in the Decapolis, on the east side of the sea of Galilee, whereas the feeding of the 5k was likely on the north side of the sea between Bethsaida and Capernaum. This event occurred in a more Gentile territory then.
Again, it is said that Jesus has compassion on the crowd. As we've already seen in a previous devotional from chapter 1 compassion is an attribute of God, the first in his self declaration of himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6.
The comment of the disciples in v. 4 is what leads many scholars to question this account. After witnessing the previous event of feeding the 5k how could they still be questioning Jesus' ability to feed all these people? That's a fair question but there are a few points that make it more plausible. First, the general theme in chapters 6-8 has largely been the disciple's "blindness" in the face of the obvious. So it shouldn't surprise us that they could be so dull here. In tomorrow's and Thursday's devotional we will see this theme come to a peak. Secondly, remember we are getting snapshots of Jesus' life and ministry here. Even from those, we know that Jesus regularly drew a large crowd and did not perform a miraculous multiplication of food. As far as we know this only occurred 2x in his 3 year ministry. So on all of those other occasions the crowd was fed through natural means. Thirdly, in our passage tomorrow we will see the Pharisees demanding a sign from Jesus to test him. This, Jesus condemns. So with this in view it would likely be presumptuous of the disciples to assume Jesus would do another miracle.
The description of the blessing in 6:41 in the feeding of the 5k is the common Jewish formula for praying before a meal (eulogeō, "to bless"), whereas in v. 6 of our text here it is the common Gentile formula (eucharistō, "to give thanks") along with pronouncing a blessing (v.7).
Again, noting the difference between the two events, they pick up 7 baskets full instead of 12. It's no coincidence that these are two of the most significant numbers in the OT Scriptures. Whereas the 12 symbolizes the 12 tribes of Israel and God's perfect reign on earth, 7 usually symbolizes wholeness or completion. The number seven is the same Hebrew word for Sabbath. The entire storyline of the Bible can be thought of as a return to the 7th day rest of creation. So here it likely symbolizes the completion and wholeness accomplished by bringing in the fullness of the Gentiles to the people of God, moving all of creation towards the 7th day Sabbath rest. Jesus will emphasize this number again in the devotional for tomorrow.
Similar to the feeding of the 5k for the Jews, the point here is that Jesus is the bread of life given to the Gentiles bringing about the eternal 7th day Sabbath rest era by the inauguration of God's Kingdom.