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Mark 8.1-21

¹ In 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. ³ And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.” ⁴ Then His disciples answered Him, “How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?” ⁵ He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” ⁶ So 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. ⁷ They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. ⁸ So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. ⁹ Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, ¹⁰ immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

¹¹ Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. ¹² But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.”

¹³ And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. ¹⁴ Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
¹⁶ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.” ¹⁷ But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” ²⁰ “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.” ²¹ So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”

Jesus has concern to fill the material need of those who had followed him into the desert and so for three days they had been with him and at some point the food that the majority had would have run out. There were still a few stale loaves of bread left, the kind you would eat on a Sunday evening when the stores are closed unless you are willing to trek all the way across town to the 24hr Spar in City Rd – which of course, we never do…!

Some would have travelled more than 3 days depending on where they had come from. Either way, in the heat of the desert and in the cold of the night your energy is soon sapped away and for me it is surprising that they could keep going this long. Anyhow they find that there are 7 loaves left and he got the people to sit down and even had a few smelly fish – which I am surprised they were carrying around – perhaps they were small enough to carry in some water or something but I am certain that I would not want to eat them.

And as is customary there was a thanksgiving and a blessing and then he just began to share it out. This no doubt is reminiscent of Elijah’s day when he was with the widow of Zarephath in

1 Kings 17. 7 [page 321] Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9“Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.” 10So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” 11As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

12“As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

13Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.’”

15She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

– and it probably did not escape the notice of some this simile. We even find in Mark 8.28 that some thought that he might even be that prophet Elijah.

I wonder what was going on in the minds of those who ate – it was a miracle right before their eyes – were they just so hungry that spiritually they didn’t perceive – if the disciples thought that there could never be enough bread to go round surely those who received the bread would have thought so too – this miracle was about as obvious as it could get – it is impressive to feed so many people. Whilst sat down could they see Jesus breaking the bread and the fish? How long, do you suppose, it took Jesus to break enough fragments for that many people? These people must have seen – the disciples definitely had – I bet that bread was the best bread they had ever tasted.

Or perhaps the simile is not with Elijah but with Moses who was used to give them manna in the desert – is Mark alluding to something about Jesus – that Elijah is like Jesus, and that Moses is like Jesus and vice versa – Elijah was sent to a gentile in her time of need and the flour and the oil did not run out but the woman had to put her faith in Elijah to start with as she had to make him a cake with what she had left. Moses was sent to the Jews in their time of need and they were provided with manna even though they did not have faith for it moaning and groaning all the time, never satisfied. This crowd that Jesus fed had both Jews and Gentiles, the faithful and faithless. Amazing isn’t it that he still provides even when we do not do trust him.

What does Scripture say but to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things will be given too.

Jesus had revealed who he was – he was like Elijah, he was like Moses – he provided at their time of need – no one but God could do such things. He had revealed himself to be the Son of God.

Shortly after this he encounters the Pharisees and here they were asking for a sign from Heaven – I mean, what more did they want? They did not believe their eyes or the ears. Jesus sighing deeply: what is that about? Do you suppose that it was because he was grieved at their unbelieving? There is no rejoicing over lost souls but grief for them for their lot could be life eternal and yet it was spurned for this temporary world. How we can be like these Pharisees – not seeing, not hearing, not doing, and not believing – all because they want things their own way rejecting what is best for the appearance of what is good.

Then on the way across the lake Jesus is a little cryptic about the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod meaning the doctrine of both. Leaven in the bible does not get a good press – when it is time for the Passover, even today, they hunt for any leaven in the house and purge it of it – it is symbolic of evil - and in the same way we should be seeking out this leaven in ourselves and purging ourselves of it whilst at the same time being on the guard of it in others – just a little yeast and the whole bread rises and permeates it – BEWARE of it, Jesus said for it can pervade our lives and our fellowship – watch out – that’s why as a Church we believe in accountability to one another – none of us are perfect – none of us have got it completely right and we need to be open to correction so that the fellowship can survive.

We also need to be clear about doctrines; that they are important and should be defended at all costs in love but not at the defacing of truth. Jesus thought it was important, Paul thought it was important, Jude thought it was important and so we, too, think, it is important.

And one doctrine above all others cannot be devalued and that is: there is no other name given among men whereby we MUST be saved (Acts 4:12). My translation of the Greek says: And there is not in another, not even one, Salvation, for there is not a different name under Heaven given among men in which it is necessary that we are to be saved. This verse is SO emphatic – it is not a name whereby we can be saved – but a name where it is so definitely and necessary that we must be saved. That means that Jesus is exclusive – so it matters what we think for going our way is the wide road to destruction. There is one way and one way only.

And then the stupid disciples as that is how they are portrayed in the first 8 chapters of Mark, for we are looking in on them thinking, Oh Come on! It is as plain as your faces but no – they just do not get it – they think Jesus is really, actually, criticising them for not taking bread! These disciples are as blind and deaf as the Pharisees asking for a sign from Heaven and yet these disciples had seen very clearly how many baskets they filled with the fragments of bread and fish. Wake Up!

It is easy to be critical for we do not know how we would have responded if we had been there and sometimes we are dim-witted too – having all the evidence of God’s care for us at every step yet still not trusting for the next one. So you think that you are in control? Do you not remember? Remembering what God has done for you is crucial for having faith in God for what he is going to do. The problem is we easily forget. The Jews have festivals every year to remember the great things that God has done – and we also should keep a record so that we can go back to it from time to time.

There are many things that can be said but these shall suffice: Jesus cares for our temporal needs, we have to watch what we believe and lastly we need to remember God’s faithfulness to us in the past – he has a good track record – that means we have hope for the future.

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