1 About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, 2 “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.”
4 His disciples replied, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?”
5 Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”
“Seven loaves,” they replied.
6 So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. 7 A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.
8 They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. 9 There were about 4,000 men in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten. 10 Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.
Read Mark 8:1-10 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Part way through Jesus’ ministry, the gospels of Matthew and Mark tell us about a trip away from town where the crowd has run out of food again. While the earlier miracle where Jesus fed a crowd of more than 5,000 people did not seem to be prompted by any immediate need, the miracle in this event where Jesus feeds the crowd of over 4,000 people is prompted by a clear need.
Mark introduces us to this event and this need by writing, “About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.” (v. 1-3)
I find it amazing that Jesus is the one to prompt this miracle. The crowd in this event seems pretty dedicated to Jesus because while they may have planned to spend an afternoon or a couple days with Jesus, they were so dedicated that they had stayed well past their last crumbs of food. Jesus is the one who brings out the detail that some of these people might faint on their way back home.
If one of the disciples had included this detail, we might accuse him of being melodramatic, however, since Jesus said it, we can be more certain it was a realistic concern.
This brings me to big key thought I see included in these introduction verses: Jesus is aware of our needs even if we don’t realize He is aware. While the people were allowed to get hungry while being with Jesus, He never allowed them to starve to death because of Him. These people were dedicated to Jesus above even going to get food for themselves, and because of this dedication, faith, and devotion, they experience a food-multiplying miracle.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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