Mark 8:1-10 NAS

In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus summoned His disciples and *said to them, 2 “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me for three days already 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 a great distance.” 4 And His disciples replied to Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” 5 And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” 6 And He *directed the people to recline on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve, and they served them to the people. 7 They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He told the disciples to serve these as well. 8 And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. 9 About four thousand [e]men were there; and He dismissed them. 10 And immediately He got into the boat with His disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

I’ll be honest, I forget sometimes that there is the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand. The feeding of the five thousand has a bigger number so I usually remember that and not the four thousand, but today I would like to talk about the feeding of the four thousand, and one story after that. The story starts out by saying that there was a large crowd of four thousand who were following and listening to Jesus. They had been following for three days without food.

I want to stop quick and highlight the fact that there were four thousand people. Sometimes big numbers become a statistic and you forget how big they are. So, stop for a moment and think about how many that is. For example, in Minnesota the average number of students in a school district is about two thousand five hundred through 13 grades! It’s almost double that number of people. That’s a lot!

That crowd had been following Jesus for three days without food. The fact that there were four thousand still there is amazing. They wanted to learn so much they went three days without food, and they still were trying to learn even with hunger getting worse every moment. The chapter also says that if they sent the people home they would faint. The disciples asked Jesus where they would find enough food. Of course, like before, Jesus asks how many loaves of bread they have, and after that proceeds to feed everyone with seven loaves and a few fish.

What I find as an interesting detail is that he didn’t give them just enough to keep them going but it says that he gave enough for them to be satisfied. Which probably means more than one loaf per person. That means he took 7 loaves of bread and made it into at least four thousand loaves if not eight thousand. To give some statistics, that’s probably over a thousand times what they started with. That blows my mind!

A few verses later Jesus and the Disciples are in a boat but they have forgotten to take any of the bread they had just gotten from Jesus feeding the four thousand.

Mark 8:13-22

And leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side. 14 And the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. 15 And He was giving orders to them, saying, “Watch out! Beware of the [k]leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, *said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet comprehend or understand? Do you still have your heart [l]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 broken pieces you picked up?” They *said to Him, “Twelve.” 20 “When I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?” And they *said to Him, “Seven.” 21 And He was saying to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

The disciples start talking about how they have no bread. This is only a little after Jesus has just provided for four thousand yet they are concerned about not having food. That’s crazy! They just saw him provide yet it’s as if they’ve forgotten. Jesus notices them talking about this and points out that he provided for the five thousand then the four thousand. He then tells them “Do you not understand?” That is a great question. Do we understand? I’d encourage you to go read those few verses again as I think it’s better put there.

Jesus provided for them when they needed it as he will also provide for us when we need it. Let’s try and remember this in our daily lives.