Jesus feeds the Five Thousand – Mark 6: 30-34,53-56
Jesus’ debriefs the disciples (v.30). In 3:20, Jesus has no time to eat; here (v.32) neither do the disciples: such is Jesus’ popularity as healer and wonder-worker. Note Mark’s emphasis on the crowd: many recognize them (vv. 33, 55), hurry to meet them as they disembark, are “like sheep without a shepherd” (v.34, aimless leaderless); they rush here and there bringing the sick; they beg Jesus (v.56). He has compassion on them, begins to teach them, and heals the sick.
In vv. 35-44, Jesus feeds five thousand people in this “deserted place” (v. 36, literally desert). Jesus says to the disciples, “You give them something to eat”. He continues to train them to carry out his mission, but they take what he says literally. This event recalls God’s feeding his people in the wilderness; it points forward to their expectation of life in God’s kingdom: a banquet at which the Messiah will preside. In vv. 45-52, Jesus walks on water, further demonstrating his divine power – here over unruly seas.
The fringes on Jesus’ cloak (v. 56) show that he obeys God’s commandments. In touching his cloak, the sick make him ritually unclean, but those who touch him are “healed”, made well – and have their sins forgiven. In the following verses, Mark tells us that the religious authorities are more concerned with legalistic ritual purity than with the needs of the common people.
© 1996-2022 Chris Haslam
.Blessings, Reverend Lyndon
Prayer of the Day
Eternal God, author of our life and end of our pilgrimage: guide us by your word and Spirit amid all perils and temptations, that we may not wander from your way, but may run our course in safety until we come to our eternal rest in you; through the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.