After recounting the death of John the Baptist, the sixth chapter of the Gospel According to Mark describes the return of the disciples Jesus had sent forth earlier. In keeping with the tone of the rest of the chapter, Mark does not recount any great successes in the mission work of the apostles; instead, they are described as simply reporting what they had done and taught. Noting that they had not had any time to rest, or even to eat, Jesus invited the disciples to retreat by boat to a place in the desert that would be away from the crowds for a while.
The crowds, though, would not leave them alone. According to Mark, they followed Jesus and his disciples wherever they went, like stalkers. Instead of allowing himself to become annoyed, Jesus felt "moved with compassion," and began to teach the crowds again. As the afternoon wore on, the disciples encouraged Jesus to send the crowds away, so that they would all have an opportunity to obtain food (and perhaps lodging). Surprisingly, Jesus pushed the issue of food back onto the disciples: "Give them something to eat." (verse 17). Assuming that he meant they should go to buy food for the crowd, the disciples began to calculate the practical difficulties. At that moment, Jesus interrupted them by asking how many loaves they had with them. "Five loaves and two fish," was the reply. Ordering the crowd to be divided into smaller groups, Jesus blessed the loaves and fish, and gave the food to the disciples to distribute. Everyone ate "and was filled," and twelve baskets of bread fragments and fish were gathered back up. Five thousand had been fed.
This incident is one of the few events that is recounted in all four gospels; it was clearly understood to be very important. Why would it be more important than the other amazing things Jesus did? At least one lesson of the story is that when Jesus' followers dedicate whatever meager resources they have, Jesus blesses the effort with great power. Details such as the crowd size estimate, the conclusion that everyone had been "filled," and the huge volume of leftovers, all testify to Christ's power. But how did it happen? Did food just keep appearing in the bottom of the baskets, like scarves in a magician's hat? Or did loaves appear suddenly all over the hilltop? Did the example of generosity inspire people in the crowd to quietly add their own hidden food supplies to the baskets, as the baskets were passed around?
Puzzling as the questions are to us, the mechanism of the feeding of the crowd does not really seem important to Mark. Without describing how Jesus fed all the people, Mark emphasizes Jesus' compassion, the paltry resources of his followers, Christ's insistence that his disciples should address the issue of the crowd's needs, and the disciples' amazing success when Christ is with them. Is Mark only interested in demonstrating Jesus' great power, or does Mark's account suggest an additional message to financially or numerically beleaguered churches, in times of mass hunger or disaster?
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