30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. 31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. 32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. 33 And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him. 34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
35 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: 36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. 37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? 38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
39 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. 40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. 41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. 42 And they did all eat, and were filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. 44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men. Compare:
Matthew 14:13-21; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14
Loaves and Fishes
The story of how Jesus fed five thousand men (were there no women or children there, or did they just not get anything to eat?) with just five loaves of bread and two fishes has always been one of the most popular gospel tales. It is certainly an engaging and visual tale â€" and the traditional interpretation of people seeking “spiritual†food also receiving sufficient material food is naturally appealing to ministers and preachers.
The story begins with a gathering of Jesus and his apostles who returned from the travels he sent them on at verse 6:13. Unfortunately we don’t learn anything about what they did, and there are no extant records of any alleged followers of Jesus preaching or healing in the region.
The events in this story take place some time after they had engaged in their work, yet how much time has passed? This isn’t stated and people usually treat the gospels as if they all occurred during a rather compressed time frame, but to be fair we should assume that they were apart some months â€" travel alone was time-consuming.
Now they wanted a chance to chat and tell each other what was going on â€" only natural after an extended absence â€" but wherever they were, it was too busy and crowded, so they sought someplace quieter. The crowds continued to follow them, however. Jesus is said to have perceived them as “sheep without a shepherd†â€" an interesting description, suggesting that he thought they needed a leader and were unable to lead themselves.
There is more symbolism here that goes beyond the food itself. First the story references the feeding of others in the wilderness: God’s feeding of the Hebrews after they were freed from bondage in Egypt. Here, Jesus is trying to free people from the bondage of sin.
Second, the story relies heavily on 2 Kings 4:42-44 where Elisha miraculously feeds one hundred men with just twenty loaves of bread. Here, however, Jesus surpasses Elisha by feeding far more people with even less. There are many examples in the gospels of Jesus repeating a miracle from the Old Testament, but doing so in a larger and grander style that is supposed to point to Christianity’s surpassing Judaism.
Third, the story references the Last Supper when Jesus breaks bread with this disciples just before he is to be crucified. Anyone and everyone is welcomed to break bread alongside Jesus because there will always be enough. Mark, though, doesn’t make this explicit and it’s possible that he didn’t intend for this connection to be made, despite how popular it would become in Christian tradition.
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