hotcoffee
New Member
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
There are a lot of commentaries comparing the size of the crowd, the left over baskets, the size of the baskets, the number and size of the fishes, and even the particulars of the wording. I'll leave all that for the preachers to sift through for now.
The point is, those people were in a spot where they had not been near other provisions for 3 days. They had to be hungry. When Jesus fed the 5000 it was late in the day. Now it had been 3 days. The crowd had to have used up all the resources they had. Jesus had enough to feed the 4000 with even more left over.
On first reading.... the questioning from the Pharisees seems to be stupid. After all, Jesus had healed the sick, fed the multitude, turned water into wine, walked on water.... most importantly God Himself had spoken when Jesus was Baptized in the river.....and they wanted a sign from Heaven.
But... The Pharisees were saying something quite different here. They had the history written in their books [well scrolls]. God had allowed Moses to do great feats when He allowed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. They wanted Jesus to do some sort of feat like tap a rock and produce water, split the sea, or turn a staff into a serpent.
Jesus "sighed deeply and said" [paraphrased to the max] I'm not going to be showing that kind of hocus pocus for you.
People still don't get it.... are you acting like a Pharisee? Are you still testing Him?
Mark 8:1 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”
4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”
5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied.
6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, 10 he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.
11 The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. 12 He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” 13 Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side
4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”
5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied.
6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, 10 he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.
11 The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. 12 He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.” 13 Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side
There are a lot of commentaries comparing the size of the crowd, the left over baskets, the size of the baskets, the number and size of the fishes, and even the particulars of the wording. I'll leave all that for the preachers to sift through for now.
The point is, those people were in a spot where they had not been near other provisions for 3 days. They had to be hungry. When Jesus fed the 5000 it was late in the day. Now it had been 3 days. The crowd had to have used up all the resources they had. Jesus had enough to feed the 4000 with even more left over.
On first reading.... the questioning from the Pharisees seems to be stupid. After all, Jesus had healed the sick, fed the multitude, turned water into wine, walked on water.... most importantly God Himself had spoken when Jesus was Baptized in the river.....and they wanted a sign from Heaven.
But... The Pharisees were saying something quite different here. They had the history written in their books [well scrolls]. God had allowed Moses to do great feats when He allowed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. They wanted Jesus to do some sort of feat like tap a rock and produce water, split the sea, or turn a staff into a serpent.
Jesus "sighed deeply and said" [paraphrased to the max] I'm not going to be showing that kind of hocus pocus for you.
People still don't get it.... are you acting like a Pharisee? Are you still testing Him?