Explanatory Notes -- Mark 6:30-56

Filling in some gaps in my written notes on Mark.

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Feeding the Five Thousand

30. And the apostles are gathered together to Jesus and they told him all the things that they did and that they taught. 31. And he says to them, “Come, you yourselves privately into a deserted place and rest a little.” For those coming and going were many, and they did not even have the time to eat. 32. And they went away in a boat to a deserted place privately.

Jesus has sent out his apprentices. They have done a practicum. Now comes the report to their master. Despite their lack of understanding, despite the deficiencies in their faith, they have seen healings and exorcisms like Jesus himself did. It gives hope to us today. If the disciples could do it, so can we. It must have given hope to the audience of Mark as well, who may have faced their own faith challenges in the challenging times of the late 60s.

Contemporary readers are quick to point out the need for Sabbath and recovery. Jesus and the disciples do not take prolonged vacations, but they do try to hit the pause button and retreat. They are rarely successful because of the immensity of the need. So it is often in ministry.

Nevertheless, they at least try to retreat. They try to rest. The Sea of Galilee is often the only hope. They have not even been able to eat. They get in a boat and try to get away for a bit.

33. And they saw them departing and many recognized and on foot ran from every city there and they came before them. 34. And having gone out, he saw a great crowd and had compassion on them, because they were as sheep who did not have a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35. And already the hour having become much, having gone to them, his disciples were saying, “This place is deserted, and already the hour much. 36. Release them so that they, having gone away into the surrounding fields and villages, might buy for themselves what they might eat.

Even though Jesus is the Son of God, the crowds win. They find them. It is worth pausing to notice the extent to which Jesus' omnipotence--his all-powerfulness as the second person of the Trinity--is not manifested in the Gospel of Mark. He is unable to get people to stop telling about his healings. He is unable to heal in Nazareth. He is unable to get away from the crowds. We can suppose that he could have done these things, but he chooses to play by the fully human rules.

He has great compassion for them. They are like sheep without a shepherd. They have no sense of meaning or purpose. How many people are like that in the world today! God wants to give meaning and purpose to their lives, just as Jesus did to these seemingly powerless crowds.

He begins in this case by teaching them about the kingdom of God. We think of what Jesus taught in the Beatitudes of Matthew 5 and Luke 6. "Blessed are the poor." So were these crowds. "Blessed are they that mourn." There was no doubt much sadness in the lives of these crowds.

"Blessed are those who are hungry." They were hungry. They had followed Jesus to a remote place without food. The disciples want Jesus to send them away. It made me think of the legendary words of Marie Antoinette in France when the people were starving: "Let them eat cake." The disciples suggest Jesus send them away to buy food somewhere.

37. And he, answering, said to them, “You give them to eat.” And they say to him, “Having gone away, are we to buy breads for two hundred denarii, and will we give to them to eat?” 38. And he says to them, “How much bread do you have? Go see.” And having known, they say, “Five, and two fish.”

Jesus tells the disciples to feed them. They are of course flabbergasted. How on earth could they do such a thing? Where would they get two hundred denarii to buy bread for such a crowd. That's the equivalent of two hundred days' wages! The theme of the disciples' lack of understanding continues. There is no way on earth to do such a thing. But there is a way in heaven.

Jesus again gives them some experiential learning. How much bread can they find? They find five loaves and two fish. John tells us a boy had them (6:9).

39. And he ordered them [to cause] everyone to sit group by group on the green grass. 40. And they sat group by group by hundred and five hundred. 41. And having taken the five bread [loaves] and the two fish, having looked up into the sky, he blessed [them] and broke the bread [loaves] and was giving to the disciples that they might distribute to them, and he divided the two fish for all. 42. And all ate and were full, 43. and they took twelve baskets full of [bread] pieces and from the fish. 44. And those who were eating were five thousand men.

This is the only one of the miracles that Jesus performed that is mentioned in all four of the Gospels. We are told there are some five thousand men there, which might imply an even larger number if there were women and children also in the crowd. They are instructed to sit in orderly groups on the grass. The organization sounds a little like a military arrangement by hundred and five hundred.

Jesus blesses the bread. It is not surprising that many Christians have heard an overtone of the Last Supper and the Lord's supper here. Is the bread meant to be heard as an anticipation of the broken body of Christ? Certainly the Gospel of John will take it in that way.

The bread and fish multiply. The disciples distribute. Everyone is full. There are twelve baskets of leftover fragments. The number twelve was a special number for Jews. It was the number of the tribes of Israel. That number of disciple likely symbolized the restoration of Israel, and the twelve baskets of fragments may as well.

Walking on Water

45. And immediately he compelled his disciples to embark into the boat and to go ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, until he himself releases the crowd. 46. And having said farewell to them, he went away into the mountain to pray. 47. And it having become late, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he himself [was] alone on the land.

Note that the two miracles at the end of Mark 6 are truly what we would categorize today as "supernatural" miracles. An exorcism is a spiritual act. It is a miracle for sure--the transformation of the individual would be impossible from a human standpoint. A healing is a miracle as well, although healing can involve matters of the mind as well.

But the miracles at the end of Mark 6 more blatantly defy the laws of physics. "Matter can be neither created nor destroyed." When Jesus feeds the five thousand, he breaks this law. When Jesus walks on water, he defies the law of gravity.

Jesus has sent the crowd away. He has even sent his disciples away. He needs time to pray. He needs time alone. This is instructive for the Type A minister. Even Jesus tried to take time for Sabbath and retreat. He prays on a mountain, which would have been more like a foothill for those of us who have seen the Rockies or Appalachian mountains. 

48. And having seen them struggling in the rowing (for the wind was against them), around the fourth watch of the night, he goes to them, walking on the sea and he was wanting to come alongside them. 49. And they, having seen him on the sea walking, thought that he was a ghost. 50. For they all saw him and were terrified. And he immediately spoke with them, “Be encouraged! It is I. Do not fear!” 51. And he came up to them in the boat and the wind ceased. And immediately they were extremely amazed among themselves, 52. For they did not understand about the bread [loaves], but their heart was hardened.

He can see them struggling from the land. Again, if we are used to lakes like Lake Michigan or Lake Okeechobee, the Sea of Galilee does not impress, It is only twelve miles across. Jesus can see them struggling against the wind to go north toward Bethsaida. 

The fourth watch of the night was between three and six. [Incidentally, I wrote this paragraph during the fourth watch of the night.] These watches had to do with the times during which a guard or soldier might keep watch. Jesus has apparently been praying for many hours, almost to morning.

When they see Jesus on the sea, he appears something like a ghost. Presumably, it is a clear night with the stars providing an eerie light. He speaks comfort to them so that their terror level will go down. I left the word ghost here for tone. The word is phantasma. They might think of a phantasm as a disembodied spirit of someone who was dead. "Do not fear" is a common initial comment by angels to the humans to which they visit in Scripture. Here, Jesus uses the phrase to calm them in the face of the supernatural as well.

Jesus again causes the winds to cease. The theme of the disciples not understanding appears again. The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand had not sunk in. They are amazed because they do not understand the power of God that is working in Jesus. 6:52 goes so far as to say that their hearts were hardened--a startling indictment of their spiritual state.  

Gennesaret

53. And having crossed, they came to the land, to Gennesaret and they came to shore. 54. And they, having gone out of the boat, immediately recognizing him, 55. they [the people on the land] ran around all that country and began to bring around those who were ill on mats [to] where they were hearing that he was. 56. And wherever he is entering into villages or into cities or into fields, they put in the marketplaces those who were sick and they were urging him that even they might touch the edge of his garment. And as many as touched him were healed.

The Sea of Galilee was also called the Sea of Gennesaret, and there was a village on the east side of the lake called Gennesaret. It is here that the disciples and Jesus come ashore, shy of their goal of getting to Bethsaida. The lake and wind had just not cooperated. Jesus is "immediately" mobbed again. Remember that this word is one of Mark's favorites.

We get a nice summary statement of Jesus' activities here. He heals the sick and physically challenged. Those who cannot walk are brought on mats. They bring the sick to the marketplaces, a location they knew Jesus would likely visit while going through their village or city. They meet him in the fields too.

Like the woman with a hemorrhage, they have faith that if they might even touch a piece of his clothing, they will be healed. Contrast this large amount of faith that these anonymous individuals had with the difficulty his disciples seem to have in regard to faith. As many as touch Jesus are healed.