Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 1 Study # 2
August 9, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(330)
1901 ASV
8:4 And his disciples answered him, Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place?
8:5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.
8:6 And he commandeth the multitude to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he brake, and gave to his disciples, to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.
8:7 And they had a few small fishes: and having blessed them, he commanded to set these also before them.
8:8 And they ate, and were filled: and they took up, of broken pieces that remained over, seven baskets.
8:9 And they were about four thousand: and he sent them away.
8:10 And straightway he entered into the boat with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha.
- I. The Response of His Disciples.
- A. In 6:7, in the parallel passage of the Feeding of 5,000 Men, the response was "Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them [something] to eat?"
- B. Now, in this text (8:4), the response is given as, "Whence shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place?"
- 1. The translators translate "these" as "these men" most likely because the word "these" is a masculine, plural, demonstrative pronoun. This, however, is more likely an inclusive "these" (indicating men, women, and children), much like a host of biblical texts which use the masculine form to signal "everyone" (with Romans 3:23 being a classic example, and Romans 5:12 being just two of that host). This is unlike 6:44 where Mark deliberately inserts "men" (aner) into the record of the count of those who ate. And Matthew 14:21 deliberately adds "besides women and children" in his record of the Feeding of the Five Thousand "men".
- 2. Apparently, in this case, there were no surrounding villages as there were in 6:36. The word used for "desolate place" is only used in four places in the New Testament. It means a place where there are no "companions" as in "not one stone left upon another".
- a. The issue here is not "companions" in the sense of "people"; there were more than 4,000 of them.
- b. The issue here is "not even one 'thing' that could be a provision to meet the need". Needs, in Scripture, are almost universally considered in terms of whether, or not, there is some form of solution.
- 3. Thus, in the first round of this "test" of the disciples (John 6:6), the "problem" was the amount of money it would take, and in this second time around, the "problem" is the absence of available places to buy bread.
- a. The disciples magnify the problem by describing the task as "...a fattening of bread...", as seeing the need to be greater than it is (people don't need to be "fattened"; they just need to be nourished).
- b. Then, they add to their "despair" the words "upon a deserted place" (at least, in the first go-around, there were places where bread could be purchased -- though providing the amount necessary for 5,000 men plus women and children would be a task beyond ability in any number of village "bakeries").
- C. The "heart" of this response is in the way these disciples phrase their objection: "Whence is anyone enabled...?" It is almost as if the disciples are going "backwards" rather than gaining ground in understanding Jesus, as to His "might". This response is even less than that of the leper of 1:40.
- 1. Mark's central thesis regarding Jesus is that He is the "Mighty Coming One" of the Baptizer's preaching (1:7). For seven chapters, this has been Mark's thesis and the basis for his records of healings beyond counting and exorcisms beyond opposition.
- a. In Mark's choice of words for "mighty" (iscuros), there is the distinguishing characteristic of "inherent (built-in) might" in respect to the particular "problem" that has surfaced.
- b. Mark's thesis has always been that Jesus is The "Mighty" One. This is the concept of infinite "might" which acknowledges no significant "problem": omnipotent (Revelation 19:6, where the word used is "pantokrator").
- 2. This entire episode is reminiscent of King Asa in 2 Chronicles 14:9-15 compared with 16:1-10.
- 3. Why is Mark's record a record of disciples who seem to be completely "blind" to the significance of their experiences?
- a. There may be a partial answer to this question in Mark's presentation of the enormous task of "The Servant of God" in overcoming the Sin that has so corrupted the hearts and minds of men that even dedicated "disciples" do not find deliverance through their "dedication". Their deliverance comes from the great "might" of the "Beloved Son" whose Markan task is to deliver men from all of their "fears" regarding "being considered "worthless" and/or "hopelessly incapable" -- the ONE thing the spirit of man seems to be unable to abide. The "arrogance of functional capacity" (1 John 2:16) is the bottom line in the hearts and minds of creatures who do not believe in "the love of The God for them".
- b. For such "blind" men, the key truth is: "your incapacity is beside the point altogether". Against the commitment of men to prove themselves "mighty" stands Paul's revelations from God that "...power is perfected in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9) and God chose the weak... to shame the "mighty" (1 Corinthians 1:27).