My Daily Thoughts—Mark 6:37-44

Mark 6:37-44 (NKJV) Feeding the Five Thousand

(Matt. 14:13–21; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–14)

Mark 6:37-44 (NKJV) But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”

38 But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.”

39 Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. 41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. 42 So they all ate and were filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. 44 Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

V37 “But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” There is a need—the people are hungry. Jesus has often done miracles to feed people, but now He tells them to feed the people. They agreed and asked if 200 denarii worth of bread be enough? Jesus is teaching them something. Sometimes a good teacher wants the students to solve a problem or attempt to. One principle we can learn is to be aware of needs, and if possible provide for the need.

V38 “But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” In response to their question about the 200 denarii worth of bread, Jesus asks how many do you have available? Go and see. One denarius was a day’s wage. A denarius was silver and weighed about 3.9 grams/0.1375685 ounces. This works out to USD 4.25 at current prices [on 2 April 25) (https://goldpricez.com/calculator/silver-rates). The amount of food they found was 5 loaves and 2 fish. Barclay (beware) comments: “Jesus said, “What have you got?” They had five loaves. These were not like English loaves: they were more like rolls. John (John 6:9) tells us they were barley loaves; and barley loaves were the food of the poorest of the poor. Barley bread was the cheapest and the coarsest of all bread. They had two fishes, which would be about the size of sardines. Tarichaea—which means the salt-fish town—was a well-known place on the lake from which salt-fish went out to all over the world. The little salt-fishes were eaten as relish with the dry rolls.”

V39 “Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.” The delegator is in charge. He is the King. His order is to make them sit down in groups. It is up to the disciples to organize and do it.

V40 “So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.” They proceeded to sit them in groups as ranks of 50s and 100s.

V41 “And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.” Jesus takes what is available, blesses it, breaks it into pieces, and gives the pieces to the disciples. As the disciples spread out distributing the food, their basket never goes empty. It would take faith to do so. Typically, one would say, “How could this little amount feed everyone?” But they had seen Jesus do other miracles which may have strengthened their faith. They might also have brought to mind: 1 Kings 17:14-16 “For thus says the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not be used up, neither shall the jar of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth. [15] And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. [16] And the barrel of meal was not used up, neither did the jar of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Elijah” (1 Kings 17:8-16).

V42 “So they all ate and were filled.” No one was hungry. A great lesson is taught: Jesus can provide. Another authenticating sign—miraculous food (Exodus 16:11-15). Physical food is necessary, but spiritual food and drink are food for eternal life. All humans need spiritual water (the Holy Spirit and a new birth (John 3:3), John 4:10-14) and spiritual food that only the creator, Jesus, can provide (John 6:32-36). Every day we need spiritual food. This food is the Bible (Luke 4:4), which we must read and study every day for spiritual health and growth. See Psalm 19:7-10, Jeremiah 15:16, and 1 Peter 2:2.

V43 “And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.” A proof that everyone was satisfied physically.

V44 “Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.” The number of men. The Greek word for man is (G435) ἀνήρ anḗr, which means a person of male gender (XY), one who can father a child. So the total number could be twice that amount.

We learn:

If we believe and obey, who knows what God will do through us?
Jesus has authority and ability.
Jesus again gives authenticating signs.

Questions:

Are we eager to take in our spiritual food and drink every day?
Are you eager for the blessings of Messiah?