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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Mark 6:35 - 6:38
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Testing the disciples:
v. 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.
v. 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.
v. 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?
v. 38. He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? Go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
In this story, as in many others, the Holy Spirit has permitted the evangelist to record such parts of the conversation as he remembered. The hour had advanced very far, it was late in the day, when the disciples thought it their duty to interfere and to remind the Master of the necessity of taking care of the body also. There is a certain amount of impatience contained in the address to Jesus: The place is uninhabited, and the hour is advanced. He should dismiss them; they could go to the farmhouses and the little villages situated within a radius of a few miles and buy themselves something to eat. Jesus takes the opportunity of testing their trust in His ability to help in this emergency. He urges them to take care of the unbidden guests; by skillful questioning He brings out the fact that they have been figuring the number of loaves that might be bought for two hundred denarii (between thirty-three and thirty-four dollars), that they have found the provisions on hand to amount to five loaves of bread and two fish. The concern of the disciples at the inquiry of Jesus is illuminating as showing the weakness of their faith.