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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Mark 6:39 - 6:44
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The feeding:
v. 39. And He commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
v 40. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties.
v. 41. And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, He Looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided He among them all.
v. 42. And. they did. all eat and were filled.
v. 43. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.
v. 44. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.
Nothing could be more expressive than the contrast afforded here between the helpless puttering of the disciples and the cool, majestic bearing of Christ in taking charge of the situation. He had the disciples give orders that all should recline on the grass in orderly groups, for just at this place there was a meadow near the shore of the lake. And they sat down in groups as in garden squares, as orderly as Rowers planted in rows a fine bit of vivid description. Then Jesus, taking the five loaves and the two fishes, and having looked up to heaven, spoke the blessing upon the food. Note: He broke the bread and passed it on for distribution; He divided the fishes and had them taken to all in a similar way; under His hands the amount of food grew. The miracle is mentioned by all four evangelists, and was one that could not be counterfeited, a secret supply being out of the question. It is a full proof for the divinity of Christ. All ate, and all had enough to eat. And not only that: when the fragments were gathered into the large carrying baskets used by the people of Palestine, twelve of these were filled. And the number of those that had eaten is expressly stated, it being so easy to count them as they sat in groups: five thousand men, without women and children.