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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Mark 6:30 - 6:44
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_6:30-44
30The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. 31And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) 32They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves. 33The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. 34When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. 35When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, "This place is desolate and it is already quite late; 36send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat." 37But He answered them, "You give them something to eat!" And they said to Him, "Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?" 38And He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go look!" And when they found out, they said, "Five, and two fish." 39And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. 40They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. 42They all ate and were satisfied, 43and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. 44There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.
Mar_6:30 "The apostles" This is the only use of the term in Mark's Gospel. Usually he calls them "disciples." "Apostle" comes from a Greek word meaning "to send" (apostellô). Jesus chose twelve of His disciples to be with Him in a special sense and called them "apostles" (cf. Luk_6:13). This verb is often used of Jesus being sent from the Father (cf. Mat_10:40; Mat_15:24; Mar_9:37; Luk_9:48; Joh_4:34; Joh_5:24; Joh_5:30; Joh_5:36-38; Joh_6:29; Joh_6:38-40; Joh_6:57; Joh_7:29; Joh_8:42; Joh_10:36; Joh_11:42; Joh_17:3; Joh_17:8; Joh_17:18; Joh_17:21; Joh_17:23; Joh_17:25; Joh_20:21). In Jewish sources, the term was used of someone sent as an official representative of another, similar to "ambassador." They functioned on this mission trip as surrogates of Jesus. Their power and authority was delegated.
▣ "they reported to Him" This was part of Jesus' training. He taught them, showed them how, sent them out, and debriefed them. This is how they learned. See Robert Coleman's The Master Plan of Evangelism, which documents and implements Jesus' training of His disciples/apostles.
Mar_6:31 As Jesus needed to get away from the press of the crowd (cf. Mar_3:20), now so did His disciples. People were coming to be helped twenty-four hours a day. Their training was not complete. They needed some privacy and some time!
Mar_6:32 "boat" This word usually refers to a large fishing trawler, which would hold up to thirteen men (cf. Mat_4:21-22; Mat_8:23; Act_21:2-3), but is also used of smaller boats (cf. Luk_5:2).
Mar_6:33 "ran there together on foot from all the cities" Can you imagine a huge crowd of the sick, lame, and curious people running along the shore? These people were desperate.
Mar_6:34 "He felt compassion for them" Jesus always had time for needy people (cf. Mat_9:36).
▣ "like sheep without a shepherd" This metaphor has an OT basis (cf. Num_27:17; Eze_34:5; Zechariah 13). This may be a veiled allusion to Jesus' words in John 10.
▣ "He began to teach" Jesus' response to the needs of the crowd was His teaching. They needed spiritual wholeness, not just physical restoration. Jesus met both needs (cf. Mat_14:14).
Mar_6:35 "'This place is desolate'" This is the "secluded" place of Mar_6:31.
Mar_6:37 "'You give them something to eat'" Jesus was testing the disciples' faith. They accurately assessed the problem, now meet it!
▣ "two hundred denarii" A denarius was a day's wage for a common laborer (cf. Mat_20:2) or soldier.
Mar_6:38 "'Five, and two fish'" They did not even have enough for themselves. Jesus was using this opportunity to show the disciples that what they have was enough and more if it was given to Him and if they trust Him!
Mar_6:39 "sit down by groups" This idiom (i.e., literally sumpinô, sumpinô, company, company) implied "get ready to eat!" Jesus seems to order the disciples to get the crowd organized for food distribution in a normal formation.
▣ "on the green grass" This is an eyewitness detail of Peter. This would also imply a time close to the Passover Feast in the spring.
Mar_6:41 "looking up toward heaven" The common physical position for Jewish prayer was standing with the arms and head raised and eyes open. Jesus was showing that the source of His authority was the heavenly Father.
▣ "broke. . .He kept giving" This is an aorist tense and an imperfect tense. The miracle of multiplication occurred in Jesus' hands.
The parallel in John 6 makes the theological expectations of this crowd explicit. The Jews of Jesus' day expected the Messiah to provide food for them as Moses did during the wilderness wanderings (cf. Joh_6:30-40). Jesus is giving them the very sign they requested, but they could not, or would not, see it.
Mar_6:42 This statement is used in the Septuagint (i.e., the Greek translation of the OT) for the OT people of God being filled by the manna and quail (cf. Psa_78:29; Psa_105:40). This OT theme is developed in Joh_6:30-40, where Jesus fulfills the rabbinical expectation of providing food as Moses did. Jesus is the new Moses; His deliverance is the new exodus; and He brings the new age of abundance (cf. Psa_132:15; Isa_49:10).
Mar_6:43 "twelve full baskets of the broken pieces and also of the fish" This shows that Jesus did not perform miracles for their daily food. They had to conserve what they had for future meals.
Some commentators (William Barclay) deny the miraculous element and assert that the boy shared his lunch (cf. Joh_6:9) and that others in the crowd saw it and shared their lunches. If so, where did the twelve baskets left over come from? Our biases affect interpretation in the same way the biases of the people of Jesus' day affected them!
Mar_6:44 "five thousand men" This was a long run (cf. Mar_6:33) and a desolate place (cf. Mar_6:32). There probably were not many women and children. We do not know the exact size of the crowd. It was huge!