Bob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Mark 6:45 - 6:46

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Bob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Mark 6:45 - 6:46


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar_6:45-46

45Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. 46After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.

Mar_6:45 "Bethsaida" This city's name means "house of light." It was on the western side of the lake.

"He himself was sending the crowd away" The parallel in John 6 has so much more information about the reaction of this crowd. Mark's points are the training of the disciples and Jesus' compassion, while John's account records how Jesus fulfilled the Jewish expectations about the Messiah feeding the Jews as Moses did (i.e manna). They tried to make Him king. This shows their misunderstanding of Jesus' mission (i.e., like His disciples, His family, and the religious leaders).

Mar_6:46 "He left for the mountain to pray" Jesus had a regular prayer time. This is especially obvious in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus knew this miracle would be misunderstood. As He did not want to become a healer, He did not want to become a feeder (cf. Joh_6:15). He came to reveal the Father, but the crowd could not or would not see. In a sense this was a fulfillment of the temptation of Satan in the wilderness of tempting people with bread (i.e., supernatural feedings, cf. Mat_4:3-4).