During those days another large gathering occurred and since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them, "I have a real concern for these people; because they have already been out here with me for three days and they don't have anything to eat. If I was now to dismiss them while they fast they will collapse on the way, and some of them are from places a long way away." The reply given by His disciples was, "How is anyone get enough loaves to satisfy them in this remote place?" Jesus question was: "How many loaves do you have?" Their answer was: "Seven." He told the crowd to take their places on the ground and taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, He broke them and gave them to His disciples to wait on the crowd, and this they did. They had a few small fish as well and giving thanks for these as well He told them to serve these up as well. The people ate and were satisfied and afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of left over broken pieces. About four thousand men were present. And then He dismissed them. And right away He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.
In a Nutshell
Jesus accepted His duty of care for those wanting to know about the Kingdom of God. Hunger makes people into zealots; fasting can make zealots more zealous.
Questions
What was really going on here?
Many were trying to get to hear
what Jesus had to say. And some groups were well organised. They found out
where Jesus was and got on the road to spend time listening to His teaching.
Jesus did not turn people away. But problems develop when the big crowds
gather.
John in his gospel tells us that
within this large crowd there was a group secretly at work, committed to making
Jesus into their king (6:15). He tells us that Jesus guessed what they were up
to and so He withdrew again to the
hills. By saying again, John
indicates that a pattern was emerging in the way Jesus related to the crowds.
One of the reasons John told us this was possibly due to the fact that Mark
might not have known about the danger going on behind the scenes.
A lot of people of my generation
like to prattle on about how impossible the story of the loaves and fishes is and
sure, when you stop to think about it, it is hard to believe and understand.
But remember, young Mark was telling his readers that there was not just one
feeding; this was the second time. Remember story number 42, the
first time? My hunch is that the people who were there, and the disciples who
passed the food around, did not know how Jesus fed the crowd. This is also part
of what Mark is telling us. As I said, the situation was fraught with danger -
within the crowd there were those who wanted to make Jesus their King. Jesus
knew about it. He also knew the Son of Man had not come to rely on large
crowds.
Jesus didn't do things like John
the Baptist. John had gone into the wilderness. People wanting to hear him had
travelled to the Jordan valley where he baptised. But Jesus responded to the
crowds that gathered at any place they found Him, in the towns, but also in the
lonely places like this one, even when He was trying to get away to be alone
with His disciples. He stayed in control and on this occasion that meant
feeding the crowd because He saw they were hungry.
Let's think a little about the group who wanted to crown Jesus as
their king. They were wanting to create problems with their religious leaders,
and they were also hoping they could spark a reaction from the Romans. Later
the religious leaders used the desire of some in the crowd that Jesus be King
as "evidence" to present to the Romans that He was guilty of
sedition. But Jesus wasn't taken by surprise. He knew what was going on. He did
not give this secret group of rebels His blessing.
In the list of Jesus' closest disciples (see chart in Hunches 25) there is another Simon, with a nickname - the zealot. This Simon wanted to find ways of resisting the injustices of the Romans. Such zealots thought they should give Jesus room to do His own thing and maybe He would help them generate a 'movement'. It seems they were preparing themselves by fasting. They were very committed. Later on Jesus taught that He knew this group were prepared to wait for as long it took for the kingdom of God to come in all of its power (9:1). They had decided they would be the ones ready for action when it came. They said they would follow Jesus all the way. And here they were busy in the crowd, making plans. They would be fellow-travellers with Him. But, as we know, this was not Jesus' plan.
Jesus cared for all the people who came to Him to learn about
God's Kingdom. This Rabbi might have allowed such zealots to come to Him during
their three-day fast, but their kind of total commitment was not what He asked
for. Jesus knew that such zealots will be tempted to use women and children as
camouflage to hide their schemes and get their own way. But by feeding the lot
of them, and teaching them to be content with what Our Heavenly Father gives so
generously, Jesus ended the fast and they all went on their way to their homes
with His peace. I suspect that this was as much a miracle to the disciples as
the provision of enough bread and fish to feed them all.
These
lines were first written days after the two jet liners crashed into New York's
twin towers. That will live in our memories for as long as we live. The suicide
bombers were totally committed. But their idea of total commitment is NOT what
Jesus calls for when He says those who follow Him must be willing to die. The
death we embrace in following Jesus is a death He embraced to win peace, so
that we can live at peace with God and all our neighbours. We are ambassadors
for peace, His peace. The death we accept when we follow Jesus is no attempt to
bring God's Kingdom before its time, but a refusal to serve ourselves. That is
the difference. Being willing to die for Jesus is one thing. But our task is
not to make ourselves into martyrs. Taking innocent lives is devilish. God
hates it. We must hate it too.
Yet Jesus did welcome zealots; one was numbered among His closest disciples. He respected those who, like Elijah, were willing to fast until God made Himself known to them in dangerous situations. Jesus knew that people can be extremely determined to discover God's will. We never hear Jesus chastising, or criticising, such people when they went to great lengths to hear the Word of the Lord, and to learn what God requires. We can even say that Jesus "went along with the crowd", but it was on His terms even though the crowd had mixed motivations from its different groups. His Heavenly Father had not asked Him to be boss of a 12 man security firm. When Jesus walked the roads of Galilee He was in control but not as Chief of Police.
He taught and prayed with the people, giving thanks for the little food the disciples had collected and yes, His Heavenly Father granted His request and the people went home fed. My hunch is that Jesus was "pleasantly surprised" by the provision of loads of loaves and fish. I suppose all the people had their own water bottles with them but who knows?
Read the story again, carefully. What does it tell us about Jesus' character? We can say He worried about people, about their health and well-being. He didn't send them off into the evening without a good meal. Hunger makes people tense; fasting makes zealots more zealous. Jesus understood the situation far better than the crowd, far better than the disciples, far better than those who wanted to make him King. There was constant "danger". This is the story of how He defused the danger. We know He didn't flinch from what lay ahead.