13: Feeding the four thousand – Mark 8:1-26

8In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, ² “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.
³ If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.” ⁴ His disciples replied, “How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?” ⁵ He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” ⁶ Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. ⁷ They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed. ⁸ They ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. ⁹ Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. ¹⁰ And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha. 

The demand for a sign

¹¹ The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. ¹² And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³ And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side. 

The yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod

¹⁴ Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
¹⁶ They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” ¹⁷ And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸ Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears, and fail to hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.” ²⁰ “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven.”
²¹ Then he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” 

Jesus cures a blind man at Bethsaida

²² They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. ²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” ²⁴ And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” ²⁵ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ Then he sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.” NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Where is Jesus as this chapter opens? What is going on at this point? How does Jesus respond to the situation? How do the disciples react to Jesus?

2. What does Jesus end up doing? How does this incident compare to the earlier feeding miracle, [check Mk 6:30-44]? What does Jesus do next?

3. Who confronts Jesus next? What do they seek? Why do they want this? How does Jesus respond to this situation? How do you think the Pharisees felt about Jesus’ response? How does Mark’s version of this incident differ from Matthew’s, [see Notes]?

4. What happens in the boat? What does Jesus say in response? How do the disciples deal with Jesus’ admonition? What does Jesus say in response? What point is he trying to make with the disciples? How do you suppose they felt about the questions?

5. Where does Jesus go next? Who approaches him? How does Jesus respond to their request? What does Jesus do with the man? What does Jesus tell him to do next?

Get Personal

How has God helped you understand what his Kingdom is really about? Have there been times when you’ve focused on the stuff of this world and missed the truth God was trying to tell you? What helped you change your focus?

(cross-references to Matthew and Luke are given in brackets)

8:1-10. Feeding the 4,000 — Matthew places this miracle after a day of healing by the Sea of Galilee, [Matt 15:32-39]. His version is almost identical to Mark’s, although Matthew describes the crowd as four thousand men . . . in addition to all the women and children.
Luke does not include this incident.
8:8. Baskets — the Greek word here is different than the one in feeding the 5,000. This “basket” is actually larger than the earlier one, so it could be that even more food was left over.
8:10. Dalmanutha (also Mageda or Magdala) — probably one of the towns in Galilee near the Ten Towns mentioned earlier.
8:11-13. A miraculous sign — Matthew includes this incident, but does not link it to the feeding of the 4,000. Matthew also says the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven, [Matt 16:1]. He reports Jesus’ response differently as well: He answered them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is read and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot

interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah,” [Matt 16:2-4].
Luke does not include this incident.
8:11. Sign from heaven — Moses told the Israelites to see if a promised sign actually takes place as a way of determining if the prophet was from God, [Deut 1:3-5 and 18:20-22].
Sign of Jonah, [Matt 16:4] — Jesus is previewing his death and resurrection, which was the most miraculous sign of all.
8:14-21. Yeast of the Pharisses and of Herod — Matthew’s version of this exchange tracks with Marks, except that Matthew says Jesus reminded the disciples of the feeding miracles without asking the questions, and then reports that the disciples understood Jesus was talking about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees, [Matt 16:12].
Luke does not include this incident.
8:16. Yeast . . . bread — once again the disciples are focusing on things of this world, and missing Jesus’ point about false teaching.
8:22-26. Healing the blind man — only Mark includes this incident. Although there are many theories about the two-stage healing, there is no conclusive explanation of Jesus’ actions.