Mark 8:1-5

Mark 8:1 (KJB)
In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them,

The phrase “in those days” probably refers to the fact that Jesus was doing ministry in the area of Decapolis which was predominantly Gentile territory. Whenever Jesus was in the area, He had drawn tremendously big crowds because everyone was bringing someone to Him to be healed plus the people were anxious to hear the true Gospel being preached to them. As usual, the people came out to see Jesus but had neglected to bring any provisions. Jesus then calls His disciples over to Him and gets ready to tell them that the multitude has no food.

Mark 8:2 (KJB)
I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat:

So we see that the crowd has been with Jesus for three days. He knew that the people were so joyful because of so many who had become healed that when they arrived, it was in haste and they probably never packed any food to take along with them. Here the caring of Jesus comes to light as He knows the crowd has been with Him for three days and had nothing to eat. It seemed the people were more concerned about their spiritual well-being than their physical. Too bad more Christians are not like that and don’t get overly excited in church when it is noon time and the pastor is still preaching.

Mark 8:3 (KJB)
And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far.

He did not want to dismiss them because He did not want to see them become weary and then faint while traveling since they had no food. Some had come from long distances and if you notice, Jesus is taking the initiative to feed the people before there was anyone fainting from lack of food. Jesus had wanted the disciples to remember the feeding of the 5,000 and wanted them to request of Him to do the same thing.

Mark 8:4 (KJB)
And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?

When you read this, it is no doubt the disciples are speaking to Jesus concerning the amount of food needed to feed this great crowd. It is also amazing how the disciples had forgotten about the feeding of the nearly 15,000 people not long ago. That storm on the sea of Galilee must have tampered with their memory. This is typical of people because as soon as Israel crossed the Red Sea, they thought that they were going to perish in the wilderness. We can also say that happens to us. How many times after a blessing of the Lord do we go right back to unbelief or discouragement? When you get down to it, not much has changed over the last 2,000 years in the area of human emotions, even among the saved.

Mark 8:5 (KJB)
And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.

A tremendous principle in this verse. They had only seven loaves of bread and a few little fishes. Jesus wanted them to focus on what they had in their possession and not what they did not have. This needs to be applied to our Christian life. We should never focus on the talents and gifts we do not have but rather on the ones that we do have. I am disabled and cannot do the things I did years ago but one thing I learned and that is to focus on what I can do, not what I can’t. When you start focusing on what you cannot do, it will bring you into a world of jealousy of others and a root of bitterness will spring up. Your satisfaction will come when you focus on what you can do and learn to do it well. Jesus asked the disciples to give Him a count of what they had so they knew exactly what they had initially in their possession. Jesus knew what they had but He wanted them to know.

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