The Life of Christ

This miracle occurs in Decapolis, the region primarily occupied by Gentiles according to Edersheim.

• Once again, we see the motivation behind the miracle — the compassion of Jesus.

• His compassion manifested because He saw the sacrifice these dear people made to come follow Him these three days.

• Nothing else mattered to them, not even food; they just wanted to be with Jesus.

• He knew that if they were to venture home in their weakened condition, many would faint.

Mk. 8:3-5 “...and if I send them away hungry to their home, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a distance.” 4 And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough to satisfy these men with bread here in a desolate place?” 5 And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”

The disciples were asking a question tainted with unbelief.

• Just several months ago Jesus fed the 5000 with just five loaves. • This time there are only 4000, and they have seven loaves at their disposal — two more than last time! Mk. 8:6-7 And He directed the multitude to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the multitude. 7 They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well.

There has been much speculation regarding the kind of fish produced by this miracle, as well as the feeding of the 5000.

• The Greek word used for fish specifically refers to the small, and generally dried or pickled fish eaten with bread, similar to sardines.

• These were small fish, commonly eaten with bread, without being cooked; millions were caught in the lake, and when dried and salted formed the most common “savory,” that went so well with bread. Mk. 8:8 And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces.

The particular Greek word used for “baskets” differs from the word used for the “baskets” that picked up the remains from the feeding of the 5000.

• With the 5000, the Greek word refers to relatively small baskets; following the feeding of the 4000, larger baskets were curiously used instead.

• Small baskets were often taken along for shorter journeys; larger baskets were used when making longer journeys. Since this multitude was primarily made up of Gentiles from Decapolis, the symbolism may point to the additional distance and effort required to reach the Gentiles — this “longer” journey will take nearly 2000 years to accomplish.

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