Toward Spiritual Understanding
BY KENT HUGHES
Mark 8:1-21 MARK CHAPTER EIGHT begins with the account of Jesus miraculously feeding the four thousand. Because of its obvious similarities to the feeding of five thousand recorded in chapter 6, some negative critics suggested that the apostle had just recorded the same event twice.
Actually, the two events were different in many details. For example, the five thousand in the first feeding were with Jesus for only one day; the four thousand, three days. In the first miracle, Jesus started with five loaves and two fish; in the second, seven loaves and a few small fish. And after the first feeding, the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of left-over bread; after the second, seven basketfuls.
These and many other differences are more than incidental. As we will see later on, the two feedings were used by Jesus to reveal important spiritual truths. So, I would like to share with you some insights into those truths, and examine how the Pharisees and the disciples received them.
Revelation of Christ as the Savior
Besides the obvious fact that Jesus has great supernatural power, these miracles show at least three important facts about our Lord:1. He is the Bread of Life. Back in Exodus, God announced through Moses that He was going to rain down bread from heaven for the Israelites. He then provided them with thin flakes like frost on the ground every morning throughout their journey in the wilderness, except the Sabbath. Called "manna" by the people, it became the staple that sustained them.
That manna was pointing to Jesus Christ being the sustainer of eternal life.
After the first feeding, Jesus explains in John 6:48-51: "I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If a man eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
That Christ is the bread of life is further underscored by His having been born in Bethlehem, which means the "city of bread", and by the statement He made on the eve of His crucifixion. As He took bread and broke it, He said: "This is my body, which is broken for you" (I Cor. 11:24). Significantly,these two events marked the beginning and the end of the Lord's earthly ministry.
The metaphor of bread also reflects His all-suffering. Bread has to be baked in a heated oven. Thus, when Christ broke the bread and said, "This is my body", He was also alluding to His having to go through hell fire on behalf of His people. To be the Savior, He had to suffer the full wrath of God.
2. He came to save both Jews and Gentiles. The five thousand that Jesus first fed were exclusively Jews. As Jesus said, their forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness. By contrast, these four thousand are predominantly Gentiles; they are in the Gentile-dominated city of Decapolis. The name ìDecapolisî itself means ten cities, which is a symbol representing the whole world.
By these two separate feedings, God thus made it clear that He came to seek and save Jews and Gentiles alike.
3. He is the giver of grace. Just before He fed the four thousand, Jesus says in verse 2, "I have compassion for these people" It's a picture of God's supreme love and mercy; we are saved entirely by the grace of the compassionate God.
In both feedings, Christ broke the bread, multiplied the fish, and then had them distributed to the people bit by bit. It shows that Jesus gives us His grace as we need it. Like the way mannas were given to the Israelites, God gives us no more and no less grace than our current situation calls for.
On the other hand, God's grace is more than sufficient to save all those which He had chosen to save. After the two feedings, the disciples picked up seven and twelve basketfuls of left-over pieces, respectively. The number twelve represents His full provision for the twelve tribes of the Israel of God; and the number seven, the complete fullness of all believers!
Reaction of certain people
After the feeding, He sailed back across the lake to Dalmanutha, somewhere on the west side of the sea. The Bible then records two follow-up events in the ensuing verses:1. The Pharisees remained blind (vv.11-13). First, the Pharisees came and asked for a sign from heaven. Having just seen the great feeding miracle, they still wanted something spectacular from the skies. It was a diabolical repeat of Satan's attempt to make Christ do something stupendous. Jesus would have no part of it.
He sighed deeply and said, "Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it." Then He left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side. What a terrible thing it is to have Christ turn His back on you and sail away. But that is exactly what He will ultimately do to all those who refuse to believe.
In the parallel account in Matthew 16, Jesus says in verse 4, "A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign." You see, signs and wonders may be exciting to see, but they do not save people; the unbelieving will remain unbelievers. Only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ brings salvation. We are to walk by faith, not by sight.
2. The disciples were dull (vv.14-21). The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. "Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod."
They discussed this with one another and said, "It is because we have no bread."
Apart from Christ's agitation with His disciples in Gethsemane and with Peter when he objected to the cross, there is nothing like our Lord's frustration with His own here! He chided them with a series of questions: "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?"
Jesus is, in effect, telling them that unlike the unsaved, they no longer have a hardened heart and should therefore understand His teaching. But to understand, they must use the spiritual eyes and ears that God had given them.
He then asked, "And don't you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" "Twelve," they replied. "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" They answered, "Seven."
Here, the Lord is teaching the disciples that they should never forget that His grace is sufficient.
Lesson for all believers
Had the disciples truly reflected on the spiritual significance of the two miraculous feedings and remembered the truths revealed, they would have advanced far beyond where they were in their spiritual growth. They would have seen Jesus as the omnipotent Creator and the gracious Savior of all peoples. And they would have known that Jesus was warning them against false teaching.Before we criticize those disciples, let's examine ourselves. When we read and hear the word of God, do we use our spiritual ears and eyes to learn its spiritual teaching? It's a sad fact that many people read the Bible and all they get are the historical facts and the literal meanings. Such information is important, of course. But to attain spiritual growth, we must learn the spiritual truths the Bible is teaching us. And we need to remember them so we can live by them.
Jesus ends His conversation with the disciples with one final question: "Do you still not understand?" It is best to see it not as a continuation of the rebuke, but as a searching appeal to the disciples.
And that, my friends, is a question for our own hearts as well. Do we understand that Christ alone is our bread of life? Do we understand that Jesus is building His church with people from all nations? And do we really understand what it means to us and what it means for the world? o
Dr. Kent Hughes is pastor of College Church in Wheaton, 330 East Union, Wheaton, IL 60187.