Mark 8:17-21

‘And Jesus perceiving it says to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not perceive, nor understand? Have you your heart hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They say to him, “Twelve”. “And when the seven among the four thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you take up?” And they say to him, “Seven”. And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” '

Jesus was clearly a little exasperated at their failure to think along spiritual lines. He could not think why they were so taken up with a shortage of physical bread when He had proved Himself able to be the provider of more than sufficient. Were they blind and deaf? Let them consider the twelve and seven baskets that were left over (He made them say the numbers) which had indicated sufficiency of spiritual provision for Israel and for the world. Did they really think then that He was concerned about their receiving physical bread (that is provision for their needs) from the Pharisees and Herod?

No, what He had done with the loaves had symbolised spiritual provision as well as physical provision, provision for the hearts of men. Had they not realised then Who and What this showed Him to be, and what it demonstrated that He had come to do? Had they not recognised that His main aim had been to offer men spiritual food, and that that was what He was talking about, the need to avoid the wrong ‘spiritual food'? Did they not realise that he was referring to the danger of being misled by Pharisaic teaching with its resulting hypocrisy and Herodian teaching with its resulting worldliness. The problem was that their thoughts and their hearts were in the wrong place, and their minds taken up with the wrong things. He longed that they would recognise in Him the One Who was spiritually all-sufficient, and that they would think along spiritual lines, recognising in Him the Bread of life and the true Coming One, the Great Physician Who had come to make men whole.

So here we are emphatically reminded that in spite of all that they have seen they are still lacking in understanding. They are blind and deaf and even ‘hardened'. The word is strong. Their problem is not only one of obtuseness but one of an unwillingness to face the truth of what kind of Messiah He had come to be. It is no accident that this comes after the healing of the deaf and dumb man by uniquely special means, which had been intended to indicate men's deafness, and comes before the healing of the blind man, also by special means, which will indicate men's blindness. They too would need to be ‘healed' before they could ‘hear' and ‘see'.

Note that in these words the two feedings are referred to clearly as separate events, and the numbers and types of baskets are both distinguished.

A Pause For Thought.

If we were to take what Mark has written literally, and assume it was chronological, it would suggest that having covered a fairly short period of ministry up to this point, first in Galilee and then in Gentile territory, Jesus will, within a short period, having prepared His disciples and preached a little in Judaea, arrive in Jerusalem to die. But we know from John's Gospel that that was not so.

For we know from John that His ministry covered a minimum of two years, and probably more, for three Passovers are mentioned by him (John 2:13; John 6:4; John 11:55) and there are good grounds for thinking that there was at least one more. Mark to some extent actually supports this for Mark 2:23 (plucking of grain) compared with Mark 6:9 (green grass) suggest at least a year has passed, and Mark 14:1 (the Passover - at the same time of the year) requires another year.

But the fact is that Mark, as we have noted previously, selects his subjects with a view to presenting Who Jesus is rather than in order to give an indication of exact chronology. He is to some extent, but not completely, like a writer who builds up a life story by having Chapter s on different themes, building up to the final chapter that way rather than chronologically, although having said that there is unquestionably a certain chronological framework. It would probably also be a mistake to assume that apart from a brief ministry in Judea (Mark 10:1), all Jesus' ministry has ceased at this point. Indeed we must remember that between the incident at Caesarea Philippi (Luke 9:18) and the preparation for the final Passover (Luke 22:7) Luke contains an abundance of teaching and indications of visits to Jerusalem and its environs (Luke 10:38; Luke 13:34 with Matthew 23:37).

Thus we must accept the message that Mark conveys but not get caught up in the chronology. His themes of the beginning of the proclamation of the drawing near of the Kingly Rule of God (chapter 1), His presentation of the king (Mark 2:1 to Mark 3:6), His appointment of Apostles and successful ministry throughout Galilee (Mark 3:7 to Mark 7:23), His continued ministry in mixed Jewish-Gentile territory (Mark 7:24 to Mark 8:26), together with the growth of opposition revealed throughout, which have led up to this point, are to be seen as a thematic historical survey rather than as a strictly chronological life story. And his narrative will continue to be such, as we come across a review of His teaching to His disciples (Mark 8:27 to Mark 10:45), which is interspersed with and followed by the journey to Jerusalem (Mark 10:32 to Mark 11:11). So the aim is to convey the story of His life thematically, with only a general idea of chronology as He moves towards the cross. As Luke puts it, his face was now set towards Jerusalem.

A further interesting point may also be considered here before we move on. As has often been pointed out, from Mark 6:30 - Mark 8:26 we have partly parallel themes. In Mark 6:30 to Mark 7:31 we have the miraculous feeding of a crowd (Mark 6:35), the crossing of the sea (Mark 6:45), dispute with the Pharisees (Mark 7:1), incident about bread (Mark 7:24), and an unusual healing (Mark 7:31). Interestingly this is then followed by a miraculous feeding of a crowd (Mark 8:1), a crossing of the sea (Mark 8:10), a dispute with the Pharisees (Mark 8:11), an incident about bread (leaven) (Mark 8:14), and an unusual healing (Mark 8:22). This is clearly not accidental and is an example of Mark's thematic approach (compare the introduction on Mark 3:13 a).

We must not, however, exaggerate the similarity. The two feedings are different in many ways. The climactic crossings of the sea (and Jesus regularly crossed the sea) are also very different, with one depicting a major and life threatening incident, while the other depicts just a simple if laborious crossing The disputes with the Pharisees are of a totally different nature, and one is long while the other is brief. The incidents about bread are totally different in both significance and content, while the two miracles, although portrayed similarly in outline, are also very different. In other words the similarities are the deliberate work of Mark, while the differences demonstrate that they are not just repetitions of the same incidents.