Mark 8:1-9

Mark 8:1

We have here

I. A picture of the forsaken Church of Christ. (1) Much people were gathered round the Lord. Many are gathered round Him today. Few,if we think of the immense multitude of those who are called into the Church of Christ; many,if we think of the small number of the chosen in all ages, and especially in our own day. (2) They have nothing to eat, said the Lord in our Gospel about the four thousand hearers. The same words must be said of the people of Christ now. The soldier needs food, if he is not to grow weary and perish with hunger; the Christian soldier needs both physical and spiritual nourishment. He is in the wilderness. Where shall he find it?

II. The Lord takes pity on His Church. He knows the condition and the need of His own; He knows it even before they themselves are conscious of it, and before they cry to Him He gives them enough and to spare. They gather up the fragments, and find that through His blessing they have become more than the original provision. Fear not then, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

R. Rothe, Nachgelassene Predigten,vol. i., p. 40.