Jesus Provides Food For The 4,000: The Response Of The Crowds, Pharisees, And Disciples Series

“Oh why didn’t I listen!?" The rich man cries out from the depths of hell, to this very day in 2023. He needed salvation dearly but could not see it. And he looked and saw Lazarus, comforted, in paradise. The rich man in sorrows, why didn’t he listen? He was rich, he was powerful, he did not have ears to hear of the savior, and so he remains where he is to this day. He said in the parable, send someone to preach to my family, but the Lord said, they already have the prophets, Moses, and the testimony of scripture. But if someone comes back from the dead, surely they’d believe then, right? But billions today don’t believe, though one did rise from the dead, Jesus Christ.

Today we look at Mark chapter 8, the feeding of the four thousand.

And I think we’ll see today, the time to trust Jesus humbly has come for all of us, lest we make the same mistake as the Pharisees, Herod, and the rich man from the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

In Mark 8, Jesus has gathered crowds again who are following him and listening to him explain how the kingdom of God works.

These crowds have followed Jesus for three days. They’ve gathered and followed him, listening to him teach all day. Then they’d go to sleep, wake up the next day, and follow Jesus as he taught for another day, then another day. And it’s been three days.

Jesus is grateful for their dedication to follow him. There are four thousand of them following and listening. He has compassion on them, and wants to help them.

In Mark 8:1-3 it says, “During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.”

Jesus has compassion on them.

These four thousand people have probably been eating what little they had with them when they began following Jesus, which probably wasn’t much. They may have found sources of water along the way. But they’re now in a predicament, they’re too far out from sources of food, but they’re all very hungry.

It’s no doubt to me that Jesus set up this scenario to build their faith. They had to follow Jesus and trust that he would provide for their needs even if they brought nothing with them.

Now it’s come to the point where Jesus will now provide. We often must wait in faith, and then comes the moment when Jesus provides.

So Jesus tests his disciples also by asking them, what should we do?

Let’s see how his disciples responded.

In verses 4-5: 4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”

5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied.

The disciples have something to bring to the table. They have seven loaves of bread. They had some fish as well, we’ll find out in a moment.

We all have something we bring to the table. That is our gifting, our abilities, our zeal for the Lord. We apply it in a given situation. And then, God multiplies it, to produce much more than we’d expect.

Let’s see what Jesus does next, in verses 6-10: "He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, 10 he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha."

Just like when Jesus fed the 5,000 this time again, he multiplies the loaves and the fishes, by God’s power, to produce enough food for every person there to eat their fill.

The people were satisfied by their savior. He provided for their need. They were filled. So we also long to be filled. We serve Jesus and through the struggles of live we get exhausted and we need to be recharged. Then God comes and provides the refreshing we need. He refreshes me again and again and again in my life. Come to Him, and in His time, he will refresh you in the journey of life.