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Feeding of the four thousand

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Matthew 15:32-38 Mark 8:1-9
32Then Jesus called His disciples and said, I have compassion on the crowd because they continue with Me for three days now and have nothing to eat. And I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. 33And His disciples said to Him, From where should we get so many loaves in the wilderness, so as to fill so great a crowd? 34And Jesus said to them, How many loaves do you have? And they said, Seven, and a few little fish. 35And He commanded the crowd to sit on the ground. 36And He took the seven loaves and the fish, and gave thanks, and broke, and gave to His disciples. And the disciples gave to the crowd. 37And they all ate, and were filled; and they took up seven lunch baskets full of the pieces that was left. 38And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
MKJV
 1In those days, the crowd being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them, 2I have compassion on the crowd because they have now been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint in the way. For many of them come from afar. 4And His disciples answered Him, From where can a man satisfy these with loaves here in the wilderness? 5And He asked them, How many loaves do you have? And they said, Seven. 6And He commanded the people to recline on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, and He broke and gave to His disciples to set before them. And they set them before the people. 7And they had a few fish. And He blessed and commanded them to also serve these. 8So they ate and were filled. And they took up over and above seven lunch baskets of fragments. 9And they who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away.
MKJV
Insights
  • The feeding of the four thousand is recorded after the feeding of the five thousand, in both Matthew's and Mark's Gospel. The disciples still were not thinking of super-natural things, they were thinking of how they could meet the need through earthy means. For just a few verses after the miraculous feeding, Jesus said to His disciples, "ye of little faith", in Matthew 16:8 and in Mark 8:17 asked if their hearts were still hardened?
  • The disciples experienced the miracle first hand, for they were also part of the miracle. If you consider four thousand men, besides women and children, this could easily be ten thousand people. And as they sat in groups of hundreds, and fifties, this would be at the minimum forty groups and would cover several acres of land, being far too much for one man to waiter the entire area. The multiplication had to have taken place right in the basket that each disciple was serving from.
  • We cannot believe by sight, we must believe by faith. In Matthew 16:10 and Mark 6:52. Jesus questions His disciples as to whether they had forgotten about the loaves? Questioning if their hearts were still hardened? For even though they took part in the miracle, they still did not believe.