“IN those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with Me three days, and have nothing to eat.”
At the close of chapter 7 we considered the man whose speech was corrected and whose deafness was cured, as a picture of Israel in the coming millennial period, when the ears of that nation will be opened to hear their Messiah’s voice and their tongues loosed to speak His praises. There is something of this same picture in chapter 8, with the Lord feeding the multitude who have come to see and hear Him. We cannot help but recall many Old Testament prophecies, including Psalm 132:1515I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. (Psalm 132:15): “I will abundantly bless her (Israel’s) provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.” Although that promise is not to be entirely fulfilled until the blessings of the millennium come in, this narrative anticipates the time when God’s earthly people will be blessed with abundance provided by Him. It is a further proof of the divine Person of Him who provided their food.
The people could not feed themselves and no earthly source could relieve their hunger. Even the disciples ask, “From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread?” Of course no man could, except the Son of man, who not only could, but did do so. This is the second miracle of this kind in Mark’s Gospel. In chapter six there were five thousand fed with five loaves and two fishes; in this chapter four thousand are fed with seven loaves and a few small fishes.
Aside from the important prophetic meaning, these stories tell again of the tender, loving heart of the Lord Jesus who showed mercy to the needy and love to all who came to Him, we are reminded too that He is the true “Bread of Life” and those who corn to Him shall never hunger. In no other way can the heart be satisfied. Have you found Him the answer to your soul’s hunger?
“And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with Him, seeking of Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him.” We cannot follow the Lord’s good works without finding opposition from the Pharisees. Well may we ask, What further sign did these religious leaders want? Was not the healing of the sick and deaf and the miraculous providing of food for the thousands ample sign that Jesus was indeed come down from heaven? But they were seeking only to discredit Him and were not willing to acknowledge Him as Son of God, no matter how many signs might be given. It was because He could read their hearts that the Lord refused to present additional signs and left them, When men and women turned their backs on God in the days of Noah, He proclaimed, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man.” Gen. 6:33And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. (Genesis 6:3). Through all the ages God has been patient with men and women, as well as boys and girls, offering His mercy, even though they do not seem to want it. But continued refusal must result in judgment on those who turn from Him and who will not own their need as lost sinners, accepting Christ as their Saviour. Just as the Lord here turns from the Pharisees, so in a soon-coming day it may be too late for any who now continue to delay accepting His love and salvation.
ML-09/22/1963