4<\/strong>. And his disciples answered him<\/em> ] Though the Apostles are the writers, they do not conceal from us their own shortcomings, or the fact that they had so soon forgotten so great a miracle.<\/p>\n From whence can a man satisfy<\/em> ] It has been suggested that “it is evermore thus in times of difficulty and distress. All former deliverances are in danger of being forgotten; the mighty interpositions of God’s hand in former passages of men’s lives fall out of their memories. Each new difficulty appears insurmountable; as one from which there is no extrication; at each recurring necessity it seems as though the wonders of God’s grace are exhausted and had come to an end.” Comp. ( a<\/em>) Exo 17:1-7<\/span>, and ( b<\/em>) Exo 16:13<\/span> with Num 11:21<\/span>; Num 11:23<\/span>. Trench on the Miracles<\/em>, p. 356. Still it has also been well observed that “many and many a time had the Apostles been with multitudes before, and yet on one occasion only had He fed them. Further, to suggest to Him a repetition of the feeding of the Five Thousand would be a presumption which their ever-deepening reverence forbade, and forbade more than ever as they recalled how persistently He had refused to work a sign, such as this was, at the bidding of others.” Farrar’s Life of Christ<\/em>, i. p. 480.<\/p>\n Verse 4<\/span>. c.] See on Mt 14:14<\/span>; Mt 15:35<\/span>.<\/P><\/p>\n 4. From whence can a man satisfythese men with bread here in the wilderness?<\/B>Though thequestion here is the same as when He fed the five thousand, theyevidently now<\/I> meant no more by it than that they<\/I> hadnot the means of feeding the multitude; modestly leaving the Lord todecide what was to be done. And this will the more appear from Hisnot now trying them, as before, by saying, “They need notdepart, give ye them to eat”; but simply asking what they had,and then giving His directions.<\/P><\/p>\n And his disciples answered him<\/strong>,…. The Syriac version renders it, “say unto him”; and the Persic and Ethiopic, “said unto him”; forgetting the late miracle of feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fishes, when they had now a less number, and more provisions:<\/p>\n from whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness<\/strong>? from what place, and by what ways and means can it be thought, that such a quantity of bread can be got at any rate in a desert, as to satisfy so large a number of hungry men?<\/p>\n [See comments on Mt 15:33]<\/span>.<\/p>\n Here <\/B> (<\/SPAN><\/span>). Of all places, in this desert region in the mountains. The disciples feel as helpless as when the five thousand were fed. They do not rise to faith in the unlimited power of Jesus after all that they have seen. <\/P> <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n 1) “And His disciples answered Him,”<\/strong> (kai apekrithesan auto ho mathetai autou) “And the disciples replied to Him,” responded to His expression of concern for them.<\/p>\n 2) “Whence can a man satisfy these men with bread,” <\/strong>(hoti pathen toutos dunesetai tis bode chortasai arton) ”From what source will anyone be able to satisfy (these) with bread,” this very great crowd, v.1. What man can’t do, God can, in spite of man’s doubts, 2Ki 7:1-2<\/span>; Php_4:19.<\/p>\n 3) ”Here in the wilderness?<\/strong>” (ep’ eremias) ”Out here in or upon a desert place?” an uninhabited area, where neither stores or barns exist; Yet God had fed Israel under more desolate conditions, Psa 78:19-28<\/span>.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n (4) Satisfy.<\/strong>The verb is the same as the filled of Mar. 7:27<\/span>.<\/p>\n Here in the wilderness.<\/strong>The word here, as in Mat. 15:33<\/span>, is not the one usually employed, and is abstract, not concrete, in its form, suggesting the idea, i.e.,<\/em> of loneliness; and through that, of a lonely place. It is used in a like sense in 2Co. 11:26<\/span>; Heb. 11:38<\/span>. Like many other abstract words, it seems to have tended to a concrete meaning; but there is always an appreciable shade of difference.<\/p>\n ‘And his disciples answered him, “From where will one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place?”<\/p>\n Some have argued that the disciples would not have asked this question if they had already been at the feeding of the five thousand. But that is not necessarily so. They had no doubt seen that as a unique event and may well have recognised its significance, with its particular pointers, as applying specifically to Israel. Even if they had been that discerning, however, they would not expect the same for Gentiles. Gentiles had not been fed by God through Moses. (They had in fact, for the ‘people of Israel’ were actually a mixed multitude, but they were not seen in that way in Jewish eyes). And they may have remembered how Jesus had been apprehensive of the crowd and had hurried them off afterwards, almost as though He had regretted what He had done.<\/p>\n Other factors to take into account are:<\/p>\n 1). They would surely have seen it as presumptious (as it would have been) to suggest to Jesus that He ought to perform a miracle. Indeed it may well be that, while they recognised that, their question was a hint along those lines, an expectant question, without putting too much pressure on. They did not want to tell Him what He should do, but they may have had it in their hearts that He could do it if He wanted to.<\/p>\n 2). We must not necessarily assume that they would expect Jesus constantly to perform such miracles. They tended to underestimate what Jesus could and would do, and as we know, they were very slow to learn (as Jesus will soon have to point out (Mar 8:14-21<\/span>)). Christians today and through the ages have been similar. A signal display of the power of God does not always result in a lasting strong faith and expectancy, even among mature Christians. They soon tend to degenerate back into lack of faith and lack of expectancy.<\/p>\n 3). There may have been a considerable period of time between the one incident and the other, time enough for any expectancy to have died down. The accounts tend to foreshorten the length of Jesus’ ministry because they only select the high points.<\/p>\n Thus overall their attitude would not really be surprising even if they had been present some time previously at an earlier miracle of such magnitude, especially as this time Gentiles were involved. They were not constantly expecting the ‘greater’ miracles.<\/p>\n The miracle:<\/p>\n v. 4<\/strong>. And His disciples answered Him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?<\/strong><\/p>\n v. 5<\/strong>. And He asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.<\/strong><\/p>\n v. 6<\/strong>. And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground; and He took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to His disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people.<\/strong><\/p>\n v. 7<\/strong>. And they had a few small fishes; and He blessed, and commanded to set them also before them.<\/strong><\/p>\n v. 8<\/strong>. So they did eat and were filled; and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets.<\/strong><\/p>\n v. 9<\/strong>. And they that had eaten were about four thousand; and He sent them away.<\/p>\n <\/strong> The disciples again failed in the test proposed to them by the Lord, whether from diffidence or from hardness of heart cannot be determined. Instead of reminding Him in joyful faith of the former feeding at a place only a few miles away, they begin to cast about for a solution of the difficulty, in utter helplessness: Whence will anyone find it possible, here in the wilderness, to supply all these men with bread? There were, in this case, not even villages or towns within easy reach where supplies might be gotten. It is a question which has been repeated in countless variations since that time. “The apostles also worry, but in a far different way than Christ; they say: Whence can we obtain bread here in the wilderness to satisfy them? That is worrying; but this worrying does not help the matter. But, on the other hand, when Christ takes up the matter of the people and plans about getting them something to eat, though there are only seven loaves there and a: little fish, it still proves sufficient for four thousand men, and seven baskets of fragments remain… How is it, then, that we, who are all Christians or want to be considered such, do not follow this example, neither comfort ourselves with our fullness and surplus, but are terrorized on account of want, and begin to worry on its account? For if we adhere to the Word of God diligently and faithfully, there will be no want; Christ will take care of us, and it must follow that we shall have enough to eat. For it does not depend upon how much or how little we have, but upon His blessing. If He adds that to the small store that thou hast, this will not only not dissolve, but on account of His blessing there will be added to it and be more there than in the beginning. “<\/p>\n In this case the disciples had a supply of seven loaves, very likely the bread for their own use. Jesus now took charge of the banquet which He wanted to prepare for the multitude. He bade them all cast themselves down on the ground. The inviting grass of the former miracle seems to have been absent in this case. He then proceeded as before. Taking the seven. loaves and having spoken a blessing over them, He broke them and gave them to His disciples to distribute among the people. Note: Christ never began a meal without remembering the thanks due to the Giver of all good gifts and asking His blessing upon the food. “Here He teaches first that we should use what God gives us, no matter how little it is, and accept it with thanksgiving, and know that Christ also wants to bless it that it may prosper and suffice, yea, even grow under our hands; for that is well-pleasing to Him when His gifts are acknowledged and thanks returned for them, and He adds His blessing that this prospers better and reaches farther than great riches and superfluous goods of the unbelievers, as also the Scripture says, Psa 37:16<\/span>; Pro 10:22<\/span>; 1Ti 6:6<\/span>. For, what have they that possess many and great goods without faith and Christ, and what do they gain? They only deprive themselves of God and of His blessing, are idolaters, the captives of mammon, that dare not make use of their own goods nor let others use it, or they do not use it with a good conscience, neither are they happy over the bite that they eat on account of their avarice and bad conscience, in which they have only one thought, to scrape together more and more with all manner of bad deals and schemes, and yet must always be worrying and in danger that they will have no peace before God and the people, must hear and see much and experience things that make their heart sick, in their great possessions and in their own children; and thus they have thrown themselves into the bonds of the devil and pierced themselves through with many sorrows, as the apostle says, from which they cannot escape. “<\/p>\n As Jesus was breaking the bread and dividing the little fish that had been found among the supplies, the food grew under His hand. As often as the disciples returned for more, so often could He offer it to them, and they, in turn, passed it to the people. So they all partook of the meal, and they all had their fill to eat; not one was obliged to remain hungry, though there were four thousand men that had enjoyed Christ’s hospitality. And again the Lord, in the spirit of food conservation which is advocated throughout Scriptures, had the multitude gather up the remainders of the broken pieces, which could well be used for food, and they filled seven large baskets of the kind that were used in that country for carrying large loads on the back. It is not stated whether the people knew the manner in which they were fed on this occasion, nor what effect the knowledge had upon them, if they knew. And even the disciples remained comparatively callous, as the Lord soon had occasion to find out. If people let the constant repetition of the great miracles of Christ in the means of grace deaden their sensibilities, they are working great harm to themselves; the compassion, the mercy, the faithfulness of the Lord is new every morning.<\/p>\n 4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men<\/em> with bread here in the wilderness? <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Ver. 4. With bread<\/strong> ] That is, with the coarsest fare. Horatius opponit panem libis et placentis, <\/em> lib. i. eph 10. Bread is used for homely provision. <\/p>\n Mar 8:4<\/span> . , whence? This adverb was used by the Greeks, in speaking of food, in reference to the source of supply = “unde cibum petituri sitis”. Examples in Kypke, Raphel, Palairet. , in a desert. The scene of the first feeding is a desert place also (chap. Mar 6:32<\/span> ). But in that case food was purchasable within a reasonable distance; not so here.<\/p>\n in = on. Greek. epi. App-104. <\/p>\n From: Mar 6:36, Mar 6:37, Mar 6:52, Num 11:21-23, 2Ki 4:42-44, 2Ki 7:2, Psa 78:19, Psa 78:20, Mat 15:33, Joh 6:7-9 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Num 11:13 – General Num 11:22 – General 2Ki 4:43 – What Mat 4:4 – but Mat 14:17 – General<\/p>\n BREAD IN THE WILDERNESS<\/p>\n From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?<\/p>\n Mar 8:4<\/p>\n These words were the question of the disciples which drew forth the answer of beneficent miracle. These same words, in a deeper spiritual sense, are the question which the world has asked in all ages from the same Divine Compassion in regard to mans pilgrimage through the wilderness of life.<\/p>\n I. The beneficent miracles.The miracles of feeding the five thousand and the four thousand are, as miracles of the quasi-creative power, absolutely incomprehensible to us.<\/p>\n (a) They stand out, perhaps beyond all others, as wonders; while their meaning as signs of a Divine compassion and beneficence comes most easily home to us.<\/p>\n (b) They produced a wider and more startling effect than usual upon the mass of men. The multitude hailed Him with enthusiasm as the promised Messiah; they were (Joh 6:15) prepared to take Him by force to make Him their king.<\/p>\n (c) The spiritual significance of these miracles is brought out with especial clearness by John in connection with the feeding of the five thousand. In our Lords subsequent discourses to His disciples and to the Jews (Joh 6:26-65) He draws out the whole tenor of that significance.<\/p>\n II. The wilderness of life.How can men be supplied in this wilderness of pilgrimage with the bread which, like the angels food given to Elijah (1Ki 19:6-8), shall sustain them in their journey to the mount of Gods unveiled presence?<\/p>\n (a) We may not exclude from our thoughts the daily bread, of all things needful for our souls and bodies here, for which our Lord bade us pray.<\/p>\n (b) But it is on the spiritual sense that the miracle, as interpreted by our Lords own teaching, would bid us lay stress. It is a spiritual food and sustenance which He gives, or rather which He is to us; or, to use St. Pauls fuller description, it is in Him that we all eat the same spiritual meat, and all drink the same spiritual drinkthe meat for the strengthening, the drink for the refreshing of our souls. This great truth we realise in its fullest sense in the Holy Communion. Not only by faith, but by spiritual experience, we know that through it we have the indwelling of Christ in us, which is our eternal life.<\/p>\n (c) It is to all human life that His promise applies. He that cometh unto Me shall never hunger, and He that believeth on Me shall never thirst.<\/p>\n Bishop Barry.<\/p>\n Illustration<\/p>\n It is well known, so runs the Homily, that the meat we seek for in this Supper is spiritual food; the nourishment of our soul; a heavenly refection and not an earthly; an invisible meal and not bodily; a ghostly substance, and not carnal; so that to think that without faith we may enjoy the eating and drinking thereof, or that that is the fruition of it, is but to dream a gross carnal feeding, basely objecting and binding ourselves to the elements and creatures. That when thou goest up to the reverend Communion to be satisfied with spiritual meats, thou look up with faith upon the holy body of thy God, thou marvel with reverence, thou touch it with the mind, thou receive it with the hand of thy heart, and thou take it fully with thy inward man. Thus, we see, beloved, that, resorting to this table, we must pluck up all the roots of infidelity, all distrust in Gods promises, that we make ourselves living members of Christs body. For the unbelievers and faithless cannot feed upon that precious body. Whereas the faithful have their life, their abiding in Him, their union and, as it were, their incorporation with Him. <\/p>\n (SECOND OUTLINE)<\/p>\n THE BREAD OF LIFE<\/p>\n The multitude are an emblem of humanity, the wilderness of the world, and Christs miracle of the provision amidst the worlds barrenness and emptiness of the Bread of Life, eternal life.<\/p>\n I. The powerlessness of the world to supply the deepest wants of men.<\/p>\n (a) There are needs and pangs of spiritual hunger.<\/p>\n (b) The wilderness is silent to mans appeal.<\/p>\n II. Satisfaction through Christ.Coming into the world He satisfies these wants, and enriches the poor and hungering souls of men.<\/p>\n (a) The true Bread of Life is not from or of the wilderness, but is nevertheless in the wilderness.<\/p>\n (b) Christ, as the living bread, communicates Himself to our souls.<\/p>\n (c) They who in the wilderness eat of this bread are satisfied.<\/p>\n (d) To eat of this provision in the wilderness is a foretaste of the feast above.<\/p>\n Illustration<\/p>\n A lifeless body has no power of assimilating food. A feeble, living body can only assimilate a little, administered by degrees. But a body with the pulses of life beating strong and quick within it, a hungry and craving body, can assimilate it thoroughly and easily, and grow thereby. And the soul resembles the body. With a feeble, spiritual pulse we can apprehend Christ but feebly in the Holy Communion; but if there be a strong hunger and thirst after righteousness, a strong craving for the Bread of Life, a strong sense of spiritual poverty and indigence, a strong resolve formed in reliance on Gods grace, a strong faith which pierces the veil of things sensible and material, great will then be the comfort received from this Holy Communion, and in the strength of that meat we shall go forward, like Elijah of old, to the mount of God, the end and goal of our pilgrimage.<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n It is strange the disciples forgot the occasion of chapter 6:35-44.<\/p>\n Why did the disciples not catch on? Probably several months had passed since Jesus fed the 5,000. People tend to forget even great events. Moreover depending on Jesus rather than relying on self is a very difficult lesson to learn, especially when one has a limited perception of who Jesus is. Furthermore Jesus’ reluctance to perform miracles may have discouraged the disciples from asking Him for help. [Note: Cranfield, p. 205.] <\/span> Their question revealed their blindness. Rather than thinking about sending the crowds away, they despaired of finding enough bread to satisfy everyone in that wilderness (Gr. eremon<\/span>, cf. Mar 6:32). At least they referred their question to Jesus this time (cf. Mar 6:37).<\/p>\n And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these [men] with bread here in the wilderness? 4. And his disciples answered him ] Though the Apostles are the writers, they do not conceal from us their own shortcomings, or the fact that they had so soon forgotten so great a miracle. From … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 8:4”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24491\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"