Mark 6:38 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they had found out, they said, "Five, and two fish."

NIV: "How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five—and two fish."

NASB: But He *said to them, 'How many loaves do you have? Go look!' And when they found out, they *said, 'Five, and two fish.'

CSB: He asked them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." When they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."

NLT: How much bread do you have?' he asked. 'Go and find out.' They came back and reported, 'We have five loaves of bread and two fish.'

KJV: He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

NKJV: But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.”

Philip points out that two hundred days' wages would not be enough for everyone to get a bite of bread. Andrew finds a boy with five barely loaves and two fish (John 6:7–9). Jesus already knows how He will feed the people, but He allows the Twelve a moment to fully recognize the situation (John 6:5).

God does this to us, sometimes, as well. He may wait until the day before the rent is due to provide the money, or just give us time to fully understand all the nuances of the dilemma we're facing before coming through to rescue us. He isn't being cruel. He's giving us a better look at His power and authority. He's providing a chance to build our faith in Him so the next time we're faced with coming disaster we will be less anxious. If the Twelve hadn't counted the loaves and fish, it would have been easy for them to dismiss the miracle and assume Jesus had a source of food they didn't know about. Instead, the Twelve are fully aware that Jesus fed thousands from one boy's meal.

Barley (John 6:9) is usually fed to horses, although the poor make it into bread. The fish are probably dried since neither raw nor cooked fish keep very long. Like the boy's lunch, Jesus wants all of us, not just the part we think is suitable. Jesus takes what we have and transforms it into a blessing for others, but only if we let Him.

Mark 6:33–44 provides another depiction of Jesus' miraculous feeding of thousands of people. The Twelve have worked so hard on their first missions trip they haven't had time to eat (Mark 6:31), and an attempt to rest is foiled by a demanding crowd. Instead of avoiding the interlopers, Jesus heals (Matthew 14:14) and teaches them. Instead of dismissing them, He feeds them. The Twelve again witness Jesus' great power and authority but don't catch the lesson: Jesus is God and can provide whatever anyone needs. This story is also found in Matthew 14:13–21 and Luke 9:11–17, and it is one of the few miracles mentioned in John (John 6:2–14). This makes it the only miracle referenced in all four Gospels.

Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth, but the people there are faithless and skeptical. As a result, Jesus performs no more than a few minor miracles. He then assigns His twelve apostles to travel in pairs, preaching repentance and healing various conditions. Mark then takes a brief detour to explain the death of John the Baptist, beheaded after Herod Antipas is tricked by his wife. The focus then returns to Jesus, explaining His miraculous feeding of thousands of people, walking on water, and healing people in Gennesaret.

Even as the Twelve are given opportunity to wield some of Jesus' power and authority, they still struggle to understand. They misinterpret who He is, what He has come to do, and how much He will ask of them. They fear Jesus' display of deity, but seem to dismiss the murderous rejection of His hometown and the death of John the Baptist. It's easy to have faith in a prophet who seems poised to rescue Israel from foreign rule. It is still beyond them to understand that He is actually God.

The Gospel of Mark emphasizes both Jesus' servanthood and His role as the promised Messiah: the Son of God. This is done through a concise, action-packed style. Mark provides relatively few details, instead focusing on actions and simple statements. This relates to the Gospel's authorship, which is believed to be based on the memories of the apostle Peter. These include many of Jesus' miracles, in contrast to other Gospels which include many more of Jesus' teachings and parables. Mark also makes frequent mention of Jesus' ministry being misunderstood by others.