In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
Now, at first glance, my thought is: Why did this event happen and what record it. After all, the first feeding, in all four gospels, was bigger. Isn't bigger better? Isn't this almost a letdown after the other feeding? Notice a few things. First, remember where they are - in the Decapolis, in a Gentile area, which was less densely populated . At the feeding of the 5000, they crowd was already there; here it is building; people are coming out of the woodwork. The response is better than in Israel. Secondly, He uses the same word for how He views these Gentiles as He did those in Israel: compassion. Third, we are talking not one day, but three that these people stuck with Jesus; they are even more desirous to hear what He has to say. Fourth, this is done just as much for the disciples as the crowds; They still had not learned the lesson of the loaves - to fully trust Christ in all things and to be able to see people and situations the way He does. Finally, the leftovers were much greater. In the feeding of the five thousand each disciple held in his hands a personal picnic basket to take with him; these baskets were much larger, like a laundry basket, big enough to hold a grown man. Jesus had drawn from a less-densely populated area with less spiritual background, a following larger and much more committed, giving them a meal with many more leftovers. The key question was: How did His disciples come away from this event? Had their faith in Him increased?
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