24. Mark 6:30-44: Manna
Jesus proposes a retreat for
his disciples to debrief and rest from their missions. The crowds, however, has
other ideas and they chase him and the disciples on foot when they set out to
sail to a deserted place. The crowd beats Jesus and friends to the spot and
eagerly await him (vv.31-34).
This story of Jesus’ feeding
the crowd here is distinct from the other feeding story later in Mark or their
parallels in the other gospel. Larry Hurtado finds these Markan emphases here (Hurtado,
Mark, 154-155): “It
emphasizes being in a deserted area (3x, 6:31,32,35). The parallel with the
manna narratives in the desert under Moses (Ex.16) seems clear. Mark’s
description of the people as “sheep without a shepherd” (6:34) alludes to Moses’
prayer in Num.27:17) and God’s promise to feed his sheep in Ez.34:1-31. Even
the note of the organization of the crowd into groups of hundreds and fifties
(a military formation!) alludes to Moses similar organizing the Israelites in
the wilderness (Ex.18:21).
N. T. Wright comments that
Mark’s note that the grass is “green” indicates this feeding takes place in the
spring around Passover.[1]
That places this feeding in a time when Exodus is on everyone’s minds.
“The way the event is described depicts Jesus as Messiah,
the divinely sent provision for Israel
and the fulfillment of OT prophecies of a future
salvation. Jesus’ action is here “dressed” in OT imagery
to make the point. Immediately following the
episode about “King” Herod, this account suggests that Jesus is the
rightful king and the true leader of Israel instead of the
wicked Herod.” (Hurtado, 155)
The tired disciples are
likely frustrated that the only time they have alone with Jesus ends up being
the time in the boat. They probably do a face-plant when they see the crowd
all-ready gathered. Perhaps they know Jesus will not run them off. That’s
because he has “compassion” on them (v.34).
Jesus “feeds” these folks by
“teaching them many things” (v.34). As often, Mark notes that Jesus taught but
not the content of his teaching. Perhaps the other “feeding” sufficiently communicates
the authority and power of what he told them.
The day grows late and the
disciples feel the responsibility for the people’s dinner meal. Sending them
home is their default response (vv.35-36). Jesus has other ideas, as usual. “You give them something to eat,” he says. Jesus gives them the
responsibility but they do not yet realize he has given them the response-ability
too!
And
that responsibility will not/cannot be met by their own resources (v.37),
though that seems to be their frame of reference. Abundance is a mark of
messiah’s reign (Isa.65:17ff.) and in Jesus that messianic abundance breaks
forth here. That’s what this feeding is about.
Jesus
begins with what is available – fives loaves and two fish (v.38). In his hands,
the kingdom of God, the messianic reign, is present and active. And he is the
disciples’ response-ability. They should have known to turn and trust him
instead of quibbling about their own abilities and resources. We should know
that. All disciples in every time and place should know this. We all need to
learn this!
---------------------
Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), the great
African American educator, author, orator, and advisor to presidents, often
told this story which is quite apropos of the point of our story.
A
ship, lost at sea in the Atlantic Ocean for many days, suddenly sighted a
friendly vessel. The ran signals up the mast: "Water, water. We die of
thirst." The friendly ship answered back and replied “Cast down your
bucket where you are." A second time the distressed ship responded "Water, send us water!" The same
answer came back from the other ship "Cast down your bucket where you
are." A third and fourth time the same messages were sent back and forth.
Finally the captain of the distressed ship, gave in and followed the other ship’s
instruction and cast down his bucket. It
came up filled with fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River,
which extends miles out into the ocean in what is called the "River Sea. A
ship full of people had an urgent need for fresh water, and it was closer at
hand than they knew (http://www.patheos.com/progressive-christian/feeding-5000-alyce-mckenzie-07-16-2012.html)
So
too for us. We have an urgent need. We feel the weight of the responsibility.
But too often we do not realize that help is close at hand, as close as Jesus
Christ.
-------------------------
Jesus’
act is no act of magic or ancient superstition told as fact. It’s not like
other accounts of magic. And it is unlikely the early church would have written
up such a story if Jesus did not do it. After all, there are still eyewitnesses
around in the late 60’s a.d. who could contest such accounts.
No,
this account is messianic fulfilment. It’s possible, since Mark has already likened
Jesus to Moses, the “five” fish recall the five books of Moses, the chief
textual authority of the Jews. Likewise the “twelve” baskets of leftovers may
signal that God has fulfilled his promises to provide for his people, the
twelve tribes of Israel, and for Mark’s readers, the New Israel of the church.
Both these numbers were significant in Israel’s life (unlike the “two” fish or
the “five thousand” people) and it may be legitimate to see these larger
significances in them (both Hurtado and
Wright take the numbers this way).
Mark describes Jesus’ action
in the feeding with the four verbs Christians associate with the Eucharist –
take, thank/bless, break, and give. It is not necessary to see Eucharist
overtones here. These are the normal actions of a Jewish head of family at
mealtime (France,
Mark, 267). But
it is hard to think Jewish-Christian readers of Mark would fail to make the
connection.
For them, and for us, in the
Eucharist the risen and present Christ meets us in his response-ability for
meeting our responsibility. It’s centrality in worship (or at least it should
be central and regular in worship) bears witness to this. Our help is close to
us and this is something we can ill afford to forget or neglect.
And that’s why Jesus’ words “You
give them something to eat” is not a burden that weighs us down but rather a
call to come out of our comfort zones and embrace the presence of Christ and
learn to live in the fulness of his messianic reality. N. T. Wright puts it
well:
“What we call Jesus’ ‘miracles’ were not done as acts of supernatural power, in order to show that there was a
God who had such power, who was
operating through Jesus, and who could (if he chose) solve all problems with a snap of
the conjurer’s fingers. The
mighty acts of Jesus were not that sort of thing at all. They were about the breaking in of God’s
kingdom in and through Jesus, a
complex event which would reach its
full climax in his death and resurrection. From that point there would go out into all the world the power of new
creation; but it would always
have to struggle against the still- resistant
forces of evil” (Wright, Mark for
Everyone, 105).
Comments
Post a Comment