Mark 8:1 About that time there was again an immense crowd, and they found themselves with nothing to eat. So He called His disciples to Him. 2 “My heart yearns over the people,” He said; “for this is now the third day they have remained with me, and they have nothing to eat. 3 If I were to send them home hungry, they would faint on the way, some of them having come a great distance.” 4 “Where can we possibly get bread here in this remote place to satisfy such a crowd?” answered His disciples. 5 “How many loaves have you?” He asked. “Seven,” they said. 6 So He passed the word to the people to sit down on the ground. Then taking the seven loaves He blessed them, and broke them into portions and proceeded to give them to His disciples for them to distribute, and they distributed them to the people. 7They had also a few small fish. He blessed them, and He told His disciples to distribute these also. 8 So the people ate an abundant meal; and what remained over they picked up and carried away—seven hampers of broken pieces. 9 The number fed were about 4,000. Then He sent them away, 10 and at once going on board with His disciples He came into the district of Dalmanutha. WEY
This is a separate event from the feeding of the 5,000 that occurs near Bethsaida (Luke 9:10) as this second feeding takes place in Gentile territory (the Decapolis). Mark isn’t making any new points that were not in the feeding of the 5,000 but apparently still thinks the story is important enough to include.
Just after the 5,000 were fed, Jesus instructs the disciples to get into a boat and go to the other side. They encounter a storm and are terrified until much to their amazement, Jesus calms both them and the storm. It’s not like they hadn’t already seen Jesus calm a storm in an earlier trip so why are they afraid? At the end of that section (Mark 6:52), we are told that the disciples had not understood about the loaves.
In Hebrew poetry there is a pattern of repetition (parallelism) where you make a statement and then say it again in a slightly different way to make a point. Jesus may be availing Himself of this approach as He tries to teach and prepare the disciples for what is to come. While it doesn’t present them in a great light, it is comforting to know that there are people who have been with Jesus for three years and they aren’t getting it. One final note is that we have no idea where Dalmanutha is.
Mark 8:11 The Pharisees came out and began to question him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, and testing Him. 12 He sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 And He left them, and got into the boat again, and went to the other side. NHEB
The Pharisees pop up again looking for a fight as they gather evidence and look for a weakness in His teachings. They demand a sign to test Him but are doing so right after seeing the miracle of feeding the 4,000. (Phillip does something similar in John 14 when he asks Jesus to show them the Father with Jesus replying that anyone who has seen Him has seen the Father).
Luke 11:29 When the crowds were gathering together to him, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. 30 For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation. NHEB
Matthew 13:13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear, neither do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ‘In hearing you will hear, but will not understand, and seeing you will see, but not perceive. 15For the heart of this people has grown dull, and their ears are sluggish in hearing, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn back, and I would heal them. NHEB
Unlike the multitudes coming to faith, the Pharisees are clinging obstinately to their beliefs despite what they are seeing right in front of them. It is a little reminiscent of Herod’s song in Jesus Christ Superstar with the lyrics “prove to me you’re divine, change my water into wine” and “prove to me that you’re no fool, walk across my swimming pool”. Jesus tells them He is not going to play their game.
Mark 8:14 Now they forgot to take bread; and they did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. 15 He warned them, saying, “Watch out; guard yourselves against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” 16 And they began discussing among themselves that they had no bread. 17 He, perceiving it, said to them, “Why do you reason that it’s because you have no bread? Do you not perceive yet, neither understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes, do you not see? Having ears, do you not hear? Do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They told him, “Twelve.” 20 “When the seven loaves fed the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.” 21 He asked them, “Do you not yet understand?” NHEB
Jesus is not likely in a good mood as He gets on the boat. It must be lunchtime as they suddenly realize, of all things, they have forgotten bread. Jesus goes off on a discussion about Pharisee bread after which they resume the conversation about how they have no bread on board. His response shows a different side of Jesus as He appears to be annoyed at their continued lack of understanding. (While they are basically idiots now, they won’t be idiots once Pentecost comes around. Also, we are reading from this side of Pentecost whereas the apostles saw the miracles and the resurrection but didn’t understand until Pentecost when they received their second sight).
Both twelve and seven are significant numbers throughout the Bible. While we might immediately think of the seven days of creation or the seven churches in Revelation (among the 735 times this number appears in the Bible), there were also 7 Gentile tribes that occupied the Jews’ promised land in Canaan just prior to them (Deuteronomy 7:1-3). This, along with the fact that the feeding of the 4,000 took place in the Decapolis, leads many to believe that Jesus’ ministry was both to the Jews (the 12 baskets) and the Gentiles (the 7 baskets). Without a doubt, there were many Gentiles hearing Jesus speak but also keep in mind the statement Jesus made to the Syrophoenician woman that the children must be fed first. We are in the picture but there are things to be fulfilled by Jesus as the promised Messiah of the Jews.
The next miracle is unique in that the healing is gradual rather than instantaneous. After telling the disciples that they have eyes and can’t see, the next story is about someone who can’t see.