I read a story about a first-grade class where some students were recent refugees from other countries. The topic being taught in class was simple fractions.
The teacher defined halves and quarters and then asked the children to write down whether they would prefer a half or a quarter of a candy bar. As she walked around the room, she noticed some students had written that they would rather have a quarter of a candy bar.
The teacher thought she would have to re-teach the lesson because the children didn’t seem to understand that a half was bigger than a quarter. So, she asked the students why they would rather have a quarter of the candy bar. One little girl replied, “If I only have a quarter, more people could have a piece of candy.”
Compassion for others should come naturally to Believers because we are empowered to be like Jesus. We see Jesus’ profound compassion on display in our text today, Mark 8:1- 10, which is the account of Jesus feeding 4,000 people.
Those who want to find fault with the Scriptures are quick to point out that Mark has either made an error in duplicating one of Jesus’ miracles or invented this story to convey the point that Jesus provides for the needs of both Jews and Gentiles. Do these critics have a point?
Follow along as I read the text and listen for similarities or differences between the two accounts.
While these two events share numerous similarities, they also have significant differences. I will focus on the differences because they prove that feeding the 4,000 is a different incident than feeding the 5,000.
The most compelling proof is that Jesus verifies them in the conversation surrounding the event in Matthew and Mark. Another proof is they took place in two completely different geographic areas, one near Bethsaida on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee and the other in Decapolis on the southeast coast. Jesus fed the 5,000 after they had been with Him for one day and the 4,000 after they had listened to His teaching for three days. The first group was primarily Jewish, and the second group was mainly Gentile.
The time of year was different, too, because the 5,000 sat down on the “green grass” while the 4,000 sat on the bare ground. Furthermore, all four Gospel writers include feeding the 5,000, while Matthew and Mark specifically note feeding the 4,000. Finally, they had various amounts of food to begin with and different amounts left over after everyone had eaten.
Let’s turn to the text and see how the ACTIONS of Jesus validate Him as the benevolent provider.
The First ACTION is,
He Cares for All People
One who is benevolent genuinely wishes other people welland finds joy in doing good. Jesus was that kind of person. Crowds gathered to hear Him teach and witness His miracles wherever He went. This foray into Gentile territory was no exception. He had previously been in the region of Tyre and Sidon, modern-day Lebanon. Taking a circuitous route, He left Tyre, went north to Sidon, made His way east, came back south, and then back up to the Sea of Galilee in Decapolis, modern-day Jordan. This trip moved in the shape of a horseshoe and took 120 miles.
By meeting the needs of the Gentiles, Jesus verified God’s promise to Abraham and the message of the Old Testament prophets. Je...
