And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd

 

 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.  And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."  For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.  So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.  But the multitudes saw them departing and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities.  They arrived before them and came together to Him.  And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.  So He began to teach them many things.  When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.  Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat."  But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?"  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."  Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.  And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.  So they all ate and were filled.  And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.  Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.  Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.  And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.

 

- Mark 6:30–46 

 

Yesterday we read that, while on their first apostolic mission, the twelve cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.  Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known.  And he said, "John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him."  Others said, "It is Elijah."  And others said, "It is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets."  But when Herod heard, he said, "This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!"  For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her.  Because John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."  Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him.  And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.  Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee.  And when Herodias' daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you."  He also swore to her, "Whatever you ask em, I will give you, up to half my kingdom."  So she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?"  And she said, "The head of John the Baptist!"  Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter."  And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her.  Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought.  And he went and beheaded him in prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.  When his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb.   

 

Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.  And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."  For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.  So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.   The apostles have just returned from their first apostolic mission (see Tuesday's reading).  My study Bible says that Christ gives rest to His disciples to show those engaged in preaching and teaching that they mustn't labor continuously, but also take rest.  This is especially an important lesson in a busy modern world, where "time-saving" devices overall work (according to economic historians) to give us less free time than in the past.  We must intentionally take time out for prayer and rest.

But the multitudes saw them departing and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities.  They arrived before them and came together to Him.  And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.  So He began to teach them many things.  Again, Mark's Gospel emphasizes the swift growth of Christ's ministry (especially in this particular part of Galilee where He is already well-known to the multitudes), so much so that now the people follow Him and anticipate where He'll be, so they arrived before them.  Note how Christ was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.  This is a key phrase in the Gospels, for us to understand the perspective of Christ and also His work in this world.  As the good Shepherd, He initial impulse is to teach them many things.  

When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.  Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat."  But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?"  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."  Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.  And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.  So they all ate and were filled.  And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.  Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.   Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.  And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.  My study Bible comments that this miracle, which is reported by all four evangelists, shows Jesus feeding a great multitude of His people as He fed the Israelites in the desert (see Exodus 16).  In patristic commentary, this is seen as an image of the Eucharist, an idea made clear to all in John 6.   Here, Christ breaks and blesses the loaves similarly to the language used of the Last Supper (Matthew 26:26).  My study Bible comments that just as the disciples distribute the bread to this multitude, so Christ feeds the Eucharist to His flock through the hands of His bishops and presbyters. There is another miracle in Mark 8:1-9, in which Jesus feeds four thousand people with seven loaves and a few small fish.  There are those modern scholars who have attempted to say that they are the same story, but the witness of the gospel makes very clear they are two distinct accounts.  Christ Himself refers to both of them as separate incidents in Mark 8:13-21.  Again, this is another extension of Christ's compassion extended to the people who are "like sheep not having a shepherd" (see also Matthew 20:34; Mark 1:41; Luke 7:13).  My study Bible says that this shows that His power and authority are extended to those who suffer.  It also present another, spiritual interpretation of this feeding miracles, in which the five loaves indicate the five books of the Law (Genesis through Deuteronomy), which are broken open in Christ and therefore feed the universe.  In this understanding the two fish represent the Gospel Book and the Epistle Book, the teaching of the fishermen.  The gathering of the leftovers by the apostles, it says, shows that the teachings the faithful are unable to grasp are nonetheless held in the consciousness of the Church.  Let us note at the end of today's passage how Jesus still takes time to pray, departing from the mountain alone to do so.

What is always striking to me in the Gospels and the ministry of Christ is how we are repeatedly taught, in so many ways, that God works through small things.  What appears to us to be broken, or not quite good enough (even highly inadequate) is seen with different "eyes" in the mind of God.  Because God works through things with God's power, what God sees about the world is the capacity for that power and grace to work through small things, which may appear to us even to be defective.  This is the God of promises and surprises, the God of miracles.  Here Christ begins with whatever the disciples and those in this makeshift crowd, who've run to meet Christ as He tried to get away to a deserted place with the disciples, have on hand.  That is, five loaves, and two small fish.  Let us remember that the loaves are broken and blessed, and the fish are divided, to feed five thousand men (a system of counting), and yet more women and children who were also present.  This is the nature of the God we know through the Old Testament, and the divine nature of Jesus Christ, God the Son who also became human, one of us.  In the Old Testament, when Samuel was sent to anoint a king, it was God who chose the youngest and smallest, the unlikely David (1 Samuel 16:1-13).  We read there that the Lord said to Samuel, when Samuel felt the eldest was surely fit to be king, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."   In terms of the New Testament, the very action of the Incarnation itself is a testimony to the limitless God who works through small things, even as a human being in the person of Jesus.  In this reading, we discussed Christ's parable of the Mustard Seed in this vein, how the very nature of the tender tiny elements Christ brings into the parable teaches us something about the greatness of God, and God's great grace working through the smallest and least likely things of this world.  Indeed, if we look at these patterns, we might notice that God seemingly prefers the small, just as God loves the poor.  In the great Song of Mary (Luke 1:46-55), she sings that God has exalted the lowly (verse 52).  In a great image of today's feeding, Mary sings, "He has filled the hungry with good things" (verse 53).  All of this is tied to the promises made to Abraham, as she sings, "He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever" (verses 54, 55).  Finally in St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians, he speaks of an infirmity, a "thorn in the flesh" which has not been alleviated through prayer.  But the Lord tells him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).  So, from the smallness of Israel, to the tiny mustard seed, to a girl named Mary, to today's five loaves and two fish, to St. Paul bragging in his infirmities and weakness and distresses, we read of the God who chooses the small things to work through, together with great faith.   St. Paul goes so far as to say affirmatively,  "For when I am weak, then I am strong."  Let us once more consider our God whose grace is sufficient for our weakness, Who so often chooses to work through the small and distressed, for this is the God who champions faith, who is filled with compassion, our good Shepherd who feeds us what we need.