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Mark | 1-6 | 7:1-13 | 7:14-23 | 7:24-37 |  8:1-21 | 8:22-33 | 8:34-9:9 | 9:9-32 | 10:1-10 | 10:11-27 | 10:28-45 | 11:1-11 | 11:12-26 | 11:27-12:12 | 12:13-27 | 12:28-44 | 13-16 |

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Mark 8 Bible Study and Questions – Feeding of The Four Thousand

Outline

I. Jesus feeds the four thousand (1-10)
II. No sign will be given to this generation (11-13)
III. Jesus warns them about the Pharisees and Herod (14-21)

I. Jesus feeds the four thousand (1-10)

Discussion Questions

• How is this story similar to the feeding of the five thousand? How is it different?
• Are there any additional insights/lessons you can learn from it?
• Compare and contrast the disciples’ attitudes in Mark 6 and here.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. This was likely in Decapolis–

Events in Decapolis –

Mark 5:18-20 – And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Mark 7:31 – Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.

Mark 8:1 – 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.

Decapolis was primarily a Gentile region. Because it was a Gentile region, we see God’s grace and Jesus’ ministry extended beyond the Jews. This is the same region where Jesus healed the man possessed by a legion of demons (Mark 5). The first time Jesus went to that region, he was immediately met by demons. They disrupted and opposed his work. It appeared that Satan’s efforts to thwart Jesus in the region and claim that land for his own were effective. The demons killed a herd of swine. In the ensuing chaos, Jesus was driven out of the region. It appeared that His ministry in that area was over before it began.

Yet Jesus had reached one man. The man who was possessed by demons became a follower of Jesus. Jesus tasked him to go and tell others what Jesus had done for him.

Mark 5:19-20 – And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Jesus saved this one person and through that one changed life the region was reached. Now Jesus returns and thousands gather to hear his teachings.

It is likely that many of the people in this crowd (Mark 8:2) had either heard about Jesus from that man or heard his story through word of mouth. Now they had an opportunity to meet Jesus for themselves. It seems Jesus was following a similar strategy as Paul did later, which is to visit places, preach and teach, and then go back again for more encouragement and follow-up.

God is not restrained to save by many or by few.

1 Samuel 14:6 – It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.

Jesus knew what He was doing. It may have appeared that He was defeated on His first visit to Decapolis. But He was not. He was playing chess while Satan was playing checkers.

I have witnessed some chess games by grandmasters and they are able to see many moves ahead. An observer often cannot tell what they are doing until it is finally revealed after a long sequence of set-up moves.

Application – Many times, we cannot see or understand what God is doing. It may even appear that He has been thwarted or defeated. Yet He is the Alpha and the Omega. He knows the end from the beginning. Our simple application is to trust that He knows what He is doing even if we don’t see or understand it right away.

Reflect – Have you ever been confused about why God allowed a certain situation or event in your life only to realize later that He had a plan in that and meant it for good?

2. Jesus showed compassion – Once again, Jesus’ compassion is highlighted.

Mark 8:2-3 – I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 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.

The people had mostly not eaten for days. Obviously, Jesus’ teachings were very powerful, which made them want to keep staying and listening to Him.

3. The disciples’ thinking was stuck in the physical realm –

Mark 8:4 – And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?”

The disciples still didn’t seem to get it. You would think they might just immediately say, “Here’s some bread. Do another miracle like last time.” This idea was so foreign to their normal human logic that none of them said this or perhaps even thought about it. While it is only two chapters apart, we are not sure how much time has elapsed. If a month or two or more had gone by that could also help explain why they didn’t immediately think about it.

Reflect – Why do you think the disciples did not suggest that Jesus do a miracle?

4. The crowds were commanded to sit on the ground –

There is no record of them being told why they should sit on the ground. If someone came up and told me, “Sit down,” I might very well ask, “Why?” They simply obeyed.

5. Seven loaves and a few fish – The exact number is not important. Each time Jesus did a similar miracle, He used a different number of loaves and fish. From this, we can infer several things.

Firstly, it means that the number is real and it is not simply an allegory.

Secondly, it means that the number itself is unlikely to have deep spiritual significance. Some people are very interested in numerology in the Bible. It is true that some numbers carry a deeper meaning. But that is not always the case. Most of the time, a number is just a number.

Thirdly, it means that the reporting and writing were very accurate. The gospel writers were precise even to the simplest details.

With seven loaves and over four thousand men, each loaf then needed to feed about six hundred people (not counting women and children). After feeding over six hundred people, there was still enough to fill up a very large basket. The word for “basket” here means something like “hamper,” and the basket was likely large, large enough for a person to fit into.

6. More lessons from the feeding of four thousand –

A. Jesus blessed the food again, reminding us of the principle of giving thanks before eating.

Mark 8:6 – Having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd.

Reflect – Do you consistently give thanks for God’s blessings in your life?

B. The disciples helped distribute the food –

It was Jesus’ practice to give the disciples practical tasks to help with. They were not simply spectators of Jesus’ ministry. They were participants. Helping gave them an opportunity to grow. Discipleship is a lot like an apprenticeship.

Application – We should be practicing this at every level. Church leaders should encourage church members to serve and participate in various ways. Parents should give tasks to their children. Let your children help make bread, set the table, do the dishes, welcome guests to your home, find navigation cues on a trip, etc. This is discipleship!

C. The miracle was abundant –

Mark 8:8 – And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full.

People ate, were satisfied, and there were seven large baskets left over. His miracle was more than sufficient. It was abundant. God does not do stingy miracles.

2 Corinthians 9:8 – And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Reflect – What may they have done with the leftovers?

Jesus knows our needs. He can abundantly supply our needs. We have a responsibility to obey His commands even when we don’t know why and trust that He has a good reason for them.

II. No sign will be given to this generation (11-13)

Discussion Questions

• Why did the Pharisees go to see Jesus?
• What can we learn from this about people’s motivations?
• Do you think they told Jesus directly “We came to argue with you?”
• Why did they want to see a sign?
• How did Jesus feel when they came to Him?
• Why did He not give them a sign?
• Was it just this once or did he never give them a sign?
• What may have been the difference?

Cross-References

Matthew 12:38-40 – Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

1 Corinthians 1:22 – For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom.

Judges 6:17 – And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.

John 2:11 – This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. The Pharisees were still hostile to Jesus’ ministry – Crowds followed Jesus around wherever He went. But not all of the people were welcoming or friendly. Pharisees traveled long distances just to watch Jesus “like a hawk” and find any excuse to blame Him or argue with Him in public.

Wherever there is a large crowd of people together, there are sure to be many people coming with their own motivations, sometimes even bad ones. Not everyone goes to church because they want to learn more about God and grow in their relationship with Him.

Reflect – What are some poor motivations that might attract certain people to church?

Here are a few possibilities.

• I can sell insurance to the people there.
• I can build up a network to find a job or drum up business.
• There are a lot of pretty girls at church.
• It is a social club where I can hang out.
• I can earn my way to heaven by serving at church.
• Some go with the spirit of judgment and seek to find problems with the pastor, sermon, or church to complain about.

Application – Evaluate your motivation for going to church. Can it be improved? How can you prepare your heart to properly worship God and learn from the Word each time before you go to church or another Christian activity?

2. The Pharisees wasted their opportunity to learn from the Messiah – The Pharisees had an amazing privilege. Of all the people who have ever lived on the earth, they actually had the chance to see Jesus face to face and listen to His teaching. But they wasted their chance.

Application – We too are greatly privileged. You probably own at least one Bible. You can access it in hundreds of translations on your phone and computer. In the Western world, there are many churches and fellowships with easy access to attend. You have the freedom to go and will face little persecution.

We have unprecedented access to Bible teaching. The internet gives us loads of information on any passage we are studying and there are hundreds of thousands of Christian books which we can read. You can access most of the information scholars have gleaned from the Bible for the past thousands of years in a few clicks.

Do you take this for granted? Do you give your complete attention to the sermon on Sundays? Do you treasure God’s Word? Do not waste the opportunities God has given you to get to know Him better.

2. The Pharisees demanded that Jesus give them a sign – The request itself was not necessarily bad. Jesus made a lot of claims and promises. It would be natural to want some evidence that Jesus is who He said He was. However, Jesus had already done many signs.
Reflect – What signs have we read about so far in Mark?

Did these not count? The Pharisees dismissed all the signs that Jesus had already done and kept demanding more. Notice too that their request was not sincere. They were not considering believing in Him. It was a challenge, not a genuine desire to learn.

Not every question is created equally. Even asking the same question, one person could ask with the intention to argue and another out of a sincere desire to learn.

3. Jesus saw through their request – He knew their hearts. He knew that doing a sign for them would not change their minds. It would be like showing off just because He could. Why did Jesus do most of His signs? Most of them were motivated out of compassion. I cannot think of a single miracle that He did just to show people He could.

While a person with such power would be tempted to show it off, Jesus wasn’t like that. He didn’t come to seek His own glory.

John 7:18 – The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

He is not like a trained monkey to perform on demand. He did not need to prove Himself to them and indeed nothing He did would have been proof in their minds anyway. This demand is actually very similar to Satan’s testing of Jesus in the wilderness. Clearly, Jesus was not swayed by, “If you are the Son of God, you will…” challenges.

Matthew 12:38-40 – Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jesus said only one sign would be given to the people and that sign was not given immediately.

That sign is the sign of the resurrection. This is the greatest and only proof necessary to show Jesus is who He said He was.

What do we learn from this?

• We should not challenge or test God.
• The same question could be asked out of a sincere heart and granted, or out of a desire to challenge. For example, Gideon asked for a sign and God gave it to him. Evaluate your heart.
• Jesus did what He knew was right, not just what people expected of Him. He did not give in to peer pressure of any kind. We should not either.
• Invest your time in people who are sincere about learning of God, not in people who seek to challenge or argue. Jesus taught us not to throw our pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6).
• It is not normally worthwhile to argue with those types of people (a possible exception could be for the sake of sincere people who are also in the group).

III. Jesus warns them about the Pharisees and Herod (14-21)

Discussion Questions

• What may have stimulated Jesus to talk about the “leaven” of the Pharisees and Herod?
• What do you think he was referring to?
• What does leaven generally represent in the Bible? In this case is it good or bad? How do you know?
• How did the disciples interpret Jesus’ statement?
• What was Jesus’ view of this?
• Why did they keep thinking about the physical things when Jesus was referring to spiritual things?
• What was Jesus’ response this time to their short-term memories?
• What can we learn from verse 18? How can we move beyond focusing on the things we can see around to the spiritual truths and Christ’s spiritual kingdom?
• What teaching method did Jesus use here?
• Did it lead them to understand? (See Matthew 16)

Cross-References

Matthew 16:8-12 – This is the parallel passage in the gospel of Matthew.

Colossians 3:2 – Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Hebrews 5:14 – But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Colossians 2:8 – See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. Beware the leaven of the Pharisees –

Mark 8:14-15 – Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

Jesus often used situations they were facing to teach something. In this case, it appears that the discussion of bread prompted Jesus to give an illustration about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod.

Because Jesus was normally with the disciples, everyday life provided countless “teachable moments.”

Application – For those who are discipling others, try to spend more time with them so that you can share in real-life situations. Parents also should seek to teach their children not just at set times during the day but all through the day as they encounter teachable moments.

2. The disciples didn’t understand this statement –

Mark 8:16 – And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread.

They thought it had something to do with the fact that they forgot to take the bread. But Jesus didn’t care they forgot to take the bread. He had just done two miracles feeding more than nine thousand people anyway.

The issue seems to be that they were still thinking in the physical plane rather than the spiritual plane. Jesus had already done many miracles and taught them many lessons. Yet many times, they still didn’t “get it.” When Jesus used examples or parables they were often stuck and couldn’t figure out the meaning of what He taught them. Jesus wanted them to move past the basics and their immature thinking and start to grasp what He was teaching them.

Application – Discernment is important. We need to look at the things around us with spiritual eyes filled with wisdom from the Lord. We need to keep studying, keep growing, and keep pressing on towards a closer relationship with, a higher understanding of, and a deeper obedience to the Lord.

3. Jesus used questions to lead them to understanding –

Mark 8:17-20 – Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.”

He did not just give them the answer or lecture them. Rather through a series of questions, He forced them to use critical thinking skills to look at the issue. These questions helped them to think through this statement on their own and then find the answer. If he fed them the answer, they would not have learned how to think and would have been more likely to quickly forget it.

He showed them how to use their minds in order to find the answer. Once they learned to use their God-given minds, they would be able to use discernment in countless future situations.

This is similar to the Chinese idiom, “Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Application – As we disciple others, we need to carefully consider this truth. Do not always be in a hurry to tell others the answer or lecture. Instead, try to “coach” people to find the answer themselves. This will be much more powerful. In a class on how to coach people, I learned to “let the silence do the work.”

Sometimes if a teacher asks a question, she starts to feel awkward if people don’t answer it immediately. Often she will then give the answer herself. But by asking a question and waiting, people use that silent time to think. That process of thinking is critical and is where real progress can be made.

4. The disciples finally understood –

Mark does not record the result of this conversation, but Matthew does.

Matthew 16:11-12 – How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Jesus’ teaching method worked. The disciples arrived at the answer themselves. They realized Jesus was referring to the teaching of the Pharisees and Herod. His words were a warning to be careful of their teaching.

Reflect – What was the matter with the Pharisees’ teaching? How about Herod’s?

Application – What application can you make from the passage today?