Mark 6: 34-44 – Tuesday after Epiphany (Audio Bible, Spoken Verse)
34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
35 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:
36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.
37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
39 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
42 And they did all eat, and were filled.
43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.
44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.
Jesus has invited the disciples to come away with him to find a lonely place, where they might rest. The pressures of the apostolic ministry have been so great, there has not been time even to eat. Jesus and the apostles have gone away from the crowds in a boat, but the people have seen them leave and have run ahead to find them, arriving at the place before Jesus does. Jesus, then, changes his plans. The rest period is not to be. Jesus feels compassion for the spiritual needs of the people. They need the teaching Jesus is able to give to them. They are as sheep without a shepherd. This need is paramount.
Immediately prior to these verses, the Gospel of Mark has recorded the martyrdom of John the Baptist, recounting the banquet of death, during which Herodias’ daughter pleases Herod and demands the head of John the Baptist as her reward, to which demand Herod succumbs.
We see, then, the great contrast between the Gospel episodes. Where Herod’s was a banquet of death, Jesus’ teaching of the multitude who have followed him out into the wilderness becomes a banquet of life.
The crowds have spent the day listening to Jesus, and now the day is spent; the disciples recognize and tell Jesus of the hunger of the people. The disciples do not, though, understand what Jesus means when he tells them to feed the crowds. They respond in amazement: Are they to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread? A denarius was a day’s wage for an artisan – this would be a significant sum of money.
Where the disciples have looked outside of the crowds for a solution to the hunger of the crowds, Jesus directs them not to look elsewhere but rather to look within. Jesus says to his disciples: How many loaves do you have? Go and see.
The disciples do so and return to Jesus with a seemingly hopeless answer: in all the crowds, there are five loaves, and two fishes. This is what is seemingly on offer among so many people – 5000 men. It doesn’t matter if others are hiding their food, and this is only the offering of one good person when that person is asked if he has any food to share. Perhaps it was so. Either way, now the miracle happens.
Jesus accepts this little offering, offered in what must have been such a loving and selfless manner, and Jesus asks the people present to perform a symbolic action: And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. Jesus tells the apostles to make all of those present sit down, to adopt an attitude of peace, of passivity. We may remind ourselves that Jesus is preaching in a sectarian environment, and this sitting down is akin to a laying down of arms, and beyond this of differences and possible grievances.
At the supper of the Lord, we resolve our differences and we admit in a lowly way that we are all equal before God. We all equally crave God’s help – grace. We acknowledge our own shortcomings, known as sins, and we embrace our neighbours with all commonality and friendliness.
Mark’s Gospel account of Jesus’ words and actions tells of Jesus celebrating what would later become the Eucharist, and in similar words: he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves. The Last Supper and the Eucharist to come are anticipated, and the multitudes are fed abundantly. Of the five loaves and two fishes, twelve baskets of scraps remain to be gathered, symbolic of the people of Israel, and also of the preciousness of everything we do and of all that we offer to God and as we live with Jesus.
Moses told the people to gather just as much as they needed each day of the manna in the wilderness, and not to save anything for the next day, save prior to the Sabbath, else it would become corrupt and breed worms. Elijah gave the widow just enough to meet her needs. Jesus gives superabundantly.
For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. (Isaiah 62:1)
God, our Father,
when your Only-begotten Son revealed himself in flesh and blood,
we came to know him as our fellow man.
May he transform us inwardly until we bear his likeness,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Christian Art | George Herbert | The Temple | The Church | The Sinner George Herbert | The Temple | The Church | The Sinner Lord, how I am all ague, when I seek What I have treasur’d in my memorie! Since, if my soul make even with the week, Each seventh note by right is due to thee. I finde there quarries of pil’d vanities, But shreds of holinesse, that dare not venture To shew their face, since crosse to thy decrees. There the circumference earth is, heav’n the centre. In so much dregs the quintessence is small: The spirit and good extract of my heart Comes to about the many hundredth part. Yet Lord restore thine image, heare my call: And though my hard heart scarce to thee can grone, Remember that thou once didst write in stone. George Herbert | The Temple | The Church | The Sinner The poet reflects on his spiritual state, describing a struggle with weakness, sin, and the desire for divine alignment. The poem opens with the poet addressing God, expressing discomfort, likened to an ‘ague’ (fever or chill), when he searches his memory for spiritual treasures. This ‘ague’ suggests both a physical and spiritual unease, revealing the tension the poet feels in self-examination. The second line conveys a sense of regret as the poet searches for ‘treasur’d’ holiness in his memory. He recognizes that, although he might strive to keep his soul ‘even with the week’, dedicating every seventh day to God, he falls short. This phrase reflects the expectation to honour the Sabbath, but the poet’s efforts are met with disappointment in their perceived spiritual emptiness. The poet goes on to examine his inner self, describing ‘quarries of pil’d vanities’ that dominate his mind. Here, ‘quarries’ implies an overwhelming quantity of earthly or superficial concerns, while ‘vanities’ suggests that these concerns are meaningless in the context of divine expectation. In contrast, he finds only ‘shreds of holinesse’, fragmented attempts at righteousness, which he hesitates to bring forward as these elements are ‘crosse to thy decrees’, or in opposition to God’s laws. This imagery underscores the poet’s internal conflict and recognition of shortcomings. Further, the poet contrasts earth and heaven, saying that ‘the circumference earth is, heav’n the centre.’ This phrase symbolizes the poet’s focus on worldly concerns (the circumference) that orbit around a neglected spiritual core (the heavenly center). The poet reflects that his life is filled with ‘dregs’, the lesser, unrefined aspects of his being, while ‘quintessence’, or the purest part of himself, is scarce. This ‘quintessence’ is described as the ‘spirit and good extract’ of the poet’s heart, amounting to a ‘many hundredth part’ — a small fraction of life’s essence. The poet realizes that, despite attempts to cultivate holiness, his internal state largely lacks spiritual substance. The final lines shift to a plea for restoration. The poet calls on God to ‘restore thine image’, asking for renewal and transformation. This restoration request implies a yearning to reflect God’s nature more fully, as humanity is believed to be made in God’s image. The poet acknowledges that his heart ‘scarce… can grone’ to God, reflecting the difficulty he feels in truly connecting with or petitioning the divine. The poem ends with reference to the biblical account of the Ten Commandments, when God ‘didst write in stone’. This allusion serves as both a reminder of God’s past willingness to communicate directly and a plea for a similar intervention to etch divine law into the poet’s heart. The poem examines themes of introspection, human fallibility, and a longing for divine transformation. The poet’s self-examination reveals struggle to balance earthly concerns with spiritual commitments, culminating in a plea for God’s direct action to restore spiritual integrity.
The reading, presented as the voice of Christ addressing the disciple, reflects the central themes of The Imitation of Christ — listening to God’s word with humility, preferring eternal truth over temporal vanities, and persevering in faith through both trials and consolations [ … ]
Dear Jesus, In times of trouble and distress, I come to you, seeking comfort and peace. You understand the depths of my heart and the challenges I face. I bring my burdens to you, as they feel heavy and overwhelming. I trust that you will provide the rest and strength I need during these difficult moments [ … ]
