Feeding the Five Thousand:
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” 32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. 35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.” 39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two-fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. |
In the sacred text, Mark
6:30-45 from the New Testament God is represented through many faiths and spirits
as the story is deeply meaningful and open to interpretation. The spirit which
God provides everyone is enormous which is why God is represented as the spirit.
This is also because he always does the right thing in the spirit that everyone
will be accompanied in some way or another. God is also represented in the
faith he provides to everyone as he has faith in the people making everyone
have faith in him. God even has faith in his disciples which is why he teaches
them his ways. God is represented in the text as a teacher and through the disciples
because even when the disciples don’t understand Jesus teaches them with
persistence and determination that they will eventually come around and see the
good in what he is doing.
The inspired author was a Gentile Christian, traditionally thought to be a disciple of Peter names John Mark and was written from approximately CE (Common Era) 65 to 70, this was the first written Gospel. The Gospel of Mark was written for the audience of non-Jewish Christians who were experiencing persecution because of their belief in Jesus. It portrays Jesus as a man of action who is human in his feelings and fulfilling his mission. The main fundamental questions that get answered are: Who is this Jesus called the Christ? and What does it mean to be his disciple? To answer the first question, the Gospel of Mark tells stories about Jesus’ power to heal and about his compassion for the less fortunate and suffering. It tells the reader about his conflicts with demons and religious/civil authorise and also how he gets misunderstood by his disciples. The disciples in the Gospel of Mark never seem to do much right. They don’t always understand Jesus’s ways but Jesus doesn’t cut them off instead he teaches them by giving them all private tutoring sessions. But still they continue to not understand. They become unfaithful to Jesus and the author of Mark intentionally emphasizes this lack of faith in order to contrast it with the unexpected faith of people. Their journey, somewhat like ours, a lifelong experience of growing in faith and understanding. The reader learns that Jesus is the Son of God – the favoured one who acts with God’s authority because he is obedient to God’s will. The second question through the disciples as when they were called my Jesus they were initially eager to follow him but quickly became fearful and wanted to be more important or powerful. Even when the disciples were fearful and left Jesus didn’t abandon them instead after he was raised from the dead he sent them a message that he would meet them in Galilee. The Gospel of Mark can relate to being ridiculed by others for trying or doing something good. In this sense Jesus would understand your feelings as the Gospel of Mark was written for early Christians experiencing persecution or death for their faith. The author constantly reminds us that to put our total trust in God, like Jesus despite the difficulties we encounter in being Christian. In this image Jesus and one of his disciples are feeding a man some of the fish and bread. Also thousands upon thousands of people are all around him, waiting their turn in their groups they formed. This image represents the sacred text, Mark 6:30-45 as it’s an exact replica of the part of the story when they begin to hand out food to those there. |