He hath done all things well; Bread

Readers who are unfamiliar with the geographical locations in the verses have little concept of the distances that the Lord Jesus travelled to alleviate human need. It involved many, many miles on foot to travel from Galilee to the Tyre region, and then away over to Decapolis. He ‘went about’, said Peter, Acts 10. 38, but the phrase masks the weariness, the searing heat, the thirst, and the dust of every journey that He took.

In the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, ‘he could not be hid’, v. 24. He was like the ‘city that is set on an hill’ of which He preached, Matt. 5. 14. His fame had spread to that remote Gentile district, and His branches would ‘run over the wall’, Gen. 49. 22, to bring blessing to a needy family. Matthew takes note of the woman’s faith, Matt. 15. 28, but while it is not mentioned here, it is evidenced in her response to the Lord. She was willing to take the place of an outcast Gentile dog, and be content with an undeserved crumb of blessing! Her obedience to Christ was unquestioning; accepting His promise, she simply returned home and found things as He had said. May God help us all to have such implicit faith, and the same submissive obedience.

The incident of the deaf man is unique to Mark. A deaf man could never hear of Christ, and ‘faith cometh by hearing’, Rom. 10. 17. However, the compassion of the Saviour was such that by sign language, Mark 7. 33, He indicated His intentions, and faith was engendered. The single Aramaic word ‘Ephphatha’ could be easily lip-read, another aid to faith. How considerate He was!

From the very first miracle, when water became ‘good wine’, John 2. 10, everything that the Lord did was done perfectly. Thus it was here: of a man with ‘an impediment in is speech’ it was said, ‘he spake plain’. No wonder the reaction was, ‘He hath done all things well’!

We muse on more than heart can hold,
On more than tongue can tell,
And simply say like those of old,
‘He hath done all things well’.

I. Y. EWAN

If the huge crowd were to be dismissed as it was, the people would faint with hunger, v. 3, hence, ‘I have compassion on the multitude’, v. 2. His compassion was the spring from which all His actions flowed. How is it with us? The noblest acts, if not motivated by love, are profitless, 1 Cor. 13. 1-3. Have ‘compassion one of another’, 1 Pet. 3. 8.

At the feeding of the 5000, the disciples had made a blunder; they had expressed doubt as to how such an enormous crowd could be fed, and the doubt resurfaced here, v. 4. Abraham duplicated his error when he portrayed Sarah as his sister, Gen. 12. 13, 19. We should learn from our mistakes, but we rarely do!

To their credit, the disciples knew that their Lord would want to ‘satisfy’ the multitude, v. 4, and so He did, v. 8. They had constantly observed His generosity; He ‘giveth to all men liberally’, Jas. 1. 5. He ‘giveth us richly all things to enjoy’, 1 Tim. 6. 17. Divine gifts are always lavish, and the disciples’ expectations of their Lord were never disappointed.

Despite the background of such a mighty miracle there was still the clamour for ‘a sign from heaven’, Mark 8. 11. The Lord Jesus was not insensitive, and so ‘he sighed deeply’, v. 12. Ominously, verse 13 records, ‘he left them’. There are times when people cross the line and place themselves beyond mercy.

An oversight regarding provisions occasioned a warning against the corrupting attitudes of both the Pharisees and Herod, describing them as ‘leaven’, v. 15. In scripture, leaven invariably symbolizes evil in its various guises, but the disciples were slow to detect that He was teaching them spiritual truth. They rather thought that His remarks related to their carelessness in forgetting to bring loaves, and the anxiety that this had caused. But why should they be anxious? He had provided for both the 5000 and the 4000 with considerable surplus; where was the problem? They were so slow to remember His power and His faithfulness. ‘Beware of the leaven . . . ’. The cold, legalistic, demanding teaching of the Pharisees withers the soul. The liberal, worldly, ostentatious mind-set of Herod destroys moral fibre. Beware!