The miracles of Jesus - Classical Christian Literature by Athleo.net

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THE FEEDING OF
(Mark viii. [19, 20). We may turn, then, to the
miracle now before us, confident that in it we have
a separate and no less striking proof of the Saviour's
power than that which has already been considered.
From the preceding narrative it
Jesus had been journeying through the
would appear that
midst of the
borders of Decapolis (Mark vii. 31), attended by a
crowd so great that it reminded the disciples of the
crowds to which they had been accustomed on the
western shores of the lake (Mark iii. 20 iv.
; 1 v.
; 21).
And the sight, as always, stirred the Saviour's deepest
feelings. "lie called unto Him His disciples, and
saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude,"
or more exactly, " I yearn over the multitude
with a yearning pity." In others, the presence of a
great mass of their fellow-creatures might awaken a
feeling of wonder, or of awe, or sometimes even of
contempt. But in Jesus it produced only compassion
(compare Matthew be 36; Mark vi. 34), a compassion
deepened on this occasion by the fact that these
people were suffering through their attendance upon
Him. "The)- continue with Me now three days, and
have nothing to eat." In the case of the five thousand
apparently only one day had passed before their
wants were miraculously supplied ;
but in the present
instance the stay had been of longer duration, and
whatever supplies of provision the multitude had
brought with them were now wholly exhausted. It
was true that, unlike the five thousand, the Decapolitans
were in their own country, and if dismissed
would make their way home. But the towns and
And
villages of that region were few and scattered.