Mark 8:5 Commentary and Bible Study

What happens continues to track the earlier event: ‘And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven.’ The numbers vary, but the events are very similar. He commands the people to sit in expectation of being fed, and, as with the feeding of the five thousand, we think of the illustration here of faith. They are being commanded by this great prophet teacher, as they understood him to be, and told to sit and prepare to be fed. But there is no sign of any carts or camels or donkeys laden with food sufficient to feed thousands; no sign of any provision, and yet he commands them to sit down in an orderly way. No doubt, as earlier, under Christ's direction, the disciples form them up in groups so that they can be served. The cynical among them must have sneered to one another: ‘What's this all about? There is no food around, nothing to be seen.’ But as the loaves and the fishes were broken and distributed, so they multiplied. They obeyed him and they were provided for, so it is a picture of faith, acquiescence, submission to the command of Christ. If he says, ‘Repent and believe’, we obey him and in obeying him we receive him and are united with him. They sat on the ground and they were provided for.