Mark 6:30-44
From John the Baptist’s death, Mark leads us immediately into the miraculous feeding of the 5,000. This particular miracle is recorded in all four of the gospels. The thing they all have in common is that Jesus and the disciples were attempting to separate themselves from the crowds. Mark and Luke both link the attempt for space to the return of the 12 from their first “mission”, Matthew links it to Jesus’ hearing of John the Baptist’s death and John does not give a specific reason for the group to try to get some time for rest. Since we are studying Mark we will use Mark’s text for our timeline and for understanding the context and details of this miracle. The 12 apostles had been sent out by Jesus, for the first time, to preach repentance, to heal diseases and to cast out demons. After telling us about John the Baptist’s death, Mark then tells us that the apostles returned to Jesus and gave Him a report of everything that they had experienced. That will set the stage for the feeding of the 5,000.