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Mark 6 Bible study: Five loaves and two fish
Mark says only once that Jesus marveled: at the unbelief of his own country (6:6). And Mark ends the night on the sea with his own disciples amazed, because they "hadn’t understood about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened" (6:52), though they had just set the loaves before five thousand men.
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“for they all saw him and were troubled. But he immediately spoke with them and said to them, “Cheer up! It is I! Don’t be afraid.””
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“In Mark 6:6, Jesus marveled because of their unbelief.”
Is that in Mark 6, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
"Where did this man get these things?"
Jesus came into his own country, and on the Sabbath he taught in the synagogue, and "many hearing him were astonished" (6:2). Their questions are about where it all came from: "Where did this man get these things?" and "What is the wisdom that is given to this man, that such mighty works come about by his hands?" (6:2) (tap mighty works). Then they answer themselves with what they already know: "Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joses, Judah, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?" (6:3) (tap carpenter). "So they were offended at him" (6:3) (tap offended). In Greek offended is the verb Jesus used of those sown on the rocky places: "immediately they stumble" (4:17). Jesus answers, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own house" (6:4). Then Mark says something he says of Jesus nowhere else: "He marveled because of their unbelief" (6:6) (tap unbelief). In Greek Mark has that verb six times, and only here is Jesus the one who marvels.
Where the Old Testament leads here
Sheep without a shepherd
Numbers 27:17leads toMark 6:34
Moses asked for a man over the congregation, "that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep which have no shepherd" (27:17). Mark says of Jesus, "he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things" (Mark 6:34). Mark doesn't cite Numbers 27, so this is a reading: some hear Moses' prayer for a shepherd answered in Jesus, who teaches the crowd and then, in a place his disciples call "deserted" (Mark 6:35), feeds them until "They all ate and were filled" (Mark 6:42); others note that the Old Testament uses the same picture elsewhere, "as sheep that have no shepherd" (1 Kings 22:17) and "They were scattered, because there was no shepherd" (Ezekiel 34:5), and read Mark as using a common picture without pointing to Numbers.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Mark 6
That was a taste
The rest of Mark 6 is waiting in Favor
- John, Elijah, or a prophet
- "You give them something to eat"
- Hearts that hadn’t understood
- Four Gospels at the loaves
- Three Gospels on the water
- Set beside this chapter elsewhere
- 18 questions as you read
- 11 more Greek words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Mark 6 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Greek word behind it
ἀπιστίαapistiasay ap-is-TEE-ah
Strong's: "faithlessness, i.e. (negatively) disbelief". Thayer: "want of faith, unbelief", and he lists this verse under unbelief "in the divine mission of Jesus". "He marveled because of their unbelief" (6:6). Mark has the word three times. A father cries out to Jesus, "I believe. Help my unbelief!" (9:24), and it comes again in 16:14. Matthew tells this verse with the same word: "because of their unbelief" (Matthew 13:58).
For your group
Mark 6 Bible study questions
- 1In his own country they thought they already knew who Jesus was: "Isn’t this the carpenter?" (6:3). Where might knowing something well keep you from seeing it fresh?
- 2Jesus told his disciples, "You give them something to eat" (6:37), when all they had was five loaves and two fish (6:38). What small thing do you have that you could put in his hands this week?
- 3The disciples had just set the loaves before the crowd, yet in the boat "they hadn’t understood about the loaves" (6:52). What has God already done for you that is easy to forget when the next trouble comes?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Mark 6 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Mark is open from your first day, and its chapters open one after another, so you'll reach Mark 6 with everything before it in view. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home