Ryle on Mark 8:1-13

Imported boundary: J. C. Ryle's Expository Thoughts on Mark from the Internet Archive DjVu OCR for the 1858 Robert Carter St. Mark volume. Title pages, preface, contents, running heads, page numbers, OCR boilerplate, and indexes are not mirrored. The source includes Ryle's printed Scripture text and exposition; this scan-derived text remains needs-verification.

Primary passage: Mark 8:1-13.

Source Text

1 In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, 2 I have compassion on the multi- tude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat ; 3 And if I send them away fasting, to their own houses, they will faint by the way : for divers of them come from far. 4 And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilder- ness ? 5 And he asked them, How many loaves have ye ? And they said, Seven. 6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground : and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them ; and they did set them be lore the people. 7 And they had a few small fishes; and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. 8 So they did eat; and were filled : and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. 9 And thev that had eaten were about four thousand : and he sent them away. 10 And straightway he entered into a ship with his disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. 11 And the Pharisees came forth, and began to question with him, seeking of him a sign from heaven, tempting him. 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, " Why doth this gene- ration seek after a si^n ? verily I say nato you, There shall no sign be giv- en unto this generation. 13 And he left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side. Once more we see our Lord feeding a great multitude with a few loaves and fishes. He knew the heart of man. He saw the rise of cavillers and skeptics, who would question the reality of the wonderful works He performed. By repeating the mighty miracle here recorded, He stops the mouth of all who are not wilfully blind to evidence. Publicly, and before four thousand witnesses, He shows His almighty power a second time.

Let us observe in this passage how great is the kindness and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ. He saw around Him a "very great multitude/' who had nothing to eat. He knew that the great majority were following Him mischief which has been inflicted on Christianity, has not arisen from tyrants (with persecution, murder, and pride against the word), but from that little bit of flesh which abides between the jaws. Tins it is that inflicts the greatest injury upon the kingdom of God." from no other motive than idle curiousity, and had no claim whatever to be regarded as His disciples. Yet when He saw them hungry and destitute, He pitied them : " I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat." The feeling heart of our Lord Jesus Christ appears in these words. He has compassion even on those who are not His people - the faithless, the graceless, the followers of this world. He feels tenderly for them, though they know it not. He died for them, though they care little for what He did on the cross. He would receive them graciously, and pardon them freely, if they would only repent and believe on Him. Let us ever beware of measuring the love of Christ by any human measure. He has a special love, beyond doubt, for His own believ- ing people. But He has also a general love of compas- sion, even for the unthankful and the evil. His love " passeth knowledge." (Ephes. iii. 19.) Let us strive to make Jesus our pattern in this, as well as in everything else. Let us be kind, and compassion- ate, and pitiful, and courteous to all men. Let us be ready to do good to all men, and not only to friends and the household of faith. Let us carry into practice our Lord's injunction, " Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you." (Matt. v. 44.) This is to show the mind of Christ. This is the right way to heap coals of fire on an enemy's head, and to melt foes into friends. (Rom. xii. 20.)

Let us observe, in the second place, from this passage, that with Christ nothing is impossible. The disciples said, " from whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness " They might well say so. Without the hand of Him who first made the world out of nothing, the thing could not be. But in the almighty hands of Jesus seven loaves and a few fishes were made sufficient to satisfy four thousand men. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

We must never allow ourselves to doubt Christ's power to supply the spiritual wants of all His people. He has " bread enough and to spare" for every soul that trusts in Him. Weak, infirm, corrupt, empty as believers feel themselves, let them never despair, while Jesus lives. In Him there is a boundless store of mercy and grace, laid up for the use of all His believing members, and ready to be bestowed on all who ask in prayer. " It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell." (Colos. i. 19.) Let us never doubt Christ's providential care for the temporal wants of all His people. He knows their cir- cumstances. He is acquainted with all their necessities. He will never allow them to lack anything that is really for their good. His heart is not changed since He as- cended up on high, and sat down on the right hand of God. He still lives who had compassion on the hungry crowd in the wilderness, and supplied their need. How much more, may we suppose, will He supply the need of those who trust Him ? He will supply them without fail. Their faith may occasionally be tried, They may sometimes be kept waiting, and be brought very low. But the believer shall never be left entirely destitute. " Bread shall be given him ; his water shall be sure." (Isaiah xxxiii. 16.)

Let us observe, in the last place, how much sorrow ?/??- belief occasions to our Lord Jesus Christ. We are told that when " the Pharisees began to question with Him, seeking of Him a sign from heaven, tempting Him, He sighed deeply in His spirit/5 There was a deep meaning in that sigh ! It came from a heart which mourned over the ruin that these wicked men were bringing on their own souls. Enemies as they were, Jesus could not behold them hardening themselves in unbelief without sorrow. The feeling which our Lord Jesus Christ here ex- pressed, will always be the feeling of all true Christians. Grief over the sins of others is one leading evidence of true grace. The man who is really converted, will always regard the unconverted with pity and concern. This was the mind of David : " I beheld the transgres- sors, and was grieved ." (Psalm cxix. 158.) This was the mind of the godly in the days of Ezekiel : " They sighed and cried for the abominations done in the land/' (Ezek. ix. 4.) This was the mind of Lot : " He vexed his righteous soul with the unlawful deeds" of those around him. (2 Peter ii. 8.) This was the mind of Paul : " I have great heaviness and continual sorrow for my brethren." (Rom. ix. 2.) In all these cases we see something of the mind of Christ. As the great Head feels, so feel the members. They all grieve when they see sin.

Let us leave the passage with solemn self-inquiry. Do we know anything of likeness to Christ, and fellow-feeling with Him ? Do we feel hurt, and pained, and sorrow- ful, when we see men continuing in sin and unbelief ? Do we feel grieved and concerned about the state of the unconverted ? These are heart-searching questions, and demand serious consideration. There are few surer marks of an unconverted heart, than carelessness and indifference about the souls of others.

Finally, let us never forget that unbelief and sin are just as great a cause of grief to our Lord now, as they were eighteen hundred years ago. Let us strive and pray that we may not add to that grief by any act or deed of ours. The sin of grieving Christ is one which many commit continually without thought or reflection. He that sighed over the unbelief of the Pharisees is still unchanged. Can we doubt that when He sees some persisting in unbelief at the present day, He is grieved ? From such sin may we be delivered !