Faith- 8:4

Perhaps here we get a bit of an insight into the disciples question at the start- they weren't making the jumps (and I'm sure I wouldn't have in their situation either- and perhaps further than that- in my situation). So though they know Jesus is able, if they dwelt on their past experience with him, they come up with a flat faithless type of take on the situation (a very understandable one in one sense- but in another close to unpardonable). I think this sort of thing is what particularly riles Jesus. He is at his most exasperated over lack of faith- O faithless and perverse generation how long must I put up with you... Shortly we come to Peter's confession of Jesus as the messiah- and from here Jesus starts telling the disciples about his death, as though he was waiting for the genesis of this sort of mature faith in the disciples before he shared more deeply of his mission with them. I think he loves Thomas- knows his type, but there is rebuke there for lack of faith when Thomas utters, 'My Lord and my God'. I think he is thrilled and impressed with the faith of the Centurion- he does make the jumps, and very quickly. “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” The centurion manages to sum up the situation far more accurately than most those who have the benefit of 2000 years of tradition based on interaction with Yahweh. He is sympathetic to the Jews- has built them a synagogue. His sympathy is far deeper than perhaps the locals suspected. His military background stands him in good stead too- He realises something of who Jesus is and sends a messenger not to trouble the teacher- I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I do not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go' and he goes, and to another 'come' and he comes, and to my slave 'Do this,' and he does it.”
So this centurion puts a few things together and comes up with the appropriate response- Like Peter when he falls at Jesus knees, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man”. And part of his appropriate response (with-not worthy to come in person to you or have you come under my roof) is his faith that Jesus can heal- has authority to issue the command, and it will be so.

The indictment on the disciples, (there for others who follow after them to read for at least 2000 years), is an indictment on me- slow to see and hear. Slow to put the pieces together and make the jumps. Too readily to glance at a situation- but how can you feed people in this desert? He is after rocks on which he can build his church- and he will wait to build until the firm foundation is there- faith. “And he could do no deed of power, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.”

Second hungry crowd- 8:1-10

This is the second time where Jesus has a conversation with the disciples about a hungry crowd. The time before they brought the matter to his attention, and were advocating sending the crowd away so they could get food. Here Jesus has compassion on the crowd (splanknizomai- a great word) . The disciples response is interesting given they've been here before- 'How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?' I wonder how far we are away from the feeding of the 5000 (more than 5000). Only one and a half chapters away. You'd think no more than a year... There's a whole lot of debate among scholars about this being a duplication of the other feeding- a second take on the same event. This seems unnecessarily sceptical to me- it seems to be part of the problem if you weight form criticism too highly...I suppose without looking at all the intricacies they have, my gut feeling is that we are not as far removed from the events described in the gospels as some of these scholars think. Apart from this, it makes a bit of a mockery of Jesus question to the disciples a few days on, 'Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets did you collect? They said to him '12'. And the seven for the four thousand, how many did you collect? And they said to him '7'. Then he said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

Palestine time- 8:1-3

On the whole the crowds don't get a good wrap in the gospels. They take superficially instead of deeply. When the blow torch is applied they are gone. Yet here they stick around for three days, I presume mostly listening. I wonder how Jesus did this- Morning session, break for morning tea (though by the sound of it, food was scarce) then a late morning session to lunch... (again, perhaps with no food). Or did he just go all day, and a mesmerised crowd stuck with him? I get the feeling they didn't do time the same way we do. For a start, this was not a planned event. There was no big conference in six months time, here's the program, sign up now, type of thing. Very much Jesus is rolling with the punches, within a greater strategical mission. He has a date in Jerusalem that is getting closer- apart from that (a big that) there seems to be great fluidity- Things are getting a bit hot here- I'll head north. I judge things should have cooled off a bit, I'll come back south- but via west and down to the decapolis. The crowd is eager here, I'll spend a good amount of time speaking with them- they would not have had the same opportunities as my Jewish brothers. And the crowd seem fairly closely alligned with this way of dealing with time. That man Jesus is in the area- the one who healed that 'Harold' who used to wander the tombs around Gerasenes, He's just healed the Smiths family's nephew, the one that can't talk- let's go and check him out, put the closed sign up- back at our earliest convenience. And they go, perhaps with a packed lunch (what would that be?) and a water bottle?. They get there and he's saying intriguing things- far more pressing than the need to have every meal they normally would at the normal times.

Jesus has compassion on them- because they have been with him three days and don't have anything to eat- and some have come from a great distance, and he thinks many could faint on the journey home. They certainly don't seem to do time in the same way we do- but I imagine this was pretty unique for the crowds as well. When else would they have gone to listen to a rabbi and spent three days without food as they did this?

In those days.. - 8:1

In those days, NIV- during those days, Z & G- at that time... they go on to say, 'but here serving to link two paragraphs and not meant as a chronological note'. How do they know that? It reads as though it is a rough chronological marker. Just reading France and he seems to take a more straightforward reading- and thinks it probable the feeding took place in the Decapolis region, where Jesus is at the end of the last pericope.
It certainly fits. A crowd gathered fairly quickly after he arrived. He healed a man who spoke with difficulty and was almost deaf (an interesting point that Mark describes him like this, and the crowd describe it as 'he even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak- perhaps another pointer to Mark's concern for truth), and those he commands not to tell about this ignore him and kept talking about it.
It would be natural for a large crowd to gather under these circumstances, at about this time. And if this is the case, as France points out, we have a major miracle being performed in a non Jewish area.