Mk: 6:30 – 34. The Return of the Twelve & Introduction to the Feeding of the Five Thousand
Our Questions
I’ve tweaked the first question to ask not only who are the characters in this passage but what is the role that each plays in the passage. This will prepare better our response to our third question, what is the plot, theme, or purpose of this passage. But we shouldn’t forget our middle question, what is the time of the passage? Reading the Background [See immediately below] will allow us to situate the passage in the flow of Mark’s Gospel; it will help also to glance ahead to the next passage to provide an even fuller sense of the when of the story. Keep in mind that Mark is the earliest of the Gospels. If we read the Introduction to the Gospel, http://www.usccb.org/bible/scripture.cfm?bk=Mark&ch= in a single page we can begin to appreciate the larger picture of Mark.
Yet the real “when” of this question is our own “when.” I have yet to get anyone to address this “when.” It is the “when” of our life in its utter concreteness. But this concreteness is not limited to right here and right now, rather our “when” is the period of time we are in right here and right now. That period can extend backward for days, month, and even years with anticipation of an unknown future. It is the concreteness of our life that is felt, lived, struggled with, rejoiced over, saddened by, forgiven or not. It is the chapter of our biography that we are in right here, right now. How we understand this period today probably will not be how we understand in some future that will place this period in a different context but right now it is what it is.
Background:
Let us begin with placing our passage into the larger context of Mark’s Gospel. We ought to be aware first that between the readings for last Sunday and next Sunday, the church doesn’t follow Mark’s account verse by verse. If we skim over the headings of Mk: 6:7 – 34, we can detect first that the church skips a couple of passages; Mk. 6:14 – 29 that contains two passages; 6:14 -16, Herod’s Opinion of Jesus, and 6:17 – 29, The Death of John the Baptist. In addition, the church adds the first verse of the next passage, that is the Feeding of the Five Thousand. See http://www.usccb.org/bible/mark/6 .
Notice as well a subtle change in language. In Mk. 6: 7 – 13 those sent out are named “The Twelve” and whole books have been written about “The Twelve.” Whereas in this Sunday’s account, Mk. 6: 30 – 34, “The Twelve” have become “the apostles”. Two generic terms that don’t exactly mean the same and no individual names, like Peter, James, John, etc. are mentioned in these two passages. This is a good example of how we conflate the scriptures which hides the interesting details. So we tend to think that “the Twelve” and “the apostles” are all the same, but they aren’t. FYI.
Our Reading
With that in mind, let us quiet ourselves, remember our questions, pay attention to what happens to us as we read our passage
The apostles gathered together with Jesus
and reported all they had done and taught.
He said to them,
“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”
People were coming and going in great numbers,
and they had no opportunity even to eat.
So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.
People saw them leaving and many came to know about it.
They hastened there on foot from all the towns
and arrived at the place before them.When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
Your responses, questions, and / or comments are welcomed. You can add them by clicking on the comment link at the end of this post.