Mark 6

¹And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.

²And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?

³Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.

⁴But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

⁵And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

⁶And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.

See this passage explained Mt 13:54 and Mt 13:55-58.

⁷And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;

By two and two. In order that they might support and encourage each other in their work. Amidst the trials and opposition which they would meet with, mutual counsel and aid would greatly lighten their burdens, and alleviate their calamities. Mutual counsel might also contribute to their success, and lead to united plans to advance the kingdom of the Redeemer. Jesus here, as in all the work of religion, consulted at the same time the happiness and usefulness of his disciples. Nor are they ever separated. Whatever contributes to the usefulness of the people, produces also their happiness; or, in other words, the secret of being happy, is to be useful.

⁸And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:

⁹But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.

¹⁰And he said unto them, In what place soever ye enter into an house, there abide till ye depart from that place.

¹¹And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Mt 10:9 and Mt 10:10-15. In Mt 10:5, they were commanded not to go among the Gentiles or Samaritans. Mark omits that direction, perhaps, because he was writing for the Gentiles, and the direction might create unnecessary difficulty or offence. Perhaps he omits it also because the command was given for a temporary purpose, and was not in force at tile time of his writing.

¹²And they went out, and preached that men should repent.

Preached that men should repent. See the nature of repentance explained in Mt 3:2. They were now called upon to repent, and reform their lives, because sin was evil; because the Messiah had come to preach forgiveness to the penitent; and because at his presence it was fit that the nation should turn from its sins, and prepare to receive him.

¹³And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.

Cast out many devils. Mt 4:24.

And anointed with oil, etc. Anointing with oil was in common use among the Jews in cases of sickness. It was supposed to have a mild, soothing, and alleviating effect on the body. In Jas 5:14, the elders of the church, in connexion with prayers, were directed also to anoint the sick with oil. It was also used in wounds. The good Samaritan poured in oil and wine into the wounds of the waylaid Jew, Lk 10:34. Josephus says, that in the last sickness of Herod, his physicians commanded him to be anointed with oil. It need not be supposed, however, that the apostles used oil for mere medical purposes. It was used, probably, like the imposition of hands, or like our Saviour’s anointing the eyes of the blind with clay, merely as a sign, in expectation of imparting that aid and comfort from God which was sought, and which was represented by the natural, soothing, and gentle effect of oil.

¹⁴And king Herod heard of him;(for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.

¹⁵Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets.

¹⁶But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.

¹⁷For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her.

¹⁸For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife.

¹⁹Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not:

²⁰For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.

See this account of the death of John the Baptist fully explained in Mt 14:1-12.

²⁰For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.

He did many things. But he did not do the thing which was demanded of him--to break off from his sins. He attempted to make a compromise with his conscience. He still loved his sins, and did other things which he supposed might be accepted, in the place of putting away, as he ought, the wife of his brother--the polluted and adulterous woman with whom he lived. Perhaps he treated John kindly, or spoke well of him, or aided him in his wants; and attempted in this way to silence his rebukes, and destroy his faithfulness. This was probably before John was imprisoned. So sinners often treat ministers kindly, and do much to make them comfortable, and hear them gladly, while they are still unwilling to do the thing which is demanded of them, to repent and believe the gospel.

They expect that their kind attentions will be accepted in the place of what God demands--repentance and the forsaking of their sins.

³⁰And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.

And the apostles gathered themselves together. That is, those whom he had sent out two and two, Mk 6:7. Having travelled around the country, they returned and met the Saviour at Capernaum.

³¹And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

A desert place. A retired place, across the sea from Capernaum, where they would he free from interruption.

Coming and going. Coming to be healed and retiring, or coming to hear him preach. It means that they were thronged, that there was a vast multitude attending his preaching.

³²And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.

³³And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.

³⁴And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

³⁵And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:

³⁶Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

³⁷He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?

³⁸He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

³⁹And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.

⁴⁰And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.

⁴¹And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

⁴²And they did all eat, and were filled.

⁴³And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.

⁴⁴And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

Mt 14:13 and Mt 14:14-21

Verse 32. By ship. By a boat, a small vessel.

Privately. Without making their plan known. They intended to go privately. It appears, however, that their intention became known, and multitudes followed them.

³³And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.

Afoot thither. On foot to the place where they saw them going.

Out of all cities. All cities or large towns in the neighbourhood.

³⁴And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

Much people--as sheep, etc. They had no one to teach them, and guide them. The priests and scribes were proud, corrupt, and despised the common people and neglected them.

³⁵And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:

The time is far passed. The day is almost gone. It is drawing near night.

³⁷He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?

Two hundred pennyworth of bread. About 27 dollars, [or £6 sterling.] As the disciples had a common purse in which they carried their little property, consisting of the donations of their friends, and money to be given to the poor, (compare Jn 12:6; Mt 26:8,9; Lk 8:30 it is not improbable that they had, at this time, about this sum in their possession. Philip--for it was he who asked the question, (Jn 6:7)--asked, with a mixture of wonder and agitation, whether they should take all their little property, and spend it on a single meal? And even if we should, said he, it would not be sufficient to satisfy such a multitude. It was implied in this, that in his view they could not provide for them if they wished to, and that it would be better to send them away than to attempt it.

⁴⁰And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.

In ranks. Literally, in the form of square beds in a garden. By square, regularly formed companies.

By hundreds, and by fifties. Some companies had a hundred in, and some fifty. We need not suppose that these were exactly formed, or arranged; but that this was about the number. The expression indicates a multitude. There were so many, that they sat down, by hundreds and by fifties, in separate companies, on the green grass.

⁴³And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.

Twelve baskets. Baskets belonging to the disciples, in which they carried their provisions, or, perhaps, belonging to some of the multitude.

Fragments. Broken pieces of the bread that remained.

⁵²For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.

They considered not the miracle of the loaves. They did not remember or call to mind the power which Jesus had shown in feeding the five thousand by a miracle, and that, having done that, he had power also to save them from the storm.

Their heart was hardened. Their mind was dull to perceive it. This does not mean that they were opposed to Jesus, or that they had what we denominate hardness of heart, but simply, that they were slow to perceive his power; they did not quickly learn, as they ought to have done, that he had all power, and could therefore allay the storm. The word heart is frequently used in this sense. See Eph 1:18, in Greek; Rom 1:21, 2:15, 2Cor 4:6.

⁵⁴And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him,

they knew him. They recollected him, for he had been there before, and worked miracles.