| Text | Notes |
| 35. On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." | 35. Mark uses this verse to connect the story with the one before - a section of Jesus' teaching: Jesus is tired. |
| 36. And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. | 36. In later times, the Church is often symbolised by a boat. Did Mark have this in mind? |
| 37. A great wind storm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. | 37. When the boat is threatened, did the first Christians who heard this story, think of the persecution which the Church suffered? |
| 38. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" | 38. The disciples'
question suggests they knew that Jesus could do something
about the storm. It also shows the question religious people often ask - why does God not seem to care when we are in trouble? |
| 39. He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. | 39. Jesus is able - in this telling of the story - to still the storm immediately. |
| 40. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" | 40. In Mark, this point
is often made - the disciples do not fully understand who
Jesus is: they don't have enough faith. The story also says that the Church should have faith that God will see it through its troubles. |
| 41. And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" | 41. The disciples still don't understand, but by the question Mark makes it clear to us (the reader) how the story should be understood: Jesus has power over nature. |
| Text | Notes |
| . The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. | 30. Mark uses this verse to connect this story with the previous one (the death of John the Baptist) |
| . He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. | 31. On several occasions Jesus tries to get away from it all: Mark makes the point that Jesus was always pursued by crowds. |
| . And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. | 32. They use the boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. |
| . Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. | 33. The people walk around the Sea to get to where Jesus and the disciples were going. |
| . As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. | 34. Mark says Jesus felt sorry for the crowd - they needed someone to teach them. |
| . When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; | 35. The disciples are concerned with the practicalities. |
| . send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat." | 36. |
| . But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?" | 37. The answer Jesus gives seems to be foolish and impractical. |
| . And he said to them, "How many loaves have you? Go and see." When they had found out, they said, "Five, and two fish." | 38. |
| . Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. | 39. Mark hardly ever describes the scene - this occasion - telling us the grass is green, which is quite unusual - is an exception. |
| . So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. | 40. |
| . Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. | 41. This description of the blessing of the loaves reminds us of the Eucharist. Even if Mark didn't have the Mass in mind, later Christians (e.g. John) definitely did. |
| . And all ate and were filled; | 42. Plenty to go round! |
| . and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. | 43. Twelve is an important number: it is not only the number of the disciples, it is also the number of the tribes of Israel. |
| . Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men. | 44. 5,000 is a neat, round number, perhaps not to be taken too literally. (There is another, similar story at the beginning of chapter 8 - only the numbers in the story are changed). |
| Text | Notes |
| 24. From there Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, | 24. Tyre is not a
Jewish area. Jesus is trying to escape the crowds - as usual without success. |
| 25. but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. | 25. 'An unclean spirit' is a way of explaining many kinds of illness, especially what we would nowadays understand as mental illness, or epilepsy. |
| 26. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syro-phoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. | 26. Jesus was a Jew, and of course the Messiah was to be a Jewish leader. Jesus preached to Jews - and yet some non-Jews came to Jesus for help. |
| 27. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." | 27. Jesus' reply sounds to us almost racist - the Jews are the children and the Gentiles are the dogs. Jesus goes to the Jews: how can the children's food be given to the dogs. |
| 28. But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." | 28. Not offended, the woman gives quite a clever reply - 'How about some leftovers?' |
| 29. Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go -- the demon has left your daughter." | 29. Usually Jesus uses touch to heal people, but here he heals simply by saying the word. |
| 30. So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. | 30. Two points need to
be made about this story: (1) Jesus has power over the evil spirits; (2) Jesus is not just for the Jewish people. |