Mark 8: 5 Loaves for David's Men, 7 for Mixed Priests of ☧'s Body

Rev. Nathan Meador, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Plymouth, Wisconsin, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Mark 8.

“Do you not yet understand?” In Mark 8, Jesus ☧ presses His disciples to grasp the symbolism of His miraculous actions. What does it mean that He miraculously fed a second crowd of people, this time with seven loaves instead of five?

Like the man who could not see until ☧ touched his eyes a second time, the disciples could not understand until ☧ revealed even more of His power. The first feeding of the five thousand resembled the story of David, who took five loaves of the bread of the Presence to feed his soldiers (1 Samuel 21, Mark 2:23–28). These five were meant for the priests who were returning to their homes, and the remaining seven for the priests who were arriving to begin their service. ☧ signals with the seven loaves that a new group has come to serve God: scattered Israel mixed together with the Gentiles, together as the pure and unleavened Body of ☧ the Crucified.