Introduction

As is clear from its witness in the four canonical gospels, the feeding of the five thousand is a story deeply embedded in the tradition preserved and passed along within the nascent Christian community. In Mark's account, Jesus' miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fish performed before the masses nicely balances the gospel's earlier report of Jesus' teaching the “great crowd” (Mk. 4:1): just as his instruction has modeled the “sowing of the word,” Jesus' feeding act constitutes a deed of power that provides a foretaste of God's coming dominion.

Yet, as has been true from the outset of his ministry, when Jesus feeds the hungry crowd, he does not operate alone. Indeed Jesus' dynamic interaction with his followers in Mk. 6:30–44 further elaborates the Markan portrait of discipleship, as readers glimpse in this episode what it means to be “with him.” As we shall see, Mark's retelling of the feeding miracle employs imagery from Israel's scriptural tradition to depict God's eschatological abundance in the face of scarcity. And while Jesus presides over the meal, he also enlists and empowers his disciples as agents of the miraculous feeding of the masses. Once again, discipleship as presence entails the full participation of Jesus' followers in the dawning reality of God's rule, a reality that in this case entails the satisfaction of human need.

The passage's pertinence to the present discipleship inquiry can be demonstrated from a variety of perspectives.