“In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them,”
During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said — the second feeding miracle is introduced as a parallel to the first (Mark 6:34–44) with deliberate structural echoes: large crowd, nothing to eat, Jesus calling the disciples. The Decapolis setting places this feeding in Gentile territory, making the two feedings a pair: one in Jewish territory (five loaves, five thousand, twelve basketfuls), one in Gentile territory (seven loaves, four thousand, seven basketfuls). The kingdom feeds both Israel and the nations.
Church Fathers on Mark 8:1
After the Lord had performed the former miracle concerning the multiplication of the loaves, now again, a fitting occasion presents itself, and He takes the opportunity of working a similar miracle.
Why they who came from afar hold out for three days, Matthew says more fully: 'And He went up into a mountain, and sat down there, and great multitudes came unto Him, having with them many sick persons, and cast them down at Jesus' feet, and He healed them.' [Matt. 15:29-30]
Or else, the seven loaves are the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the fragments of the loaves are the mystical understanding of the first week.
Read all 15 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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