I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat — the compassion (splagchnizomai) is the same visceral compassion as in the first feeding (Mark 6:34). The three days is specific and new: this crowd has stayed with Jesus through three days of teaching — a sustained commitment that goes beyond a single day's curiosity. If I send them home hungry — the concern is not sentimental but practical and personal: Jesus takes responsibility for people who have stayed with him through three days of teaching and now have no food.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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