Mk 6:30-34
The section of Mark’s Gospel which narrates the return of the twelve from their mission (6:7-13) follows Mark’s description of the death of John the Baptist at the request of Herodias’ daughter and leads into the narrative of the feeding of the five thousand in “a desert place” (6:35). By placing this section in this location Mark is able to call upon two Old Testament themes.
The section of Mark’s Gospel which narrates the return of the twelve from their mission (6:7-13) follows Mark’s description of the death of John the Baptist at the request of Herodias’ daughter and leads into the narrative of the feeding of the five thousand in “a desert place” (6:35). By placing this section in this location Mark is able to call upon two Old Testament themes.
The first of these themes is that of the desert as a place where God can speak to and hear from the hearts of his people. By portraying Jesus as calling the apostles together “to a deserted place” (v 31) in order to hear their report of their ministry, Mark is echoing the Exodus and the ensuing wandering in the desert, where God formed a people after his own heart.
Jesus and the disciples going off in the boat to a desert place recalls the forty years in the desert where God was with the twelve tribes. Jesus, however, unlike Moses, leader of the chosen people, draws many others to hear his teaching. For Mark, all people have been called by God to be his chosen people through Jesus. Those who follow Jesus are people of a new exodus.
The second Old Testament theme reflects God as shepherd of his people. The author of the book of Numbers put this prayer on the lips of Moses: “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all mankind, set over the community a man who shall act as their leader in all things, to guide them in all their actions; that the Lord’ community may not be like sheep without a shepherd” (Nm 27:15-17). After Moses’ prayer, God directed him to lay his hand upon Joshua, who became Moses’ successor, leader of the Israelites and escort of the Israelites into the promised land after Moses’ death.
It is no accident that Mark alludes to this passage. The Hebrew name “Joshua,” which is rendered “Jesus” in English, means “Yahweh saves” and “Yahweh helps.” Thus, Mark views Jesus as the new Joshua, who saves, helps, and leads the new exodus of all people.
Another allusion to the shepherd theme is present in this section of the Gospel; it is derived from the prophet Ezekiel, who devotes a whole chapter to his parable of the shepherds. After castigating the shepherds (leaders) of Israel for pasturing themselves instead of their sheep (Israelites), Ezekiel portrays God as saying, “I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest, says the Lord God” (34:15).
For Mark, Jesus is this new shepherd. He calls his people to rest. He is “moved with pity for them” (v 34) and pastures them with his teaching. In other words, Mark is proclaiming that Jesus is functioning as God, the shepherd. This role will become clearer in the narrative of the feeding of the five thousand, which immediately follows this section of the Gospel and reminds the reader of God’s gift of manna in the desert.
In his own unique way, Mark is proclaiming Jesus to be God. Jesus is Ezekiel’s faithful shepherd of God’s chosen people.