Ezekiel prophesied: For this is what the sovereign (ʼădônây,  אדני) Lord (y^ehôvih, יהוה) says: Look, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out.  As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock.   I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy, dark day.^[1]  I will seek the lost and bring back the strays; I will bandage the injured and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy.   I will feed them – with judgment!^[2]

I will save my sheep; they will no longer be prey.  I will judge between one sheep and another.  I will set one shepherd over them, and he will feed them – namely, my servant David.  He will feed them and will be their shepherd.  I, the Lord (y^ehôvâh,  יהוה), will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them; I, the Lord (y^ehôvâh,  יהוה), have spoken!^[3]

This is a fitting introduction to this section of the story of Jesus feeding five thousand plus people in the light of his assessment of the Jewish leaders (Ἰουδαῖοι, a form of Ἰουδαῖος)^[4] as an answer to how the Father seeking his own is not self-seeking.  And ultimately it is a continuing part of my attempt to view—Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord^[5]—as a definition of love (ἀγάπη) rather than as rules.

Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
	And they said, “Should we go and buy bread for two hundred silver coins and give it to them to eat?”  He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” Mark 6:37, 38a (NET)	They replied, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish – unless we go and buy food for all these people.” Luke 9:13b (NET)
They said to him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”  “Bring them here to me,” he replied. Matthew 14:17, 18 (NET)	When they found out, they said, “Five – and two fish.” Mark 6:38b (NET)		One of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “Here is a[6] boy who has[7] five barley loaves and two fish, but what good are these for so many people?” [Table] John 6:8, 9 (NET)

If I accept John’s contention that— Jesus, when he looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?”^[8]—I get a slightly different picture of the situation.  I suspect that while Jesus taught and healed the people his disciples, anticipating, were on the lookout for food.  They didn’t really expect to spend two hundred silver coins, the amount Phillip assessed earlier that day: Philip replied, “Two hundred silver coins worth of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little.”^[9]

Later that evening when they came to Jesus and said—This is an isolated place and the hour is already late.  Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves^[10]—their compassion for the people was tinged by their perceived failure to find a sufficient supply of food.  Mark captured their astonishment when Jesus replied—You give them something to eat—Should we go and buy bread for two hundred silver coins [recalling Philip’s earlier assessment] and give it to them to eat?^[11]

How many loaves do you have? Jesus asked.  Go and see.^[12]

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good are these for so many people?”^[13]

Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
Then he instructed the crowds to sit down on the grass. Matthew 14:19a (NET)	Then he directed them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties. Mark 6:39, 40 (NET)	Then he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”  So they did as Jesus directed, and the people all sat down. Luke 9:14b, 15 (NET)	Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” (Now there was a lot of grass in that place.)  So the men sat down… John 6:10a (NET)
He took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven he gave thanks and broke the loaves.  He gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.  They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, twelve baskets full. Matthew 14:19b, 20 (NET)	He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. He gave them to his disciples to serve the people, and he divided the two fish among them all.  They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces and fish that were left over, twelve baskets full. Mark 6:41-43 (NET)	Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven he gave thanks and broke them. He gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.  They all ate and were satisfied, and what was left over was picked up – twelve baskets of broken pieces. Luke 9:16, 17 (NET)	Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed the bread to those who were seated.  He then did the same with the fish, as much as they wanted.  When they were all satisfied, Jesus said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces that are left over,[14] so that nothing is wasted.”  So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves left over by the people who had eaten [Table]. John 6:11-13 (NET)
Not counting women and children, there were about five thousand men who ate. Matthew 14:21 (NET)	Now there were five thousand men who ate the bread. Mark 6:44 (NET)	(Now about five thousand men were there.) Luke 9:14a (NET)	… about five thousand in number. John 6:10b (NET)

I have nothing to add to this scene except the words of y^ehôvih (יהוה) through the prophet Ezekiel: In a good pasture I will feed them; the mountain heights of Israel will be their pasture.  There they will lie down in a lush pasture, and they will feed on rich grass on the mountains of Israel.  I myself will feed my sheep and I myself will make them lie down, declares the sovereign (ʼădônây,  אדני) Lord (y^ehôvih).^[15]  Only John’s Gospel narrative picked up on this.

Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
			Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” John 6:14 (NET)
Immediately (εὐθέως) Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dispersed the crowds [Table]. Matthew 14:22 (NET)	Immediately (εὐθὺς) Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dispersed the crowd. Mark 6:45 (NET)
And after he sent the crowds away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. Matthew 14:23a (NET)	After saying good-bye to them, he went to the mountain to pray. Mark 6:46 (NET)		Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone. John 6:15 (NET)

Luke’s Gospel abandoned this particular narrative thread.

Matthew	Mark	John
When evening came, [Jesus] was there alone.  Meanwhile the boat, already far from land, was taking a beating from the waves because the wind was against it. Matthew 14:23b, 24 (NET)	When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea and he was alone on the land.  He saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Mark 6:47, 48a (NET)	Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, got into a boat, and started to cross the lake to Capernaum.  (It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.)  By now a strong wind was blowing and the sea was getting rough. John 6:16-18 (NET)

John’s Gospel narrative gives me the impression that Jesus’ disciples waited around for Him a bit longer than Matthew’s εὐθέως (translated, immediately NET or straightway KJV) or Mark’s εὐθὺς (translated, immediately NET or straightway KJV) led me at first to believe.  As I look at it now I think εὐθέως and εὐθὺς spoke more to Jesus’ urgency dismissing his disciples because he knew [the people who saw the miraculous sign] were going to come and seize him by force to make him king.

Matthew	Mark	John
As the night was ending, Jesus came to them walking on the sea.  When the disciples saw him walking on the water they were terrified and said, “It’s a ghost!” and cried out with fear.  But immediately (εὐθὺς) Jesus spoke to them: “Have courage! It is I.  Do not be afraid.” Matthew 14:25-27 (NET)	As the night was ending, he came to them walking on the sea, for he wanted to pass by them.  When they saw him walking on the water they thought he was a ghost.  They cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified.  But immediately (εὐθὺς) he spoke to them: “Have courage!  It is I.  Do not be afraid.” Mark 6:48b-50 (NET)	Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they caught sight of Jesus walking on the lake, approaching the boat, and they were frightened.  But he said to them, “It is I.  Do not be afraid.” John 6:19, 20 (NET)

Only Matthew recorded what happened next.  I wonder if the tax collector’s prayer Jesus spoke^[16] about was Matthew’s (also known as Levi).^[17]

Matthew	Mark	John
Peter said to him, “Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water.”  So he said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus [Table].  But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Immediately (εὐθέως) Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith (ὀλιγόπιστε, a form of ὀλιγόπιστος), why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:28-31 (NET)

I have written about this before.^[18]

Matthew	Mark	John
When they went up into the boat, the wind ceased.  Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:32, 33 (NET)	Then he went up with them into the boat, and the wind ceased. They were completely astonished, because they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. Mark 6:51, 52 (NET)	Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately (εὐθέως) the boat came to the land where they had been heading. John 6:21 (NET)

Matthew wrote, Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”  Mark wrote, They were completely astonished, because they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.  And John let both stand without comment.  This was curious until I stepped back into the scene.

If I crawl into the boat and look first through Matthew’s eyes as he watched Peter get out of the boat at Jesus’ command and walk on the water toward Him, it’s immaterial to me that Peter began to flounder.  Of course he did.  What was astonishing was that he stood and walked at all!  Truly, Jesus is the Son of God.

If, on the other hand, I get out of the boat with Peter (the presumed source of Mark’s Gospel narrative) and take those few tentative steps, see the wind whipping up the waves, fear and begin to sink… While it is not immaterial that Jesus reached out his hand and caught me, my focus is his question: why did you doubt?  And until the Holy Spirit was given, truly, Peter’s heart was hardened, as were the hearts of all the rest of Jesus’ disciples and all Israel (Isaiah 6 NET): it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.^[19]

I’ll continue this thread in the next essay.

Romans, Part 57

^[1] Ezekiel 34:11, 12 (NET)

^[2] Ezekiel 34:16 (NET)

^[3] Ezekiel 34:22-24 (NET)

^[4] John 5:16-47 (NET) Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders (Ἰουδαῖοι) began persecuting him (verse 16).

^[5] Romans 12:11 (NET) Table

^[6] The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εν here.  The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

^[7] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ὃς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ο (KJV: which).

^[8] John 6:5 (NET)

^[9] John 6:7 (NET)

^[10] Matthew 14:15 (NET)

^[11] Mark 6:37 (NET)

^[12] Mark 6:38a (NET)

^[13] John 6:8, 9 (NET)

^[14] The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἐπερίσσευσαν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had επερισσευσεν (KJV: remained over and above).

^[15] Ezekiel 34:14, 15 (NET)

^[16] Luke 18:9-14 (NET)

^[17] Compare: Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 2:14-17, Luke 5:27-32 (NET)

^[18] Romans, Part 17

^[19] Romans 9:16 (NET) Table