Twelve Baskets Full of Fragments - Mark 6:43

Mark wrote, “when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: He answered and said unto them, Give you them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? He said unto them, How many loaves have you? go and see. And when they knew, they said, Five, and two fishes. And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled”, and in chapter six and verse forty-three of his book, Mark wrote how Jesus' disciples, “took up twelve baskets full of the fragments” where we read:

And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.

The verse reads, “And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, ...” Mark began with the words, “and they took up” which means “and Jesus' disciples raised up, gathered and carried off” “twelve baskets full” or “twelve wicker baskets completely filled up” “of the fragments” which refers to “of the broken pieces and remnants of food”. Mark shared how Jesus' disciples gathered twelve completely filled “wicker baskets” of the “pieces of the food” that was left over after all the people ate.

The verse continues, “... and of the fishes.” Mark added the words, “and of the fishes” which refers to “and the fragments of the fish that were left over as well”. Mark shared how the “twelve full baskets” of food included pieces of fish as well.

When we consider Mark's words in this verse, we see what a great abundance of food Jesus supplied to the crowd. Everyone of the people ate until they were totally satisfied, and there remained “twelve baskets” of food left over. When Jesus does a miracle and meets a need, He not only does it flawlessly, but does it in a manner that people know it was from God. God's desire is to “save” every person from their sinful state so they may live with Him eternally. Those who study Jesus' life will find that He is more than able to meet all their physical and spiritual needs to a degree that is beyond their expectations.

Next time Mark shares how, “they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".