Jesus says, "REALLY?!?

The disciples speaking, "This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat." But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." And they said to him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?" And he said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they had found out, they said, "Five, and two fish." Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men." Mark 6:35-44

Fast forward to Mark 8:1-10:

"In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away." And his disciples answered him, "How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?" And he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven." And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha."

At first, when the disciples during the feeding of this group said, "How can anyone feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?" I picture Jesus looking at them with a wry smile and a wink when He says, "How many loaves do you have?" This is the same question he had with the feeding of the five thousand and I think He was giving them a clue if they weren't already clued in. I wonder if some of the disciples got it, or if they were completely clueless.

Fast forward to Mark 8:14-21:

"Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They said to him, "Twelve." "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" And they said to him, "Seven." And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"

It's as if Jesus is saying "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?" "REALLY?!?" "You guys just watched me make bread and fish for five thousand men and then four thousand men and you guys are wondering what we're going to do without bread?!?" I love it when he asks them how many baskets they had left after each time he fed the five thousand and four thousand. I picture the disciples sheepishly looking down and kicking at the bottom of the boat like a little six year old who is in trouble, when they answered, under their breath, "Twelve" and "Seven".

These are the kind of things you catch onto when you read or listen to big chunks of scripture at the same time. I seriously was in my car listening to those last couple of verses and laughed out loud.