Feeding is a matter of dispensing. In my study of the Greek word for “dispensation” (oikonomia), I have learned that this word comes from a root that means to distribute food. An example of a person distributing food is Joseph in Egypt. As one who distributed food to the people, he was a good steward carrying out a stewardship. That stewardship was an oikonomia, a dispensing of the supply of food.
We may say that the real Joseph is the Lord Jesus, the Slave-Savior. In chapter seven of the Gospel of Mark we see Him dispensing Himself as bread, as nourishing food. He is dispensing Himself as the element of the life supply to satisfy the hungry ones.
When a Syrophoenician, a typical Gentile, came to Him and asked Him to cast a demon out of her daughter, He opened Himself to let her know what He was. He revealed Himself to her as bread. He caused her to realize that He was bread for the feeding of the hungry children, that He was distributing Himself to people as their life supply.
Many of those who received benefit from the Lord’s ministry did not realize that, as He was ministering to them, He was feeding them. In a similar way, many of today’s Christians do not realize that the Lord desires to distribute Himself as bread. Some Christians appreciate healings and miracles. But have you ever heard that genuine healings and miracles are for the Lord’s feeding of hungry people? Nevertheless, this is the very matter revealed by the Lord Jesus to the Syrophoenician woman.
In His conversation with this woman, the Lord revealed that what He was doing was not merely the performing of miracles—it was a feeding. Actually, He was not doing miracles; He was dispensing Himself as bread, as the supply of food.
In the preceding sections of the Gospel of Mark, we have the contents of the gospel service, the ways to carry out the gospel service, actions that are helpful in the gospel service, the word concerning the intrinsic element of the kingdom, a picture of human society, a picture of the attitude of worldly people toward the gospel, and the exposure of the condition of man’s heart. Having seen all this, now we need to see in 7:24-30 that the Lord is distributing Himself as the food supply needed by us all. Actually, we do not need a miracle, and we do not even need healing. Our real need is for bread, for the life supply. Therefore, the Lord Jesus is dispensing Himself to us as food.
In 7:24-30 the Slave-Savior takes a further step in the carrying out of His gospel service. We have seen that in 7:1-23 the Lord uses the Ten Commandments to expose the condition of man’s heart. That also was a further step in His gospel service. After taking that step, the Lord goes on to indicate that in His gospel service He was not merely doing miracles. That was not the inner significance of His gospel service. The inner significance of this service is that He was distributing Himself as food.
The Lord Jesus seemed to be saying to the Syrophoenician woman, “You think that you need Me to heal your daughter. Actually, your need is for Me to be your bread. Also, I must let you know what your position is. Your position is that of a little Gentile dog. Since you are such a dog, you do not have the right to enjoy the children’s portion. I am the children’s portion, and the children are the Israelites, the chosen people. I came from the Father to feed His children.”
Have you ever realized that the Gospel of Mark unveils the Lord Jesus as our bread? As the record of this Gospel progresses, going on step by step and going up level by level, it eventually brings us to the crucial matter of the Lord Jesus being our bread.
If we did not have the Lord’s word about Himself as the children’s bread, we would not realize that in His gospel service He was distributing Himself as our bread. It is not very difficult for us to understand how the Lord is the Physician, the Bridegroom, and the Emancipator. It is easy for us to know Him in these ways. But who would ever imagine that the Lord is bread? Yes, as the God-man, He is the Physician, the Bridegroom, and the Emancipator. But now we see, through His answer to the Syrophoenician woman, that He is the children’s bread. How marvelous!