<p>15:36&nbsp;<em>He took the seven loaves and the fish; and he gave thanks and broke the bread and gave it to the disciples</em>- The same Greek words for &lsquo;took&rsquo; and &lsquo;loaves&rsquo; have just been used in 15:26, where the Lord told the Gentile woman that it was not appropriate to &lsquo;take&rsquo; the &lsquo;bread&rsquo; (s.w. &ldquo;loaves&rdquo;) intended for Israel and give them to the Gentiles. But now, just ten verses later in the narrative, He does just that (bearing in mind the evidence that this is a partly Gentile crowd). The impression is surely that the woman&rsquo;s spiritual perception deeply impressed the Lord, to the point that He decided the time had come to begin giving Israel&rsquo;s bread to the Gentiles. This openness in both the Father and Son is a function of their supreme sensitivity to men. See on 16:5.&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>And the disciples gave them to the crowds</em>- The Lord gave the broken bread to the disciples, eloquently speaking of the gift of His life. They in their turn &ldquo;did set before the people&rdquo; (Mk. 8:6). We must pass on that which was given to us by the Lord. Paul is our example in this (1 Cor. 11:23). We must, of course, have a valid relationship with the Lord in the first place, feeling we have definitely received something from Him, if we are to pass it on. The Greek term for &ldquo;set before&rdquo; recurs in 1 Tim. 1:18 and 2 Tim. 2:2 concerning how we simply&nbsp;<em>must&nbsp;</em>pass on the word which has been given to us. Quite simply, if we&rsquo;ve really heard it, really received it, we must pass it on. Paul saw the breaking of bread prefigured in Christ's feeding of the 4000 (Mt. 15:36 = 1 Cor. 11:24).</p>