Mark 8:1
In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them,
In Decapolis thousands from the surrounding region had flocked to Jesus. The very great multitude had gathered to hear and see Him, listening with deep interest to His teaching of salvation. They had stayed with Him for three days. The multitude was very large and hungry, having nothing to eat.
Jesus called His disciples to Him because He recognized that the following crowd was hungry and needed food. He was mindful of their physical needs as well as their spiritual needs, having compassion upon them like a pitying father. Though often hungry Himself, He would not send them away hungry or fasting, lest they faint on the way. Though the crowd was Gentile, He cared for them and miraculously fed the people who had come to hear Him.
This begins the feeding of the four thousand, distinct from His feeding of the five thousand at Bethsaida at another time. The disciples' failure to trust His power to feed this crowd echoed their earlier response when He fed a crowd at Bethsaida. His example in feeding the multitude shows the Lord's methods to be studied and followed in food work: to work economically by making simple, inexpensive preparations to greater advantage without large investment, and to keep out selfish private interests that would block right progress.