They meet him in a lonely region and immediately surround him. The hour comes for the daily meal. In the accounts of the following miracle the meal which they celebrated is preserved to us. _The occasion was a solemn cultus-meal!_ After the loaves which he had broken were consecrated by a prayer of thanksgiving Jesus has them distributed to the multitude by his Disciples. Except for the addition of the two parables [“My body—my blood”] we have absolutely the same solemn ceremony at the Last Supper. [pg 170] There he personally distributed the food to his table-companions. The description of the distribution of the bread in the two cases corresponds perfectly. Mk 6:41: He took the loaves, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and he gave to the Disciples to set before them. Mk 14:22: He took a loaf, and when he had blessed, he brake it, and gave to them. Hence the _solemn act of distribution_ constitutes the essence, as well of that meal by the seashore, as of the last meal with his Disciples. The “Lord’s Supper” is a name appropriate to both, for that meal by the sea also took place at the evening hour. Mk 6:35: And when the day was now far spent his Disciples came to him, etc. Here the table-company is composed of the great multitude of believers in the Kingdom: at the Last Supper it was limited to the circle of the Disciples. _The celebration, however, was the same._ The story of this event has been distorted into a miracle: the cultus-meal which Jesus improvised by the seashore has been represented as a hearty and filling supper. That the scanty provision which was at hand, the food designed for himself and his Disciples, was solemnly distributed to the people is historic. [pg 171] That this meal took the place of the evening repast likewise corresponds with the fact. But that through a supernatural process the multitude was _filled_ by it,—that belongs to the miraculous character which the later age ascribed to the celebration because its significance could not be apprehended. The historical procedure is the following: The Disciples ask Jesus to send the people away that they may be fed. For him, however, it is not an appropriate moment to think of an earthly meal and so to disperse, for the hour is near when they shall all be gathered about him at the messianic banquet. Hence he would not have them go yet, but before he dismisses them he commands them to recline as at table. In place of the full meal he introduces a ceremonial meal, in which the satisfaction of earthly appetite has no part, so that the food intended for himself and his Disciples sufficed for all. Neither the Disciples nor the multitude understand what goes on. As Jesus afterwards in the boat directs the conversation to the significance of the meal—this alone can be the historical meaning of the obscure intimations of Mk 6:52 and Mk 8:14-21, it appears that the Disciples have understood nothing.