Mar 6:38 How many loaves do you have? Go and see.

Bread, wine, and house are the central to Christ's symbolism representing our temporal world: bread for the physical, wine for the mental, and the house for the emotional aspects of our lives. Unlike our mental or emotional life, aspect of our physical life can be counted and measured. Our physical possessions can be held, protected, and kept safe.

Bread, like wine, is Christ's symbol for transformation. The seed creates the plant. The plant duplicates the seed into grain. The grain becomes dough. Dough becomes bread. Bread is converted to body. The physical world exists in a process of transformation. Everything is temporary. Everything is limited.

Transformation is also multiplication. Through the cycle, the seed is duplicated, yielding fruit on good ground, in Christ's words, a hundred fold. The miracle of the physical world is that though each stage is temporary, it is productive.

The word Christ uses for "see" here also is often used to me "understand."


"How much" is from posos (posos), which means "of what quantity," [in distance] "how far." [of number] how far," [of time] "how long," [of value] "how much," "how great," "how many," and "how much."

"Loaves" is from artos (artos), which means specifically a "cake of whole wheat break," and generally "loaf," and "bread."

"Do you have" is from echô (echo), which means "to have," "to hold," "to possess," "to keep," "to have charge of," "to maintain," "to hold fast," "to bear," "to keep close," "to keep safe," and "to have means to do."

"Go" is from hupagô (hupago), which means "to lead under," "to bring under," "to bring a person before judgment," "to lead on by degrees," "to take away from beneath," "to withdraw," "to go away," "to retire," "to draw off," and "off with you."

"See" is from eido (eido), which is another word that means "to see," "to examine," and "to know." It has more the sense of understanding.