Mark 8 records the enormous empathy and compassion that Jesus had. He’d been speaking to the crowd for three days (imagine a talk that went for 3 days!), and the people had run out of food, so again he performs a miracle to dramatically extend the amount of food still available. But the miracle is done so that the people wouldn’t faint from hunger on their way home. It’s not done for Jesus’ benefit.
Jesus “sighed deeply in his spirit” when the Pharisees had again missed the point . He patiently educated his disciples, explaining his reference to the leaven of the Pharisees.
Following Jesus was not an easy thing to do, requiring one to “deny himself and take up his cross”. This is our challenge today also, to learn to serve others and deny ourselves, “setting our mind on the things of God”.