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30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii1 worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Good morning. We are continuing, in our series in the gospel of Mark. So if you've got a bible with you, I invite you to turn with me to Mark chapter 6. Last week we were looking at a banquet hosted by what you might call a pseudo king, Herod. This morning we're gonna look at a far greater banquet hosted by a far greater king, and that is Jesus.
Brandon Nelson:We're looking at the feeding of the 5,000 together. Now if you've grown up in church, you will be familiar with the feeding of the 5 1,000, but please don't let its familiarity keep you from seeing its significance. Outside the resurrection, this is the only miracle mentioned in all 4 gospels. So God has something important to say to us here. So let's listen carefully as we come to Mark chapter 6 beginning in verse 30.
Brandon Nelson:The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, 'Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. For many were coming and going and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
Brandon Nelson:When he went to shore, he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to teach them many things. And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, this is a desolate place and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. But he answered them, you give them something to eat. And they said to him, shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?
Brandon Nelson:And he said to them, how many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they had found out, they said, 5 and 2 fish. And he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups by 100 and by fifties.
Brandon Nelson:And taking the 5 loaves and the 2 fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the 2 fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up 12 baskets full of broken pieces and off the fish. And those who ate the loaves were 5,000 men.
Brandon Nelson:This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray together. Father, only a few verses later you tell us that the disciples didn't understand about the loaves because their hearts were hardened. So by your Spirit would you please soften our hearts. Help us to see and to respond to Jesus for who he truly is.
Brandon Nelson:We ask this in his name. Amen. This account begins with the disciples having just returned from their mission. They've been out preaching and seeing God work in powerful ways and now they're telling Jesus all about it. It's been wonderful but now they are worn out, they are exhausted, they are ready for a break.
Brandon Nelson:They've been so busy that they haven't even had time to sit down and eat we're told here. It's time to recharge their batteries. So you can just imagine that they were ready to hear what Jesus had to say next in verse 31 when he says, come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. I mean this reads like a holiday brochure. So come away.
Brandon Nelson:Who's invited? Come away by yourselves. This is apostles only. Great. Where are we going?
Brandon Nelson:To a desolate literally uninhabited place. Right we've seen all the crowds, but now they get to have some time to themselves. Finally some privacy. Any activities planned? Rest.
Brandon Nelson:This is perfect. This is just what the doctor has ordered. So they get into the boat, and off they go to find this perfect spot. So you can just imagine how they feel about what happens next. So they arrive and what do they find?
Brandon Nelson:They find crowds of people have all made it to exactly where they were going to land. I mean, you could just imagine I wanna Bartholomew thinking you've got to be kidding me. And here they all are. My wife, Julia grew up in a pastor's home and there were many wonderful things about being a pastor's daughter. But one thing that wasn't so great was that people always seemed to die at the most inconvenient of times.
Brandon Nelson:That sounds terrible I know, I'm really sorry. But seriously though, they they would they would go away. Indeed was always there. So they they would go away on holiday to the seaside, and and she'll tell you the story and then the phone would ring and somebody had to go take the funeral. And so the holiday is finished unfortunately.
Brandon Nelson:And I'm sure we can all think of examples maybe that not that extreme, but of times where we've been really really busy and we need a break and then something else happens. I don't know maybe you've been working all week and finally it gets to Saturday and you think I finally got this moment to myself and you go out and the neediest person that you know then walks through the door where you're at. And despite your and effort to not make eye contact with them. They still come over. How do you feel in that moment?
Brandon Nelson:More importantly, how does Jesus feel in this moment? Let's not forget his humanity in all this by the way. He's probably as exhausted as they are. His cousin and forerunner John the Baptist has just been killed. So if anybody has a good reason to send the crowds away to have some time to himself, it's Jesus.
Brandon Nelson:But how does he respond when crowds of needy people come to him at an inconvenient time? How does he respond to people like us? Well, we don't have to guess because the passage tells us. First of all he wants to see that he sees people like us with compassion. He sees with compassion.
Brandon Nelson:We're told in verse 34 that when he went ashore and saw a great crowd he had compassion on them. So when these needy people come to him he doesn't roll his eyes. He doesn't look away. No he is attentive. He looks, he sees.
Brandon Nelson:I have loved being part of this church. So don't take this as a criticism, but when we first arrived I remember finding it really hard in the sense of feeling unseen some Sundays. We had just come from a really small church and to all of a sudden turn up at a relatively large church with 4 Sundays to be new there. Sometimes you would just look around and your eyes wouldn't meet with anybody's eyes that you knew or who knew you. Some of you know what that is like.
Brandon Nelson:It was hard in those early days. Could I say to you this morning, if that's you, welcome. We want to see you. We want to know you and it does get better. If that's not you, you're probably sat near somebody that that is the case.
Brandon Nelson:And could I say a little welcome goes a long way, and it's been wonderful to experience that. But more importantly, however you are feeling this morning, seen or unseen, know this. Jesus sees you. You are seen. And how does he see people like you people like me?
Brandon Nelson:He sees us with compassion. He sees with eyes full of compassion. We read that here. What what does the word compassion mean? Well, it carries the idea of a of a sympathetic emotion that you feel in your gut.
Brandon Nelson:It's almost like you know how we talk about something being gut wrenching, right? So Jesus feels this deeply what he is feeling here. He's deeply moved to the very core of his being. So what is it about this crowd that affects Jesus in this way? Why is he moved with such compassion?
Brandon Nelson:It's because verse 34. They were like sheep without a shepherd. So they're like sheep. So he doesn't just see a general crowd of people. He sees the heartbreaking reality of their condition.
Brandon Nelson:He sees them as lost, as as vulnerable, as needy sheep. The same is true of this crowd gathered here this morning. You know, we might have come here hoping to look our best this morning, but he sees right through that. He sees us as we truly are. He sees all of our insecurities.
Brandon Nelson:He sees all of our suffering. He even sees all of our sin. But know this, when he sees he doesn't look away. When we come to him in our need it doesn't drive him away. It draws him in.
Brandon Nelson:He sees with compassion. Why? We're sheep but more than that because he's the Shepherd. He feels deeply for the lost, for the vulnerable, for the needy sheep because he is the shepherd, it's who he is. James Reebanks in his book, The Shepherd's Life, writes about what it's like to be a shepherd in the Lake District in England.
Brandon Nelson:And one of the things he writes about in it is what it's like to be a shepherd on Christmas day. And he writes, you know funnily enough, sheep don't realize that it's Christmas. And everybody else may get the day off, but all the sheep know is that they are hungry, they want to be fed. And so it was the rule in their house that nobody got to open presents until the sheep had been fed. And he said, you know it wasn't something that we resented.
Brandon Nelson:It was just part of being a shepherd. It was just the shepherd's life. You see, this is why Jesus responds as a shepherd, because that's who he truly is. And this isn't just an illustration chosen at random by Mark. This is, this is something that goes right the way throughout the Old Testament.
Brandon Nelson:In fact, this is a direct quote talking about sheep without a shepherd from Numbers chapter 27 in verse 17 among other places. And you can go throughout the Old Testament and look at different ways the Lord talks about being the shepherd of his people. Maybe there's a particular passage that comes to your mind. I don't know maybe Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Brandon Nelson:And one of the ways that he cared for his people as a shepherd was by appointing leaders who would care for them as shepherds. Sometimes he would literally get shepherds like he gets Moses, out of the fields to come and be the leader of his people. He calls David another shepherd. And then you look in other places like Ezekiel in chapter 34 where leaders who were failing at their job as leaders, they were referred to as shepherds who weren't doing their job, who weren't caring for the sheep as they should have been. But in that same chapter, Ezekiel chapter 34 the Lord says this, he says, But I am going to be the shepherd of my people.
Brandon Nelson:And one of the ways that he was going to care for his people was by sending a new and better Shepherd King who would care for his people. Is that not exactly who we see Jesus to be in this passage? He is the promised Shepherd King. That's why he sees people like us with compassion. That's why he's ready to receive us in our need because that's who he is.
Brandon Nelson:He's the Shepherd who's come to care for his people. So don't wait until I don't know, you think you've got everything together before you've come to Jesus. Because if you wait until all, you've met all your needs, you have your act together, then you'll never come to Jesus. Because we're always needy, Jesus invites us to come to him in our need because he cares as a shepherd. So he sees with compassion.
Brandon Nelson:Secondly, I want us to see this. He supplies the need. In love, he supplies the need. Speaking of love, this past week was Valentine's. I don't know how you celebrated, but I wanted to take my wife to a really fancy restaurant.
Brandon Nelson:So we went to this place called Hardee's. You may have heard of it. And there, they had this special where they had these heart shaped biscuits. And so I presented the heart shaped biscuits with a bowl of gravy that we shared together and we we enjoyed that. We've we've still got it.
Brandon Nelson:What were we talking about? Yes. So we've seen Jesus' affections, but Jesus' affections are also seen by his actions. Right? So he doesn't just feel for the sheep.
Brandon Nelson:He also feeds the sheep. He supplies what they need. So what does he feed them with? 2 things. 1 is he he feeds them with his word.
Brandon Nelson:Now this account isn't all about how Jesus responds in compassion to physical hunger. Now that is it's true. And when we get to chapter 8, we're gonna see the feeding of the 4,000 that Jesus is responding to their physical hunger there. But this crowd isn't all that hungry. In fact, they've only just arrived.
Brandon Nelson:They may be out of breath, but they're not starving. So what is he responding to? He's responding to a greater need, their spiritual need and he responds to that need by first feeding them His Word. You might say He is leading them in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. But he doesn't just feed them with spiritual nourishment.
Brandon Nelson:He also feeds them with physical nourishment. He gives them food. So now comes the famous part. That creative and powerful act where Jesus miraculously multiplies 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed this crowd of crumb, I mean they they were fed a full meal. But you know interestingly before he does that, what what is what does he do?
Brandon Nelson:Let's see in verse 39. He makes them to sit down in groups on the green grass. Notice that word sit. It It literally means to recline or to lie down. And then you know, you look over at Mark telling us that the grass is green.
Brandon Nelson:Why why does Mark include that little detail there? Why is Mark telling us that before he feeds them he makes them lie down in green pastures. You ever heard that before? He's showing us that he is the shepherd, and he's caring for his sheep body and soul. You see there's also biblical imagery in this.
Brandon Nelson:It's not just we've seen the shepherd and the sheep back in the Old Testament, but you you also have that in the meal itself. I mean if this were a movie you might have a flashback at this point back to Exodus chapter 16, when God is feeding his people manna in the wilderness. Or you might have a flash forward to what we read about in Isaiah chapter 25 verses 6 to 9 where it talks about how the Lord himself will welcome people from all nations to a glorious eternal feast that he has prepared. But the most significant thing that's happening here is the way this meal foreshadows an event that is going to happen very soon. In verse 41 we're told that he takes the bread, he says a blessing, and then he breaks it, and he gives it to his disciples to distribute it to anyone who would receive it.
Brandon Nelson:It won't be long before Jesus will share another meal with his disciples. And in the same manner, he will take bread. And when He blesses it, He will break it and He will say, this is my body which is given for you. Hours later, his literal body will be torn, broken, nailed to a cross. And there the shepherd will lay down his life for the sheep.
Brandon Nelson:And in doing so he would meet their greatest need, The need to be forgiven. The need to be reconciled to God. The need to be brought back into his fold. So what does this mean for us here to see Jesus in that way doing that for us? You know, I'm I'm sure we've all come in here this morning feeling particular needs, maybe one more than the other.
Brandon Nelson:I don't know what it is for you. It could be maybe maybe friends. You really could do with some friends. Or it might be, you know, you're not happy with your job and you think you need another job. Or it could be maybe like the disciples.
Brandon Nelson:You're just exhausted and you need rest. And I don't want to downplay any of those needs. But I do wanna know I would do wanna say this that your greatest need is to know Jesus as your Shepherd, to know him caring for you in all of those things, whatever it is as your shepherd. He is not only the shepherd, he's the bread of life who alone can satisfy the hunger of our souls. So taste and see that he is good.
Brandon Nelson:Knowing Him doesn't mean that all your problems will all of the sudden go away. You know, last week, we saw the cost of discipleship in plain terms in the in the death of John the Baptist. So following Jesus may cost you everything. So what does it mean in that moment to know the Lord caring for you as your Shepherd? You know the point here is not to say that when we trust in Jesus we'll never face hardships this side of eternity.
Brandon Nelson:The point is this that whatever we face we can rest secure in the sovereign care of our Shepherd King. We can know that no matter what we are going through we can face it knowing that as Paul said in Romans 8, nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. We can say with David, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil. Why? Because you are with me.
Brandon Nelson:Because your Shepherd is with you and he cares for you. So here's how we can respond to him graciously supplying all we need, especially himself. It's by holding out the empty hands of faith and receiving the abundance of his grace. But you know, he doesn't just care for you. He also cares for others.
Brandon Nelson:There are other sheep that he wants to bring into his fold. He sees us with compassion, yes. He supplies what we need. Yes. But also I want us to see finally he sends us on mission.
Brandon Nelson:He sends on mission. You know this is one of 2 accounts in Mark where these 12 disciples are referred to as apostles. The first time is back in chapter 3 where Jesus names them apostles. Do you remember what the word apostles means? It means sent ones.
Brandon Nelson:So here once again, they are called sent ones. So what do these sent ones want to do with these crowds when they come? You see the irony of verse 36. Here's what these sent ones want to do with the crowds. Send them away.
Brandon Nelson:Our mission trip is finished. It's our day off. Sorry. And now it's getting late. If these people are gonna get themselves some food they better go now, Jesus send them away.
Brandon Nelson:This is the opposite of the missional life they are being called to. Before we're too hard on these guys, let's hold up the mirror to ourselves. Can we acknowledge that we do the same things? You know maybe we don't see the physical and spiritual needs that are all around us, because we're focused on ourselves. Or maybe we do see it, but we look the other way thinking well, you know these people they need to take a bit more personal responsibility for themselves, not my problem.
Brandon Nelson:Or maybe we look and we look with compassion but we feel powerless to do anything about it. Instead of leaning into our sentness as followers of Christ, We send people away. But Jesus here is calling us just something so much better. What is it? Well, let's see what happens.
Brandon Nelson:He he gives them a responsibility here. Verse 37, he says, you give them something to eat. And you could just imagine the spontaneous laughter that takes place in the disciples and then they realize, oh no, he's serious. In fact, the you is emphatic here. He's like, This is your responsibility.
Brandon Nelson:You're gonna give them something to eat. And so there seems to be more than a hint of sarcasm in their response. They say, well shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread? That's over a half a year's salary. Obviously, we do not have enough money to feed this crowd.
Brandon Nelson:So he tells them, well, go go see how many loaves you can come up with. The result? Five loaves, 2 fish to feed over 5,000 people. And you could just imagine them coming back with the 5 loaves and 2 fish. They must feel really vindicated, like I told you we should have gone with plan a.
Brandon Nelson:All we have are these 5 loaves and 2 fish and they get to Jesus. Here they are. The math just doesn't add up. The fact is their resources were insufficient to do what they were being called to do. They simply do not have what it takes to get the job done.
Brandon Nelson:That's right. And pretty soon Jesus is gonna give them an even greater task. Having accomplished the work that he came to do, he is now going to send them out to make disciples of all nations, to hold out the bread of life to the world. So what do you think he's teaching them here in this moment that they will need to know later on on that mission? Surely it's that the resources that we need on mission are not found in ourselves.
Brandon Nelson:They're found in our Shepherd. The impossibility of this task is teaching them that they should trust in Him. He isn't calling them to somehow in themselves produce all the resources that would be needed to feed all of these people, no. But He is calling them to participate in what he is going to do amongst these people. They are going to give out of the resources that he supplies.
Brandon Nelson:And so he invites them into this by asking a simple question. What do you have? What do you have? I'm reminded of this artist who came to our church in England, and she was wonderful and she had an art class that she put on every week at the church for people in the community to come and and and learn art and learn how to paint especially. And we had this wall kind of set up in the church that the different students could put up their the paintings that they had done.
Brandon Nelson:And some of them were amazing. Some of them not so great. But there they were on display for everybody. But sometimes once or twice a year she would do a mosaic with the group. I'm talking about with a mosaic, how you've got all the different pictures.
Brandon Nelson:Well, everybody would kind of have their square and she would give them exactly what they were to paint in that square. I mean some of them was really intricate and beautiful and others was just kind of you know a little blob of paint that kind of think they did their best and so everybody then turned in what they had done. She said, Okay, what do you have? And they all turned in their squares. Then in her hands she started putting them up on the wall and created something beautiful, something glorious.
Brandon Nelson:You know, Jesus is accomplishing something glorious in the world, And he's inviting us to participate. And you might be thinking, well I don't have much to offer. What do I have to bring to the table? Thing is he's not calling you to be amazing. He's not calling you to be some kind of superhero Christian who can rise to every challenge, who can meet every need.
Brandon Nelson:But he does say this, what do you have? He is inviting you to bring what you have with all its limitations, with all its shortcomings, and to then see what he can do with it. When you place the life that he has given you into his hands, know this, that he will take care of you, but also he will use your life in the accomplishment of his glorious purposes in the world. No. Your resources are not sufficient, but your Shepherd is.
Brandon Nelson:Or as Paul would go on to say in 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 in verse 8, God is able to make Notice all these alls. God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. He will give you what you need. So step out in faith. Come to Him in your need.
Brandon Nelson:Know His grace towards you and then ask Him to use you in His mission. Ask him to help you to see others with his compassion. Ask him to empower you to show them Christ in word and deed. And see him supply what you need to do just that. So where does this end?
Brandon Nelson:Well, by the end of the evening, no one had missed out. Verse 42 They all ate and were satisfied. He satisfied everyone's hunger that day. And not only that, there are leftovers. 12 baskets full to be precise.
Brandon Nelson:Do you remember where we started? With 12 hungry disciples. So where do we finish? With 12 baskets full of food, 1 per disciple. No one leaves hungry.
Brandon Nelson:Jesus is enough for everyone who comes to him. That will be true for you as well. So don't miss out. Come to Jesus and know him as your shepherd king. Let him care for you.
Brandon Nelson:Let's come to him now in prayer. Lord, we've seen in your word that you are the good shepherd. Lord, I pray that by your grace, all of us would be able to say from our hearts, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Lord, I pray that your sheep would hear your voice.
Brandon Nelson:They would know you and your care for them. They would follow. So help us, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.