THE GOOD SHEPHERD CARES FOR THE SHEEP (Mark 6:30-44)
INTRODUCTION:
There is only a small number of the vast number of miracles recorded in the Gospels, miracles that occurred during the ministry of Jesus. Of those recorded for us only two are recorded in all four Gospels, one is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and the other is the miracle recorded in our passage today, commonly called the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus performed this miracle near the end of His Galilean ministry, and it served as the climax to His time in Galilee. John tells us in his gospel that this took place shortly before the Passover (likely in March or early April of 29 AD). This miracle was the most extensive of Jesus’ miracles and more than just an amazing demonstration of the divine nature and creative power of the Lord Jesus, it also was an illustration of His merciful compassion and tender care. In this passage we truly see Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd. God the Son not only had this power to meet this vast human need, but He also possessed the sincere desire to do so. This passage demonstrates for us the creative power and the compassionate provision of the Lord Jesus. In the passage the Good Shepherd restores the weary, guides the shepherdless, and feeds the hungry. Before turning to God’s Word let’s pray.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Mark 6:30-44. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Mark 6:30-44,
“The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.’ (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves. The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, ‘This place is desolate and it is already quite late; send them away so that they may 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 spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?’ And He said to them, ‘How many loaves do you have? Go look!’ And when they found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass. They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish. There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.” (Mark 6:30–44, NASB95)[1]
HE RESTORES MY SOUL (Mark 6:30-32)
If you remember earlier in this chapter Jesus had commissioned the twelve disciples and sent them on their first short-term ministry trip. Jesus had sent them out in pairs to go and preach the gospel of the kingdom of God in the villages and towns in the region of Galilee. He had delegated His power to these newly commissioned apostles, and they had authenticated their message of repentance by healing the sick and liberating the demon-possessed by casting out the demons. By commissioning and sending out the apostles, Jesus multiplied the extent of His ministry sixfold by sending out six groups of two each.
With the exception of Judas Iscariot, all of the apostles were from Galilee and would have at least been familiar with the villages to which they were sent to preach the gospel. Mark does not tell us how long the twelve apostles were gone, but it must have been several weeks possibly even a couple of months. If you remember from two weeks ago their short-term ministry caused quite a stir throughout Galilee, causing even Herod Antipas to take notice.
This morning’s passage opens with the apostles returning and gathering around Jesus. None of the gospel accounts tell us to where they returned but most believe it was to Capernaum. Once they had gathered together, they began to report to Jesus all that they had done and taught. I can just imagine as they told Jesus of amazing miracles that they had performed in His name, and how people were amazed listening to the message of the gospel. Even though they were excited about how God had used them, they were no doubt also tired from their travels, adding to that weariness was the times that they and their message was rejected and now the news also from the disciples of John the Baptist that he had recently been executed. Jesus knew that the Twelve needed to get away and rest and that restoration was not going to happen where they were because Mark informs us that there were many people coming and going where they met Jesus, and it was so busy that they did not even have time to eat. Jesus said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (Mark 6:31a, NASB95)[2] Jesus recognized their weariness, and He tenderly responded by suggesting that get away from the crowds for a short time and rest. Mark tells us that they went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.
Even the trip in the boat as they sailed gave the apostles and Jesus a short reprieve from the pressure of the crowds. In Luke 9:10, the parallel passage to this one tells us that they sailed to an area near the town of Bethsaida. The exact location of this town is not known, but the fact that the name means “house of fish,” means its probable location was on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee on the east side of where the Jordan river flows into the Sea of Galilee. So, by boat this was not a long distance from Capernaum. John in his Gospel indicates that Peter and Andrew were originally from Bethsaida though they relocated to Capernaum. Philip and possibly Nathanael were also former residents of this town. Bethsaida was not in Galilee, so it was not the area ruled by Herod Antipas, this was instead the territory ruled by Philip, but not the same Philip to whom Herodias had been married. Herod Antipas had two half-brothers named Philip, Herod Philip who was the former husband of Herodias and Philip the Tetrarch, the ruler of the area where Bethsaida is located. The area around Bethsaida was uninhabited and would offer the apostles and Jesus a place to get away from the crowds and rest.
HE GUIDES ME IN THE PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (Mark 6:33-34)
The crowds along the shore in Capernaum saw Jesus and the Twelve get into a boat and begin to sail away. Mark says that many recognized them. When they knew that it was Jesus they began to follow the boat along the shoreline on foot. John informs us in John 6:2 the parallel passage to this one that, “A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.” (John 6:2, NASB95)[3] The majority of this crowd only followed because they desired to witness Jesus’ miracles. Certainly, within this crowd were those who were sick or disabled who hoped to be healed. There may have been some who hoped that Jesus would become their political deliverer. There were those also who believed that Jesus was who He claimed to be, the Messiah. The people, by watching the boat, could see the general direction in which it was headed and they followed along and word spread to every little town along the way and the crowd swelled as more and more people joined it. Mark informs us that the crowd reached the area before Jesus and the Twelve. So, when they beached the boat, the crowd was already there waiting for them. As Jesus got out of the boat and came up on the shore, He saw a large crowd that had already gathered.
Even though Jesus had wanted to get away with the Twelve so they could rest, and this crowd now made that impossible. They could have ignored them, they could have gotten back in the boat and sailed somewhere else, Jesus could have sent the crowd away. But Mark writes, “When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.” (Mark 6:34, NASB95)[4] In other words, Jesus was deeply moved by genuine concern for this crowd that had rushed to get to where Jesus was going. Why was He so genuinely concerned, why did He feel compassion for them? Because as Jesus looked at this massive crowd, He knew that spiritually speaking they were wandering as lost sheep without a shepherd for their souls.
In Israel sheep were a mainstay of agricultural life, everyone understood the dangers faced by sheep without a shepherd. Without help and guidance, sheep are defenseless, they are unable to clean themselves, and they are prone to getting lost. The nation of Israel was often pictured as a flock of sheep with no shepherd. As the good Shepherd, Jesus was willing to feed, cleanse, and protect these lost sheep, and to lead them into eternal safety in the fold of salvation. Jesus began to care for them as He began to teach them many things. According to the parallel passage in Luke 9:11 Jesus was speaking to them about the kingdom of God, which was His primary theme in His preaching. Calling them to repent and follow Him and become a part of God’s kingdom.
Jesus was not only teaching the people, but according to the parallel passage in Matthew fourteen he was also healing the sick. The Lord’s compassion as the Good Shepherd extended beyond the spiritual needs of the people to include their physical needs as well. The power that Jesus possessed to heal them from temporal infirmities and disabilities was evidence that He possessed the power to offer them spiritual healing as well. Salvation not just from the debilitating effects of sin in this life but from the eternal effects of sin itself. The physical healing that Jesus provided was limited to this life only, but the eternal life He offered abounds to blessings and benefits both in this life and the next. Have you been eternally saved from the effect of sin? This offer is still available to you today. You too can have the blessings and benefits both in this life and the next by admitting and agreeing with God that you are a sinner and that you deserve God’s wrath and punishment, but you believe that He offers you mercy and grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you, becoming your substitute and paying the death penalty required for your sin, and that He was buried and on the third day rose from the dead triumphing forever over sin, death, and the devil. When you believe this, you are adopted into God’s family, and you are made right and acceptable to God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
YOU PREPARE A TABLE BEFORE ME (Mark 6:35-44)
Mark does not inform us as to how long Jesus was teaching the people and healing the sick, but as the day began to wane, He was approached by His twelve disciples. It seems they had decided together that the people were hungry and needed to find food to eat. The phrase “when it was already quite late” refers to the late afternoon or early evening, sometime between 3:00 and 6:00 o’clock, just before sunset. Because of the time, Mark writes, “When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, ‘This place is desolate and it is already quite late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ ” (Mark 6:35–36, NASB95)[5] Humanly speaking, the disciples were showing their own concern and compassion for the people. They knew that they did not have the provisions to feed this massive crowd. Maybe they had heard some people mentioning that they were hungry and possibly the disciples themselves were hungry, so they encourage Jesus to dismiss the crowd so they can go and find food in the surrounding towns and villages for their dinner.
Understand that when the disciples described the place where they were as desolate, they were not implying that they were in a desert place. Remember it is early Spring, just before the Passover and in springtime everything in Israel is green and lush. When some of us went to Israel it was springtime and we can attest to it being lush and beautiful, and later in this passage Mark tells us that the people are sitting on the green grass. What the disciples were saying was that they were in a remote place and an unpopulated place, and there was no food readily available to them without going into the towns and villages in the area.
Can you imagine the look of shock on the disciples faces when Jesus responded to them. Mark writes, “But He answered them, ‘You give them something to eat!’ ” (Mark 6:37a, NASB95)[6] Jesus was testing the disciples’ level of faith, while at the same time forcing them to acknowledge that they had no human solution, they did not have the means to feed this crowd. Their response to Jesus was, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?” (Mark 6:37, NASB95)[7] Two hundred denarii equaled about eight months wages for a common laborer. Even that amount was not enough to feed this massive crowd. Remember this crowd is five thousand men, Matthew informs us that there were many women and children as well. A very conservative estimate is that this was a crowd of ten thousand people, it was more likely upwards to 15 or 20 thousand. The disciples’ response shows their own doubt and skepticism. Humanly speaking this was an impossible task even if they had the funds to purchase the food. The possibility that Jesus might create the necessary food never crossed their minds. They were so focused on the problem, and the need to find a solution, that they failed to consider the divine power of their Lord.
“And He [Jesus] said to them, ‘How many loaves do you have? Go look!’ And when they found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ ” (Mark 6:38, NASB95)[8] John’s parallel account fills in the details, he writes, “One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ‘There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?’ ” (John 6:8–9, NASB95)[9] Dr. John Mitchell, one of my professors in Bible School, used to say that the real miracle here was that this boy was willing give up his lunch. The word loaves refer to what we might call a large dinner roll, or they might have been flatbread wafers or biscuits. The small fish were either pickled or dried, and intended to be eaten along with the bread. Together this constituted a standard lunch for a young boy. That one meal fit for a young child could launch a miracle that would feed ten to twenty thousand people was never imagined. Andrew said, “…what are these for so many people?” (John 6:7b, NASB95)[10] But Jesus already knew about those five loaves and two fish, earlier in John’s account we are told that Jesus already knew what He intended to do.
Jesus turned back to the crowd and instructed the people to sit by groups on the green grass. They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Jesus ordered them to sit in these neatly organized groups to make the distribution of food easier and so that the people would be comfortable while they waited and ate. This also highlighted the grandeur of this miracle, because it made the vast number of people easier to count. Jesus’ command had transformed this chaotic crowd into a highly coordinated assembly.
I am sure the disciples were watching Jesus just as intently as the people to see what He would do next. “And [Jesus] took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food [by giving thanks to His heavenly Father] and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all.” (Mark 6:41, NASB95)[11] The fact that there is no human explanation to this supernatural creative miracle, the Gospels do not even attempt to describe the manner in which this miracle of Jesus took place. It involved continuous creation as Jesus kept producing meals and giving them to the disciples, who would then distribute them to the people until everyone was fed. Can you even imagine how long it took to feed ten to twenty thousand people. Mark writes, “They all ate and were satisfied,” (Mark 6:42, NASB95)[12] They ate, and Jesus continued creating until they were full and wanted no more. Think about this: the food that Jesus created from nothing was perfect, having never been tainted by the corruption of the fallen world, and He made more than enough to satisfy the famished crowds. The disciples then picked up the leftover food and collected twelve baskets full of broken pieces of bread and also of fish. This was no coincidence, one basket for each disciple. Jesus made sure that each of His apostles had their own basketful of food and they surely shared what they had with Jesus who had created it all.
Mark concludes this account by informing us that this meal of bread and fish was eaten by five thousand men and as already stated Matthew 14:21 tells us that there were also many women and children present, which means as I already stated the crowd was greater than just five thousand. This crowd astonished by what they had just witnessed and the deliciousness of what they had just tasted, proclaimed, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” (John 6:14b, NASB95) This term Prophet who is come into the world is an Old Testament reference to the Messiah. In their excitement and astonishment John tells us that they were intending to come and take Jesus by force to make Him king. Obsessed by His healing and creative power, the crowds longed for Jesus to usher in the ultimate welfare state, in which hunger and sickness would be permanently banished. Here was a man who could use His limitless power to overthrow the Herods and the Romans as well as gratify all their needs.
Jesus refused to be a permanent source of free meals, but He was willing to be an eternal source of spiritual nourishment. Sadly, most of the people were not interested in that. The very next day, most of those who had been miraculously fed by Jesus, rejected Him and even many of that wider group of His disciples stopped following Him altogether as John tells us in John 6:66. By supernaturally feeding the people Jesus had clearly illustrated the fact that He is the Good Shepherd and the compassionate Creator. By stubbornly rejecting Jesus, the people evidenced their true nature of hard-hearted unbelief, for which they will be eternally judged. Not everyone had such calloused unbelief, listen to this dialog between Jesus and the Twelve in John 6:67-68, “So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.’ ” (John 6:67–69, NASB95)[13] Peter voiced the heart of every true believer with his response to our Lord’s question. Is this your response as well?
CONCLUSION:
The people who had experienced the miraculous meal provided by Jesus were right to identify Jesus as the Messiah, but again they misunderstood the purpose of His coming. One day Jesus Christ will return to establish His earthly kingdom with all the promised power, provision, and protection prophesied by the Old Testament prophets, but this first coming had a different purpose, Jesus Christ the Son of God came the first time “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10, NASB95)[14] and “to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45, ESV)[15]. The people who ate the miraculous meal wanted to make Jesus their political king even if they had to by force, Jesus was willing only to be spiritual King to those who believed in Him. As generous as He was in the creation of food, Jesus intended the visible display of His power and compassion in the physical world to be the symbol of His might in the spiritual realm. The Good Shepherd’s willingness to give physical rest was a symbol of His offer to give spiritual rest. The Good Shepherd’s desire to teach the truth highlighted the fact that He is the truth. And the Good Shepherd’s readiness to create bread and fish was evidence of His ability to provide spiritual food for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life, as such those who believe in Him will be eternally satisfied.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation. Brackets added.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[15]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.