Mark 6 30-44

There are, throughout Scripture, many motifs or images that repeat. Sometimes, for example, the repeated image is that of a clay pot; Paul uses the clay pot to talk about us being clay pots that have within us a treasure. On the other hand, Jeremiah uses the imagery of a pot being formed by a potter, and there is a flaw in the clay, and so the potter takes the still forming pot, squashes it back into a bunch of clay and begins to form the pot over. This might sound odd, but there were only so many things in that society in order to make analogies. Jesus lived in a rural time; there were sheep and goats, so He talks about sheep and goats. There were coins, so He used coins to make His point from time to time.

There is another repeated image in Scripture; that of a shepherd. We read earlier Psalm 23; the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. What a great image of God, a shepherd watching over the sheep, protecting them, guiding them, helping them out of bad places; I’m certain the people back then would have resonated with that image. There were shepherds all around; up on the hills, all around. Our Scripture this morning also has this image of a shepherd, but it’s a little more hidden from us in our culture, but I think you’ll see the image there at the end. The image of Jesus as our shepherd is still a powerful image, one that gives us hope and should encourage us; we are part of the flock of God. Let’s look at Mark 6, starting in verse 30.

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and its already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

But He answered them, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five-and two fish.”

Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountain to pray.

Let’s pray.

As you know, we’ve been working our way through one of the gospels; the gospel according to Mark. We are blessed by God to have 4 separate but equal gospels, all telling the same basic story. John is highly theological, written much later than the others. Luke and Matthew were written at about the same time; most like the mid to late 60’s. Luke is written specifically to the Gentiles, or non-Jews, while Matthew is written to the Jews. But before them all was Mark. Mark is the shortest of the gospels. It leaves out much of the teaching and parables that Matthew and Luke include. It is abrupt in many places; whenever I read Mark I am impressed by how often he uses the word “immediately”. Jesus seems to be a whirlwind of activity in Mark; He does something and immediately does something else and then immediately Jesus is off again…lots of immediately’s. I’ve thought a little less of Mark than of the other gospels for those reasons, which I’m repenting of as I go through this series.

Today’s section is one you know well. The feeding of the 5000 is one of those stories everyone seems to know. But hopefully today we’ll look at it a little deeper. These insights are not my own, but rather those of Dr. Bailey, whose wisdom and study of Scripture over decades as a seminary professor in the Middle East enlivens and deepens my faith and amazement at all I have glossed over in my readings of the gospels. So I share with you some of his thoughts, as well as my own prayerful study of God’s Holy Scriptures. Before we get to the feeding though, we need to know what has happened to the disciples that had been sent out in the early part of the chapter.

The disciples need some time to debrief what has happened; you might remember they have just come back from traveling around Israel, two by two, taking out to the people the message of Jesus as the Messiah. They need to talk with Jesus about how things went, what towns they went to, what questions people asked, they need some rest. They need to be together again, to enjoy each other’s company. They are, and have been, after all, doing something world changing. They had gone out into the world with nothing but a message about Christ, and now they are back, with tales, I guess since they made it back safely, about how God blessed them with food, shelter and listening ears. Remember, the disciples find Jesus just as He has raised a girl from the dead-the crowds must have been going nuts over Jesus, watching and wondering what He might do next. So to get some peace and quiet, to get some prayer time, Jesus and the disciples need to get away from the crowds. They didn’t even have the time or space to eat together.

So they hop back into a boat, and travel to another shore where maybe they can get some peace and quiet. They need some down time.

But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

They weren’t going to get their time off. Mark tells this story in the form of an extended chiasm, which should appear on the screen soon, if not now. (A) The crowd, verses 34 and 45. (B) All need to eat and all eat, verses 35-36 and 42, (C) You feed them, verses 37 and 41, (D) 5 loaves of bread, verses 38 and 41. The center, point (E) should remind us of Psalm 23. We’ll look at that in a moment.

First, let’s take a look at this first section. Notice Jesus and the disciples aren’t going to get the time alone they want. The crowd has followed them around the lake and meets them at the shore. These people are fascinated by Christ, they cannot get enough. Notice how Mark describes Jesus’ compassion on these people. Jesus notes that the are like sheep without a shepherd; desperate to follow a shepherd. Lost, confused, not at all wise. Dr. Bailey notes in a way this section shows Jesus as a new Moses, this section and the next one. Moses is the guy who led the people through the desert where God provided food out of nothing, the manna that fell from the sky sustained the Israelites, and when they complained, God provided little quail type birds for them to eat. The key was the people were dependent on God, every day new food would come. They couldn’t save food, because it would rot. But everyday God provided food for the Israelites as they were lost in the wilderness. As Moses was the shepherd of the God’s stubborn sheep out of Egypt, through the desert and into the promised land, so Jesus is that new shepherd. He will lead the people of God, all who will listen and accept Him as savior, into a new promised land, the kingdom of God. It was Moses who first helped the people know God, and what He would have them do and be as His chosen people. Now there is going to be a new chosen people, and it is Jesus who will teach them how to know God again, through Himself.

It is a shepherd who protects His flock, leads them to fresh water and good food. It seems this is what Jesus was doing, and it is likely the early believers would have seen echoes of Moses in the way Mark describes what transpires.

But He answered them, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

“How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five-and two fish.”

The people need to eat. They are hungry. The disciple’s solution: send them out to find their own food. But this isn’t what a good shepherd would do. The good shepherd provides food, the new Moses produces food in the wilderness. Jesus is a delegator, if nothing else, so He tells the disciples to find the people something to eat. This is impossible. They have no money; they have just returned from travels all over the country, having been sent out with nothing, I assume they came back with nothing, or at least, very little. They would have to work for months to earn the sort of money it would take to feed all these people! Doesn’t Jesus know this? The disciples cannot feed the people. It isn’t humanly possible. They don’t have the money, they don’t have the time to run to all the surrounding villages to scrounge up food for the crowds, it just isn’t possible. It also isn’t completely fair. The disciples were sent out with nothing, but the crowd is seated and offered food. There is something there about the sacrifices of the disciples as opposed to the welcome mat for the crowds who are still figuring Jesus out, still just listening and not yet committed. When we are committed to Christ, we can endure the path God sets before us, with his help. But for those who are coming to faith, it doesn’t seem like there are requirements to listen, or standards to be good enough to come into church. We don’t keep anyone out; God uses us to call His own and we are not in charge of that process at all.

Jesus though, seats the crowd and sends the disciples to find out what resources they do have. What food is there among the people? Find out. There isn’t much, just a couple fish and 5 little loaves of bread. Then comes the echoes, at the middle of the chiasm, of Psalm 23.

Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures… Jesus is the shepherd. He takes the sheep, and sits them down on the ground, ready to serve them, ready to lead them. You prepare a table before me…. They are beside the waters, this scene really is an echo of Psalm 23. Not only that, but this is also a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper. Listen to the next section.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.

Jesus does the same thing in the upper room. He gives thanks, and then breaks the loaf of bread, this is my body, this is my blood. Jesus will do this later, offer up His own body to meet the needs of others, to meet our needs to be cleansed of our sin, completely washed clean in Christ so that someday as we lie down in death Jesus will immediately grab us by the hand and pull us into His presence forever. We are dependent on God for the most important aspect of our lives; our eternal future, but God is also concerned about our present. They were hungry, Jesus gave them something to eat. In a most miraculous way.

Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Jesus said feed them, and now the disciples are able. With God, nothing is impossible. The disciples couldn’t feed them before, but now they can. They begin to hand out miraculous amounts of bread and fish to the crowd. Not only did they eat, but they all ate and were satisfied. This is a holy meal. Do you remember last week when we were talking about John the Baptist, and how he ended up in prison, and was eventually beheaded and had his head served on a platter to the dancing girl? It is not an accident that these stories are next to each other. Here we see the Moses like character, Jesus, serving up a banquet of life. In Jesus is life, and life eternal. Here is the proof; food comes to the crowd from nowhere, from Himself. Contrast this to Herod, who serves up a banquet of death, John the Baptist’s head on the platter. There is a clear contrast here, go ahead and choose--life or death; Jesus or the way of the world. Herod had everything he wanted; but not faith, not Christ. His is the way of death. Jesus had very little in this life; but His faith is life. This is Jesus reply to Herod; my way is life, yours, the way of the world, is nothing but a banquet of death. There is nothing there. Remember from Psalm 23, You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.

The people are fed, they now have a shepherd whose rod and staff will protect them. They are no longer sheep without a shepherd, but they have been fed spiritually and physically by the One who is their Shepherd, and ours. They were lost, but now are found. As were we. We were lost in our sin, but now, because of Christ, we are found. In Christ our heads are anointed with His oil, our cups overflow with His grace, His mercy, and His love. Surely goodness and mercy will follow us because of Christ, because of His death on the cross, and His resurrection, all for us. Our cups overflow not because of anything we have done, but always because of what Christ has done first.

Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountain to pray.

Why did Jesus dismiss the crowd? Because they would have wanted their new shepherd to lead them to freedom from the Romans. They wanted Jesus to be their king. But a regime change never seems to help the human condition. The only thing that can change the human condition is a change of heart, a change of who dwells on the throne of our hearts. Only when we let God come into our lives, and begin the changes necessary do we get rid of the curse of the human condition, the death banquet that is offered to us in so many different forms. Moses offered the people a new life, out of the culture of death of Egypt into a promised land; Jesus offers to take us to a promised land as well, one where we are free in Christ to serve Him, where we are free from the consequences of our sin so that we can freely do the will of the Father.

This is a wonderful text about the power of God, Mark blends in many themes in helping the early Jewish readers to think of Jesus in terms of not just being a healer, not just a teacher, but also as a prophet, as Jesus is compared to Moses, the greatest prophet, and indeed comes out of the story looking even better than Moses.

And finally, Jesus got some time to pray without all the crowds.

Let’s pray.