Message preached Sunday, July 12, 2015 from Mark 6:35-44
Theme: The miracle of the feeding of the multitude teaches us that, by depending on Jesus, we can do all things He calls us to do.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
In our last time together in the Gospel of Mark, we looked at a story that highlighted our Lord’s compassion. We find that story in Mark 6; and it tells of what happened after the Lord Jesus sent His twelve disciples out throughout the regions of Galilee to preach and perform miracles in His name. The story begins when they return to Him—weary from their many labors, but excited to report the wonderful results.
Mark tells us;
Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves (Mark 6:30-32)
Our Lord was weary too; and so He called them to a time of rest and refreshment. And that was when we learned something of the great compassion our Lord had for the needy people who came to Him. Mark tells us;
But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things (vv. 33-34).
It’s wonderful to see how our Lord wasn’t irritated with the multitudes that suddenly came upon Him. He loved them and ministered to their needs. He is truly a compassionate Savior—always welcoming and receptive toward those who come to Him.
Now; I suggested to you last week that that’s just the first half of the story. That’s the half that tells us about the compassion Jesus felt for people. And now comes the second half of the story—the half that shows us how He acted on that compassion. Please listen carefully to what Mark goes on to tell us:
When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.” But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men (vv. 35-44).
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That’s one of Jesus’ most famous miracles. And did you know that it’s the only miracle our Lord performed that is described for us in all four of the Gospels?—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Clearly, it’s a story that the Holy Spirit wanted us to know about.
But as I have studied from it this week, I found myself thinking about it in a different way than I believe I ever had before. Whenever I had read it in the past, I had only focused on what an amazing miracle it was. And of course, it was amazing! I don’t know if you have done this; but I have pondered in my mind many times what that all must have looked like. How did the food multiply? Did it grow in His hand? Did He simply break a piece off, hand it to His disciples, and have them place the piece in the hands of others; and did it simply grow as it was passed around in the circle? Did something happen between the disciples taking it from Jesus’ hand and handing it to the people—as they carried it? We’re not told what this miracle looked like or how it appeared to have happened. And perhaps that’s intentional. We don’t have to know how it is that the Lord does what He does in order to provide for those of us to trust Him. We just need to have the child-like trust that He is the Son of God, and that He can do anything we need.
But lately, I have thought of this as more than just a story about the feeding of a crowd. It’s more than just a story about the miraculous increase of the food. I believe it’s primarily a story about something that the disciples were supposed learn about the sufficiency of Jesus.
In fact, I’m sure that’s the case. You see; another similar miracle happened a short time after this one. Another great multitude had gathered to Jesus; and He miraculously fed them then too—and with just a few loaves of bread. We’re told about it in the eighth chapter of Mark’s Gospel. And after telling us of how Jesus fed that second crowd, Mark tells us this:
And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.” But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.” “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.” So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?” (Mark 8:13-21).
Clearly, there was a lesson that they were supposed to have learned about Him in His feeding of the multitudes, but that they still hadn’t gotten into their heads. You get the impression that Jesus was even a little frustrated with them, after all that they had already seen Him do, for still thinking that a limitation of resources is ever a problem for Him. And that’s why I believe that the demonstration of our Lord’s compassion for the crowd—and His feeding of the 5,000—was primarily meant to be a lesson to His apostles about trusting Him.
It’s a lesson for us too. We—like they—are called to serve the people of this world as His representatives. We are commanded to fulfill His ‘Great Commission’—to make disciples of every nation, to baptize them in His name, and to teach them to observe what He commanded. It’s a work in this dark and sinful world that is far greater than we could ever do in our own resources. Our part in that work is certainly greater than anything that this tiny little church has the capability to do. But the miracle of the feeding of the multitude teaches us that, by depending on Jesus, we can do all things that He calls us to do.
Let’s not fail, then, to learn the lesson that this story is meant to teach us. Let’s walk through it in closer detail; and see how this miracle was intended to impact the disciples with our compassionate Lord’s complete sufficiency.
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Let’s go back to the beginning of this passage, look at things through the eyes of the disciples, and see . . .
1. THE UNEXPECTED CHALLENGE THEY FACED.
Certainly, when they went off with the Lord to take some rest, they didn’t expect a great multitude of needy people to run ahead and meet them. They might even have expected the Lord, once He saw them, to send them all away. But He didn’t. Moved with compassion as He was for the vast crowd, we’re told in verse 34 that “He began to teach them many things.”
That’s our Lord’s priority, isn’t it? The great crowds gathered to Him—perhaps having many kinds of needs. But He knew that their first and greatest need was to be taught the truth from God the Father. And if I may say so—as a church, we need to keep that priority of our Lord ever in our minds too. The unbelieving world has many ideas about what the church ought to do as a top priority—and many of them may be good and needful things to do. But our first priority in this world is to be “the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). We need to make the proclamation of the word of truth our first and most important work of service to this world—and then, not let the other things go undone.
Well; Jesus had been teaching the crowds all day long. And now, the day was “far spent”. It was getting near the close of the day; and His disciples were getting concerned. They came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat” (vv. 35-36).
Now there’s something you need to know about this story that only the Gospel of John tells us. Apparently, earlier on, the Lord Jesus looked over the crowd—perhaps during a brief break in His teaching—and turned to the apostle Philip. Philip was always a practical-minded disciple; and Jesus said to Him, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” (John 6:5). And I believe that Philip then went off and passed that concern on to the others. Pretty soon, they were all getting concerned about it.
But John also tells us this about the Lord Jesus’ words to Philip: “But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do” (John 6:6). And that’s something you and I should keep in mind whenever we encounter an unexpected challenge—even an overwhelming one, such as the disciples faced. It may be unexpected to us; but it’s not to our Lord. We may not know what to do; but He always knows what He is going to do. Each such challenge is, in reality, a test. Will we turn to the Lord Jesus in it? Will we trust in Him who always knows what to do?
Such unexpected challenges should drive us right to Jesus. The very first thing we should do is stop and turn to Him in prayer.
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Well; They saw all the people in need; and they thought they had a good idea. They thought that Jesus should send them all away into the neighboring towns so they could get food while they could. Since Jesus was teaching them, they thought He should stop in His teaching and instruct them all to go away and get themselves some dinner.
The next thing that Mark tells us that Jesus said to them must have come as a great surprise to them. “But He answered and said to them, ‘You give them something to eat” (v. 37a). In fact, in the original language, what Jesus said sounds something like this: “You all give them—YOU—something to eat.” Jesus not only did not send the people away to buy food, as His disciples had asked Him; but He instead placed the obligation on them to feed the crowd! And this highlights to us . . .
2. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MINISTRY THE LORD SHARED WITH THEM.
That just seems to be a way that our Lord works. He allows us to see a need, and we come to Him and ask Him to do something about it. And then, before we know it, He turns right around and calls us to be the answer to our own prayer! We see the need, and He places on us the responsibility to fulfill it.
It’s important to know, though—as this story itself shows us—that He never means for us to do it on our own. He places that responsibility on us, and then calls on us to depend on Him for the work of fulfilling it. He never sends us off to do for Him what we cannot without Him. Think of the Great Commission. Do you remember what He told us to do?
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you . . .” (Matthew 28:18-20a).
“. . . and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (v. 20b).
Well; that’s a humanly impossible task! But do you remember the promise He gave us at the end of that commission?
We should be greatly honored that the Lord shares the responsibility of ministry with us. But we should also be grateful that He never sends us out to do anything except what we can do in full dependency upon His divine help. May God help us to remember that—and never try to do His work apart from Him!
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Another thing that must have impacted the disciples was . . .
3. THE MEAGER RESOURCES THAT THEY HAD.
The disciples must have been very well aware of how little they could do on their own. Jesus had told them to feed that vast multitude. But with what? Mark tells us, “And they said to Him, ‘Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?’” (v. 37b). A denarius was a Roman coin; and it was equal in value to the full day’s wage of the average working man. Two hundred denarii—by today’s standards—would be the rough equivalent of between $40,000 to $60,000. If there were 5,000 men in the crowd, then you’d also have to figure in their wives and their children. There may have been as many as 20,000 people there—and that works out to somewhere between $2 to $3 per person. You couldn’t buy much of a meal with that. But it didn’t matter, because the disciples didn’t have that kind of money anyway.
John tells us an interesting detail about this story. He tells us;
One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” (John 6:8-9).
I wonder if this little boy overheard the discussion, and went and tugged on Andrew’s sleeve, and offered his little bundle of food if Jesus wanted it. One of my Bible teachers—Dr. John Mitchell—used to say that one of the greatest miracles of this story is that a little boy would willingly give up his lunch like that! But it appears that, after a diligent search, that’s all that the disciples could find. How could you feed multiple thousands of very hungry people—who had traveled far from home, and who had been sitting all day and listening to Jesus teach—with what amounted to a Happy Meal?
I think that there’s a lesson for us in that. In the work that Jesus calls us to do, we need to be realistic about the resources we have. Jesus doesn’t call us to serve Him in such a way as to make us engage in any “magical thinking”. I believe He wants us to be informed and realistic about what we have or don’t have—and to pray accordingly.
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And that leads us, next, to consider . . .
4. THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM THEY FACED (v. 38-41a).
Mark tells us, “But He said to them, ‘How many loaves do you have? Go and see.’ And when they found out they said, ‘Five, and two fish’” (v. 38). Do you suppose that Jesus already knew how much they had? I certainly do. But I suspect that He wanted them to go look and see for themselves so that they would know. And when they did so, there’s something that Matthew tells us that Jesus then told them—something that is implied in Mark’s account. It’s something that I would suggest to you makes all the difference—whether our resources are much or little. Jesus told them, “Bring them here to Me” (Matthew 14:18). Dear brothers and sisters; that’s always the solution to our every problem. Our ‘meager resources’ become more than sufficient when they are placed in Jesus’ hands; because all the sufficiency is in Him.
I believe our Lord even showed them how to do this. Mark tells us, “Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves . . .” (vv. 39-41). For Him to look up to heaven means that He turned His attention to the Father. And for Him to “bless” the loaves as He broke them means that He was thankful to the Father for them and accepted what the Father had given as a good and gracious gift. In fact, in one of the other Gospels, it tells us plainly that Jesus had “given thanks”.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; may I suggest to you that we do the greatest thing we can do—instantly solving any unexpected challenge or problem that we have—when we come to the Father with what we have, give Him thanks, and entrust it to Jesus? That’s not just some magic formula. That’s a real expression of faith in the sufficiency of Jesus Christ in our every need. Don’t complain about your problems or challenges or lack of resources anymore. Repent of that. Consider instead that our Lord Jesus already knows about our challenge, and has allowed it in order to teach us something about Himself. Thank Him, take a realistic inventory of what you have, present it to Him in prayer, and watch what He can do!
By depending on Jesus, we can do whatever He calls us to do with whatever He has given us to use. But only through Him! That, I believe, is the great lesson that the disciples where to learn in this remarkable event.
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There are a few more lessons for us to learn in this along with the disciples. Note . . .
5. THE ORDERLY WAY THEY KEPT DEPENDING ON JESUS.
Mark tells us that Jesus offered a blessing and broke the loaves, “and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all” (v. 41b). Jesus could have broken the bread, tossed it and the fish into the air, and let it all shower biscuits and sardines down on everyone at once; and they could have scrambled around on the field and gathered what they wanted. But He didn’t do that. He made everyone sit in an orderly way and wait to be served; and the disciples took the bread and fish to the different groupings of people in an orderly manner.
And I think there’s something important to notice. In the original language, the imperfect tense of the verb is used; so it means that Jesus “began to give” them to His disciples—as a kind of ongoing act. He didn’t give a portion to them each all at once. Instead, it would seem that He’d give some to one disciple, and then to another, and then to another; and after a while, one would come back for more to distribute, and then another for more, and then another. The distribution of the food—and perhaps the miracle of multiplication itself—seems to have been a process.
And I suggest to you that this teaches us that our trust in Jesus’ provision is to be an ongoing thing—a continual practice of dependency. He doesn’t give us all we need for all His work all at one time. Rather, He gives us just what we need as we come to Him regularly in an ongoing lifestyle of trust in and reliance upon Him.
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Now; this is only speculation on my part. But I wonder if the disciples were not walking around and serving people with a very obvious look of amazement on their faces. They knew what little they had. But they saw how much it was feeding! And when it was all over, as Mark tells us, “So they all ate and were filled” (v. 42).
This tells us of . . .
6. THE WITNESS THEY HAD OF A ‘FULL’ MIRACLE.
The fact that they had served at the Lord’s command—and that they had been allowed by Him to participate in the meeting of this need in His name—means that they would have had a ‘front-row seat’ in this miracle; and would have seen with their own eyes how sufficient He is! Everyone ate from what the Lord had given them of those few loaves and a couple of small fish; and yet, they were all full! They patted their bellies and could not eat anymore!
And that’s not the only witness the apostles had. The Lord commanded them to gather up the scraps so that nothing was wasted. And this is when they had the testimony of . . .
7. THE ABUNDANCE THAT THEY CARRIED AWAY.
Mark tells us, “And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men” (vv. 43-44). That would have meant that they started off with humanly impossible resources—one small loaf to 1,000 men. And yet, everyone was full; and there were leftovers! There were twelve baskets full!—one basket per apostle! They were the most famous ‘leftovers’ in history! Jesus even reminded them later on of the baskets-full that they carried away!
When Jesus calls us to serve Him, He calls us to do what we cannot do on our own. But He does go with us, and enables us to do what we can do in complete dependency upon Him. And He even provides for us and abundantly blesses us along the way! What a great lesson this miracle has to teach us.
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May I close with an application? I believe it’s a good one, because it’s one that Jesus Himself gave. In His Sermon on The Mount, He—this very same, all-sufficient Jesus; our Lord and Master and Provider—said;
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:31-34).
There’s our priority: Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Do the work that He gives you to do in His name for today—whatever that work may be—and with complete dependency on His provision. And you’ll find—guaranteed!—that He is able to take care of all the rest and then some!