Mark 6: 30-44
Feeding and Trusting

Scripture Reading 

Prayer 

Intro: The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle story recorded in all four gospels.  It’s common to find shared stories between two gospels and even three – often Matthew, Mark, and Luke will overlap.  Of course all four gospels do overlap in relating the death and resurrection of Jesus.  But it is quite rare that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all agree on including the same event from Jesus ministry.  It is no accident that  they all decided that this multiplication of bread in the wilderness could not be passed over.  Why? 

Mark gives us a clue to the importance of this scene that the other three evangelists do not.  He says that when Jesus “saw (the) great crowd…he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” 

Like sheep without a shepherd…

When you and I hear the imagery of shepherd and sheep we are inclined to picture bucolic pastoral scenes of green grass, gently grazing animals, and guardian shepherds standing watch - assuring protection, provision, and guidance for the sheep.  It’s a fitting image because that’s what shepherds do and it resonates with the human image we find here in our passage: a multitude of people spread out in the countryside along the Sea of Galilee, seated in groups on green grass, feeding on Word and Bread from Jesus, the Christ of Israel and true shepherd of God’s people.

This same comforting pastoral imagery would (also) have registered in the minds of first century Jews – including the disciples and some of the first readers of Mark’s gospel.  Like us, they were familiar with scriptures like Psalm 23 which proclaimed that “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters.   He restores my soul…He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. …I will fear no evil, for you are with me…You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” 

The crowds must have seen in Jesus the fulfillment of words like these.  It’s a beautiful picture.  And the feeding of the five thousand shows that Jesus was the fulfillment of many Old Testament hopes and promises such as those found in Psalm 23.  But for the Jew, shepherd imagery from the Old Testament also carried with it other connotations.  Jesus was not the first to perceive God’s people as sheep without a shepherd.  The shepherd is an old-Old Testament image which – for Jews – spoke of more than mere pastoral provision and comfort in the countryside. 

You will find that biblical shepherd imagery carries with it kingly and military connotations.  And for these Galilean Jews running after Jesus – the shepherd image spoke of revolution, conquest, the replacement of Herod, and the overthrown of Roman occupation in Judea. 

Let’s review some other biblical scenes…

1st) When Moses had heard from God that he would not be permitted to lead God’s people into the promised land, Moses responded with these words. – 

(Numbers 27: 16-17) 

16 "Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd." (18 So the LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.) 

Joshua, Yeshua, Jesus – it’s the same name.  God appointed Joshua – to shepherd – God’s people, leading them into military conquest of Canaan, the promised land. 

Much later, (during the days of Israel’s exile from the promised land - the prophet )Ezekiel declares that Israel’s leaders have been false shepherds and he wrote these words:  (Ezekiel 34)

15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost,( and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy.) I will feed them in justice.

23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken.

27 " And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 

The five thousand Galilean men whom Jesus fed in the countryside saw in Jesus their new David, their shepherd-King restored, and they were ready to enthrone him.  If there is any doubt of this, John’s account (of the same event) makes it explicit – 

John 6:14-15 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!"  15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. 

The region of Galilee was a notorious hotbed of resistance against Rome.  There had been uprisings in Galilee against the previous ruler, Herod the Great.  More recently (A.D. 6) the zealot movement had arisen from within Galilee, led by Judas the Galilean.

These men of Galilee who chase Jesus and the disciples around the shoreline and beat the boat, arriving ahead of them – they were not sickly people seeking a cure, they were (many of them) revolutionaries.  They ran around the lake with such excitement because they were ready to follow their new Joshua in conquest.  You realize it was not only the sick and demon-possessed who found Jesus appealing.  He was, after all, declaring the Kingdom of God and many in Judea were ready to see it come and ready to join Jesus (Joshua) in fighting to bring this new kingdom about.  They were hungry people, longing, not merely for food, but for deliverance from new freedom and deliverance from oppression. 

They rightly found in Jesus all of the Old Testament imagery fulfilled. But his food, his life, his teaching will satisfy their need and their hunger, in ways they do not expect.

Jesus fulfills the Old Testament.

He is the new Moses, (symbolically) feeding God’s people here in the wilderness.  He is the new Joshua who will lead God’s people into conquest.  He is the new (and greater) David, who will give God’s people rest from their enemies all around. 

But, as Mark has already been showing us, Jesus came to deal with enemies that were bigger than the Romans or Herod.  He came to do what David and Joshua and Moses could never do.  He is a King, but he brings a kingdom whose boundaries are righteousness and justice, not merely the borders of Judea.  Jesus brings forgiveness of sins and freedom from enslavement to the devil.  His conquest will entail the overthrow of death itself. 

In the feeding of the five thousand Jesus teaches us something about his own person, about the participation of his disciples, and about provision for his people. 

So what do we learn about the…

1. Person of Jesus

Of all the images I’ve mentioned, this scene in the Galilean countryside especially evokes the experience of Moses leading Israel in the wilderness.  Like Moses ordered the camp (back in Numbers), Jesus orders the men to sit in groups of fifties and hundreds like a great army (– five thousand strong –) arrayed across the fields.  Like Moses, Jesus calls upon God to provide bread for the people.  But, unlike Moses, Jesus never complains about finding provision for the people.  And, unlike Moses, Jesus seems to multiply provision of bread and fish from his own hands.  You see, back with Moses in the wilderness journeys, that was uniquely God’s role.  God was the one who brought bread and meat to Israel through the provision of manna and quail.  Indeed, God was the true shepherd of his people in the wilderness. - from there is the Shepherd, -says Genesis 49- the Stone of Israel (is her God).  Jesus reflects the role of Moses here, but more significantly he embodies the provision of God.  When he blesses the meal (the bread) there is plenty. 

Illus

Do you (by chance) recall Moses’ complaint to God at the beginning of the wilderness wanderings. 

Numbers 11: 21-23 21 But Moses said, "The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, 'I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!'  22 Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?"  23 And the LORD said to Moses, "Is the LORD's hand shortened?  Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not." 

App

Moses sounds more like the disciples here.  And the LORD God (of the exodus) sounds more like Jesus.  Herein lies the application.  Jesus is more than just another Moses.  He is not the revolutionary Joshua that the people are hoping for.  But he is the Lord, the God who has compassion for his people and feeds his sheep in the wilderness.  Jesus is demonstrating that he holds a power and a prerogative that is beyond Moses.  Jesus is teaching the people and Mark is teaching us that he, Jesus, can be trusted like God can be trusted.  He is the long expected prophet, but he is more than a prophet.  Do you link Jesus with the God of the Old Testament?  Or is he simply a Savior, come lately, who brought a new age with no connection to the old?  Do you allow the Scriptures to shape your view of Jesus?  Or do you fashion him in your own image?  Are you willing to follow where Jesus leads?  Or do you try to constrain him to fit your own categories?  Do you view Jesus as God and King – provider of bread and sustainer of life?  Or was he simply a good teacher with comforting promises and a great prophet in a long line of prophets with more to come?  Jesus claims something more and he deliberately stages the feeding of the five thousand in order to help his disciples to understand.  He could have sent the people away as they had suggested but he did not. 

And this leads us to ask what Jesus teaches us by commanding…

(2) Participation of his disciples 

2a The twelve return from their short-term missionary journey and Jesus invites them to retreat with him and to rest.  They happily come along, but the people are intent to join them.  As testimony to the success of their missionary efforts Mark emphasizes that the people “saw them going and recognized them”.  It’s not only Jesus whom they recognize but also his disciples because they also now preach the kingdom and cast-out demons. 

2b The disciples patiently endure Jesus’ teaching of the crowd, but they are ready for that promised rest and they – very reasonably – suggest that the people should be sent away to attend to their own needs.  Instead, Jesus demands their involvement – “you feed them”.  After arranging everyone into groups and blessing the food it is given to the disciples to set the food before the people – apparently, they were to pass it out and watch it multiply to meet everyone’s need.  Jesus commands the involvement of his disciples despite their unbelief.  He commands that they serve the people.  And he provides what he commands. 

Again Moses is our example by way of comparison with the disciples and by way of contrast with Jesus. 

(Illus) Numbers 11:11-23 Moses said to the LORD, "Why have you dealt ill with your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me?  12 Did I conceive all this people? Did I give them birth, that you should say to me, 'Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child,' to the land that you swore to give their fathers?  13 Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me and say, 'Give us meat, that we may eat.'  14 I am not able to carry all this people alone; the burden is too heavy for me.  15 If you will treat me like this, kill me at once, if I find favor in your sight, that I may not see my wretchedness." 

(App)  Wow, Moses led a complaining people in the wilderness, but he could be quite the complainer himself.  (You want to ask) Does he know who he’s talking too?  Has he somehow forgotten that this is the One who led them through the sea?  We wonder the same thing about the disciples in their impertinence.  “Are we supposed to go spend 200 denarii on these people?(!)”  Have they forgotten that this is the one who stilled the sea? 

The other night we were sitting down to a nice dinner at home which Nicole had prepared for us.  And as we began to eat I said “so I’m preaching on the feeding of the five thousand” and she says to me “right now I’m just concerned with the feeding of the one”. 

I love her because she speaks the truth.  Isn’t that how we feel much of the time?  “I’m looking out for number one right now buddy, make sure you take care of yourself and don’t get in my way.”  I love the response all the more in Nicole because it’s true about how she feels, but I know she’s not actually that selfish. In fact I knew she had just taken care of feeding Cora, and she had prepared this dinner for me as well.  But like the disciples, it was her turn and she was ready to eat.  Still, despite our best efforts to compartmentalize, the kingdom often works differently than we would like because God is committed to our involvement. 

By way of application Charles Spurgeon is worth extensive quotation here.  Says Spurgeon, 

(Miracles and Parables of Our Lord, p. 561)

“And let the entire body of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ – instead of looking to societies for evangelization, or to commerce, or to governments – remember that she is the sole saviour of the world.  Christ never was incarnate in kings and in princes.  His incarnation to-day is in the sacramental host of his elect.  If you ask me where is Christ on earth, I point you to his faithful Church, called by his Spirit.  As Christ was the world’s hope, so is the Church the world’s hope, and she must take up the charge as if there were not another.  Instead of sending some to this town and some to that, she must hear her Master say, “Give ye them to eat.” 

Let us examine ourselves, as disciples of Jesus Christ, of our own willingness to participate in God’s Kingdom work.  When the temptation arises for you to send someone on their way or to pass along responsibility to another – stop and ask yourself – what might God be calling me to here? How might I contribute to the provision that is needed today?  God intends to use you, and if you look for it he will use you in surprising ways.  There are so many times when God brings you into the life of other people because he wants (to use) you to feed them – it may simply be a word of Christian encouragement, or a listening ear, it may be that you share bread from your table – but you must be willing for such things to happen off schedule and to disrupt your agenda – even when you think your agenda is the Lord’s agenda (as the disciples do here – “Let’s get on with the resting”).  God commands us to serve others, and he provides what he commands in ways that are satisfying to all. 

So we have seen what this event teaches us about the person of Jesus and about the participation of his disciples,

And finally we come to examine what we must learn through Jesus’ manner of…

(3) Provision for the people 

3a) It should be noted that Jesus does not first provide bread for the people, but in his compassion he teaches them.  And it seems that, despite whatever misconceptions they may have had about Jesus, this crowd is so hungry for his teaching – for his Word – that they have all but forgotten about eating dinner.  Jesus provides for the people’s need through his Word.  But Jesus also provides food.  (He cares about this sort of thing.  Cf. when he raised the girl) 

3b)  The disciples put a price on the provision needed – 200 denarii – if one denarii amounts to a day’s wage for a laborer, then according to the new minimum wage in our economy ($6.55) that’s about $10,500.  “Do you want us to go and buy $10,000 worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”  (I think you could feed five thousand men with ten thousand dollars.  But…)  The point is that it’s an absurdly wasteful amount to spend in the mind of the disciples.  But that’s not Jesus plan.  He will simply multiply the loaves and fish among them all.  V. 42 says,  “…they all ate and were satisfied”.  Doesn’t that sound good?   (v. 43) There were twelve baskets of extra pieces left over, one basket for each disciple to get the point that Jesus is able to meet whatever need in abundance.  What a joy it must have been to attend this feast?

Illus)  Let’s remember that we’ve just read about Herod’s opulent birthday banquet including all the accoutrements of an oriental palace with fine platters, noble guests, and a dancer for entertainment.  But despite all its finery, Herod’s banquet does not come off as a very appealing, certainly not very welcoming for the people of God.  (Indeed) His table serves up death on a platter.  But by contrast to Herod’s exclusive party, Jesus hosts a feast of compassion, inclusion, and satisfaction.  “To be sure, [says commentator Ben Witherington], Jesus would not provide the same sort of sumptuous meal that Herod had, but he would provide a far more palatable and satisfying one in various ways.  One could say we have simple food for simple folks, and this turns out simply fine.” 

App)  Some of the best, most satisfying, meals that I have ever experienced have been simple, basic, and unadorned.  There can be great satisfaction in simplicity.  The Proverbs make much of this (and they are right to do so) – 

Proverbs 23: 1-8   ESV When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you,  2 and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.  3 Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.  4 Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.  5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.  6 Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies,  7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his heart is not with you.  8 You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words. 

Proverbs 17: 1 Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife. 

Proverbs 15: 17 Better is a dish of vegetables where love is Than a fattened ox served with hatred.  (NASB) 

I’ll be the first to say that I can also enjoy fine food as much as I can enjoy a simple meal.  And I don’t believe that the Bible teaches that fine food and meals carefully spiced and prepared are (morally) wrong.  By no means, the Bible celebrates feasting and abundance in its proper context.  But the Bible does also teach us to be content with simplicity and to celebrate God’s simple abundance at our tables.  This should come as a welcome reminder at a time when budgets are cinched. 

We live in a society that has all but idolized food.  It’s evident in marketing where foods are described with religious reverence – divine chocolate, taste of heaven – or promising perfection of body, illumination of the mind, and freedom from fear.

Do you thank your food for your life?  Do you look to food for your sustenance?  Or do you thank God for your food and look to him to sustain you?  Can you enjoy a simple meal and be satisfied? 

Conclusion 

God is your provider – not just any God – but the God revealed in Jesus Christ is your creator and your sustainer (the one who multiplies bread and fish).  He is pleased to feed his people with Word and Bread and he desires to satisfy us with good things.  And, perhaps most startling, He desires to use us to satisfy the world.  May God lead us into repentance and may he lead us into obedience even when we cannot (by our lights) see how he will fulfill what he commands.  May he also lead us into satisfaction with simplicity.