Back to the Basics: Obeying the call to Feed Jesus' Sheep

Scripture Reading: Matthew 14:13-21

Passage: Mark 6:32-44

Title: Back to the Basics: Obeying the call to Feed Jesus’ Sheep

Intro: I do not know how many of y’all were like me, but on Tuesday night I could be found on my dad’s recliner watching the political coverage of the elections like it was game 7 of the World Series.

And even today, several days from the election many are watching the political coverage to see who will control the house and senate. But watching all the coverage, all the people being interviewed, all the crowds celebrate, all the crowds be sad, I realized something, people are hungry.

People want truth. And they seek the truth from people who hold their own opinions. People want to have their ideals fulfilled.

But church watching the election coverage should make us sad. Not because of who won or who lost, but in the very fact that millions of people find their hope in a politician or a political party.

See we have people who are starving to be fed the truth, and church as people who have the gospel, we have the truth to feed, we just need to do what Christ has called us to do.

To feed his sheep.

Church we must ask, why are we here. What is the purpose of the church.

And that purpose must be to call people to a relationship with Christ. And to feed Christ’s sheep.

Passage Context: As we continue through the book of Mark remember the main goal of Mark: To show the truth of Jesus. That he said that he was the Messiah, and that he proves he is the Messiah. So far, as we go through the book of Mark he have seen prosicely that. That Jesus has taught, and done miracles to prove that he is the Messiah. And as Mark is going through the story of Jesus, and who he is, and we have already seen Jesus do many miracles, well today we are going to see him do a miracle, that the disciples, who just saw God provide for them, as they proclaimed the gospel, did not think could be done.

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Passage explanation: Now here is something that is important to note, that whenever this passage is preached, it is rarely mention. First look at Mark 6:31. What is happening in this verse is that the disciples have arrived with Jesus. They are telling him about the ministry that they had done. And they had not had a break. So Jesus is taking the disciples to a deserted place so they could rest. See Mark states that the disciples didn’t even have time to eat. But now we see in verse 32 that the disciples are going to this deserted place with Jesus. But the crowds now know where Jesus is going. So when we think of this great miracle remember something; the crowds weren’t even supposed to be there. Yet, Christ shows compassion, and performs a miracle that about five thousand men will see and realize who the true Messiah is.

Main Point: the main point of this passage is to show how Jesus had compassion on the crowd, and fed them.

Call to Action: This passage breaks into four main scenes that show four traits that are required to feed Christ’s sheep.

Part 1: Jesus’ spiritually feeds the people. Mark 6:32-34

Point 1: Feeding Christ’s sheep means having the compassion of Christ

Explanation: Now remember, this crowd is not supposed to be here. Jesus is taking his disciples to a deserted place so they could rest, yet we see that the crowd still follows them. Look at verse 32. “So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.” So realize that the disciples and Jesus got into the boat, and they are traveling to a deserted place with just them.

But then look at what happens in verse 33, “But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him.” So look at what is happening, many in the crowd sees that Jesus in his disciples are leaving. But they know where he is going. They know where Jesus’ get away is, so they get an idea, they are going to beat Jesus to his spot. So they run to Jesus’ spot and beat him there. They went form the small cities in that region and they beat Jesus.

But we really need to focus on verse 34, “ And Jesus, when He, came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them,” Now we see Jesus’ reaction. He gets to the place that is supposed to be deserted, but it nots, a large crowd is there waiting on Jesus. In fact later in this passage we know that it is 5,000 men, not including women and children. So imagine Jesus’ reaction when he gets to this deserted place in which 5,000+ people are. He’s angry right? No. He had compassion for them. He gets out of the boat sees the people and his heart was moved by them. He saw that the people hungered for his teaching, his healing, and his touch, so he had compassion.

But look at why Mark says that Jesus had compassion on the these people. “Because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.” So Jesus, sees the people, and he sees a group of people that look to him like sheep. Now I am no sheep expert, but I have recently seen a video of a sheep that has its head stuck in like a small gorge like thing, and the people set the sheep free, and three seconds later the sheep runs a way and jumps and gets it’s head stuck back in the gorge. I want you to see the imagery that Mark is using to show how Jesus views the people. Sheep are not smart. They need someone to herd them, they need someone to watch out for them, and lead them to pastures to eat. And here is Jesus seeing the people that are spiritual sheep. They have no one who is teaching them and that is leading them to spiritual food.

Honestly this says a lot about the spiritual state of Israel during Jesus’ day, that you had all these Jewish sects, and all these so called religious leaders, yet they were lost, and needed a true leader to teach them.

And then look at what Jesus does for his sheep, “He began to teach them many things.” So here is Jesus and his disciples, they are seeking a break, yet the people are in need of teaching, so he teaches them.

Illustration:

Application: The main point that Mark wants the reader to take away from this scene is how Jesus had compassion on the people. His intent was not to teach the mass, yet he did. He sees the people and sees that they need to be taught, he sees their spiritual hunger, so he has compassion on the people, and he wants to feed their spirit.

I want you to realize that we need to have the same attitude of Jesus, we need to have compassion for people. We need to have heartaches over the state of this world, and we need to be broken for broken people. That is what it means to have a Christ like compassion, and we, Christ’s church need to have this compassion, and need to view people the way Christ did. With compassion.

Transition: After showing how Jesus viewed the people, Mark contrasts that with how the disciples viewed the crowd.

Part 2: The Disciples want Jesus to send the people away. Mark 6: 35-36

Point 2: Feeding Christ’s sheep requires desire to see people spiritually fed.

Explanation: Look at what happens in verse 35, “When the day was now far spent,” So now Mark gives us a time indicator, but instead of saying what time it is, or that it is evening or that the sun was starting to set, Mark says the day was now far from spent. Meaning that the day was nearing its end, and that shows that Jesus taught the people for a long time, and I think this also adds to the disciples exhaustion. Their vacation was interrupted, its been a long day, and now the day is ending.

And now we see what the Disciples are doing, “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 themsleves bread; for they have nothing to eat.” So now we see that the disciples tell Jesus that he needs to send the crowd away. They go up to Jesus and they say, Jesus it is late, this place is deserted, there is no where for the people to get food, so hey you need to send them out so they can get food.

Now I think one can argue that the disciples are showing some compassion for the people, they are at least concerned that the people do not have anything to eat. Yet Mark is contrasting the disciples to Jesus. The people are spiritually hungry, and the disciples are ready to send them away.

Illustration:

Application: Church I think this is the biggest problem with the American church. That there are people who are walking through their doors that are spiritually hungry, yet we decide we would rather entertain than spiritually feed. And we send people out the doors without being spiritually feed. This must be our desire: to see people who are longing for Jesus and are longing for a relationship with God fed, so that when people walk outside these doors they are in a closer relationship with God. My job is not to entertain, my job is to feed sheep. Church our job is not to entertain, it is feed sheep. And feed them the word of God.

Transition: After the disciples tell Jesus that he needs to send the crowd away, we see Jesus’ response.

Part 3: Jesus sends the Disciples to feed the people. Mark 6:37-38

Point 3: Feeding Christ’s sheep requires obedience.

Explanation: Look at verse 37, “But He (Jesus) answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” Jesus hears the disciples and he says to them, you feed them. If you are so concerned about the people, you give them something to eat.

And then we see the disciples answer, “And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” So look at the disciples’ response to Jesus. They say Jesus, there is a lot of people. Do you want us to go and get them all food? That would be like 200 denarii. Now denarii is plural for denarius, and a denarius was a silver coin. Typically one denarius was worth about the typical laborers, day wage. So the fishermen, probably made one denarius a day. So the disciples are saying, Jesus, should we feed all these people? That would be like 200 days worth of work. Now don’t forget something, the disciples just came back from sharing the gospel with the people in the area. And Jesus told them not to take anything on their journey, and to trust the Lord to provide. And now it looks like they have already forgotten that lesson. So the disciples are questioning Jesus. How do you expect for us to pay for this that we are able to feed the people?

But then we see Jesus’ response in verse 38, “But he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go see.” So now Jesus asks his disciples to go out and look in the crowd to see how many loaves of bread they can find.

And then we see what they found, “And when He had taken the five loaves and the they found out they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’” So now the disciples go through the crowd, and they find just five loaves of bread, and two fish.

illustration:

Application: Church, do not forget what we have learned, that if Christ has called us to reach people, which he has, he will provide. He will give us the words, and he will give us what we need to provide. Do not be like the disciples who questioned Jesus. Who questioned if God could truly provide a way to feed the people.

Transition: After Jesus commands the disciples to feed the people, we see that Jesus provides food for the crowd.

Part 4: Jesus feeds the Crowd. Mark 6:39-44

Point 4: Feeding Christ’s sheep requires trust in the Lord to provide.

Explanation: Look at verse 39, “ Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.” So now we see that Jesus tells the disciples to make everyone sit in groups. and sit on the grass. “So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.” So the people sat in groups of 50 to 100 people just as Jesus commanded.

But look at what happens in verse 41, “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 now we see that Jesus takes the five loaves, and the two fish and he blesses it, and he tells his disicples to pass the food out.

Man, would I have loved to see this miracle. Where five loaves of bread and two fish multiplied to feed 5000+ people.

You know, I wonder what was going through the disciples head’s when Jesus just starts handing them baskets of food to give to the people. And I wonder, what they were thinking when here they are, actually feeding the people like Jesus told them to.

Now look at verse 42, “So they all ate and were filled.” Now you may be curious, why would Mark give us this verse? Especially since Mark is the most concise Gospel writer. Well, it is to show that the people ate, and had their fill. Its not that they had a few bites, and it was ok, and they weren’t going to starve to death. But no. They had their fill. Its like a pot luck, they just kept going and the food was more and more. I also bet, this was some of the best fish and bread they had eaten. I don’t know that, but I’d be willing to say this was probably really good bread and fish. That the people were able to eat and have their fill.

But now look at verse 44, “Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.” So now Mark tells the reader that Jesus fed over 5000 men. Thats not saying that only men ate, but that they counted 5000 men, and that women and children were not counted. So Jesus fed over 5000 people from 5 loaves of bread, and 2 fish.

Illustration:

Application: See Church if we are doing what God has called us to do, then we can trust in him to provide. And we will not give us the bare minimum, but he will give us our fill. We can trust that if we are seeking to feed Christ’s sheep the truth that God will provide.

Conclusion:

But we must have a desire to call sinners to repentance. So let me ask, do you know Jesus as your Lord and savior and as your provider? If not today can be the day that your life is changed forever.