Jesus the Shepherd Lord

Introduction

Literary Context

The four gospels are all centralized on one event: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Mark dramatizes this based upon three major stages. Galilee, where Jesus ministers, the road to Jerusalem where the opposition intensifies, and finally Jerusalem itself where the great showdown occurs. Until we get to chapter 8 we are looking at Jesus’s ministry in Galilee. In the first half of chapter 6 we get a taste at different types of opposition that Jesus faces. At the beginning of chapter 6, Jesus’s home town reject Jesus based on familiarity. They already have set in their minds who Jesus is based upon their familiarity. When he goes beyond what they already expect, they reject him.

Jesus sends out his 12 apostles who preach Jesus. The twelve disciples are still sort of unclear on who Jesus is. Their preaching is so effective that the King gets word of it.

When he hears about it, he also has in his mind who he thinks Jesus is: some sort of reincarnation of John the Baptist sent to haunt him in revenge.

Mark gives an extensive account of the excess and injustice of King Herod and his family, and how they murdered John the Baptist. It’s a birthday party topped off with a head on a platter. John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord. This story serves as a foretaste of what’s waiting for Jesus as he continues down this road to Jerusalem. There’s an implicit connection between popularity and death. The more popular Jesus becomes the more likely it is that he will be put to death.

Before we begin to read our passage, the reader is faced with some major questions: first, who exactly is this Jesus? His disciples don’t seem to fully get who he is, his opponents definitely have the wrong idea. Secondly, is he about to be put to death? The reader may think that he needs to slow down on spreading his message because he may end up like John the Baptist.

Our passage in Mark 6:30-56 answer these questions.

Look at Mark 6:30-33 “The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.”

The opening of this passage concludes the story about Jesus sending out the 12 Apostles. Remember the commissioning of the Apostles is sandwiched around the story of the death of John the Baptist. One commentator I read said this story was a “digression;” however, I contend that it is an explicit tie between Jesus’s popularity and the inevitable and unjust death sentence he will face.

I think this is further emphasized by the fact that after hearing the report, Jesus’s next plan is to retreat. Mark is giving us some irony here. The reader would expect Jesus to want to preserve his life. Furthermore, what exactly is Jesus’s mission? If Jesus’s mission is to conquer the Roman scum, he couldn’t exactly do that if he were dead.

So the reader may be thinking, “Aha! This is militarily ingenious. Jesus is trying to regroup far away from the authorities who are trying to kill him.”

But notice Jesus’s intention for this retreat. It wasn’t to spare his life, it wasn’t to regroup, it wasn’t to garner support, it was to rest. Wherever Jesus and his disciples are encamped seems to be so busy that they don’t even have time to eat. This is in stark contrast to Herod’s party which was marked by leisure and eating to excess. This sets up the point even more: who’s really the one acting like a king here? The one serving himself and stuffing his face, or the one who does not even have time to eat because he’s serving others? And this “eating” will continue to be a theme in these stories.

Now there was a major problem with Jesus’s plan for rest: People ran there on foot to get there ahead of Jesus. And perhaps the skeptical reader is thinking, “sure, this was all a part of Jesus’s plan to start an insurrection against the obviously corrupt king.” I mean, how did they really get there on foot faster than a boat with a direct route? How did they know where they were going? It all seems to convenient. And perhaps Mark does this on purpose to intensify how Jesus responds to the situation. Think about it: Jesus is the one who has authority. He has authority to forgive sins, he has authority over demons, he has authority over winds and waves, he has authority over death. Surely now, he is going to take authority over the corrupt kings as well. Surely now he’s going to rally this army to lay seige on the king who he referred to as “that fox.”

I mean, it almost reminds me of the recent Lord of the Rings series, which I’ll try not to give any spoilers for. But you have various kingdoms of Orcs, humans, elves, and dwarfs. All of these kingdoms are using deception, war, cunning, and power plays in order to maintain control over Middle Earth.

But what does Jesus do?

Mark 6:34 “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.”

Of course this is where the irony is fully felt. If the expectation has been a military warlord, what we get is a compassionate shepherd.

I think it’s important to note what Jesus’s compassion motivated him to do: namely, teach them many things. Jesus tells us why he goes from town to town in Mark 1:38 “And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.””

This was part of the disciples’ mission in the previous passage Mark 6:12 “So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.”

So, take note of this because this gives us a glimpse of Jesus’s heart. This whole chapter is focused on the question “who is Jesus?” The Nazarenes believe him to be a regular person born under questionable circumstances. King Herod thinks he’s a reincarnation of John the Baptist. The crowd thinks he’s a healer or perhaps an insurrectionist.

Well what is it that really moves Jesus to compassion? Well this crowd is like a sheep without a shepherd. So what does Jesus do? Does he encourage them to take up arms and fight? Does he give them a political lecture? Does he give them a motivational speech or a Ted talk? Does he provide a massive group therapy session? No, he teaches them many things. What kind of things? Well, we know from a parallel account in John 6 (The Bread of Life Discourse) that he teaches them God’s word.

Does being around the lost stir you to compassion? We live in a people-hating society. I’ll tell you that most of the time I’m in a large crowd my proclivity is not compassion, it’s annoyance. People frustrate me. People can be rude, insensitive, self-seeking, demanding, and on and on the list can go. A lot of times my automatic reflex is not compassion. But according to this text, compassion should be my response to people.

And that cuts me deep because I want to do what I want and I don’t want any person to get in the way of what I want. And compassion gets in the way of that, because Godly compassion forces us to think of ourselves and our own needs last. Think about the whole reason Jesus and his disciples set about on this mission: it was to find rest. Now there very convenience, their very need is interrupted by this huge crowd. I think If I were in this position, I would roll my eyes and sail a different direction. I mean, all these people just want to be healed anyways, right? Why should I bother wasting my time with these people who probably just want to see a cool magic trick and then be done with me.

But Jesus’s attitude is compassion. He’s not annoyed, frustrated, or inconvenienced. And I may not be able to speak for all the teachers and faculty here, but I know that by this point in the year, my compassion has about all dried up. I’m tired, I’m on survival mode, I just want to be able to get through.

And perhaps you as well can feel that about your classmates. I’ve heard you guys too. You all started out the year very nice and cordial. And now, what do I hear? Name calling, rumors, backbiting, tattling, muttering things under your breath, and cursing. Goodness all you have to do is clean out the desks in my room to find a nice collection of notes with all sorts of rude things on them. From my observation, I would guess the first thing that comes into your heart when you enter the classroom is not compassion.

But I want to take a moment to define compassion because there is a very high chance that you’re deceived about what it means to be compassionate. You see, the world defines compassion as letting me do whatever I want to do*. (* As long as it’s not saying there is such thing as absolute truth, or that men are really men and women are really women, or that people aren’t allowed to murder their babies, or that Jesus Christ is Lord).

You may think that if such and such teacher were really compassionate then she would never write me up and just let me do what I want. He would never get frustrated when I have refused to obey the rule time and time again. I should be able to not ever have to study. I should be able to talk all I want in class. I should be able to disrespect my teacher when she tries to correct me. I should be able to decide what rules are convenient enough to follow. And if anyone does actually try to do what’s right, I should be able to make fun of him by saying he’s trying to memorize the handbook or something. And if a teacher or faculty member is really trying to be compassionate, he would never correct me. Any form of correction just means he must hate me.

No, my friends. That’s not compassion, it’s self deception. It’s the same old lie that Satan told Adam and Eve. Jesus’s compassion led him to submit to his Father’s will. And what was his Father’s will? It was to be crushed for our iniquities. It was to live the perfect life we could never live. It was to die the death that we deserved. Don’t you see that it was Jesus’s compassion did not leave him trying to squirm away from God’s will. It did not lead him to to say, “God I know you want me to die for these people, but they’re just not worth it.” It did not lead Jesus to pray, “God, why don’t you just let me do what I want? My will be done?”

The idea that compassion means you should be able to do whatever you like, or that it means someone ought to make much of you is deception from Satan. If you believe that Jesus’s compassion means that he is going to make much of you, and just flatter you like a doting grandmother then you have a wrong view of Jesus. If you think that Jesus’s compassion means that he’s just going to heal you and magically make all your problems go away, congratulations you are now a part of the crowd in this story.

Jesus’s compassion is not motivated by your modern desire to do away with any authority in the name of self-autonomy. Jesus’s compassion is not motivated by your lack of self-esteem. Jesus’s compassion does not motivate him to applaud your sinfulness and let you do whatever you please. Jesus’s compassion led him to teach, to teach God’s word. And we know Jesus’s main sermon in the gospels: repent! Turn from your sin, and turn to God. If I’m being compassionate toward you, it does not mean that I’m going to make much of you. Rather, it means that I’m going to make much of God and point you to him. This is exactly what Jesus does! He teaches them, then he does something to point the entire crowd and his disciples to himself.

Mark 6:35-44 “And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to 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 buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men…”

The phrase here that Jesus sees the crowd as a sheep without a shepherd has major implications. And this is truly the key to understanding the whole event. This is a direct reference to Numbers 27:17 “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.”” This passage references Moses’s replacement, Joshua. However, it gives us the clue for what imagery we should be looking for.

God promised a future Yahwistic-Davidic Shepherd who will come in the end times. This person is superior to Moses, David, and Elijah. The details that occur in Mark 6 are written in such a way to point us to this new Exodus.

Notice, they are in a desolate place just like the wilderness journey out of Egypt. The bread he feeds them with as akin to the manna in the wilderness. They eat and are satisfied. This is pointing us to the coming Messianic banquet.

In Ezekiel 34, God prophecies about this shepherd.

I want you to turn to Ezekiel 34:1-2 “The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?”

Notice the similarities between this woe against the shepherds and King Herod. King Herod was concerned about his own things, feeding himself.

Look at verse 11

Ezekiel 34:11-14 ““For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.”

Notice God says that he himself will be the shepherd. He will be the one to rescue his sheep. Notice the connection Mark is making to this prophecy. He specifically mentions in v. 39 that they are sitting on green grass, like the good grazing land mention in Ezekiel. And just like it was prophesied in Ezekiel, Jesus took the initiative to feed his sheep, to the point that they were satisfied. And this with bountiful leftovers far superior to a similar account with Elisha.

Notice what else is prophesied in Ezekiel 34:23-24 “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. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”

Now, it’s important to note that Ezekiel is writing a long time after David’s death. So, Ezekiel is prophesying of this future servant who is in someway God himself and Davidic. This is why earlier I called him the Yahwistic-Davidic shepherd.

Mark wrote this account in such a way to identify Jesus as that shepherd. Jesus is fully God and fully man. He is Yahweh in the flesh and in the line of David.

So according to Mark, who is Jesus? He’s not a mere earthly warrior attempting to start a small political uprising that will eventually fade away. He’s not just another prophet telling people to repent. He’s not just a random person born under questionable circumstances. He’s not just a faith healer. He is the good shepherd.

John 10:14-18 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.””

But his own disciples do not seem to grasp this. You remember the second major question facing us in this passage is “Will Jesus soon be put to death?” There’s a connection between Jesus’s popularity and his death as the Markan sandwich makes clear.

But his disciples must understand who Jesus truly is before they can begin to comprehend his mission to lay down his life. And this is made clear in Mark 8:27-32 when Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, he immediately begins to teach them about how it is necessary for him to die.

But still at this point in the story the disciples do not fully recognize that Jesus is the Messiah. The baptism event, the authority he wields, his teaching has not yet penetrated their hearts.

I want to look briefly at the next story. Jesus sends his disciples ahead on the sea and goes up on the mountain to pray.

Mark 6:48-52 “And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.”

I don’t have the time that I would like to make the connections here, but some very important things: Jesus walked on water. Moses walked through the water as on dry land, here we see Christ as the superior Moses. Second, he wanted to pass by them. A lot of people see this as a connection to Exodus 33:22 when God reveals his fullness to Moses, “and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.” Third, when he reveals himself to his disciples, although it is translated as “It is I,” it is significant that the original language reads εγω ειμι which is the greek rendering of the divine name in Exodus 3.

Mark explicitly reiterates his answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?” Jesus is YHWH. And this is pivotal for us because only a human can substitute for human lives and only God can take on God’s wrath and survive.

And the astounding point reiterated over and over again in the first part of Mark’s gospel is that if you do not understand Jesus’s identity, you cannot understand his mission.

So Mark has worked tirelessly to answer this question, “who is Jesus?” Now I want to pose the question to you: Who is Jesus to you?

In Mark chapter 2 we saw Jesus self-identify as the Son of Man character from Daniel 7. Jesus claims to have authority to forgive sins and proves it by healing. Jesus has authority over wind and wave. Jesus is the great shepherd prophesied in Ez. 34.

Who is Jesus to you? Is he your therapist? Is he your genie? Is he your Lord?

You can’t avoid this question forever! Do you want to verify the historical reliability of these accounts of Jesus? Go ahead. Time and time again historical evidence has proven that Jesus existed and history. You can’t hide behind the lie that this man is just a myth.

Do you find it offensive that the real Jesus wouldn’t let you live your life however you want to live your life? Well let me pose you this question: How has living your life however you want to live it gotten you so far? What is the quality of your life? Do you think you could genuinely say your satisfied with your bread or do you yearn for something else? You don’t need a Bible or a preacher or a psychiatrist to tell you there’s something messed up inside of you, there’s something messed up in this world. Do you really think just ignoring the problem, living however you want to live, and numbing the fears and doubts you have with entertainment will really satisfy you? And still gnawing at the surface where you try to suppress it is this very question: what are you going to do with Jesus?

Who is Jesus to you? Mark says that Jesus is the compassionate shepherd, and the Lord of the universe. Is that who Jesus is to you? Do you accept the Bible’s teaching about Jesus? If not, who’s authority on Jesus do you accept and why?