Sermon Tone Analysis
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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.
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