Jesus, the Compassionate Shepherd, Feeds His Sheep (Feeding the 5,000)

Mark 6:30-44 (cc. Matt 14:13-21; Lk 9:10-17; Jn 6:1-15)

Introduction:

If we are careful, it is easy to lose sight of the larger, the whole picture. Without that larger context, the subsets lose a significant part of their meaning.

Segments of the auditorium.

For that reason, we dare not focus on any portion of life or Scripture without doing our best to understand the whole story accurately.

That is especially true when we open God’s word and consider the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus’ feeding the five thousand is only part of the story. There is a context and the clear

- What does it mean to have compassion?

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Over 350 million children live in extreme poverty. Let’s change that. Compassion meets real needs with real solutions.

- The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines compassion as the "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it."

- I would suggest that true compassion is more than sympathetic consciousness and a desire to alleviate it. True compassion takes tangible steps to resolve distress.

No one demonstrated compassion more clearly than our Lord Jesus. In the well-known account of Jesus’ feeding the five thousand, we sometimes skip over His compassion. Because of that we often miss the multiple ways that He demonstrated His compassion. Mark’s account is about much more than Jesus’ feeding five thousand.

1. The context – Mark 6:30-33 -

- The disciples/apostles’ return and report.

- Christ’s command – come away and rest a while.

- The disciples’ obedience.

- The crowd saw recognized and ran ahead of them.

2. Jesus’ compassion – Mark 6:34-44

- Went ashore and saw a great crowd.

- Because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

- He met their needs:

- Spiritually, by teaching them many things.

- Physically, by giving them more than they could eat.

- The disciples’ spiritually short-sighted alternatives:

- Send them to buy something to eat.

- Spend money that they did not have to buy unavailable food.

- Jesus’ question and command – “How many loaves do you have?”

- The disciples’ response – “Five and two fish.”

Results:

All ate/satisfied.

Twelve baskets full of broken pieces and fish

BTW those who ate - twelve thousand men = at 20,000

As maturing followers of Jesus, we are commanded to show compassion.

1. Amid everyday ministry demands and pressures.

2. That addresses both spiritual and physical needs.

3. By trusting God to work through us and others.

4. Trusting God who is still able to do far more abundantly than all that we can ask or think.

AWV/June 4/23