Mark 6:30-56 - Compassion Moves Toward People
Notes
Transcript
Pray for Ukraine and Israel
When I was first introduced to Graceland church, I was pastoring another church.
I had just become friends with Gary Clark, who many of you met at Launch
About 9 months into this church, there was a terrible deacons meeting. A lot of people were hurt.
I was hurt, my wife was hurt.
It was a dark time for me spiritually.
I was almost ready to throw in the towel.
Gary noticed there was something wrong and he leaned in.
One night, he brought me into the Graceland nursery
Photo of Gary
He prayed with me, listened to my heart, and pointed me toward Jesus.
This is a picture of a dear brother, willing to stay up late, talking in one of the least serious places to have a conversation, and extending compassion toward me.
Jesus is going to show us a very similar instance today as this passage shows us:
Compassion moves toward people
Compassion moves toward people
Context
The disciples return from “the Little Commission”
Stand to read Mark 6:30-34
30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 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. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 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.
Leader: This is God’s Word written down for you and for me
Everyone: Thanks be to God
They’d been trained up and sent out by Jesus and given authority over diseases and unclean spirits.
They return and tell Jesus all their amazing stories and the things they saw
People were healed! Demons were cast out! The gospel was preached!
It was awesome!
So many people were restored to God!
Now it’s time for some rest and replenishing.
This is a frequently practiced model of discipleship for Jesus.
He would teach, do miracles, and then He would withdraw to rest, pray, and be with God.
But their R&R gets interrupted when the people recognize them.
Jesus causes a stir everywhere He goes, now He’s so famous, people are looking for Him.
They see Him and they begin to run ahead of the disciple’s boat to where Jesus plans to land!
These people are filled with excitement to see Jesus, and you can almost feel the disciples *sigh*
They needed this rest because they were so busy with ministry, they weren’t even able to eat (v. 31)
But Jesus sees these people and He’s not overwhelmed *deep breath out*
Instead, He feels compassion toward them because they’re sheep with no shepherd (v. 34)
Jesus’ gut is turned for these people.
Having compassion to be deeply affected in one’s inner being.
The best way to describe this feel is (gut-wrenching).
These people are a people with no direction, no purpose, without a leader.
These people are disoriented and have no light in this dark world.
They have no one to tell them good news.
This type of compassion says, “I can’t ignore this.”
So Jesus jumps on this opportunity and begins teaching them many things.
After awhile, the disciples recognize their bellies are grumbling and it’s getting dark.
35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
“Okay, this has been great. Y’all have to be hungry. We love you. Be gone.”
These people were impeding on their rest
This is an inconvenience to them.
The disciples are becoming uneasy because there’s nothing for miles.
This place was deserted.
The disciples likely getting hangry and they recognize they didn’t bring enough food for anyone.
They’re trying to avoid a crisis. “Send everyone away”
My wife gets hangry. There’s this look she gives me when it’s time to feed. Her tone subtly becomes sharper and her eyes become like lasers. This is her loving and endearing way to let me know that I am in danger.
The disciples did not act in the same compassion that Jesus does and He’s about to call them on it.
They wanted to send people away, but Jesus wanted to move toward the people
Jesus doesn’t like their lack of compassion
Jesus says “are you kidding me? no deal” to sending the people away.
Compassion moves toward people.
So Jesus intensifies the crisis
36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 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?”
You want us to feed them?!
They throw out this outrageous 200 denarii idea.
A denarii was a day’s wage.
In US dollars, in Dearborn County the average hourly rate is $20
If you make $20 x 8hrs x 200 days = $32,000
The average loaf of bread in Indiana is $2.87
That’s 11,149 loaves of bread/222,980 pieces/111,490 sandwiches
The disciples are not moved by compassion here.
What Mark is trying to teach us today is:
Compassion moves us toward people; aversion moves us away (vv. 34-37)
Compassion moves us toward people; aversion moves us away (vv. 34-37)
Aversion is a strong dislike or a disinclination.
The disciples see the people are getting hungry, so their move is to send people away to figure out dinner on their own.
We do this exact same thing.
Let’s go ahead and address the people begging for money that we avoid eye-contact with.
Let’s talk for a moment about the people who are addicted to drugs, and have overdosed.
We right off because they’ll never change. Lock ‘em up.
Let’s talk about Concepts, where women are exploited for money because they don’t know what their value is.
We have people in our lives who have issues that we’d rather move away from than to move toward.
APPLICATION: Refuse to be disinclined
We must refuse to be averse to people.
Jesus is setting the example for compassion
Jesus is moving toward the people’s needs!
Spiritually and physically
He tells the disciples to check the inventory
38 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.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.
Five loaves and two fish.
Only 11,144 loaves to go until we’ve maxed our budget.
The disciples are going to be obedient to Jesus’s impossible command to feed the people.
I’m sure as they’re having people sit down, they’re likely annoyed because this is ridiculous.
But their inability to understand Jesus doesn’t stop their obedience to Jesus.
41 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. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
Jesus prays over everyone’s dinner and next thing you know, there’s bread and fish all over the place.
This makes $32,000 worth of bread look like a small amount!
It says that, “they all ate and were satisfied”
This was more than a snack that will hold them over until more substantial food comes.
More than that, they had 12 baskets of left overs.
Why so much?
Gospel presentation
Jesus just revealed that in His Kingdom, there is an abundance of our need!
Jesus’s compassion satisfies our spiritual hunger
Jesus’s compassion satisfies our spiritual hunger
The bread of Jesus satisfies because it’s an expression of His compassion.
There’s enough bread to feed 5,000 men (not even counting women/children)
This points us to the reality that there is so much more grace and love in the person of Jesus than we can stand!
His love and grace is beyond our satisfaction!
There will always be grace leftover!
You can’t out-sin the grace of God!
Jesus is our compassionate shepherd!
When we recognize that we have sinned against God and come to Jesus for forgiveness, He never sends us away.
This is why Jesus came!
Jesus moves toward sinners!
He did so when He came and lived among sinners, then He took all the sin for those who believe in Him on Himself
Then died for it!
So we can be forgiven!
So we can be saved!
Jesus was raised to life to show that He’s still moving toward us and even death couldn’t keep Him from pursuing us!
Those who are trapped in addictions, whether that be pornography, drugs, alcohol—Those who live with identity issues, shame of the past, financial struggles—Those who are just plain worn out by the weights of the world.
Jesus will never send you away to figure it out on your own.
He is moving toward your at this moment.
He alone can satisfy you.
Will you trust Him?
As soon as they finish boxing up left overs
45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.
Jesus had led them there for rest
Jesus goes to be with God for while.
Around 3-6AM, Jesus looks out to the sea and He sees the disciples facing a hard wind.
Everytime the disciples get separated from Jesus in the gospel of Mark they fall into distress.
The disciples aren’t getting anywhere, they’re working as hard as they can, but can’t seem to move.
The Greek word used for painfully means “torture”
They feel like they are being physically tortured.
So what’s Jesus do? Goes for a little stroll.
48 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, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 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.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
Jesus goes walking toward them on the water!
They can’t move a boat in the water due to the wind, but Jesus is WALKING TOWARD THEM ON THE WATER.
This is a direct example that Jesus is God!
Job 9:8 “8 who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea;”
Jesus walks where only God walks!
Notice how Jesus meant to pass by them (v. 48)
Jesus was just going to meet them on the other side!
But Jesus looks at the disciples, whom He loves, and walks toward them!
He doesn’t do what they wanted to do to the people
He doesn’t tell them to just row harder and figure it out!
Compassion moves toward people!
Jesus encouraged His disciples that it was Him and He came to them and calmed the sea!
Jesus was on His way toward one direction, but compassion for His disciples led Him in another!
Jesus is showing us that
Compassion takes us from our intended destination and moves us toward the need (vv. 45-52)
Compassion takes us from our intended destination and moves us toward the need (vv. 45-52)
We move from our intended path toward other people’s needs.
Jesus has set the tone for us!
Like a general, Jesus leads us toward people.
At times, it is inconvenient and it distracts from our busyness
It is hard because they may act like you don’t care about them the next week
It is complicated because you have so much going on.
The world is broken and people are broken
How do we fix that?
We begin pushing back darkness and showing the light of Christ!
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
There are people in your life that have made absolutely messes of their lives.
They’re not actively seeking to get better
If they are, they may be walking in a wrong direction.
How will you respond?
Followers of Jesus respond with compassion
5,000 people were like sheep without a shepherd
No hope, no direction
The disciples were sitting ducks in the water
Exhausted, no strength.
Rowing as hard as they can to get no where.
Just like them, Jesus moves toward people who are hopeless, broken, and without direction.
We should too.
Why?
Gospel Presentation
Because Jesus moves toward us.
Not just at one singular point in time
Jesus is continually moving toward us.
If you here and you’re not a Christian, Jesus has compassion for you.
He’s moving toward you. Would you believe in Him as Lord? You can become a Christian today!
You can have the promise of eternal life with the compassionate shepherd who is always moving toward you.
If you’re here and you’re a Christian, perhaps you’ve been struggling.
“Does God truly love me?”
Jesus is continually moving toward you.
You can be refreshed in Him.
Jesus is continually moving toward people who need love, grace, and compassion.
53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
People today are running toward Jesus for His love, His grace, and His compassion.
Not much has changed since this passage.
We still need to run to Jesus.
He alone can make us well.
Which for followers of Jesus, should influence the rest of our lives.
APPLICATION: Compassions should be the norm of our lives (vv. 53-56)
APPLICATION: Compassions should be the norm of our lives (vv. 53-56)
Who are you going to move toward this week?
It may be messy. It may be hard. But Jesus came to save sinners.
Who are you going to take a step toward this week and tell them about Jesus?
Who are you inviting to come to church with you next week?
Mark 6:30-56 10.8.2023 Preaching Doc
Valuable Insights:
Exegetical Outline:
Jesus takes his disciples to a desolate place to rest, but gets recognized and begins teaching (vv. 30-34)
Jesus has compassion on the crowds and leads the disciples to feed them (vv. 35-44)
The disciples have a hard time crossing the sea (vv. 45-47)
Jesus walks in front of them on the sea, and gets in the boat with them (vv. 48-52)
Jesus heals many (vv. 53-56)
Big Idea: Compassion Moves Toward People
Applicational Outline:
Compassion moves us toward; Aversion moves us away (vv. 34-37)
APPLICATION: Refuse to be disinclined
Jesus’s compassion satisfies our spiritual hunger
Compassion takes us from our intended destination and moves us toward the need (vv. 45-52 emphasis 48)
APPLICATION: Always respond with compassion
Compassion should be the norm of our lives (vv. 53-56)
APPLICATION: Move toward people
NOTES: (From preaching meeting 9.27.23)
Mark 6:34-36 - The disciples saw the people as an inconvenience, Jesus saw them as sheep without a shepherd.
Mark 6:48 - Jesus was meaning to pass by them. Compassion takes us from our intended direction and moves us in the direction of the need (Tony)
“To see and not do is not compassionate” (Nate)
Mark 6:52 - Rejecting compassion leads to a hard heart (Ben)
If I don’t move toward people in compassion...
Compassion is to be affected deeply in one’s inner being (the bowels--gut turning); characterized by sympathy and compassion.
Compassion says, “I can’t ignore this.”
Saving faith produces compassion that moves toward people.
Compassion should become the common norm in the Christian life.
Preaching Prep NOTES
Series: Command+R
Text: Mark 6:30-56
Sermon Date: 10.8.23
1. Big Idea:
Compassion Moves Toward People
2. Tweet the Point:
To see and not do is not compassion; compassion says, “I can’t ignore this.”
3. Command:
Show compassion to the point that compassion becomes habit.
4. Explanation:
Jesus shows compassion when we think people are a burden
5. What would people lose if this text wasn’t there:
The compassion that Jesus shows toward sinners is the compassion we should show one another
6. When are you sharing the Gospel?
Verse 40-44 - Jesus’s compassion satisfies our spiritual hunger
Verse 50 - Jesus moves toward us
7. Additional Service Comments/Elements?
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8. “Big Idea” Question we are answering:
What does compassion do? How do I respond to people in compassion? How does the gospel lead me toward compassion?
9. Points
Compassion moves us toward; Aversion moves us away (vv. 34-37)
Jesus’s compassion satisfied our spiritual hunger(vv. 41-42)
Compassion takes us from our intended destination and moves us toward the need (vv. 45-52 emphasis 48)
Compassion should be the norm of our lives (vv. 53-56)