Jesus' Care Revealed (Luke 9:10-17)

I. Introduction

1. Prayers

Start

2. Catch- How do we show someone we care about them?

What kinds of things did Jesus do to show He cared?

Today we’ll see his care for his disciples in particular and the crowds in general

3. Review of the book

Outline:

Jesus is now spending less time seeking out the crowds

He sent His disciples out into the world and so His goals now are to come in and focus on them

We’ll see the conflict will be increasing and Jesus is on his way to the cross, so He is preparing the leaders for what is afterwards

II. Jesus’ care is revealed in His response to others

This is one of the only miracles found in all 4 gospels, showing it’s great importance

1. The Apostles wanted to speak with Jesus, so He makes space (10)

i. Explanation

The Apostles return from their mission trip

We talked about how they had gone to cities all over the region, preaching and doing miracles

As The great preacher said The first great task" for which the apostles were empowered was preaching and these "priorities are laid down once and forever." He added, "We must not allow anything to deflect us from this, however good the cause, however great the need

They had the challenge of of trusting in God for provision

Who had to provide for them and why was that hard?

They had to rely on people opening up their homes and hosting them or rejecting them

But they’re back and they have stories to share

You can imagine the reports they want to give

What kinds of things would you want to tell Jesus after a ministry trip like this?

So Jesus takes them away

Mark gives a little more reason

Mark 6:31 ESV

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.

It was so crowded that the disciples were not able to communicate

Also Jesus recognizes the need for rest and privacy after a demanding ministry

There is often this phrase people throw out, I can rest when I’m dead. Yet, Jesus is purposeful to take them away

They go to a town called Bethsaida.

it was A fishing village located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The hometown of the disciples Philip, Andrew, and Peter.

Bethsaida is located somewhere on the plain on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee.

We are not sure exactly it’s modern day location, but it is described as a barren area with cities nearby, so this is modern day Et-Tell, possible location of Bethsaida

Who was interested in seeing Jesus in verse 9?

Herod wants to see Jesus

You can imagine how hard it would be to get alone not only when you have the crowds looking for you, but the ruler of the land would be hard to avoid and focus on someone else

So, it seems interesting that Bethsaida is right outside of Herod Antipas’s region and is controlled by his brother, Philip

Perhaps Jesus got away from him as well

John Calvin writes

Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke Matthew 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17

when John was imprisoned, Christ removed from Herod’s territory, in order to avoid his fury for the time, so we may now infer that Christ, in order to keep his trembling disciples at a distance from the flame, withdrew into a desert place.

ii. Illustration

1. Jesus is trying to get away to show his priority of focusing on the disciples and giving them rest

I would rather wear out than rust out” as George Whitefield said.

It can seem selfish and unspiritual to guard myself against burnout?

But the problem is that we do not sacrifice alone.

spouse, children, ministry colleagues, prayer partners and faithful friends, all are drawn in to supporting us and propping us up when we collapse.

There is a difference between godly sacrifice and needless burnout.

Christopher Ash writes,

Book quotes A crucial distinction

the aim of gospel work is not to be a lone hero, but to work with other gospel workers to spread the gospel of Jesus.

iii. Application

1. How does Jesus making time for His Disciples show his priority of them?

2. Who are we instructed to make special time to the exclusion of others?

3. What does Jesus example show us about the importance to rest after hard work?

But, as often happens with Jesus, he cannot get away for long.

2. The crowds want to see Jesus, so He makes provision for them (11-13a)

i. Explanation

The crowds follow and Jesus teaches (11)

They heard Jesus had left, and finding him must have taken some work

Mark tells us Jesus had taken a boat

Mark 6:32 ESV

32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

It is a good translation then that they learned of his location

Then they had to do the work of getting to him, which include crossing the river to get to him

neither Mark nor Luke tell us why it was so busy, with people coming and going. We get that from John 6:4: "The Jewish Passover Feast was near." Coincidental details from Luke help us understand John; coincidental details from John help us understand Mark

As soon as they arrive they need him because they are discouraged, sick, and needing healing

Even though Jesus went here to get away, he willing to have the interruption and hapily welcome them

Welcome means to receive, accept or to acknowledge with gratitude

Jesus is not upset that they’ve arrived, but is happy to minister to them

So what does Jesus start doing?

Jesus starts teaching and healing again

This is the normal way of Jesus ministry

As Jeremy Rayne writes

Our Good Shepherd was first and foremost a mighty preacher. When he saw the crowds, he “had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” And what did he do to meet their need for a shepherd? “He began to teach them many things” (Mark 6:34).

Jesus compassion didn’t just lead him to heal them, but also to teach them

Why do they need the teaching about the kingdom?

The crowd stays and Jesus feeds (12-13a)

The time continues on and Jesus keeps preaching and healing… and the people stay

verse 12 says the day began to wane, meaning become smaller

There is some debate on whether this is the afternoon or evening

But the Legacy Standard bible probably translates it best that the day was ending

The 12 apostles then come to Jesus instead of being called

The text doesn’t say, but what could they been doing?

They were probably dealign with the people, spreading Jesus ministry like they were doing beore

But that also means they were aware of a problem

So they approach him, the word means with a proposal.

It is the same word used for our bold prayers before God in Hebrews 4:16 “16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

You can imagine the look on their faces as they have something they wanted to talk about

The people need food and they need places to stay

They are in a desolate/dry place or wilderness to get away from it all

It is possible to be in a place where there are towns just a few miles away, but there is nothing where you are at

The disciples know supplies are running low, so they should go to a city market like this one in egypt where supplies can be purchased and rooms can be found

But Jesus says You give them something to eat

he wants to provide for them

ii. Illustration

Jesus is compassionate

iii. Application

Why were the people so willing to stay until late hours as Jesus taught?

Some people say that this passages teaches us that we should care for the poor.

While that can be shown in other places, are these people poor? No, they’re hungry for food and for the word of God.

So how should we follow Jesus’ example and have compassion on people who want to hear God’s word?

3. The need is impossible, so He does a miracle (13b-17)

i. Explanation

1. The problem- Impossible numbers (13-14)

John tells us that he said this to Philip

John 6:5–6 ESV

5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

Because Philip was from--you guessed it the town of Beth-saida. We don't know that from John 6 or from Luke 9. Rather, we learn that in John 1:44 and 12:21. In John 12, some Greeks were coming to Jerusalem for a Jewish feast, and we are told, "They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request.""

This is his hometown, so he would know where to get the food and buy what was needed

And Philip knows this is impossible!

He responds, we only have 5 loaves and two fish like this meal

You know, where did this come from?

John tells us it came from a boy in the group, while Luke is just focusing on the confusion of the disciples

John 6:8–9 ESV

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

And there are 5,000 men, a large crowd

And that is not everyone

Matthew 14:21 ESV

21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

So there was perhaps totaling perhaps as many as 20,000 people

We know even if they could get food, which isn’t nearby, they could not afford it

Mark 6:37 ESV

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?”

A denari like this was one days’s wages, so this would be more than 6 months worth of wages

Why do we know that Jesus’ ministry didn’t have a lot of money?

Matthew 8:20 “20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.””

While Women provided for them in Luke 8, not this much

We also heard that Jesus has a plan

Jesus was merely testing Philip, because he already knew what he was going to do. He then delegated to his disciples the task of gathering people into groups and then the distribution of the bread.

Jesus gave specific assignments to them, using their gifts and skills to prepare them for future leadership roles

2. The response- obedience (15)

Jesus commands them to be put into groups of 50, not even close to this small

And what do the disciples do?

What reasons could they have resisted or refused?

But why did they obey?

The disciples trust Jesus so they obey Him

As Charles Spurgeon said

300 Quotations for Preachers Faith and Obedience Are Bound Together

Faith and obedience are bound up in the same bundle. He that obeys God, trusts God, and he that trusts God, obeys God. He that is without faith is without works; and he that is without works is without faith. Do not oppose faith and good works to one another, for there is a blessed relationship between them; and if you abound in obedience your faith shall grow exceedingly.

Who has taken care of the men on their trips?

God worked through people

Martin luther famously said

when you mention and pray for daily bread, you pray for everything that is necessary in order to have and enjoy daily bread and, on the other hand, against everything which interferes with it. Therefore you must open wide and extend your thoughts not only to the oven or the flour-bin but to the distant field and the entire land, which bears and brings to us daily bread and every sort of sustenance.

The farmer, the salesmen, the baker, and the store are all included in providing our daily bread

God works thorugh means of many people

Perhaps these disciples trust God can work through them

3. The provision- miraculous (16)

Jesus takes those loaves and fishes looks up to heaven in prayer and blesses them

blessing denotes thanksgiving.

This is smiliar to what Paul says

1 Timothy 4:1–5 “1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”

There are some people who believe that marriage and eating are less than holy things

But Paul and Jesus shows us that offering thanks is

They start feeding everyone

The food kept coming and coming

There was so much food that a fiber basket like this one was filled 12 times over

Calvin writes,

Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke Matthew 14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17

Christ had bestowed his whole attention on feeding souls, but now he includes within his duties as a shepherd the care even of their bodies. And in this way he confirms his own saying, that to those who seek the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, all other things will be added, (Matth. 6:33.) We have no right, indeed, to expect that Christ will always follow this method of supplying the hungry and thirsty with food; but it is certain that he will never permit his own people to want the necessaries of life, but will stretch out his hand from heaven, whenever he shall see it to be necessary to relieve their necessities.

ii. Illustration

Do you know some people are troubled by miracles like this, saying they’re not believbale like magic is not believable?

During that anti-supernatural period of the 20th century CS Lewis wrote

You will even find people who write about the sixteenth century as if Magic were a medieval survival and Science the new thing that came in to sweep it away. Those who have studied the period know better. There was very little magic in the Middle Ages: the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are the high noon of magic.

There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the 'wisdom' of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men:

Miracles are miracles because they place us in awe

iii. Application

What makes us doubt that we can be used by God?

How does God using insufficient people make worship him in amazement?

III. Conclusion

IV. Close