Life, Loaves, and Leftovers (Mark 6:30-44)
Notes
Transcript
Call to worship:
Call to worship:
3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
Reading #1, for perspective:
Reading #1, for perspective:
42 A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.” 43 But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’ ” 44 So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.
Reading #2, main text:
Reading #2, main text:
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. 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.” 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?” 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. 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.
Intro.1
Intro.1
I want to start our reflection this morning asking you about that moment. You all have it in your life—that moment when you can finally catch your breath. You can relax and regroup.
You know the moment, especially as Advent is about to begin next week. Your guests have arrived. You spent all week cooking and prepping the house. Now everyone’s there. The kids are home from college. Friends and family arrive whom you haven’t seen in what seems like ages. You can finally breathe. … And then...
That knock comes at the door. Everyone’s seated who was invited. Who’s knocking???
“Jack, I saw all the cars parked out front, and my car won’t start so we can get to our party. Can you come over real quick and help me fix my car?”
What do you do??
Intro.2
Intro.2
I remember as a seminarian seeing images of how much a presidential vacation could be guarded. (I have a very distinct mental picture in my mind.)
In 2014, President Obama and family were vacationing for Christmas in Hawaii. And the image is famous: President Obama is out on the beach, in the water—and Secret Service agents are in the background of the photo, on jet skis, “shooing away tourists and locals alike” (as one headline reported in the UK).
* * *
I remember seeing too the “red phone”, the direct and secure line that President Eisenhower had in his Gettysburg, PA, farm retreat, whenever he went there for vacation from Washington.
And President Biden, in his memoir as Vice President, talked about the Secret Service advance team who would arrive ahead of him at the family’s yearly retreat—and the team would set up the secure direct phone line at that retreat, too.
* * *
It’s securing a vacation. But it’s also having the “gear” in place: should the retreat and vacation need to be interrupted…and business resumes, and “duty calls.”
How tightly do you guard and clasp on to a vacation?
I. “Desert” first -- Leave and life (vv. 30-34)
I. “Desert” first -- Leave and life (vv. 30-34)
Here Mark gives us a really delicious tidbit – the apostles are returning to Jesus and they come ready for vacation. They return to him in order to showcase to him all that they’ve done: teaching and acting in power in his name.
They’ve had power, and they’ve been busy.
But really for how long had they been working?? They were only commissioned and sent off in vv. 7-13 – seventeen verses ago! But they’ve been busy all that while (with “no leisure to eat,” apparently. We might say, “Working through lunch,” etc., etc.). And they had power—doing mighty works, and even removing demons.
Having been previously sent to work among people: this time, the apostles are sent again, but this time Jesus sends them to the “desolate place:” a wilderness area somewhere on the north shore of Galilee. Desolate, solitary, isolated, deserted. Devoid of people this time. – But they themselves end that desolation.
The crowds see them—and the place becomes teeming and full with life and activity.
It’s like the riddle—“say my name, and I disappear.” (The answer is silence.) The disciples go out to the desolate place with Jesus, and the desolation becomes in geography and terrain only. An arid place, still to this day. Brown on satellite images, mountainous, not terribly much greenery/cultivation/habitation. The hills rising from the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It’s sheep grazing territory, it’s also farming land and fields.
The disciples go there, and the area erupts with activity. They go—and the place is no longer “desolate.” Two is company, three’s a crowd…what’s 5,000???
The intensity of the crowd’s following makes sense. – Even more recent than the apostles being sent out, John the Baptist (the wilderness dweller!) has just died…been executed by Herod. – This is immediate (and important) context to what Jesus will do here, among the crowds and with the disciples.
John’s death sets off the important chain of events of Jesus’ most central and cross-centered ministry, starting with the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus’ interactions and mercy to the crowds there.
John dies, and that sets the stage for Jesus’ most public era of his ministry, his teachings, and his works. And eventually, it lands him in Jerusalem, to be betrayed, then crucified, then buried (and risen again). But it starts with the 5,000 and the Galilee wilderness…
Jesus comes from the boat and, in empathy and compassion, he sees the crowds as “sheep without a shepherd.” And quite actually, they are. Their minister (John) has been slain. They recognize Jesus and the apostles getting in their boat to go to John’s old stomping ground, i.e., the wilderness—and in that, the crowds remember John’s great preaching and great works that they had seen previously in the desolate and wilderness areas. So they go to where they know!
This is the start of a decisive turning-point in Jesus’ ministry. John is dead, the forerunner. So Jesus begins to turn from Galilee and Capernaum, his boyhood and early adulthood homes (where he really has faced a lot of “dry spell,” and people’s rejection and their doubts of him as “Joseph’s son,” even from his own family members). And he starts heading toward Jerusalem and toward the cross and his burial in the tomb.
(Luke’s Gospel makes this clear, Luke 9, shortly after the Feeding of the 5,000. Luke 9:51, “51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”)
Jesus’ revelation and ministry here explodes, like the crowd’s number and presence explode in this out-of-the-way place. His first act, with some “teaching” (Mark 6:34), is to take on the place as “shepherd” of his people. –
Recall Isaiah’s great vision of the awesome and gentle LORD,
10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
This is Jesus in the immediate aftermath of John’s death and execution. And what is Jesus’ first act in this?
He does the most primary and fundamental thing that a shepherd does: he feeds the flock, and gives them food!
II. Then the meal -- Loaves and leftovers (vv. 35-44)
II. Then the meal -- Loaves and leftovers (vv. 35-44)
The disciples come for leave and vacation, and Jesus puts them to work.
They’re coming from a work and ministry where they had no leisure to eat—and now, before they eat, they’re first going to distribute. They’re first going to serve. They’re first going to share.
It starts by driving them, I think, a bit crazy. I don’t think they like it at first what Jesus is doing!
The “disciples” (note Mark’s change of title usage, different from “apostles” in 6:30) want to send the crowd away. – Luke again is helpful here, for placing the events on the north shore near Bethsaida: the hometown and stomping ground of Philip, Andrew, and Peter. (“Bethsaida,” the house of fishing. Home of Jesus’ disciples who were trained fishermen! They know the area: and they also know the potential food inventories in the area.)
They say to Jesus, “Send these people to the fishing villages and the farm towns around here, where these people can eat and get some food.”
(Recall the eventual demise that put the end to the days and weeks of revival at Asbury College earlier this year. – The little town around Asbury couldn’t support the crowd! The little town was overrun in its infrastructure and abilities! And so the Asbury administration sent the people away and ended all the events that were attracting the tens of thousands of outsiders to the little out-of-the-way college.)
The disciples at the “late” hour – (which Matthew says was “evening,” and Luke says that the day was “spent”) – want to disperse the crowd and send them packing. ---
“Send them away,” dismiss them, release them. – A different verb entirely from the “sending” that Jesus did of the apostles in Mark 6:13!!
The disciples are ready to punch out on the timeclock, close the day, turn out the lights, end the work, and send the crowd to be “another man’s problem.” Jesus the shepherd of the crowd says, “You give them something to eat.” (He wants them to set aside their idea of vacation and retreat, and have them put to use.)
Recall Psalm 23, the LORD is my shepherd I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside still waters;
He restores my soul;
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Then that shepherd of Psalm 23 becomes a head-of-table and the host of a great meal!
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
To this direction of Jesus, the disciples are annoyed.
Mark’s account: “should we buy all that food to feed them?”
John’s account, 6:7: Philip says the 200 denarii wouldn’t be enough even for each person to have a scrap and a morsel.
200 denarii being 200 full days of wages for a fieldhand and worker of the crops!
The twelve disciples look inside their treasury, and they want to cinch-up the moneybag and close it! They want to hold on to their treasure and money, like they want to hold on to their retreat in the out-of-the-way place! – They would rather not do their service hours, and they would rather not even put a check in the plate! They are done. They are checked out. They are ready to send out the crowd. Let US eat…and the crowds can fend for themselves!
The disciples aren’t excited… But Jesus presses them nonetheless: he sends them working some more (searching to scour and scrounge whatever is already available). Foraging, rummaging through the crowd. Collecting and gathering from the handouts and generosity of the multitude.
And from a crowd of that magnitude they find, what? Five loaves and two fish. (John’s Gospel mentions they find the items from a young boy in the crowd, Jn. 6:9.)
These are people who ran to be with Jesus. In the absence of John, there was no premeditation or thought on the people’s part. No packing of baskets. No grocery errands before the trip out to the wilderness. Mark 6:33, “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.”
On a business trip I take time to lay out all my clothes and toiletries and pack up my suitcase. I doublecheck all the pieces of my itinerary, I even write things out for Stef and the seminary office (so they know where I’ll be on any given day of the trip).
For a family trip, probably a driving trip, we talk with the family about what food we’re bringing. Stef decides what our particular meal is that we’ll plan to cook for her siblings and all the nieces and nephews.
We have grocery lists, clothes packing lists, Costco trips, coolers to load, mixed with luggage to pile into the car with everything else. We fill up the car’s tank with gas. – These people had no time to plan! It was spontaneous, and a spur of the moment following of Jesus.
Some commentaries suggest it’s the stinginess of the crowd that returns so little for usage. – I think it’s more the spontaneity, the spur-of-the-moment quality to this whole event.
And Jesus, with immediate eyes on the crowd (and distant eyes on the cross), gets to work—while the disciples are wanting to sit down and check out.
In John’s death, Jesus launches with his most public and large-scale event yet. And he accomplishes it maybe with the smallest supply list possible: five loaves, and two fish.
And Mark gives a few things in these next verses that I love about this feast:
Jesus has the crowd recline on the green grass.
a. Probably not just a point (though commentators suggest it) of Mark demonstrating his authenticity: i.e., that he got his report of the event from an eyewitness.
b. “Green” is what sheep feed on! —> Psalm 23:1!! (“Lie down in green pastures.”)
c. “Green” also suggests life, vitality, even in a barren, desolate place!!
So Isaiah 35:6–7,
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.
2. The crowd is organized by hundreds and by fifties.
a. (It’s how Moses himself organized the people in the wilderness, on Jethro’s advice, which remained through all of Israel’s top leaders: Joshua, Samuel, and David.) Exo. 18:21,25
b. (It’s also how Obadiah, in Elijah’s day of famine, hid the prophets — in the wilderness, he hid and fed 100 prophets in groups of 50.) 1 Ki. 18:4
c. Or our Old Testament passage that we also read to begin— Elisha’s miraculous feeding was of 100 men with 20 barley loaves and grain (2 Kings 4:43). Jesus’ crowd, just at 5,000 men alone (not including the women and children), is already 50x Elisha’s group size. And has less loaves and food to start with.
3. Jesus takes the fives loaves and two fish, and he looked up to heaven.
a. An obvious precursor and foreshadowing later on, in Mark 14, of the introduction of the Lord’s Supper.
b. When the apostles and disciples have been so fixated on money and earthly things (earthly lack), Jesus shows the heavenward perspective again and brings the heavenward focus.
4. They ate and were satisfied, and took up twelve baskets of leftovers.
a. “Satisfy” >>> fed to the full, to the fattening point. (I.e., “if I eat another bite, I think I’ll burst!”)
b. 12 baskets >>> 1 basket for each of the dim and doubting disciples. 1 basket representing each tribe of Old Testament Israel (who received the miraculous manna for their feeding each and every day).
c. (Exo. 16:15, “And Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.’ … Take of it, as much as [you] can eat.”)
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Conclusion.1
Conclusion.1
Two weak reflections:
Enough food for the crowd, but barely (Giordano’s @ “Retreat 2020”).
Not wanting to run out, you buy way more food than you need and have lots leftover—because you bought that much and had it in advance.
Conclusion.2
Conclusion.2
For 5,000 people alone, a catering bill at Jimbooo’s here in Thornton would run just shy of $75,000. — But Jesus isn’t like Jimbooo, starting with (e.g.) 20 trays of food and then having 8 trays of food leftover from ordering too much.
Jesus is starting with pittance, with scraps, with scroungings. Jesus, rather, starts with the crumbs. And he’s having baskets and baskets of leftovers at the meal’s close, none of which were even there to begin!
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! 9 For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
But most centrally this morning, I want to call you this morning to sit with Christ and find there that you can be filled and fulfilled.
The same Jesus who fed the crowd says this morning to you:
Luke 6:21 (ESV)
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.”
Or similarly in the Beatitudes:
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
He’s not only the God who fed the 5,000. He’s also the God who, from heaven, dropped manna on his people in the wilderness.
He’s the Jesus who remarkably “eat[s] with tax collectors and sinners”! (Mark 2:16)
And in creation—you talk about “wilderness.” There in creation, the world was beyond desolate—it was NOTHING. Genesis 1:2 “2 The earth was without form and void.” TOHU and VOHU.
And from NOTHING, he created food, and vegetation, and greenery, and life!
On the 3rd day,
11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
And most miraculous of all—this body of death, our body of sin and death and desolation, is made alive again! Our body of sin and death is raised! Where we were desolate and deserving of eternal isolation and alienation from God—God has renewed us! He has put his Spirit in us! And we are made to be his, for eternity and in eternal life!
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
This is most miraculous of all. It’s where the Feeding of the 5,000 has its view firmly fixed on the cross—and the empty tomb—ahead.
It’s better than a physical feeding of bread and fish, that our metabolisms burn off after a meal and we’re hungry again.
This is better than the feeding of the 5,000—and ultimately the resurrection of the dead is the reason that Jesus came to explode open his ministry with life, and loaves, and baskets of leftovers.
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
And John 6:40
40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
That is our good news: the power of the resurrection. Better than a passing meal and even a fleeting vacation.
It is life forever: unending and undiminished in Jesus Christ.
Invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.
It is life, in a never-ending supply. And you, this morning, are invited into it.
Come recline, and rest in Jesus.
Amen
Parting blessing:
Parting blessing:
24 “ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’
Translation/notes:
Translation/notes:
30.
And (kai) the apostles were gathered to Jesus, and they reported to him everything that they did and taught.
apostolos, sent ones
synago, return
31.
And (kai) he said to them, “Y’all, come by yourselves into a desert/wilderness/abandoned/lonely/desolate/solitary place and rest/refresh (take ease, “take a break”) a short time (a little).” For many were existing, coming and going/departing, and they were having no leisure/opportunity to eat (or drink; i.e., take nourishment and the necessities of life).
deute, come away
erxomai, come
hupago, go
anapauo, rest
eukaireo, leisure
32.
And (kai) they went away in the boat into a desert/wilderness/abandoned/lonely/desolate/solitary place by themselves.
aperxomai, go away
33.
And (kai) they saw them going/departing, and many recognized (learned it). And (kai) on foot from all the towns/cities they rushed/ran there and outwent them.
hupago, go
syntrexo, run
proserxomai, outrun
34.
And (kai) exiting, he saw a great crowd, and he was moved with compassion (filled with tenderness, with mercy, with pity) for them, that they were like sheep not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
ekserxomai, go, exit
splangxnizomai, a stomach move of compassion
35. & 36.
And (kai) during the late hour, having approached him, his disciples were saying, “Desert/wilderness/abandoned/lonely/desolate/solitary is the place, and already the hour is late.” 36. “Dismiss/release them (send them away), so that they go away (depart/leave) into the surrounding fields/countries/countrysides/lands/farms and villages/towns, that they may buy/purchase/acquire something they can eat.”
mathetes, disciple, student
proserxomai, outrun
aperxomai, go away
37.
But (de) answering, he said to them, “Y’all give to them to eat.” And they said to him, “Going away (departing/leaving), should we buy/purchase/acquire bread of 200 denarii and give to them to eat?”
aperxomai, go away
38.
But (de) he said to them, “How many loaves do y’all have? Ya’ll go/depart, y’all see.” And (kai) knowing (finding out), they said, “Five, and two fish.”
hypago, go
39.
And (kai) he commanded/ordered/charged/directed/instructed them all to sit (recline at table) in companies/groups/parties (symposia; for eating) on the green grass.
anaklino, recline
40.
And (kai) the groups sat (reclined at table) by hundreds and by fifties.
anapipto, sat
41.
And (kai) taking the five loaves and two fish, looking (recovering sight) to heaven, he gave thanks (praised, “eulogized,” blessed) and he broke the loaves, and he was giving to his disciples, so that they would set/serve/provide to them, and he divided/distributed/portioned the two fish to everyone.
mathetes, disciple, student
42.
And (kai) all ate and they were filled/fed/satisfied/fattened.
xortazo, satisfy, fill, fatten
43.
And (kai) they took away (carried, bore) twelve full baskets of fragments/morsels/scraps/broken-pieces and of the fish.
44.
And (kai) they, eating the loaves, were 5000 men.
“200 denarii” at Jimbooo’s Catering:
5000 people = $12.95 per person = $74,750
Beef, chicken, BBQ pork, mostaccioli, rosemary/cheddar/bacon potatoes, hot vegetables, potato salad, macaroni salad, and coleslaw, and French bread.
Split 13 ways between Jesus and the Twelve, that’s $5,750 each. But that’s just to feed the men—that’s not even including the additional expenses for feeding all the women and children!
That’s 11 forty-hour weeks of putting every penny of an Illinois minimum wage check toward the expenses of just feeding the men, let alone feeding the women and children beyond that!
To pay off the bill in 1 year at 40 hours per week, the hourly wage would be at $35.94. And this doesn’t include any women and children eating, too—that would raise the price and bill even higher!