Compassionate Power
Notes
Transcript
And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.)And they went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.
The Disciples needed to remember that our relationship with Jesus is not about what we do, it is about being with him. We are first with Jesus and then we go out. And after we go out, we return.
Anything we do is fruit of discipleship, but Jesus is the root, the vine. We have to remain with him first.
Notice to, this word Rest. What it means in the original language is literally “to cease working”. If the disciples did not they risked three things.
Burning out.
Stopping following Jesus
Forgetting their identity.
So Jesus calls the Disciples to come away with him, and to rest.
The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. And when it was already late, His disciples came up to Him and said, “This place is secluded and it is already late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread, and give it to them to eat?” But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”
The Disciples that should be able to do anything are now in need. They cannot possibly feed the people on their own and they know it. They believe that it is impossible. But Jesus is going to do something here.
Jesus reminds the disciple of two things.
First, Our discipleship is not about what we lack, it is about what he has given.
Second, Even with the smallest gift, God can do a miracle.
Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
Notice this really strange detail here. There is not alot of color in the bible, but when there is we should pay attention.
The green grass connects with the idea that Jesus sees the sheep without a shepherd.
He is about to reveal himself as that great Shepherd. The shepherd of Psalm 23:1-2
The Lord is my shepherd, I will not be in need. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
A second thing to notice is that they “ sat down…in groups.” In the original language it would say more like “they reclined in to their drinking companies, or tables at a banquet.”
And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He gave them to the disciples again and again to set before them; and He divided the two fish among them all.
Classic Jewish Prayer:
“Praise be to you, O Lord our God, king of the world, who makes bread to come forth from the earth, and who provides for all that you have created.”
And so notice, who feeds the crowd. Not Jesus. He empowers the Disciples to feed the people.
And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He gave them to the disciples again and again to set before them; and He divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied;
Satusfied is has no teeth here. The word in the original language has the picture of bursting to the brim. Completely engorged. Jesus didnt provide a snack. Jesus diddnt provide them dinner. Jesus has provided a feast.
and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces of bread, and of the fish. There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.
Why 5,000 men?
What Matthew is showing is that there is a military revolution happening underneath. The Disciples are getting excited about what Jesus is going to do.
They have forgotten he can provide them food.
They do not know he has not come to be a military leader. This is supported by John’s account
“So Jesus, aware that they intended to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself, alone.” (John 6:15, NASB 2020)
And immediately Jesus had His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He Himself dismissed the crowd.
Jesus then demonstrates what the disciples neeed. In fact, he himself needs it. To go and be away with the Father, in order to not be tempted into forgetting his identity, burning out or quitting.
And after saying goodbye to them, He left for the mountain to pray. When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. Seeing them straining at the oars—for the wind was against them—at about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost, and they cried out; for they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.” Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
In the book of Mark, everytime that the disciples are seperate from Jesus, they fall into distress.
And so what does Jesus see? This is not Jesus straining against the ores. The word here is teh same word for the torment that someone feels under demon posession or the pain of childbirth, the suffering of hell.
So what does Jesus do?
He wants to pass in front of them?
Lets talk about what this does not mean.
Jesus is not racing the disciples.
Jesus is not ignoring the disciples.
Jesus is not showing off.
Doing this, Jesus is Showing the Disciples that he is in fact God.
Three ways.
Only a god would have power of nature. Jesus walking on water shows his divinity. Even if you a worshiper of another god you would think that reading this.
Second, the phrase “It is I.” This is a Greek version of God revealing himself to Moses saying “ I AM.
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
Finally, and this is my favorite, The phrase “pass in front of them” is a hyperlink to a past event in the bible.
Just like God reveals his name Moses in the book of Exodus, Moses later asks to see God’s face. God tells him, listen my guy, that would kill you. But here is what we are going to do.
Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
Jesus is passing in front of them like God did to Moses. Jesus is reminding them that no matter what they are doing, what they cannot do or what is in front of them… he is still God. He will still provide for them through his mighty power because he is at the core Compassionate.
And he continues to show off by stopping the storm. Further revealing himself. Echoes of scripture should be ringing in the disciples ears.
Who alone stretches out the heavens, And tramples down the waves of the sea; Who makes the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the constellations of the south. “It is He who does great things, the unfathomable, And wondrous works without number. “If He were to pass by me, I would not see Him; Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.
And how do the disciples respond.
First, they believe that they are seeing a ghost. And not like someone come back to life. The word here is Phantasm. A demonic entity. A Monster.
Not just like “wow, that was cool.” The word means to completely lose their senses.