Mark 6:33-44

He saw, He felt, and He taught.

Mark 6:34 NASB95

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.

He saw

When Jesus arrived on the other side of the sea He saw a large crowd that had gathered to see Him. We know that He and the disciples were tired because they were trying to get away from the crowds. Mark 6:31-32

Mark 6:31–32 NASB95

And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

You can only imagine what was going through the disciples minds. “ We are tired and don’t want to deal with the crowds. We need to get some rest!”

They did not want to fool with these people. They wanted to get something to eat and go to bed.

Rest is necessary when engaging in ministry. However there are times when you are exhausted that you must engage and meet the ministry need.

He felt compassion for the crowd

Mark writes the the reason for his compassion was the were like sheep without a shepherd. Sheep without a shepherd have no chance of survival. They don’t have the ability to feed themselves, protect themselves, guide them, or heal their sicknesses. Sheep without a shepherd are hopeless.

Jesus saw the people as hopeless. He knew that they needed his ministry to have any hope.

We have people all around us that are sheep without a shepherd. These are the lost that are in our lives. We should be less critical of their behavior and more compassionate towards there lostness.

He taught them many things

Though Jesus catered to their physical needs he first sought to meet their spiritual needs. He taught them the things of heaven. He taught them about salvation. He taught them how to live in right relationship with God. He taught them the things that would nourish their souls and lead them to eternal life

It is good to engage in acts of kindness, but we must couple them with teaching them the things that lead them to eternal life. We too need to feed their soul.

You Feed Them

When the day was almost over the disciples encouraged Jesus to send the people away to get something to eat. Jesus told the disciples to feed them. Obviously this was an impossible task. We see this in their response in Mark 6:37

Mark 6:37 NASB95

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 them something to eat?”

The disciples failed to recognize who they were with. They only looked to their own ability and did not ask Jesus for help. They only saw the high cost and the lack of resources to meet the need.

Peter could have said, Jesus you are the bread of life, here are five loaves , please multiply them so all can be well fed. Unfortunately they did not exercise faith in Jesus, but instead gave an excuse as to why the crowd couldn’t be fed.

Jesus will call us into the impossible. We may be like the disciples and say it can never happen. We must never just consider our abilities and resources to fulfill the callings in our lives. Jesus will deliver everything we need to fulfill the calling. The question is are we going to try and figure it out on our own or are we going to put our faith in Christ and ask Him for help?

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand Men and Their Families

Jesus fed the crowd with two fish and five loaves of bread. They did not just get a little but Mark 6:42

Mark 6:42 NASB95

They all ate and were satisfied,

Jesus took the resources that the disciples had and made them more than enough to feed the crowds. There was so much food that they picked up 12 full baskets of leftovers.

All Jesus needs is for us to give Him what we have and He will bless it and make it more than enough to fulfill the calling for which He calls us.