The Return of the Apostles

Sharing the Good News As Jesus did…The Returning

Mark 6.30-52

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

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. 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. 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.

Key Elements: v. 30-32; 45, 48b-52

In these sections we see the humanness of the apostles come to the forefront of life. There is the special opportunity of THEIR EXPERIENCES, their STORIES…yet there is reality with Jesus. The ending is the truth point of humanness… it is forgetful. Humanness focuses on the present, the now. Only weeks ago they were doing great things in the name of Jesus. They survived and apparently were successful.. They came back tired, but excited.

Untimely Ministry

Mark: An Introduction and Commentary viii. The Feeding of the Five Thousand (6:30–44)

34. It is easy to imagine the groan of despair that must have gone up from the exhausted disciples, when they saw, long before they had reached the other shore, that the inevitable curious crowd had forestalled them. It is probable that this natural weariness accounts for the note of irritation in their question to Jesus in verse 37, as well as their obvious hint in verse 36 that the crowds had had more than enough teaching already. But Jesus, just as weary as the disciples and seeing the same crowds as they, had compassion on them (34).43 Note that he did the preaching to the crowds himself; he did not call upon his disciples to join in the task now.

Jesus again models… The Work & The Words

to feed the body and the soul.

we see a picture of the sheep without a shepherd. Hungry running around the ridge to get to the shepherd.

Evangelical Commentary on the Bible C. Jesus’ Withdrawal to the Wilderness beyond Galilee (6:30–7:23)

The disciples are now functional “apostles,” as Mark calls them in 6:30, and they return to report to Jesus all they have done and taught. The fact that they report what they have “done and taught” indicates their participation in the twofold nature of Jesus’ work-and-words mission, for they have preached, healed, and cast out evil spirits. Theirs is a report of success, not of disappointment. (In Luke’s account of the success of the larger circle of seventy-two [10:17–18], Jesus describes a vision in which he sees “Satan fall like lightning from heaven,” a result of the assault on Satan’s kingdom by Jesus and his disciples.) The healing activity of the disciples is attested by the throngs who are coming and going and do not even give them time to eat. This gives Jesus occasion to withdraw with his disciples to “a solitary place” for rest (6:32), a recapitulation of the exodus and wilderness rest of Moses and Joshua, and the rest anticipated by the prophets (cf. Jer. 31:2). But the crowds get there ahead of them and, like sheep without a shepherd, evoke the compassion of Jesus, who proceeds to teach them and then to feed them.

Refresh the Lesson: what do you have… not the extra. Engage with the people- have them sit.

As the disciples might have desired to withdraw from the people, dismiss or ignore the need, turn their heads away- Jesus engages the Apostles. Again, he is their Authority, and they heed his instructions. We see the weary caring for the weary; the hungry caring for the hungry. Jesus doesn not scold, he instructs. He knows what they need is to get into the service, it will get into them.

The Temporal, Short Memory

V. 45. Into the boats… so far so good.

V. 48. They are straining to get any headway… maybe because they are tired, maybe its a headwind, or such. Jesus sees them…straining. He comes out to them..

V. 49. Humanness again! a GHOST! they cry out! They are terrified!

Immediately, Jesus speaks, THE WIND CEASED! The true, deep compassion of Jesus towards his tired, weary disciples. Here is a unique picture of compassion of Jesus towards his servants.

So it is even today. We, in humanness can get weary in well doing! Wear by circumstances. We as leaders of ministries, work teams, families would do well to take note of this Example of Jesus.

...but their hearts were hardened. seeing the Godness of The Christ!

Mark: An Introduction and Commentary ix. The Walking on the Water (6:45–52)

As before, at the previous storm on the lake (cf. chapter 4), the presence of Jesus brought peace and calm to the disciples. But their fear and their amazement alike are traced by the evangelist to their failure to learn the previous lesson of the feeding of the five thousand. Smallness of faith and hardness of heart are two constant sins even of the disciples in Mark. Hardness of heart is that lack of spiritual perceptivity, that lack of readiness to learn

Mark: An Introduction and Commentary ix. The Walking on the Water (6:45–52)

Smallness of faith is a failure to remember God’s working in the past and to apply that knowledge of his nature to our present problems. If the early Christians, especially in centres like Rome, saw these storms as pictures of persecutions through which they must go, then this was an important lesson to learn.

Evangelical Commentary on the Bible C. Jesus’ Withdrawal to the Wilderness beyond Galilee (6:30–7:23)

For Mark’s readers the contrary wind is a challenge to faith in their own situation of testing. It is night, and Jesus is alone praying (cf. 1:35–39; 14:35–42), while his disciples are being assaulted by the hostile wind on the lake. They always seem to be in trouble when they are apart from Jesus. Jesus reminds them dramatically of their responsibility to take courage and not fear (6:49–50), and then manifests his absolute power as the sovereign “It is I” (Gk. egō eimi) who speaks and acts out his sovereign self-revelation (cf. Exod. 3:14; 33:19, 22; 1 Kings 19:11; Job 9:8, 11; Isa. 41:4–16). It is against this Old Testament background that Jesus works his miracle of theophany. He does not actually intend to pass the disciples by (v. 48), but seems from their perspective to be doing so (cf. their similar lack of understanding of the situation in 4:38). When Jesus joins them in the boat, the wind dies down. The lesson of the theophany is disclosed in Mark’s summary comment (v. 52). The disciples have not understood about the loaves because their hearts are hardened and they have failed to discern who Jesus truly is. Ironically, though they have been empowered to participate in the mission of Jesus and have already proclaimed repentance, healed the sick, and exorcised demons, they have only begun to penetrate the mystery of Jesus. The irony is that their reaction places them in the company of Jesus’ opponents (cf. 3:5; 10:5). Thus faith in Jesus’ authority over hostile powers as the Lord of creation is absolutely necessary if those powers are to be overcome.