A Feast for the Gentile Crowd-Mark 8:1-10

As we begin this morning, go ahead and turn in your copies of God’s Word to the Gospel According to Mark. This morning we will be moving into chapter 8 and looking at verses 1-10. We will read these verses shortly. You may also want to book mark Matthew 15, starting in verse 32 as well.

In this morning’s passage we see Jesus continue His ministry in the region of Decapolis. As we will see, the 12 still have a considerable ways to go in regards to their love and compassion for Gentiles and Decapolis was a Gentile region. Jesus takes advantage of one last opportunity to deliver this all important lesson. In just a few short months, He will have died, risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, leaving behind the disciples to carry His message. It was imperative that His Gospel message be delivered, not just to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. As we continue this morning, you may find yourself getting a little irritated with the 12, how many chances was Jesus going to give them? How many times were they going to show no regard to the needs of the Gentile world? I understand that line of thinking, my mind has headed in that direction on too many occasions to count. One thing we need to keep in mind is, their mindset with regards to the Gentiles, is something that had been conditioned in the lives of Jews for…well for centuries. For generation upon generation, Jews had been brought up with an intense hatred for the Gentile world. And rightly so, not only had they lived in slavery in Egypt for 400 years, they had also experienced many centuries of captivity, living in what they considered their land, knowing that it was, at the time not their land. This would not be an easy lesson to learn, in fact, while this was the last opportunity for Jesus to drive home this message, we see in the Book of Acts, which is the history of the early church, they still struggled getting past what they had been conditioned to think for many generations.

With that as an introduction, will you please stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s Word to us? NEXT SLIDE

Mark 8:1–10 ESV

1 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

There is a good chance that as I was reading this passage just now, that some of you may have been thinking, “Wait, didn’t we already look at this passage just about one month ago?” Truthfully, it could easily appear to be the case. There are multiple similarities between the two accounts, and some of the differences are miniscule, and in fact, not even noticeable in our English translations.

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To begin with this morning, let’s go over the similarities.

Both Accounts include a great crowd near the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus is seen as compassionate in both accounts.

Jesus didn’t want to send the crowds away hungry.

Jesus asked the disciples “How many loaves do you have?”

Jesus “directed” or “commanded” the crowds to “sit down”.

Jesus blessed the food.

Everyone ate and was satisfied.

Baskets of food were picked up afterwards.

The disciples got into a boat and left after both events.

Moving forward this morning, we will look at the many, and oftentimes, subtle differences. Included with these differences, we will also see some life lessons we need to take hold of, for ourselves.

Differences and Life Lessons:

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Jesus Pointed Out the Need of the Crowd. Vs. 1; Mt. 15:32; Mark 6:35; Vs. 4

This would be easy to miss, it is rather subtle, but we see in the account of the feeding of the 5,000, that the disciples, towards the end of the first day, approached Jesus about the hunger of the crowd. In this morning’s passage, 3 days had gone by, and not one single time did any of the disciples approach Jesus about the hunger of the crowd. Does that seem rather strange to you? It does to me. They had to know the crowd was hungry, because they, themselves were hungry. Why would they have ignored the hunger of this crowd for 3 days, when it took less than one day for them to point out the hunger of their own people? I believe we find the answer to this question in verse 4. Take a moment and look at verse 4. How do the disciples refer to this crowd in their response to Jesus in verse 4? (they refer to them as “these people”). Do you pick up the subtle slam in their response? It would be easy to miss, but it is there, to add to it, we see something missing in how the ESV translates the response of the disciples in verse 4. In the ESV we see the phrase “How can one feed these people?” It is really not a great translation. The New King James more accurately translates this phrase “How can one satisfy these people”. Now, let me tell you what makes this significant. Back in chapter 6 when Jesus fed the 5,000, we saw at the end of the passage that the people ate until they were “satisfied”, same exact Greek word. There is no doubt whatsoever that the disciples knew Jesus could provide enough food to satisfy a large crowd, they had already witnessed it with their own eyes. The fact that 3 days had passed and not one disciple expressed concern for the hunger of the crowd (a hunger they themselves were experiencing), added with the fact that they referred to them derogatively as “these people” and then expressed doubt that they could ever be satisfied. Gives a clear indication that they would rather go without food themselves than see Jesus satisfy the hunger of this Gentile crowd.

So, what is the life lesson for us here? You know, I believe there are times that we follow the lead of Jonah. You remember the story of Jonah, don’t you? God clearly instructs him to go the the wicked city of Nineveh to warn them that if they don’t repent of their wicked ways, He was going to destroy them. Initially, Jonah refuses and heads the opposite direction. Jonah looked at the people of Nineveh as unworthy of the grace and mercy of God. Sometimes we do the same thing. God lays the name of a specific individual on our hearts to share the message of His love with. We ignore His leading, Oh, maybe it’s not because we see them as unworthy, although that often is the case, maybe it’s because we see them as a lost cause, to far gone to change, or whatever the reasoning may be. But we ignore God’s leading. The life lesson for us here is:

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It is not up to us to decide to whom we bring God’s Message of Love, it is up to Him.

When He leads us to share His Good News, our job is to obey, not dispute their worthiness or potential for transformation.

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Spoken Compassion. Vs. 3; Matt. 15:32

Going through the Gospels, we regularly see the Gospel writers speak of the compassion Jesus felt towards others. We see it in Matthew 9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34; Mark 1:41; 6:34; Luke 7:13. But only here, and in the parallel account in Mt. 15:32, do we see Jesus speaking in the first person, stating that He felt compassion towards the people. As you have heard me say many times, I don’t believe there is anything in This Book by accident. God has a purpose and plan for everything contained in the pages of His Word to us. So, if that is the case, why would God specifically make sure we see Him speaking compassion on this Gentile crowd?

To answer the question, let me ask you a question. Based on what we read in verse 2, and what we looked at earlier, how many days had this crowd been with Him? (3 days). We already noted that in the feeding of the 5,000, they had been with Him most of one day, but we also get the picture that the Jewish crowd was unruly. On multiple occasions we see them pressing in on Jesus so tightly that He had to teach from a boat for His own safety. In the feeding of the 5,000 we see Jesus making them sit down in groups of 50’s and 100’s, again, presumably because they were such an unruly crowd that they were operating like customers at an early morning “Black Friday” sell of electronics. In this morning’s passage, He doesn’t break them into specific group sizes, He just directs them to sit down.

So, why do I bring this up? Because, with this Gentile crowd, we get the impression that their motive for being there was different than that of the Jewish crowds. They weren’t there for the show, for the spectacle, it wasn’t only a “What’s in it for me” mentality that not only brought them there, but kept them there for 3 days. More often than not, for the Jewish crowds, once Jesus healed whoever it was they brought to Him, they went on there way. This crowd stuck around for 3 days. Even if it meant they had to go without food! There was also no political motive behind their being there. For many Jews, they were looking for the overthrow of the Roman government, and they saw Jesus as their greatest hope, not for spiritual redemption and freedom, but for physical redemption and freedom. This Gentile crowd was there, hanging on His every Word, even going without food if that is what it took. They were seeing something in Jesus they had likely never seen in any other Jew, especially those in leadership, compassion and love. He didn’t reject them, didn’t show hatred and disdain for them. He loved them, healed them, touched them, and then didn’t look for a place to wash off the filth most Jews equated with being touched by a Gentile. Do you remember what Jesus did in last weeks passage, when He healed the deaf mute, another Gentile? (He pushed His fingers deep into his ears, then spit on His own finger’s and touched his tongue). No Jewish rabbi would have ever touched a Gentile in the way Jesus did that day, especially one they considered and outcast based on his physical condition. But He lovingly and joyfully touched this man! These people were so enamored with Jesus that they ignored their own hunger pains to be with Him. I believe that is why Jesus made sure Mark wrote of His Spoken Compassion. The point is, Jesus was able to see into the depths of their heart, and He loved what He saw. That is the next life lesson for us this morning is: NEXT SLIDE

What does He see when He looks into my heart?

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Jesus Saw A Danger The Crowd Didn’t Know Was There. Vs. 3; Mt. 15:32

On the Jewish side of the Sea of Galilee, there were literally thousands of small towns, villages and cities. The crowds that followed Him were rarely more than a few miles from home. But on the Gentile side, especially in the region of The Decapolis, there were only really 10 cities, thus the name Decapolis. Many of these people had walked by foot long distances to be with and hear from Jesus. And now they had gone without food for 3 days. The word Jesus uses for “faint” in verse 3, means the same as “to collapse”. Jesus knew that many in the crowd would collapse before ever reaching home, had He sent them away hungry. The life lesson for us on this is: NEXT SLIDE

Jesus see things we are not able to see, and He knows our needs better than we do. We can trust His perfect plan!

Now, let me briefly highlight a few other differences, with these differences I will not highlight any spiritual lessons, but I do want to point them out to you, so you will know this is not the same account being repeated. In chapter 6 we saw 5,000 men being fed, in this chapter we see 4,000. In chapter 6 we see the disciples bring 5 loaves and 2 fish to Jesus, here we see 7 loaves and a “few fish”. In chapter 6 we see the disciples gather 12 baskets of leftovers, here we see only 7. Although the baskets in chapter 6 are the size of a lunch box, and in this chapter the baskets are large enough that you could fit a grown man inside the baskets.

I want to close out this morning’s passage with one last life lesson. Something very key Jesus wanted His disciples not to miss. As a lead in to this life lesson, let me ask you a question. Looking back at Jesus casting the demon out of the Syrophoenician’s woman’s daughter, what action did we see Jesus take? (None, with nothing more than a thought from His mind the demon left the little girl). Going back to the Book of Genesis, what action did God take in creation of everything with the exception of man and woman? (Nothing more than speaking).

Yet here in this morning’s passage, Jesus is surrounded by a Gentile crowd and has, close by His side, Jewish disciples who cared little for the crowd, and who likely wanted nothing to do with meeting their need, and Jesus gives them the task of distributing the food. He didn’t have to do this, He fed 2 million Jews in wilderness for 40 years with manna that literally dropped down from heaven. He could have said to everyone present that day, “Hey, want to see something cool?” And snapped His all powerful, creator God fingers and have food instantly appear in front of everyone in the crowd. Instead, He chooses to use the disciples to distribute the food. We find out in Matthews account of this event that there were 4,000 men and on top of the women and children. So, upwards of 15,000 + present. The disciples would have had to personally contact a thousand or more each, to get the job done. And my guess is, Jesus let them know there was nothing unclean about what they did and who they touched. Jesus wanted them to make contact with the Gentile crowd, to see them not as the enemy, but as loved by God. To see them as fathers and mothers, as carpenter’s and fishermen, as children and babies. All of who He loved personally and dearly. He wanted the hearts of His disciples transformed. He didn’t need to use them, He chose to use them, despite their own weaknesses.

That brings us to the last life lesson for us this morning: NEXT SLIDE

God doesn’t need any of us to accomplish His will, but He choses to give us the privilege of being His Hands and feet.

Let us follow the, probably hesitant, lead of the disciples that day. Put aside our own agenda, and present ourselves to the Savior, that He might accomplish His will through us, even though we are flawed tools at best.

Let’s pray.