The Good Shepherd Feeds His Sheep

The Promise of a Shepherd

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and our lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who loved you with his very life. Amen.

Y’all know Psalm 23 right? I think it’s safe to assume that Psalm 23 is the most popular psalm ever composed. Allow me to read it for you. If you want to follow along, it’s in the front of your hymnal or you can find int the pew bibles on page _______ 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. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

There is just something comforting about saying this psalm. Like, you could be having the worst day ever, like the events of a cheesy country song, where your truck breaks down, your dog runs away, whatever, and you come home, read this psalm, and you are consumed by peace. The church has known this about this psalm for a very long time and rightly uses it at moments of stress, such as funerals.

But this psalm also teaches us something more about God. In Bible study we’ve been talking about the power of God in war, taking a look at the phrase, “The LORD of hosts” or “YHWH, God of Armies.” But here in this psalm we see God in a different light. We see God as a tender shepherd caring for helpless sheep. His love for them, his care to seem the provided for, the pleasant nature of the idyllic setting it’s all there. God is a God who wants to spoil his sheep, to give them more then what they need, because God is a God of infinite love.

Today we have before us the famous story of the feeding of the 5000. This is one of the few stories that is in every Gospel. Jesus birth isn’t in every Gospel, but this event is. And Mark adds his flair to it, like we saw him do last week. When Mark tells this story about Jesus feeding the 5000, he wants us to have in mind psalm 23. The parable of the good shepherd is in the Gospel of John, not in Mark, but Psalm 23 is here, plain as day for all of us to see. That comfort, that peace that we experience when we recite the 23rd psalm is all present in this text. The joy and promise of the new creation, the lavish love of God, it’s all here, so let’s take a look at it.

The Shepherd of the 5000

So our text opens today with the disciples returning from their, well, internships. A couple sections ago, Jesus sent his disciples out two by two into the world. He told them to take nothing with them except the clothes on their backs and a sturdy walking stick. That’s it. No money. No food. Nothing. They were to go into the towns and villages and proclaim the message, “Repent and believe the Gospel.” On top of that they were to heal the sick, cast out demons and be messengers of the Messiah proclaiming that the rule and reign of God is at hand. One interesting note about word choice, they are called apostles here, not just disciples.

Anyway, we don’t know how long they were out and about. Maybe a few days, maybe a few weeks, maybe longer. We don’t know. What we do know is that when they get back with Christ, to debrief, they are exhausted. Completely, totally burnt out. Jesus sees this so he tells his disciples, “He, let’s go somewhere remote. You guys need a break.” So they head off into the wilderness, to escape the throngs of people who would crowd around them.

But it doesn’t work. The people have seen the power of God, and they want more. They want to see more, they want to be healed, they want to see the prophet and miracle worker from Galilee. The crowd quickly figures out where Jesus and the disciples are headed on their little boat, and they race to meet Jesus at shore. So when Jesus lands, there are a bunch of people there. Not just like a congregation, not a few hundred, but thousands, literal thousands. The word Mark uses for men here is specific and only used to talk about boys, adult boys, men. So there are 5000 adult men. This counting does not include women, or children. It’s not unreasonable to assume that there are over 10,000 people there. That’s more people than every man, woman, and child from Melrose, Sauk Centre, and long Prairie combined. And lets just say that we all gathered in Ward Springs. that seems about right. Somewhere remote.

The next verse, verse 34 is key. Mark writes, “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.” Now here, the psalm 23 bells should be ringing in your minds. Jesus is moved to compassion. The word here for the phrase, “had compassion” is the strongest way the Greek language has to say it. This is the most compassion-y way to feel. Jesus is deeply, deeply moved to care for these, his sheep.

So he gets to the task. First, he gives them the most important thing the need: his words. His words explaining the bible. His words explaining, God’s actions, his actions. His words explaining the law and the gospel. Repent and believe. There is nothing more important. Jesus wants his sheep to enter into his fold, to be with him in paradise.

We don’t know what time of day Jesus started teaching, but he teaches late. It’s past time for food. The disciples, as worn out as they are, are just done. They want to be alone, to rest. So they tell Jesus, “send them away.” Jesus is like, “no. you. you worn out, overworked disciples, feed this giant crowd.” The disciples, exhausted as they are, they try to, but they are like, “We only have a couple fish and a little bread.” In spite of their exhaustion, they tried. You can almost hear the relief in their voice when they think they can send away the crowd. The, “we tried but we can’t, please send them away now.”

But the shepherd has other plans. Notice the detail that Mark includes next, that’s not in the other Gospel tellings. Mark writes, “Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.” If it wasn’t clear before, it is now. The Good Shepherd does not desire his people to go away wanting. No. The Lord is their shepherd, they shall not want. He makes them lie down in green pastures, beside the quiet waters of the sea of Galilee after teaching them and restoring their souls.

I think it’s time to prepare a table. Jesus has them self divide into groups, into families and friends, communities. And he feeds them. The imagination can only wonder what it looked like, but somehow, those fish and loaves fed thousands. Thousands. They sit down to eat and they are fed in abundance. Even, even the teenagers with the hollow legs. Everyone eats their fill, more than their fill. One might say their cup overflows.

Jesus sends out the disciples to collect what’s left over. All they have to use to collect the remains are the offering baskets used at the local synagogue. And what do they have left over? 12 baskets. One of each apostle, each tribe of Israel. There is a whole sermon about why that matters, but that’s for a different time.

The good shepherd has come. He’s come to take care of his sheep to provide for them.

What about you? Where do you find yourself today. Maybe you are one of the disciples today. Day after day you work. Day after day you wear yourself out. But no matter what, there is always seems to be just one more thing right? Just one more thing to do. Then we can rest. You give them something to eat, and we try. We throw ourselves into serving others, into caring for our family and friends and all you want is a break but it doesn’t seem to come.

Or maybe, maybe your someone from the crows. You’ve come here to learn about this miracle worker from Galilee. You’ve heard a lot about him, what he can do and what he says, and you want to learn more. You want to learn what the message of, “repent and believe the Gospel” means. You want to hear about sin and grace, you want to learn from the teacher.

The Good Shepherd is for you today. To provide for you, to take care of your soul. And he gives you this holy meal. Where Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it as he does in verse 41 of our text and gives it to the people. So will you eat this day. You will come and take of the bread of life, and the blood of life, given and shed for the forgiveness of sin. Jesus offers you a holy meal which does more than fill the belly. It restores the soul.It forgives you, strengthens you, encourages you on your walk with Christ, where Christ leads you to your eternal home in his presence.

Then our text ends. Which the lead us to ask the question, “what about the last verse of the psalm? What about goodness and mercy following all the days of our lives, and dwelling in the land of the Lord forever?” That comes too. This meal is the promise. The meal that sustains for the journey, the meal that brings goodness and mercy.

The Lord is your Shepherd. Jesus is your Shepherd. As his sheep, his flock, may these words comfort you. May this meal sustain you until you see him with your own eyes, until you hear his voice. Amen.