The Compassionate Provision of Christ: Part 1

Title: The Compassionate Provision of Christ (Part 1)

Mark 8:1 In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them,

Mark 8:2 “I feel compassion for the crowd because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat.

Mark 8:3 “And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.”

Mark 8:4 And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?”

Mark 8:5 And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”

Mark 8:6 And He directed the crowd to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them. And He kept giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the crowd.

Mark 8:7 And they also had a few small fish; and after He blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well.

Mark 8:8 And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces.

Mark 8:9 Now about four thousand were there, and He sent them away.

Mark 8:10 And immediately He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of Dalmanutha.

Thesis: If we are His disciples, Christ gives us what we need to serve others.

Intro:

Matthew & Mark only two gospels to record feeding of 4,000. All 4 Gospels record feeding of 5,000

Back in chapter 6, Jesus tells the disciples, “You give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37), but they can’t, so the Good Shepherd feeds His sheep. Here, Jesus again feeds a large crowd, but in the text today, the food clearly goes from Jesus through the disciples - and we’ll break that down as we go.

We see a real hunger for Jesus within this crowd - yes, they come to Him for healings, for miracles, but we see they stay for His teaching. His preaching.

They will be so enamored with what He is feeding them spiritually, they won’t eat to sustain themselves physically.

Christ will show His compassion on the crowd as he multiples, again, loaves and fish. There’s much to be said about the disciples, and ourselves, as well as the crowd.

Yet when it is all over, we should all leave satisfied, and well fed spiritually.

First, we must understand the hunger for Jesus this crowd had.

Mark 8:1 In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them,

In those days - If you recall last week, Jesus was spending anywhere from 3 to 8 months within Gentile country. He’s gone very far north into the Gentile regions.

Now, in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus seems to have went from Tyre, through Sidon, and then finds his way through to the Decapolis - the route that some scholars think was a bit out of His way.

This story picks up with “In those days”, so we know Jesus is still within that region. Whether this happens in the Decapolis right after the healing of the deaf/mute man, we’re not told, in fact, this could have happened prior to the healing of that man.

The Gospel writers do not write so much “Chronological”, as they do “Thematical”, and this is a part of the theme Mark has taken up - Jesus and miracles among the Gentiles.

That’s not to argue that it isn’t chronological - if word is spreading, as it likely did after the healing of the mute man (Mark 7:31-37), and the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter (Mark 7:24-30) - it only serves to prove what the Demoniac had been preaching: This Jesus is the Jewish Messiah!

And so a Large Crowd Gathered.

They probably came for the miracles, but they stayed for the preaching. We see this evidenced in Matthew’s Gospel, and though I read the text last week, I’ll read it again here:

“And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and He healed them. So the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.” (Matthew 15:30-31 LSB)

They had heard about the signs and wonders, now they’re going to stay - and continue to gather - because they want to hear what Jesus has to say.

And Mark tells us that they had nothing to eat.

Some of this crowd could have left, and come back - but again (like we saw last week) we see a bit of irony in Mark’s writing. The hunger they would feel in their physical body was nothing compared to the hunger they had in their spirit.

These people were starving for the teaching of Jesus.

In chapter 6, we saw something similar. The people saw where Jesus was heading, and so they ran to meet up with him. To continue to hear him speak (Mark 6:33).

But he’d only spoke for a day to that crowd and they got hungry. How long had this crowd been listening to Jesus speak?

Mark 8:2 “I feel compassion for the crowd because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat.

Three days of being with Jesus - not just to get miracles, but listening to him. Hearing his message, listening to his preaching.

Some might people get upset if we have a service go past 11:30 and they’re not first in line at Pizza Ranch. I know, because I’m one of them! (Lifechurch, Indy, M&M’s?)

But three days in, and these people aren’t budging. They’re spiritually starved.

Remember, this is a people who lived amongst idols, who had tolerated a man who had been possessed by a Legion of Demons. This is a region that desperately needed to hear the truth of God’s kingdom and His promised Messiah.

And, truthfully, these were a people under judgment. Their hunger shows us this. The Old Testament makes it clear that the worst kind of famine, the worst judgment, is a famine of the word of God.

“Behold, days are coming,” declares Lord Yahweh, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of Yahweh. People will wander from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of Yahweh, But they will not find it.” (Amos 8:11-12)

AND THESE PEOPLE HAVE FOUND IT!

AND THEY DON’T WANT TO LEAVE IT!

I was in town recently, and I saw firsthand the hunger the people of our county have for the word of God. A young lady asked me, “Aren’t you the pastor who went verse by verse through Revelation?” I said yeah.

“I’ve never been in a Bible study like that. I don’t think I’ve ever studied a book of the Bible like that.”

Long story short, she found out through someone else, who doesn’t even attend our church, but watches us on-line.

They go to a different church, and I won’t say where, and I don’t say this as an attack on that church, this person just said, quite clearly, they’re not getting the word of God. Blew her mind when I told her I’ve been preaching verse by verse through Mark.

I’ve said this to some of you, because of a few comments some folks have made, but I’ll say it publicly now - we’re probably the best kept secret of some Christians in this area because they go to their church because of their specific denomination, but they go home and watch our services because they’re getting something their soul craves - the word of God.

I don’t say that today to brag, I don’t say that to put down any pastor or any other denomination, please understand me today.

I say it to say this and I want to speak to the camera and those watching: Keep coming back. You don’t have to be here. You watch, we’ll keep giving you the word of God. You need it as badly as we do here at Faith.

It’s okay. You’re always welcomed here in person, but we know you’re watching that’s why we share it. Keep watching. If you’re hungry for the word of God you know where to find it.

If you’re hungry, we want to feed you.

Now, here in our text, Jesus vocally says he feels compassion, previous Mark just records that he does have compassion (Mark 6:34). Jesus openly confesses his heart for the gentile crowd.

This compassion is that real fun Greek word, “spankneedzomai” (σπλαγχνιζομαι) and it means he is moved with pity, or mercy. He is moved to his very depth with love for these people.

Likely he had such a deep compassion for them because He saw them for who they were, starving, lost sheep. And He desires so badly to bring them into the fold, to heal them, to help them, and most of all, to feed them.

At this point, though, they weren’t just spiritually hungry, they were physically hungry.

This crowd had been listening, what food they had brought had likely ran out, so hungry in fact, Jesus continues and says...

Mark 8:3 “And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.”

They will faint if they try to go home. They haven’t eaten in days - they aren’t fasting, they aren’t willfully going without, but they’re so captured by his preaching, they weren’t concerned with food.

Back in chapter six, the disciples said, “send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” (Mark 6:36)

And Jesus’ reply was “You give them something to eat!” (Mark 6:37)

But here, in our text today, with the feeding of the 4,000, nobody wants to leave. Nobody goes to Jesus to send the crowd away, Jesus takes a break and goes to the disciples, “Hey these people need to eat.”

And it’s almost like He is testing them. Without asking, Jesus is implying, “What do you think we should do?” He is giving the disciples here a chance to show their faith, to practice what He has been teaching them.

To demonstrate what He has shown them. Because the people are starving, and soon enough it will be left to the disciples to feed them.

The fact is, the disciples had Jesus 24/7 for now going on 3 years, and these people had Him for 3 days, and Jesus is saying, “How should we feed the starving people?”

If the disciples had been paying attention, had their hearts not been hardened (which is what Mark tells us happened after the feeding of the 5,000; Mark 6:52: “for they had not gained any insight about the loaves, but their heart was hardened.”

The question for us quickly becomes, are we paying attention? Do we see those starving nearby, and do we feed them? Do we give them the word of God? Or do we harden our hearts?

Are we being fed, ourselves? What are we doing to feed our souls, our spirit with the Word of God?

Do we let the red letters of our Bibles draw us in? Are we so enamored with the word of God we miss out on other things?

On TV, on Food, on the pleasures of this world? Is His word more important to us than that?

So desperate for just another morsel of his teaching?

These people were so hungry for the word of God they missed 3 days of work, 3 days of schooling, 3 days of fun with their friends, 3 days of meals - and we walk away and say, “Boy, that sure is a nice story.”

Or do we recognize the hunger of our own souls, those around us, and say, “Lord, what will you have us feed them?

How will you have me serve them?

Second, do we do have the desire to be used by Him to feed their hunger.

Mark 8:4 And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?”

Look at the Disciple’s response: Where will anyone be able to find enough bread?

They have not forgotten the 5,000 already. Well, it’s been at least 6 months or so, and a lot has happened since then so we can’t be too hard on them, can we? Yes, we can, because they haven’t forgotten that, they’re just hard hearted.

Jesus, Himself, will scold them saying, “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 7:21) You still don’t get it?

Notice He doesn’t later say “did you forget?”, He assumes they remember. You couldn’t forget something like the feeding of at least 5,000 people from almost nothing.

They have seen what Christ can do: So here are our two options as we view the disciples.

Option A: Either they’re lazy, and don’t want to be used at all - which is possible, and something we see even within the church today, if we’re being candid.

Or.

Option B: They’re so hard-hearted, and hard headed, they’ve refused to learn.

I don’t think it’s option A with these men. They don’t strike me as lazy - in fact when push comes to shove, the first thing they do is go back to their jobs, back to the work they find familiar.

It’s the work that they want to do, or perhaps believe themselves capable of doing, that is the question.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus is resurrected, the disciples have seen Him, interacted with Him, touched the nail holes, the scar in His side… and they go back to work fishing. Jesus shows up, cooks them breakfast...

“So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” (John 21:15 LSB)

Ever stop and ask “What are the “these” Jesus is referring to? A handful of people might tell you it was the other disciples, or other people, or Peter’s family.

The truth is, if we understand the text, Jesus is likely pointing to the nets and the boats, and the water. Peter, do you love me more than the job that’s familiar?

Yes Lord, you know that I love you… Then tend my lambs. Trust me to feed the sheep, Peter, you just be willing to be he hands that provide the bread, that provide the meat.

Don’t be so hard hearted, so stubborn, so unteachable you stop being a disciple of Jesus, willing to serve where you are.

We know it is the hardness of their hearts and the stubbornness of their minds that’ll be what keeps them from getting it right - we’ll see that next week in part 2, and we already witnessed it earlier in chapter 6.

The truth is, all they need is a little, and Christ can feed more than even these. But they see the size of the crowd, the desolation of the area, and they say, "How can this be done?”

This is a desolate place, not a deserted place. The Greek word used for desolate has the same root as it did n chapter 6 but it’s slightly different and we see this from the context as well.

In Chapter 6 Jesus will have the crowd sit on grass (and there’s a deeper meaning to that as well, but there’s at least grass). Here, Jesus will have them sit on the ground and if you don’t know the difference, you’ve never experience a real drought or dry summer.

I know the rains caused some problems but I admit like seeing green grass over brown grass in the yard every morning.

What the disciples are saying, without saying it, is the same thing we say when we come up against what appear to be insurmountable circumstances: In our hearts we whisper, “God’s not big enough for this. I’ve got to find a solution on my own.”

What Christ is trying to teach them is to be willing to serve with what they have in spite of the circumstance.

Mark 8:5 And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”

Last time they had five loaves - they’ve already got more bread than they had last time.

Where is the disciple’s faith?

Through the centuries, people have tried to say that this is just mark repeating himself - but that would mean Matthew chooses to do that, as well.

Not a repetitious story, repeating or retelling what’s already happened. This should be an opportunity to re-affirm what the disciples already have learned. They should be excited for Jesus to do it again, instead they show doubts.

Some of the best ways to learn, by the way, is through repetition. Jesus knows this, because He is the good Teacher.

In Mark 6:31-44, Jesus feeds a multitude - which He will do in our text.

In Mark 6:45-56, He will cross the sea - which He will do in our text.

In Mark 7:1-23, Jesus has conflict with the Pharisees - which we will see next week

In Mark 7:24-30, Jesus talks to the Syrophoenician woman about bread - next week He will talk to the disciples about bread

In Mark 7:31-36, Jesus will perform a healing doing weird stuff - in part 3 we’ll see Him do that again.

In Mark 7:37, there was a confession of faith - we’ll see Peter do this later in this chapter.

The consistent thing, though, is not what Jesus is doing so much as the disciples’ lack of understanding what it means!

Jesus will be able to make the deaf ears open, the blind eyes see, but getting the disciples’ brains to comprehend? Well, that will be His greatest miracle yet!

Convincing them that He is who they all suspect Him to be. And teaching them what that truly means - as the cross looms in the future for Him.

When Jesus says, “How many loaves do you have?” I suspect the unspoken question is, “And why aren’t we feeding them that?” Because their eyes are on what they don’t have verses Who they do have.

David Wilkerson writes:

You have heard of the prayer of faith. I believe there is a mirror image of this prayer, a prayer that is based on flesh. I call this the prayer of unbelief.

Let me pose a question to you: Have you ever heard the Lord say, “Quit praying—get up off your knees”?

The Lord spoke these very words to Moses: “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry to Me?’ ” (Exodus 14:15). The literal Hebrew meaning of the verse is, “Why are you shrieking at Me? Why all the loud pleading in My ears?”

Why would God say this to Moses? Here was a godly, praying man, in the crisis of his life. The Israelites were being chased by Pharaoh, with no escape. Most Christians would probably react as Moses did. He got alone with the Lord and poured out his heart in prayer.

Yet when God heard Moses shrieking, He told him, “Enough!” ...at that point God might have said, “You have no right to agonize before Me, Moses. Your cries are an affront to My faithfulness. I have already given you My solemn promise of deliverance, and I have instructed you specifically on what to do. Your tears are not the cry of a broken heart now—they are tears of self-pity. It is time to stop crying.

When Jesus says “Feed my sheep” why do we still look for bread? Feed them what we do have! Give them what we were given.

“I’m not a Bible scholar” so share your testimony.

“My testimony is boring, I wasn’t saved from drugs and alcohol, I wasn’t in a biker gang.” So share them all God kept you from!

Share the joy in your heart, the faithfulness God has shown you. Share what you have that He has given you!

That’s what He is teaching the disciples how to do here:

Mark 8:6 And He directed the crowd to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them. And He kept giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the crowd.

Directing them to sit on the ground… Again, we see this is a deserted place - but it’s not necessarily a place of despair. This is near the Decapolis, afterall.

There are ten cities nearby the disciples could run to in order to get food, if they really wanted to. You notice, unlike the last time, nobody brings up the cost of what it’ll be to feed them?

Last time, if you recall, Philip told Jesus, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient” for the buying of bread (John 6:7). So the implication might be, the disciples are saying, “We know you can feed 5,000 Jews, but will you feed 4,000 Gentiles?”

Jesus implied back in verse 3 that they should be the ones feeding the people, and the disciples reply is, in a sense, “Well, why don’t you do it?”

So, again, Jesus prays and breaks the bread. We saw him do this previously, as well. He “looked toward heaven. He blessed the food and broke the loaves.” This time, He gave thanks and broke them.

He gives the bread to the disciples, the disciples give it to the crowd - in the same way, He gives us Himself, for us to disperse it to others. He is the bread of life!

That’s what Jesus said in John 6:35, “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

So catch this - He gives them bread, and they are to serve.

Greek Served - παραθωσιν parathosin -set it before them, to put it near them. To give something to someone so that they are able to - if they are willing - to reach out and take it for themselves.

Do we serve others as we serve Christ? That’s a good question to ask ourselves. Do we take the Bread of Life and put it within reach of those who need it?

Who need Him?

If it is true, and I believe it is, that we’re surrounded by those who are starving for the Word of God, do we share that? Do we plant the seed of God’s word, do we put the rocks in the shoes that’ll make them think as they walk away?

Do we take what He has given us and use it for His glory? Or our own?

Mark 8:7 And they also had a few small fish; and after He blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well.

Mark and Matthew’s account is almost identical except Mark adds the fish a little later on in the story. Almost as an afterthought.

But here’s the thing we need to take away from this: They had a few - which means at least 3. Last time Jesus fed a crowd, there were only two fish.

Last time they had 5 loaves, now they have 7.

Last time the crowd was 5,000 - that’s just counting the men, it could have been a crowd as big as 20,000 people in total. This time it’s 4,000 men, Matthew adds “besides women and children” (Matthew 15:38).

Still significantly less people.

They had more resources and a smaller crowd, yet the Disciples seem somewhat unsure of how to proceed.

So Jesus gives direction. It says He “ordered” but in the Greek, there’s no command, or urging, Jesus just tells them to do it. Greek eipen - he told them, no urging needed, no compelling) Just “serve the fish, too.”

And the disciples do as they’re told, no question, no fussing. They just do what Jesus tells them to do. This is what a disciple does.

The word for disciple, I’m sure some of you may be familiar, the word Jesus uses in Matthew 28:19 - “Go therefore and make disciples” is key.

It’s the Greek word matheteusate (μαθητευσατε), which comes from the word matheetees: It’s a believing learner, or a learning believer. It’s someone who is willing to serve, to listen, to learn, to be corrected.

That’s the hard part about being a disciple, isn’t it? We’re okay with the learning when it’s learning what we want. We’re okay with the serving when the serving is fun. But we don’t want the harder teachings, or the correction when we need.

So many people read the Gospels and they say, “Oh, I’m like Peter. I’m kind of a hot head, I want to run through walls for Jesus without thinking...” That’s not Peter. Peter’s a coward. Peter hides when things get tough.

At times, Peter’s a blowhard. He talks tough when things are going well, when things get sticky we don’t hear a word from him.

The truth is, if we’re honest, we’re less than Peter. Peter was willing to kill for Christ, but he wasn’t willing to die for Christ. Some of us would be willing to die for Christ but we aren’t willing to serve for Christ.

But If we are His disciples, Christ gives us what we need to serve others.

Finally, Jesus must always be enough to satisfy us

Mark 8:8 And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces.

The crowd eats and they’re satisfied - just like chapter 6.

I believe I said this when we went through that story - you know if you’re a parent, that’s the greater miracle. Everyone ate and were content! No stories of people bringing back the fish saying they asked for lemon juice sprinkled on their filet.

Nobody brings back their bread asking for butter because they were given jelly...

No, everyone eats and is satisfied. This is a thing we must learn as followers of Christ - to be satisfied in Him and in Him alone.

This goes back to something I’ve mentioned the past few weeks, something we are seeing within the text: becoming a mature believer.

This is what Paul describes when he writes, “I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in abundance; in any and all things I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.” (Philippians 4:12 LSB)

How can Paul say that? Because he is most satisfied in Christ.

“Well, that’s easy for Paul to say, he did miracles, he could do incredible things, he had a brilliant mind.” He also was beaten 5 times with a whip (40 lashes minus one, meaning he was beaten almost to the point of death). He was also beaten with rods, got stoned, shipwrecked 3 times, spending a night and a day adrift at sea. He received beatings without number. (2 Corinthians 11:23-26)

So many want the power Paul had but they don’t want the beatings that power gave him. They want the impactful ministry Paul had but they don’t want Paul’s prayer life. They want the rank, and the praise Paul receives now, but they wouldn’t want his prison sentence then.

The mature believer is satisfied in Christ alone - and when you’re satisfied in something, you talk about it. You’re a witness to it. You’re happy to share it.

When’s the last time you had an amazing meal and didn’t tell someone about it? When’s the last time you watched a movie that made you laugh so hard you cried and you didn’t remind all your friends to go watch it?

Told a story about when you last went fishing, or hunting, talked about a good day at work… Or shared a great interaction you had with an old friend?

We get satisfaction from those things. Do we not find our satisfaction in Christ to the point we want to share Him and serve Him?

They had 7 large baskets left, last time there were 12. But this is different.

I did not mention this when we covered the 5,000, but the baskets used then were - in the Greek - kophinous (κοφινους) - in which travellers would carry provisions.

This time, the word Mark uses is spuridus (σπυριδας) - which was a big basket, you’d use to store grain or carry produce to the market.

In the first instance, they got 12 lunchbox coolers of food. In the second, they got laundry hampers of food.

The message is clear: Christ is here to feed the Gentile as much as He is the Israelite. Not only that...

The broken pieces are left over. Will feed the disciples later on, perhaps given to people who had a longer journey home - the truth of Christ continues to sustain us even after the preaching ends.

If we truly receive it.

Mark 8:9 Now about four thousand were there, and He sent them away.

Again, 4,000 is likely just the men. They were counted by heads of household. There was likely somewhere between 10-12 thousand, some scholars believe as many as 16,000 people present.

Yet when it’s over, Jesus sends them away. He has to. They won’t leave on their own. After 3 days of teaching, he likely needs a day off. His vocal chords are raw from so much speaking, and as loudly as he likely needed to preach for so many to hear so clearly.

Previously, Jesus would dismiss the crowds and have the disciples go on without Him. Here, he clearly needs rest after 3 days of preaching, teaching, and healing. So he gets in the boat with the disciples.

Matthew seems to combine what we have as Mark last two verses when he writes, “And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan.”(Matthew 15:39 LSB)

Mark 8:10 And immediately He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of Dalmanutha.

We are not sure where Dalmanutha is - Matthew says “Magadan”, there have been some archaeological digs that seem to place it somewhere on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee - it’s likely Mark’s readers would have known the region, as he is the only one who refers to it by that name.

But the point is, Jesus has returned to the Galilean region - he gets back to his base of operations.

We should hope he got some sleep in the boat, because as soon as he hits the shore, a new story will begin.

And there must be a time to rest in ministry. A time where we serve, but we serve best when we are refueled, and ready to go again. Jesus understood this both for the disciples and for Himself. It’s one huge reason why we do a summer break here at Faith, to give our leaders and teachers a break.

When we are given rest, we should make the most of it. Finding ourselves satisfied in Christ. Filled with Christ. Serving Christ with all He has given us. Serving others as we serve Him.

If we are His disciples, Christ gives us what we need to serve others.

Conclusion:

I’m going to move to close in a moment, but what we truly have seen in this text is not only the compassion of Christ, but the compassion we should share with Him for the lost.

That compassion should move us to serve, to love, to help, to bless. Not in a social services sort of way, but in the way the church is commanded to show compassion.

“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.” Matthew 25:35-36

While we show our compassion in serving, Christ showed His compassion in serving mankind the ultimate way.

Hebrews tells us: “Therefore, He had to be made like His brothers in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17 LSB)

His compassion reached its boiling point when He allowed Himself to be placed upon the cross. He had come as a man in order that He become a merciful, compassionate, faithful High Priest interceding on our behalf before the Father.

He was a propitiation for our sins - He took our sins upon Himself as He died.

You see, it’s one thing to feed people a lot of people. It could be chalked up to a phenomenon, a magic trick, an illusion, or even a fairy tale. It’s quite another to die like a criminal when you’ve committed no crime, and that death change history, change the world, and most importantly, change your life.

He was willing to go to the cross and bear the full weight of divine punishment for our sins, in order that we might be delivered from Hell. His compassion is more than just for our physical needs, He fulfills our spiritual needs.

How can we not serve Him? How can we not take His example and pass it on to those around us?

If we are His disciples, He has given us all we need to serve others - He has given us Himself upon the cross.

Stand with me today as we close in prayer.

Pray