Jesus Feeds 5,000 People

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Mark 6:30-44.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner, October 13, 2019.

We pick back up in the Gospel according to Mark where we left off.  As we look at this passage, we are going to recognize that God has ministry for us to do, but He also wants us to have rest.  It is not always easy to find that balance, and no one does it perfectly. 

In our story today, the time of rest for the disciples is interrupted by the crowds who want to see Jesus.

Jesus seeks rest for his disciples

Verses 30 through 33 focus on a reunion scene with Jesus and his disciples.  In verses 7-12 of this chapter, we were told that Jesus had sent them out in pairs to go through the towns of Israel.  They were to preach that people should repent because the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.  They also were to cast out any evil spirits, and heal those who were sick.  We are not told how long they were gone, but here we have their return, and the excitement that they had as they tell their stories to Jesus.

Meanwhile there are other people who keep coming and going who want to interact with Jesus as well.  We are told that it was so hectic that the disciples didn’t even have time to eat.

At this point, Jesus recognizes that they need to go to a place where there aren’t any people, so that he can spend some time with The Twelve.  They then get in a boat and head towards an area that Jesus has in mind where they could fellowship and rest.

There is an interesting interplay surrounding the concept of rest in the Bible.  It is clear that we physically need rest every day, and that we also need rest in others ways: emotional rest, rest from activity (even if it is ministry), and especially spiritual rest.  In this case, they needed a physical break from ministry and attending to the needs of other people.  If we are always helping others, and never taking time to get alone with God, then we will come to a point of emotional and spiritual exhaustion.  We need rest and relationship with Jesus in order to recharge.  Even just sharing with Jesus and having him encourage them would be a powerful rest or refreshing of their souls.

Ask yourself, do I take time to be refreshed by Jesus?  If we will take the time to talk with Jesus about our day and ask his help, we will find a source of power that cannot come any other way.  In fact, this helps us to understand the fourth commandment of The Ten Commandments.  In the days of Moses, it was normal to work seven days a week.  However, God tells his people to take one day off from trying to make it by their own labor and trust God to bless the other six days of labor.  It is not intended to be a harsh command, but rather a blessing from God.  Part of resting is being able to trust that God will take care of things if I take a break.  Isn’t that amazing?  The universe won’t fall apart if I take a break.  The Gospel won’t fail if I take a break. 

Yet, there is a caveat.  Our flesh can come to love taking a break.  Just as a good rest can turn into laziness and lethargy, so we can be lazy about the work of God in our lives.  We can be spiritually sleeping when it is time to work.  This is where we need to be in tune with the Holy Spirit.  If He is moving then we need to be moving.  Moreover, if He is telling us to stand still then we should do so even if there are other people telling us to move.

The crowds see Jesus and his disciples leaving and figure out where they are headed.  We are told that they ran by foot around the lake to go where they believed Jesus and the disciples were going.  No doubt, they were spreading the word as they went.  Thus, by the boat arrives, there is quite a large crowd awaiting Jesus.

At this point, it would be easy to see crowds as a bad thing.  However, these people are just desperate people who sense in Jesus something that can help them.  The group is mixed with many who just want a miracle, some who want to see the man who may be the Messiah, and others who are working as spies for the Pharisees.  Remember that the crowd is always a mixed bag, and therefore it can be a good thing or a bad thing.  The people within the crowd are not thinking about the disciples need of rest.  They are only thinking about their own desire for Jesus.

Jesus has compassion on the crowds

In our flesh, we would probably disperse the crowds with some choice words, but we are told that Jesus was moved with compassion for them.  He saw them like one who sees sheep who have no shepherd.  Their religious leaders were not feeding them the truth and the spiritual food that God had supplied.  Instead, they were being abused and used as a means to an end.  Sheep without a shepherd would have all kinds of wounds and diseases from all the harassing predators.

Do you believe that God’s heart is moved with compassion when he looks upon the crowds of this world?  Sure, crowds can be capable of quite evil things.  It was a crowd that day that chanted, “Crucify him!”  Even the mobs of rioting youth, that we see in our cities, are only lost people who are hopeless in a world that sees them as a means to an end.  I do not want to romanticize the crowd in any way.  It can be a dangerous tool in the hands of evil people and the devil.  Yet, it is filled with people who don’t know their right hand from their left spiritually.  Otherwise, why would they be standing in a crowd?  May we first understand God’s compassion for us, so that we can then see His compassion for others, not because they are good or even doing good, but because often they are just sheep without a good shepherd.

We are told that Jesus takes time to teach them many things.  Probably it was something like the Sermon on the Mount.  We are not told of any healing, but that may only be due to their location in a remote place.  Sick people are not often able to travel to remote places.  However, the teaching of Christ is far more important than the healing of Christ.  A person may be healed and yet never learn from Christ what they need for spiritual life.  Make sure in your own life that you are not failing the accusation that Satan made against Job.  He accused Job of only serving God because God blessed him materially and protected him. 

At some point, the disciples recognize that they should send the people away, so that they will have enough time to go into the villages around there in order to find food for the night.  Yet, Jesus tells the disciples to give the people something to eat.  Believe it or not, God does care about your material needs.  He does supply for us both physically and spiritually.  Our problem is that we often neglect the spiritual in pursuit of material things, and this highlights the folly of our understanding.  It is better to lack material things and have God then to have material things and yet lack God.  Without God, no amount of provisions and possessions can satisfy and protect us.  However, with God, I can be destitute in the desert and still be filled by His provision.  Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Jesus miraculously feeds the people

It is clear that Jesus has decided to do a miracle.  Just as Israel wandered in the desert and God miraculously fed them with Manna, so Jesus would miraculously provide bread for multitudes in a deserted place.  Yet, he does so by asking his disciples to feed the people, knowing full well that this is beyond their ability.

The disciples complain that the request is unreasonable.  Do you expect us to go into the villages and buy up food for everybody?  Now, a denarion was equivalent to a day’s wage for the average laborer.  So, 200 denarii would be just over half a year’s income.  Most likely they were not carrying 200 denarii along with them.  Their point is that Jesus is asking them to do something that is ludicrous.  Have you ever felt yourself in this place?

Jesus then tells the disciples to check their inventory of food items.  They only have 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish.  Instead of saying, “Wow, that is not nearly enough!” Jesus moves forward like they are going to feed all of these people with this small amount.  The people are instructed to sit down in groups to make it easier to serve and thus we are told that there were groups of 50 and groups of 100. 

Have you ever neglected to serve others for God because you could only see what you were lacking?  Yet, Jesus instructs them to take the five loaves and 2 fish and proceed to feed the multitude.  What is the worst that can happen here?  They would feed a couple of people and there would be no more food.  Why not just step out in faith and obey the Lord?

Now, the point of this story is not about how we can get a miracle when we want.  Rather, it is about how to change your mindset from one that can only see what you can’t do to one that is faithful to respond to the Lord with what little you have.

Before they serve, Jesus takes the bread and the fish, and he blesses them.  This is clearly a prayer of blessing over the food, which most likely involves thanks to God for His provision.  This is important because it shows to the disciples and to the crowd just who actually be serving this crowd of people.  Without the blessing of God, the disciples and their small amount of food are not at all enough, but with God it is enough.  Yes, it will be the hands and feet of the disciples that bring the food to the people, but it is God who will be providing the increase and the blessing.

Now, the blessing is not solely about the amount.  It is even more about the strength that we gain from it.  What will I do with this strength that God has given me?  Will I use it to do the works of God, or will I use it for my own fleshly ends?  As we eat the bread of heaven, we should then use that strength for the purposes of God and not just for ourselves.  The disciples probably felt pretty sheepish (pun intended) as Jesus broke the food into pieces and gave it to them to hand out.

Yet, as they obeyed, God supernaturally added to what they lacked.  The mechanics of how God supplied so much food from such little amount is not explained, most likely because no one knew how it happened.  It just did!  As one person received and passed on to the other, there continued to be more to pass on.  The same God who can form man from the dust of the earth and breathe the breath of life into him is able to cause bread and fish to appear as well. 

We are told two things to help us see the magnitude of this miracle.  First, there are actually 12 baskets of leftovers when they are done.  There is probably 12 because Jesus is reminding the tribes of Israel that God has not forgotten them.  There shouldn’t even have been enough to feed The Twelve, much less the crowds.

Second, we are told that there were about 5,000 men in the crowd.  This was a typical way of counting crowds in those days.  This means with women and children there were more than that.  Now, we get a sense of what the disciples were thinking as they approached the crowds with the little food that they had.

Jesus is called the bread of heaven who is sent down from heaven to feed the souls of men.  Here the people are miraculously fed natural bread and natural fish, but the true needs of the people are much deeper and much greater than this.  It would be a tragedy to feed people’s bellies and yet leave them destitute of the truth of salvation.  Jesus cared for both.  We must learn to care for people’s natural needs, but not lose sight of their spiritual needs, and our spiritual needs.  We must quit looking at what little we have and simply pray this prayer.  “Lord, bless this little that I have so that it may accomplish the work that you intend it to do.”  May we learn to quickly say, “Yes!” to our Lord’s command to serve (even when we are tired), and trust Him to provide the increase.  Do you believe that little is much when God is in it?

You might be interested in meditating on the lyrics of the old song found here: https://hymnary.org/text/in_the_harvest_field_now_ripened.

Jesus Feeds audio