Kingdom Compassion | Ian Hales

Well, I I'm just I'm really thankful for that.

Very kind words.

We uh how long have you been here now, Miles?

Three three years.

Three years when when Miles left our church and came here.

I told this to the men, I'll say it, I'll say it to you.

Uh it was really bittersweet.

It was bitter for us and sweet for you.

Uh we lost one of our best, and you gained.

And uh I know how much you love your pastor.

We love Miles and Amber and their family so much.

So thankful for them.

Uh he was a huge blessing to our church.

That's why it's hard to lose your best people and people who have had such an impact on your church.

And Miles, uh, the imprint on our church is still there.

And uh we're so grateful for him.

I'm thankful for him personally.

He's a dear friend, and um, and I was just so encouraged by being with uh many of you men.

Good to see some faces here.

It's nice to walk into a place and feel like now I know more of you.

Uh, we had a wonderful time, and I mean no, it was terrible, like Miles said.

It was awful.

The brisket was not good um at all.

We had a really sweet time, and uh, we spent our time in the Gospel of Mark.

And uh for some of the men of you who are there, I want you to kind of consider this as an extension of our time together.

And that's okay if you weren't there with us at the men's conference, especially you ladies, it's okay.

Uh, you're gonna be able to catch up real quick.

This is not, this is uh, you don't need what we had at the retreat to experience the joy of the passage in front of us.

And I just trust this passage is gonna be a huge blessing to you.

Um, but uh before we dive into it, I want to just pray one more time and ask for the Lord's blessing and the Lord's help.

So let's go to the Lord together.

Father, we we come before you, uh God, just sensing our need and acknowledging, Lord, that God, apart from you, we can do nothing.

We are our contingent beings.

We are we are made by you to depend upon you for everything.

And Father, as those who know and love you, God, we consider it an incredible joy and privilege to have access to you, to your presence, to your power.

And so, Lord, we pray that that you would move powerfully among us here.

Would you open our hearts wide to receive your word?

Would you help us to feel both our neediness, but Lord, would you help us to see and experience your great provision for us in Jesus Christ today?

Would you fill us up with faith?

Would you cause our hearts, Lord, to stand in awe of who you are, Jesus, of what you have done for us?

And we pray, Lord, that that would be fuel for our lives, that it would fuel us, Lord, to live for your honor and for your glory and for your praise.

And so now, Lord, we pray that as we come before you humbly and dependently, that you would speak mightily to us through your word.

Engage our hearts and transform us by your power and for your glory.

We pray all of these things in your name, Jesus.

Amen.

Uh a few months ago, uh, my my two boys and myself were at a uh an OHL hockey game.

Uh we live in the Durham region, we're close to the Oshawa, and we were at an Oshawa Generals hockey game.

And uh, yeah, boo, terrible, poof, we can't stand them.

We were forced to go.

And uh when we walked in, it was interesting, it was fascinating.

We walked in, and we hadn't, I mean, I don't think we've been that year to a single game, but we walked in, and about half the fans were wearing peculiar, peculiar things.

They were wearing shower caps of all different colors and styles.

Some people had bathrobes on.

They had those kind of scrub brushes, you know, on the wooden, you know, kind of scrub brush and those floofies.

What do you call those things?

Those shower, what's that?

FUFA.

FUFA.

We'll go with floofy.

I think it sounds better.

So, you know, whirling them around, and we were very confused.

We didn't understand what was going on.

Uh, when I got home, I did a little bit of research and I found out that the owners of the Oshawa Generals had sent out an email to their fan base advising them to make sure they took a shower before they came to the games.

It's not a great way to win your fans, by the way.

See, why would they do something like this?

Well, because apparently some people were, let's just say, noticeably unclean.

There was a certain odor in the air.

And they wanted to try to do something about this.

People were obviously having a little bit of fun with it.

I saw one guy holding up a sign, said, I showered twice just in case.

But as you just think about this, it's such a bizarre decision to do something like this.

Why in the world would they do this?

I think we can kind of understand the heart behind it, right?

Nobody wants unclean people sitting beside them.

We get that, and if we're honest, if we're honest, let's just make a little transition from the physical to the maybe spiritual or from for other parts of our lives.

We all have categories of people that we instinctively want to keep at a distance.

There are people in our lives, whether or not we want to acknowledge it, is one thing who we might be inclined to label unclean.

And the Jews of Jesus' day, they had these categories too.

They had lifted them straight from the Old Testament and they had applied them sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly.

But in the Old Testament, there were many things that could make you unclean as a Jewish person.

But the thing that would make you the most unclean of all was brushing up against a Gentile, a non-Jew.

And in Mark chapter 7, Jesus says something incredibly shocking.

Mark 7 · chapter mention

He tells people that real uncleanness isn't something that's on your skin, it's something that's in your heart.

Which means that the problem isn't those people around you, the problem is all of us.

And Mark even tells us that Jesus, he declared all foods clean, which is a big deal for the Jewish people.

There were many foods that they were not allowed to eat that were considered unclean.

And earlier in Mark chapter 7, Jesus declared all foods unclean.

Mark 7 · chapter mention

Or sorry, clean.

What he's saying, though, was not just about food, and that's what I want to pick up on with you this morning.

It wasn't simply about having a new diet.

He was telling his people that they need a new heart.

And he wasn't just expanding their menu, he was redefining their boundaries.

Early in Mark chapter 7, Jesus is being resisted and rejected by the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, who represented the Jewish people.

Mark 7 · chapter mention

And so what does Jesus do after facing this kind of rejection?

Here's what he does: he goes outside the boundaries of the Jewish people.

He goes outside of Israel, he goes outside those covenant boundaries, and he he walks intentionally into what the Jewish people would have considered unclean categories, an unclean area towards unclean people.

The very people labeled unclean, Jesus is saying, are now able to be brought inside.

And ironically, those who were supposed to be inside were being pushed outside.

See, why?

Why was this now happening at this moment in Jesus' ministry?

Well, because the kingdom of God was finally breaking into the world.

And the king has come into this world for those who are outside, for those who are broken, for those who are hungry, for those who are often looked at as unclean.

And the message of the gospel is that anyone can be made clean by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Amen?

Anyone can be made whole, anyone can be brought in because the only one who can do it has come into the world.

Humanity and the world doesn't need soap, they need a savior.

This is a picture of the compassionate Christ.

Compassion, as we see in the scriptures, isn't merely Christ's mood, it's his mission.

And it's a model for our ministry, it's a model for us as believers.

Kingdom compassion is the heart of the king driving the mission of the kingdom.

It's the heart of the king, and therefore it must be our heart as well.

So here's the question I want to ask and answer as we march through this text.

What does kingdom compassion look like?

If this is the heart of the king and is supposed to be our heart, what does kingdom compassion actually look like?

First, we see this that kingdom compassion responds to the nobody.

Let's begin in verse 24.

Again, Jesus is moving away from the Pharisees and outside of Israel, and it says in verse 24, and from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre in Sidon.

And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.

But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him, and came and fell down at his feet.

Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophenician by birth, and she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

And he said to her, Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.

And she answered him, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.

And he said to her, For this statement you may go your way, the demon has left your daughter.

And he went home and found she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.

The story kind of begins with a bit of a cryptic comment where Jesus goes into the region of Tyre in Sidon and he enters a house, and then it says, you know, that he doesn't want anybody to know, and yet he could not remain hidden.

A little bit cryptic.

What's going on here?

Well, the simple reality is Jesus is tired.

He's tired because he has been pouring himself out in ministry, open to closed, morning to evening, people are coming to Jesus non-stop.

They're coming to Jesus because he is inviting everybody to come.

People who are broken, people who are needy, people who are in need of healing are flocking to Jesus to the point where sometimes he can't even sit down to eat a meal.

So here he is, going into a home, looking for some rest.

But as the gospel of Mark portrays, it doesn't work.

Jesus looks for rest, but wherever Jesus goes, desperate people find him.

I want to just pause.

This is early on, but I want to make a real quick application for you here.

This is super encouraging.

I don't know how you view Jesus, but oftentimes we look at our lives and we think that the things we're struggling with are trivial or meaningless, that we don't want to burden Jesus with these kinds of things.

But can you hear today as we look at the scriptures that Jesus is never too tired for you?

There's nothing going on in your life at any point that you cannot bring into the presence of King Jesus.

And this woman, she brings her greatest problem to Jesus.

He's found by this Gentile woman, Mark tells us.

And here's what we know about her.

She's close enough to Israel, geographically, to know about the Jewish customs, and yet she understands as well that she's completely outside of the covenantal privileges enjoyed by God's people.

She's a Syrophoenician, that's what Mark tells us.

She's a Gentile, she's a pagan, she's a woman, and she has a daughter who has an unclean spirit.

She's her daughter's demonically possessed.

Matthew, in his account of this, calls her, interestingly, a Canaanite woman.

It's like he's saying she's not just distant from the promises of God, she actually belongs to the historic enemies of God's people.

Remember, as God's people crossed the Jordan and entered into the promised land, the land of Canaan, these were the enemies of God and the enemies of God's people.

Can you just see the beauty of this passage right here?

What God is doing is calling enemies to become his friends.

By every standard of the day, this woman, I mean, she does not belong in that room.

Socially, religiously, culturally, she is a nobody and she knows it.

And yet, she comes anyway.

Why?

Why does this nobody who has no business being in this room feel like she can walk into the presence of this man Jesus, this miracle worker?

Here's the simple answer.

Because she believes Jesus is compassionate.

This is where many of us stop.

We know our sin, we know our past.

We know what we we feel disqualifies us from entering into the presence of Jesus.

But instead of coming like this woman, we often stay away.

Even as Christians, when we fall into sin and we struggle with things that we thought we had a handle on, oftentimes we delay coming to Jesus because we just we feel so dirty, we feel so unclean, we feel like we're not going to be welcomed into his presence.

Somehow we start viewing Jesus, even in the Christian life, more as our judge than our compassionate savior.

Can I remind you that unworthiness is not a barrier to Christ?

Pride is.

Pride is our greatest barrier to Christ.

You don't clean yourself up to come to Jesus, you come to Jesus to be cleaned up.

And here's this woman, she enters the house uninvited, and she falls down at the feet of Jesus.

And she starts begging Jesus to cast this demon out of her daughter.

In Matthew's account, the disciples urge Jesus to send her away.

Like, tell this, tell this Canaanite, Syrophoenician woman to get out of here.

She doesn't belong here.

But she won't take no for an answer.

This is a desperate parent pleading on behalf of their precious child.

Parents, some of you in here, you know what this is like.

All of you who are parents, you know what it's like to plead on behalf of your child.

Some of you know very personally what it's like to have your child suffer something that you have zero control over, and you just feel so helpless, you feel so weak, you feel so insufficient and inadequate, and you're like, Lord, I don't I don't know what to do.

And you're begging God, I know there's people in this room who feel like that for their children.

That's the place this woman is in.

She just has no other option.

There's no other place she can go.

She's probably tried absolutely everything.

She's been to every doctor, she's been to every uh pagan healer or tried witchcraft.

I mean, you name it.

She's tried to beg to the pagan gods and pled for the life of her child to be spared, and nowhere, no one can help her.

And so she comes to Jesus because she believes that this is the man who can help her, and that this man is compassionate and will not send her away.

And this is such a fascinating discussion that they begin to have in verse 27 and 26 and 27.

Right now, the the woman was a Gentile, Syrophone, and she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter, verse 27, and he said to her, Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.

This sounds really abrasive.

In fact, some people, some commentators think that Jesus is being really harsh.

But she answered him, notice her answer, yes, Lord, yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.

Fascinating discussion.

And I admit, on the surface, if you're just kind of reading this at a cursory level, it does sound a little bit harsh.

In the ancient world, most dogs were scavengers.

It wasn't like today.

Most of you know, most of us, some of you, anybody got a household dog pet?

Yeah?

Okay.

That you please don't tell me you call it your fur baby.

That's not okay.

That's unbiblical.

I'm just kidding.

That's our our culture, like treats animals like they're humans, right?

Treats dogs like they're humans.

In the ancient world, I mean, they treated dogs like dogs.

Like they were not, most of them not allowed in the house.

Now, there were there were occasions where small dogs, you know, families would have small dogs and bring them into their home, and that wasn't that wasn't the norm, but it also wasn't quite uncommon.

But to call somebody a dog in the ancient world, let's just say this, it it uh it wasn't encouraging.

And the Jews of Jesus' day, they often called Gentiles dogs because they were unclean.

But you need to see that Jesus here is not intending this as an insult.

In fact, he chooses a very specific word.

And he could have chosen a word that that referenced this woman to be a kind of scavenger dog.

Instead, he chooses a word that's a diminutive, which a diminutive is like a smaller version.

It's like it's like he looked at this woman.

You could probably better translate it like this.

He looked at this woman and called her a little puppy.

Almost like an endearing term, almost, like a like a like a household dog, not a scavenger kind of dog.

And the reason we know this isn't harsh is because of the way she responds.

Notice how she takes this statement.

That's the best indicator of how we are supposed to understand this statement.

She doesn't take this as either rude or racist.

In fact, she takes this as being right.

And what this does is it describes Jesus as saying, look, it the children need to be fed first, and then the dogs maybe, you know.

But there's an order here, there's a covenantal order.

This isn't describing exclusion, it is describing order.

And this describes the order of the way salvation is working in God's plan of redemption.

It goes to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles.

This is what Paul says, right, in Romans chapter 1, for we are not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe, to the Jew first and then to the Gentile.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

If you read to the book of Acts, this is the way the gospel begins to work itself out.

From from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the ends of the earth.

Jews first, then the Gentiles.

But I want you to notice this was about order, not exclusion.

At first glance, it appears that Jesus is rejecting her, but he's not.

So what is he doing?

Why is he speaking like this to her?

Here's what he's doing.

Jesus is testing her.

He's testing her.

So, what exactly is he testing?

Here's what he's doing.

He's testing her to draw her faith out into the open.

He wants her to express her neediness and her trust that he is the only one who can resolve her problem.

And in verse 28, she understands this.

Yes, Lord.

And then she makes this beautiful statement for even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.

And can you just can you hear her heart in this?

She's like, look, uh, she's not demanding inclusion.

She accepts the order and she's simply saying, like, yes, yes, Lord, I understand.

I'm not, I'm not a part of the Jewish people, but I'm just I'm just asking, and I'm not trying to be, I'm just, can I just have some crumbs that fall from their table?

I'll take the crumbs, I'll take the scraps.

Whatever you can give, I'll take, Jesus.

And her response is amazing.

Again, just to see this, I I get it.

She's saying, I'm not a Jew, I'm a nobody, I accept that.

But she humbly says, but I want in.

I love what Tim Keller says about this.

He says, She's not saying, Lord, give me what I deserve on the basis of my goodness.

She's saying, give me what I don't deserve on the basis of your goodness.

She appeals not to her merit, but to his mercy.

Not to her qualifications, but to his compassion.

She's saying, I know you're the savior of the Jews, but I also believe that you are the savior of the world.

Interestingly, she gets it before the disciples of Jesus get it.

She has abandoned all hope in her pagan God.

She's turned to Jesus as her only hope.

She comes empty handed, and that is enough.

Can I just remind you, church?

Listen, only empty hands can be filled.

You have to come to Jesus empty handed.

Empty-handed.

Nothing in my hands do I bring, only to the cross I cling.

Some of you are exhausted trying to prove that you belong.

Some of you are exhausted, even in the Christian life, trying to attain a standard, believing that it's going to increase God's blessing in your life or acceptance of you.

Trying to be good enough, religious enough, moral enough.

And this story is telling you you don't belong because you qualify.

You belong because he is compassionate.

Come empty, come desperate, come totally dependent.

That is enough.

It's not just enough, it's actually essential.

It's the only way you can come.

Commentator Mark Strauss, he writes this about this text.

He says, I'll put it on the screen for you here so you can follow along.

It says this she acknowledges that she is undeserving with no rightful place at the table, but then falls at Jesus' feet, literally, and asks for mercy.

This is our only appropriate approach to God.

As humble sinners in need of his grace, we bring nothing to the table except our emptiness and the promise of a loving and merciful God.

That's the gospel.

Thomas Cranmer, he captured this in the Book of Common Prayer.

And again, he makes this statement based on this story.

Look what he says again on the screen.

He says this we do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.

We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy.

Isn't that awesome?

That's our God.

Our cultural tells us, no, you're worthy, you're somebody, you deserve it.

I like to tell people all the time, listen, you're not worthless, but you're not worthy.

You're not deserving, and so you must become dependent.

The gospel begins when nobody's stopped pretending that they are somebody.

And the moment you stop pretending, you're finally ready to receive mercy.

And look at this mercy, look at this compassion, look at how he responds to this nobody in verse 29 and 30.

He invited this is amazing.

For this statement, go your way, your daughter's been healed.

What an incredible reality! She goes home and finds her child lying in the bed, the demon is gone.

This is so awesome.

He invites dogs to the dinner table.

Church, you need to hear what's going on here.

This is good news for you and for me, right?

Anyone in here Jewish?

No.

We're all Gentiles, right?

He invites us to himself.

He makes Canaanites his children.

Church, he makes enemies his friends.

This is so, so awesome.

You come to him empty, and he is enough.

She believes and receives, and so can you.

Here's the wonder.

Though she asks for crumbs, he actually gives her a feast.

This is the heart of our king.

And if this is how the king treats outsiders, here's a great application, church.

I want you to hear this.

If this is how the king has treated you as an outsider, how are we to treat those who are currently outsiders to God's kingdom?

We are to embrace and embody the same kind of kingdom compassion.

If this is his heart, it must be our heart.

And Jesus' kingdom compassion does not only respond to the nobody.

Secondly, kingdom compassion restores the needy.

We shift into a different story, but it's very related.

All of these stories we're looking at are actually tied together thematically.

Verse 31 then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the region of the Decapolis.

And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hands on him, and taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears.

And after spitting, he touched his tongue.

And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, Ephaphtha, that is, be opened.

And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.

And Jesus charged them to tell no one, but the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, He has done all things well.

He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.

The scene shifts to another Gentile region.

Again, catch the theme here.

We're no longer in Israel.

We're outside those the clean territory of Israel.

We're in unclean territory.

He's in the Decapolis, one of the ten Roman major cities.

And a man is brought to him who is deaf and he has a speech impediment.

He's physically impaired.

And because of this, he's unable to hear.

Because he's unable to hear, he's unable to speak clearly.

This is a man who is broken, he is needy, and he's brought to Jesus, and they beg Jesus to lay his hands on him and heal him.

Again, in the ancient world, this man is utterly helpless.

Jesus takes this man aside.

I love this.

Do you notice he takes him away from the crowd?

A lot of Jesus' miracles happen in front of crowds, but some don't.

In this particular situation, Jesus does this in private.

You say, why does Jesus do this in private?

Here's why I think this is happening.

This man has probably been made a spectacle his entire life because of his impairment.

And Jesus is not interested in making him a spectacle again.

In other words, what Jesus is doing is showing very personal care and compassion for this man.

And Jesus does something so fascinating here.

This is this is a rarity in the Gospels that Jesus does this.

Oftentimes he just heals with a word, but in this case, he puts his fingers into the man's ears.

And then he takes his saliva and he touches the man's tongue.

And then he looks up to heaven and he sighs before saying, Be opened.

Now, this is not some kind of a magical incantation.

Some in the cult are believe that this is how you had to do this.

You had to have these kind of formulaic ways of healing people.

That's not what this is.

Jesus can heal with a word.

He just did it, right?

We just saw that in the miracle before this.

He doesn't even have to be present, he doesn't have to be near the person to heal them.

He heals with a word at a distance.

No problem.

It's not an issue for God.

So what Jesus does here, we need to understand, is not necessary for the healing to take place.

Which means this Jesus is doing this not because he needs it, but because the man needs it.

Not because Jesus needs to do this, but because the man needs to see this and understand something.

This is recorded because we need to understand something, and it's teaching us a number of things I want to draw out for you.

Interesting, first, in in Exodus chapter four, just really quick before I get there, you guys remember the story of Exodus.

Many of you are probably very familiar, where God sends Moses back into Egypt in order to liberate God's people, right, from slavery to Pharaoh and the Egyptians.

And God is sending Moses back in as his spokesman, right?

You're gonna go and you're gonna speak on my behalf.

Does anybody remember Moses' first response to God when he's told, Go and speak for me, go and speak on behalf of me?

Moses, what a funny guy.

This is funny because he's seen so many miracles.

He stood before a burning bush.

And then he has the audacity to say this to God.

But Moses said to the Lord, Exodus 4, verse 10, O my Lord, I am not eloquent either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.

Exodus 4:10

Many commentators believe that Moses actually had a speech impediment.

It's interesting.

Then the Lord said to him, This is the important part I want you to see.

Who has made man's mouth?

Answer God.

Who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind?

Is it not I the Lord?

In other words, God, you know what God is saying to Moses?

I can make people any way I want, I can unmake them, and I can remake them.

I am God.

Jesus, with his hands-on approach, I think, in one sense, is declaring that he is not a human magician.

He is in fact the divine creator.

He made this man.

I think that's what Jesus is kind of indicating.

It's like most I made you and I can remake you.

Jesus doesn't just heal powerfully.

I love this, he heals personally, and I think that's what this also indicates.

Not just that he's God, but that he is compassionate and he loves people intimately and personally.

And so he's touching the tongue and the ears in order to demonstrate to this man compassion and care.

In other words, he's entering this man's world, and in order to do so, interestingly, our Lord uses sign language.

It's like he's telling him, I'm going to do this, I'm going to fix your ears, I'm going to fix your tongue, the power is coming from me.

But there's another sense in which this is sign language.

You see, every miracle of Jesus, do you realize this in the New Testament is actually a sign pointing to a greater reality.

Did you know that?

Every single miracle isn't just about that miracle itself.

It's pointing to a new reality that awaits all those who turn to Jesus Christ.

This is such good news, right?

We we live in a broken world.

We all feel the effects of sin and the fall in our lives.

Amen?

I mean, there's brokenness all around us, there's brokenness within us.

We see it, we feel it.

It's hard not to, but every miracle is the king entering the world saying, One day I am gonna make all things new.

I'm going to undo the effects of the fall.

All of the sickness, all of the disease, all of the death, all of the war, everything that is so broken in this world, one day is going to be fully renovated and restored to perfection.

Every single miracle of Jesus is pointing to that reality.

And in those miracles, it's the cre that the new creation breaking into the old.

And Mark actually uses a word here when he describes there in verse 32 that this man has a speech impediment.

Here's a really interesting connection for you.

It's used only here.

This is the only time this word is used here in the New Testament.

That's significant.

That means it's unique, but here's the connection.

It's used one other time in the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

One other time.

And that is in Isaiah 35, verses 5 and 6.

Isaiah 35:5

I'll put it on the screen.

This is a passage that is pointing towards the future restoration of all things.

If you go back and read Isaiah 35, it's talking about the new creation.

Look at this.

Mark grabs it and he pushes it into our hearts and minds here.

He says, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

Mark is telling us, God has come.

The king promised in Isaiah 35, He's here.

He's here now.

And he's beginning his work not only to heal a man, but to begin restoring what sin has broken.

This miracle is a prelude of what's to come.

And there's something else really significant I want to just point out for you in verse 34.

It's interesting that Jesus, the text tells us, he looks up to heaven and he sighed.

The word there that Mark uses, it's like it's like this sigh of anguish.

You can better translate it that Jesus groans.

It's the exact same word that the Apostle Paul uses in Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

And I'll put it on the screen for you because I just you need to see it because it just connects the dots for us.

But listen, can you just the the word of God is awesome?

The word of God is a there is no other book like the Word of God.

God has written a book, and it is a supernatural book that is filled with rich, deep, profound, life-transforming truth.

And here we just see just a nut more evidence of this.

Look at this.

In in Romans chapter 8, for the creation was sub subjected to futility not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Here it is.

For we know that the whole creation has been, this is the word, groaning together in the pains of childbirth unto now.

The world we live in is broken by sin, and it's groaning, it's sighing, it's waiting for the day that God comes and does what he promised he would do, where he makes all things new and no more sin, no more death anymore.

Creation groans, humanity groans, and here the creator himself groans because he has compassion for the world that he made.

He feels the weight of a sin-cursed world.

This man is not just an isolated individual in an isolated case.

He represents a broken creation in need of restoration.

Everyone, it says, is astounded at what Jesus does as he heals this man.

And then again, let me make one more connection.

It's so good.

He does, this is what they look, they look at it and they say, He does all things well.

This is an echo textually, linguistically, it's an echo of another moment when God looked at all that he created and said, It is very good.

This is about a new creation.

The creator is now, right now, restoring his creation.

Kingdom compassion restores the needy.

It meets physical need, but it points to something so much greater.

It points to a new creation, to resurrection life.

And right now, this man's physical need is great, but it's pointing towards the spiritual need of all humanity.

Every single human being is broken by sin, corrupt because of sin, and is in need of being made anew.

I wonder, do we see the brokenness in the world, but do we see it in ourselves?

And I wonder, when you see that, when you see the brokenness of sin in your life and in the world, can I just can I ask you just to evaluate your heart here?

Does it make you angry or do you groan?

Are you broken over the world?

I mean, because those two responses and attitudes, I mean, I mean, there's a world of difference between those two things.

I wonder if you look at the world that's broken, does it produce compassion for the world?

Like it, like the compassion of Jesus for the world.

Christ's compassion was part of his healing of the world, and if we would share in his ministry, then we must also share in his compassion.

He restores the needy, and one day he's gonna restore everything.

But before he does that, he shows us one more thing kingdom compassion reaches the nations.

This will be a quick point, but track with me, it's gonna be really helpful, I trust.

We branch into chapter eight, and uh let's read it together.

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, I have, here it is, church, compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

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.

I think they went to the men's retreat.

And his disciples answered him, How can one feed these people with bread here in the desolate place in the wilderness?

And he asked them, How many loaves do you have?

They said, Seven.

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.

And they had a few small fish, and having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them, and they ate and were satisfied, and they took up the broken pieces left over seven baskets full.

And there were about four thousand people, and he sent them away, and immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

Now, if if you know the Gospel of Mark, then here's what you'd pick up on.

But if you haven't been reading it, let me just tell you what's going on here.

This is the second feeding miracle in the Gospel of Mark.

In other words, there was a one earlier in the Gospel of Mark, and it's the feeding of the 5,000.

This is the feeding of the 4,000.

They're separate miracles.

And there's two significant things I want to just draw your attention to, right?

This this miracle shows us the provision of God, the abundance of God, and the way that he meets needs of people who have no ability to meet needs.

It's a wonderful, wonderful miracle.

But it's very fascinating that this is the second kind of miracle like this.

Why would Jesus give us almost the same miracle two times?

That's a legitimate question to be asking, okay?

And as you're learning to read your Bible, these are the kind of questions you need to be asking because here's what we're going to find out.

This is not repetition for redundancy, this is repetition with theological intention.

There's something unique about this one that makes it different from the other one.

And I want to remind you again that this is about Jesus' compassion for the crowd.

He says it explicitly.

These people have been with him three days, they're hungry, and Jesus refuses to send them away empty.

This miracle looks familiar because it is, but it is not identical.

So let me just draw two contrasts, okay?

The first one was the feeding of the 5,000.

This is the feeding of the 4,000.

In the first miracle, anybody, anybody just know offhand how many basketfuls were left over in the first miracle?

Very good.

12.

You guys are you guys are well taught.

In this one, there's seven left over.

These are not incidental details, these are intentional.

See why?

Well, here's the biggest you say, what's the biggest difference?

Well, those two things are the biggest difference, but what makes this really different is the setting in which this miracle takes place.

Okay?

This changes everything.

The feeding of the 5,000 takes place in Jewish territory.

The feeding of the 4,000 takes place in Gentile territory.

And the message, in other words, is expanding that Jesus' ministry is moving outwards.

In the first miracle, Jesus reveals himself as the shepherd of Israel, the new Moses feeding his covenant people in the wilderness.

But here, the shepherd of Israel is shown as being the savior of the nations.

Seven loaves, seven baskets.

Seven is a number in the scriptures that is very often associated with fullness or completion.

It's likely, by the way, this illusion, why seven?

It's likely echoing Deuteronomy chapter seven.

We won't go there, but if you were to go there, it's interesting, as they're heading into the promised land, the Cain, the land of Canaan is described as being made up of seven nations.

Explicitly seven nations.

So can you see what's being communicated here?

The outside world, again, is being reached and being brought in because of the compassion of the Savior.

Jesus, in other words, is the fulfillment of Genesis 12, the blessing promised to Abraham that flows outward to all people.

The king who restores the broken now feeds the nations.

And I just want you to notice that in this feeding, there is abundance of provision.

Not scraps or scarcity.

There is enough to satisfy all who come with some left over.

Can I just tell you just there is more than enough in Christ for the world?

He is the bread of life who gave his life for us.

There is no shortage of power and provision in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Do you realize that?

Christ is enough for you.

Maybe you're here today and you're like, man, can I really be saved?

Christ is enough.

There's more than enough of Christ for you.

Christ is enough for the world, for any and all who come to him, no matter how broken, no matter how distant, no matter how needy, no matter how much they feel like a nobody, he's enough for the nations to come.

It's awesome, right?

If you're you fast forward to the end of the Bible, and in Revelation 5:9, we get this magnificent vision of heaven, and around the throne, here's what they sing.

Revelation 5:9

You were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

That's where the gospel story is going.

Do you realize that, church?

The gospel is not just about you as an individual.

It's not even just about you as a church.

It's about how God has planned in and through Jesus Christ and through the Church of Jesus Christ to reach the nations with the good news that there is a merciful, compassionate Savior who has come and given his life, paying for their sin, rising from the grave, conquering sin and death, so that they can come and enter into the presence of the King and enjoy the fullness of his kingdom forever and ever.

Before Jesus ever commands, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, he shows his heart for the nations.

Before he mandates it, I love this, he models it.

Kingdom compassion reaches outward.

We need Jesus.

Amen?

That wasn't good enough.

We need Jesus, amen.

Yeah, that's good.

Say it like you believe it.

Because it's true.

We desperately need Jesus.

We need Jesus.

Listen, church, this is true.

And so does the world.

So does the world.

Our King invites all to come.

But he also tells all who have come to go and tell.

That's how God's gonna reach the nations.

He's gonna use you, and he's gonna use me.

He has called us to himself, and then he has called us to go for others.

It takes simple steps of obedience, okay?

Kingdom compassion does not wait for perfect courage.

Simple steps of obedience.

Can I just ask you maybe to think who's the nobody in your world today that needs to hear about Jesus from you?

Who are the needy in your circle that need to hear about Jesus from you?

How is God calling you to go into the nations?

It's interesting, right?

We're living in an awesome time.

We don't necessarily have to go to the nations.

God's brought the nations to us.

How are we telling them about Jesus?

Are you inviting them to come and meet your Savior?

Are you bringing them into your home?

Are you bringing them to your church?

Are you praying for them?

Trust that Jesus is not short on provision, He is not limited in power, He never runs out of bread.

And if that's you today, listen, there's no shortage of provision for you.

You can come to Jesus today.

If you're here today and you don't know Jesus, his heart is for you.

He does not turn away those who come empty.

There's plenty of bread for you.

You can come to him, repenting of your sin, trusting in his finished work.

He died for you, he rose for you, he is enough for you.

And church, if this is his heart, let's pray that it becomes ours.

He gives us a kingdom mission driven by kingdom compassion.

And one day, our compassionate king is going to return.

Isaiah 35 promises that creation will be fully renewed, the deaf will hear, the hungry will feast, and the nations will gather at the table of the king.

This isn't the final feeding miracle.

This isn't it.

You realize every time we celebrate the Lord's Supper, it's pointing forward to a greater feast that is yet to come where all God's people in his kingdom will sit around his table, and we will feast in the presence of our King.

And on that day, the ransom of the Lord, Isaiah says, shall return with singing, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.

And on that day, Jew and Gentile, insider and outsider, the nobody and the needy alike from every nation on the earth will sit at the final and everlasting meal.

And I promise you this, church, I promise you that as we sit there and enjoy that meal, we will be eternally satisfied in the presence of our compassionate King.

Let's pray.

Lord, you are so good.

You're so compassionate.

And Father, we just, we, we look at this and Lord, we want to be, we want to be stirred by this, Lord.

We want to stay on mission for you, Jesus.

But I'm so convicted, even as I read this, Lord, that we need to stand in awe of you before there's any action for you.

And so, Lord, I pray, I pray for us all here today that you would just refresh us and renew us with a sense of your compassion, your mercy, and your grace.

Would you remind us, Lord, for those of us who are in Christ here today, would you remind us, Lord, that there was a time when we were far from you and you loved us and you sought us and you showed mercy and compassion to us.

And Father, would you allow us to see your heart in a fresh way today?

And God, would you change our hearts so that we might embrace and embody your heart for those around us?

We thank you that you are enough for us, and we thank you that you are enough for the world.

We pray, Father, that you would show yourself in this room, in this church, in this community, in this country, and across this globe.

Show us, Lord, over and over again that you are the God who is mighty to save.

We love you, Lord, and we pray now that you would receive our highest praise, for you are worthy of it all.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.