Mark 6:30-44 - Our Compassionate Shepherd

Well, good morning, family.

I want to start by saying that it is really just a joy to see all of you.

And it's been a privilege to be able to worship with you today on this Lord's day.

And uh I want to say uh thank you for all of the continued prayers for me and Valerie.

Um I'm happy to say that by God's grace, last week we celebrated two years of marriage.

And um, yeah, all that I can say that he's just been good.

Um yeah, so all I can say is that God has been good.

Uh he's been very, very, very good.

Uh Valerie says hello, and she sends her love.

Uh we do miss you all, but um we are very much grateful for our time that we are having in Vancouver.

Um with all that said, um I'm delighted to be here with you today, bringing you God's word.

I'd like to begin our time together by asking a few questions.

Have you ever found yourself in a season of life where you were just struggling to get through the day?

Have you ever been in a place where you are just exhausted from the daily grind?

It's that place where you sometimes don't look forward to the next day because you know that the moment you wake up, your mind is thinking about all the things that you have to get done that day.

When you wake up, time is tight.

So you maybe say a two-sentence prayer as you're getting ready.

You know, if you're a parent, you find yourself trying to say that prayer in your heart as you're helping your kids get ready.

And as you're doing that, you realize one is coming down with a cold, and the other one is giving you attitude.

And then that heart in your prayer turns into a small fit of frustration.

Or that season could feel like a time where you're constantly going out of way out of your way for someone that you love, uh, someone that you care about because you you want the best for them.

But if you're being honest, you know that after spending some time with that person, you're spent.

You're tired.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Yeah.

If you don't, you could be that exhausting person.

But again, have you ever found yourself in a season of life where you're just struggling?

And by struggling, I do mean the things that I just mentioned, but I also mean in the sense that you are you're just aware that God seems far away.

Uh, you can empathize with David in Psalm 51, where he says, Restore the joy of your salvation to me.

Do you ever find yourself struggling because you realize you are not as far along as you'd like to be?

Or you're not as good as you'd like to be, or you're not the best Christian that you'd like to be.

If you've ever felt that way, or maybe are currently feeling that way, I first want to say that I'm glad that you're here.

I'm glad that you're here because I get the joy of reminding you, along with myself, of the one who invites us to rest, of the one who has compassion towards us, and the one who gives us our daily bread.

I get the joy of speaking today about our compassionate shepherd.

Our compassionate shepherd.

And so if you have a Bible with you, I invite you to turn with me to Mark chapter 6.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

This is a familiar passage of Jesus feeding the 5,000.

If you're using a Pew Bible, you can turn to page 893.

But uh before I go any further, I'm just going to take the moment to seek the Lord's help.

Uh, gracious Father in heaven, we are gathered here today because we desire to hear you speak to us.

I pray that as we spend time in your word, we would hear it, that we would welcome it and produce fruit 30, 60, and 100 times over what will be sown.

And all of this, I pray, O Lord, that you would show us your Son.

Help us to see our compassionate Savior Jesus Christ.

In his name we pray.

Amen.

Rest, compassion, and bread.

That's our outline for today.

Not the most elaborate, but these are the words I want to keep in mind as we just journey through this familiar story together.

Let's read verses 30 and 31, Mark 6.

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught.

He said to them, Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.

For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

The beginning of this story of Jesus feeding the five thousand starts with the apostles gathered around him.

And the apostles are telling Jesus all the things that they have done and taught.

But what exactly is all this things that they have done and taught?

If we look at me at verse 7 of this same chapter, we get a big clue.

Verse 7, it reads, He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over unclean spirits.

And so they went out and preached that people should repent.

They drove out many demons, anointed many sick people with oil, and he healed them.

Here we see the apostles called by Jesus Himself, and they were sent out on assignment.

They were on a mission.

And if you are a Christian, you too have been called by Christ Himself, and you too have been sent out on an assignment.

Wherever God has placed you in your current life situation, that is your assignment.

Be it a spouse, that's your assignment, a parent, that is your assignment, employee, boss, CEO.

Again, wherever God has placed you, that is where he has called you to live for him.

But in our passage, we see that the apostles were sent out to preach, sent out to drive out demons and to heal the sick.

And from the sound of verse 30, it sounds like the apostles were pretty successful, productive, you can say.

Hence that word all.

When the apostles gathered around Jesus, they were excited to share everything about the sermons and the miracles that they had performed.

Have you ever had one of those days, maybe weeks, where you're really productive?

Maybe rare, but you're getting things done.

And when somebody asks you on that day, how was your day?

It's never enough to just say, Oh, it was a good day, or it was a productive day.

You have to listen, I woke up early, I went to the gym, did my devotionals, had breakfast, yada yada yada, yada yada yada.

Just excited.

That's the apostles in verse 30.

Now, while the apostles were excited to share with Jesus all that they had done and taught, Jesus replied to them with a rather profound statement, you can say.

Verse 31, he says, Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.

Rest.

Now no man worked like Jesus.

No man had a ministry like his.

He was not like your usual teacher of the day.

When people listened to him, they were astonished and amazed because there was a certain authority to his teaching.

Thousands of people would gather to hear him.

Similar to like this place, but even more full.

People sitting down the aisles, full in the balcony, maybe in the gym, all to hear Jesus speak.

And he would teach and teach.

Not to include his personal discipleship that he would do with his disciples, but then on top of that, he healed people as well.

Mark 1, verses 32 to 34 reads, When evening came, after the sun had set, they brought to him all those who were sick and demon-possessed.

Mark 1:32–34

The whole town was assembled at the door, and he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and drove out many demons.

No man worked like Jesus.

No man had a ministry like he did.

And yet, in this particular moment in verse 31, as he's responding to all the things that the apostles have done and taught, he doesn't say, Great job.

Keep going, keep going, keep going.

But rather, as a compassionate shepherd, he says, Come rest.

Come away by yourselves to a remote place, kind of like the wilderness.

Come away.

Rest for a while.

I was in this call to rest very different from our current cultural norm that places a high emphasis on work.

Work can easily become an idol for us.

We can easily be impressed with someone who works 60 to 80 plus hours a week.

And sadly, in our day, a person's value is often tied to what they do or how much money they make.

But the good news is that our Lord Jesus, our compassionate shepherd, does not always expect us to be working.

Don't take this to mean that we are to be lazy and not work at all.

The Lord calls us to work, but he also calls us to rest as well.

Genesis makes this clear that the Lord worked the six days and he rests on the seventh.

And this laid a pattern for us.

Brothers and sisters, we are finite creatures, and our compassionate shepherd knows our frame.

He knows when we need to rest.

Listen to these words from uh J.C.

Ryle.

He says, Our Lord knows well that his servants are flesh as well as spirit, and have bodies as well as souls.

He knows that at best they have a treasure in earthen vessels, and are themselves compassed with many infirmities.

Come ye apart, he says, and rest a while.

One last comment on this point of rest.

You know, there are a lot of subtle influences and narratives in our culture that tell us that we need to do and be more than what God has called us to be.

We obviously encounter these narratives through the content that we consume on our phones and social media.

But sometimes we can even encounter these narratives within our own family, sometimes even within the walls of the church.

And this isn't to point fingers or anything, but however, sometimes you can't always put your finger on it, but every now and then there's maybe a small voice inside of you that says to you, you're not measuring up to everyone else.

You don't pray like so-and-so, or you've missed your Bible reading this week.

You should be farther along in your walk with the Lord.

It should be more holy, more godly, more holy.

Anyone here knows that voice?

I just want you to know that's not the voice of our compassionate shepherd.

Our compassionate shepherd says to you and me, come rest.

Come rest.

And as the Lord invites us to rest, I want us to know that there's a reason why we can rest.

There's a reason why we can rest when he invites us to rest.

Let's continue to read.

Verses 32 to 36.

So they went away in a boat by themselves to a remote place, but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.

When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he began to teach them many things.

When it grew late, his disciples approached him and said, This place is deserted, and it's already late.

Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.

Here's a little fun fact about me.

You might be able to relate to this.

I am a bit of a little introvert.

Don't get me wrong, I love people.

I love getting to fellowship with brothers and sisters.

Uh last week I had the privilege of taking seminary classes, and it was just a joy for me to catch up with classmates that I've met, classmates that I haven't met before.

I love people, but there comes a point in time where my social battery gets empty, and I don't want to be around people.

And so I can kind of empathize with the apostles who were trying to send the large crowd away.

Notice in verse 35, we see that phrase, when it grew late.

And so the people who were here listening with Jesus, they stuck around for a while.

They stuck around for a while, but we see this contrast between how the apostles respond toward the crowd versus how Jesus does.

The apostles are essentially wanting to move away from the crowd.

How does Jesus first respond?

Verse 34 again.

When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

A few comments on this verse.

Isn't it amazing that the Lord Jesus had compassion?

He truly felt something, he was moved from the inside.

This is amazing because it reminds us that this Jesus that we're looking at, he's not just an abstract idea, not just a set of doctrines and teachings, but he is a person.

And he's not just any person.

Mark tells us that he is the Son of God, the one whom demons tremble at, the one who speaks to the winds and the waves, and they obey him.

This is our compassionate shepherd.

Second, what's even more amazing is the reason behind his compassion.

The reason behind his compassion.

This image of sheep without a shepherd.

It's kind of one of the first Sunday school lessons that you have, or VBS lessons that you have.

One of the big questions of the Old Testament is this Who is going to be the one to lead the people of God?

Who is going to be the one who watches over them?

The Lord used Moses for a time to bring his people out of the bondage of slavery of Egypt, and God had appointed him to be Israel's shepherd for a season.

But even Moses knew that his time would eventually come to an end.

And so he prays this prayer in Numbers 27, verses 16 to 17.

Numbers 27:16–17

He says, May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all, appoint a man over the community, who will go out before them and come back in before them, who will bring them out and bring them in, so that the Lord's community won't be like sheep without a shepherd.

The people of God needed a shepherd.

And in the ancient Near East, it was common for kings to be referred to as shepherds.

Kings were ones who watched over a land, more specifically, a people.

It was no coincidence that one of the greatest kings of Israel was King David, and he was a shepherd before he was a king.

However, even though David was a great king, he wasn't always a good king.

Just look at his sin with Bathsheba.

Fast forward in the history of the Old Testament, there does reach a point where the Lord God is extremely disappointed and frustrated with the leaders of Israel.

Listen to this portion from Ezekiel 34.

The word of the Lord came to me, Son of Man, prophesy against the shepherds that are that are the kings and leaders of Israel.

Prophesy and say to them, This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds.

Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves.

Shouldn't the shepherds feed their flock?

You eat the fat where the wolves and butcher the fatten animals, but you do not tend to the flock?

You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, instead you have ruled with violence and cruelty.

They were scattered for lack of a shepherd.

My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill.

My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and there was no one searching or seeking for them.

The people of God needed a compassionate shepherd.

And regardless of your background, your skin color, race, or status, that remains true of all of us today.

We still need a compassionate shepherd.

And Mark is telling us that that compassionate shepherd is Jesus.

When Jesus sees the crowd in our passage today, he sees those who are lost and vulnerable, those who don't know where to go, those who are aimless, those who don't know what they're doing.

Does anyone you know personally come to mind when you hear those words?

Lost, vulnerable, aimless, without hope, without God.

Now these words certainly do apply to those who are unbelievers, unrepented sinners.

And if that's you here today, a person who hasn't repented of your sins, a person who hasn't put their faith in their compassionate shepherd, I ask you to please do so.

But I also think that these words of lost and vulnerable can also apply to us as Christians.

This is why I asked the questions that I did in the beginning.

And I asked, you know, are there ever seasons in your life where you find yourself struggling to just get through the day?

You know, there are no doubt real seasons and moments in the Christian life where it's just hard.

And we're struggling.

But it's here where we can really appreciate the reason behind Jesus' compassion, the reason why.

And again, verse 34 says, when he saw the crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

This is a picture of our salvation, brothers and sisters.

The good news is Jesus is our compassionate shepherd, and that he did not come to die for us because we were righteous and perfect, but he came to die for us because we were lost, sinners.

We were like sheep without a shepherd.

The Lord does not have compassion for us because we have our lives together.

The Lord does not have compassion for you because you are.

Good parent, or you're a good worker, or because of who you listen to, the Lord has compassion on us because He is compassionate.

His compassion for us is not rooted in our performance, but our performance is rooted in His compassion.

We love because He first loved us.

I had finished our first point with saying that there's a reason why we can rest when Jesus calls us to rest.

And the reason why we can rest when Jesus calls us to rest is because he is a compassionate shepherd.

We can rest because his compassion towards us is not rooted in our performance, but it's rooted in who he is.

And it is moved by our spiritual needs.

And so for all the saints who sometimes wonder if God is disappointed with them, please remember that he's compassionate.

You can always go to him.

And if you're here and if you're not a Christian, just know that the Lord's compassion is not a permission slip to keep on sinning, but it's an invitation to repent, to bring your sins to him, no matter how big or how small, how terrible.

His compassion is for you to go to him.

Rest, compassion, and bread.

Let's read verses 35 to 37.

When it grew late, his disciples approached him and said, This place is deserted, and it's already late.

Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages and villages to buy themselves something to eat.

You give them something to eat, he responded.

They said to him, Should we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?

The beginning of this story started with Jesus calling his apostles to come away to a remote place, to the wilderness, you can say, to get some rest.

But unfortunately, what was supposed to be a break gets interrupted by the thousands of men who wanted to hear Jesus.

Many hours go by, many hours go by, and the apostles realize that it's getting late.

And so the question that they have is the same question that our brother Mark mentioned earlier.

How are these people going to get fed?

How are these people going to get fed in the middle of nowhere?

I mean, we know that Jesus told us to, you know, go feed them, but the way our wallets are looking, we don't got it at the moment.

How are these people going to get fed in the middle of nowhere?

This is the exact same question that Moses faced while in the wilderness with the people of Israel.

But the same person who provided for Moses and Israel in the wilderness is the same one who's going to provide for this large crowd.

Mark is showing and telling us something about our wonderful, compassionate shepherd.

Let's continue to read verses 38 to 43.

He asks them, How many loaves do you have?

Go and see.

And when they found out, they said, Five loaves, five and two fish.

Then he instructed them to give all um to uh then he instructed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

Notice the green grass.

Think of the 23rd Psalm The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

The scene of this miracle is a pastoral one.

Verse 40, so they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.

And here in verse 41, we're going to see these actions of taking and breaking, uh taking blessing and breaking, a bit of a foreshadow of what Jesus will do with the Last Supper.

Verse 41, he took the five loaves and the two fish, looking up to heaven.

He blessed and broke the loaves.

He kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people, and he also divided the two fish among them all.

Everyone ate and was satisfied.

I love that verse.

Again, another pastoral image where we see the compassionate shepherd providing all that is needed.

The Lord Jesus is a savior that satisfies.

Verse 43, they picked up the twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and fish.

Those who had eaten the loaves were five thousand men.

Mark wants us to see that our compassionate shepherd, Jesus Christ, is that same God in the Old Testament who provided for his people in the wilderness, the one who called his people to rest in the wilderness, the one who had compassion on them, because they were grumbling, like sheep without a shepherd, and that same God who provided bread from above to give them their daily strength.

Jesus Christ is the Lord and the shepherd of Psalm 23.

And I'll close just by reading it.

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 the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of 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 runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Let us pray.

Without you, Lord God, we are truly lost sheep.

Thank you so much for your compassion towards us.

Thank you for your grace.

And I pray, Lord, that as we depart, we would be reminded of your compassion for us.

And may we remember that compassion is not only for us, but also for others who do not know you just yet.

Thank you for who you are.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being our faithful, compassionate shepherd.

And we pray this in your name.

Amen.