Mark 6:33-44.  This is a great story and it really points out a couple of important things about Jesus’ character.  This story really jumps out from the ending of yesterday’s reading.  Jesus’ followers had returned and were giving him a report about all the teaching and miracles they had done.  Of course the people had noticed what they had been doing too, and so the crowds kept coming.  Jesus and his followers didn’t even have time to eat.  We saw the same sort of thing back in Mark 3:20 where they were just so busy teaching and helping he people.  Jesus realized that his followers needed rest so he put them in some boats so he could take them away from the crowd.  But the crowd followed on foot along the shore of the lake.  When they finally put into shore the crowd was right there looking for more.

When Jesus went ashore he saw that the people were not being led very well spiritually so he started to teach them.  Mark tells us that Jesus had “compassion” on them we talked about that word in an earlier post on Mark (Mark 1:40-2:12) where we discovered that it means that Jesus had very strong feelings about what he saw going on.  It is interesting that the thing he was most worried about was how the people were like sheep without a shepherd; they were just wandering around.  Now He doesn’t mean that they were physically lost, we see this in the way he responded to what he saw, he taught them many things.

But what about the disciples, the twelve, did he forget about them?  Remember that they were supposed to “get away” and rest, and they hadn’t eaten either.  Now it was getting late and the twelve came to him and suggested that they crowd might be hungry and that he should send them away.  But they were in a desolate place.  The Greek word translated “desolate” means a wilderness or desert.  Sometimes it is used to refer to people or animals.  In the parable of the lost sheep the wilderness is where “sheep without a shepherd” is lost.  Jesus was “feeding” the people (In John 4 and John 21 Jesus uses the idea of feeding and food to means spiritual activities); he was caring for them like a good shepherd would and meeting their more important eternal needs.

But that doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t care about their immediate need for physical food.  Remember that the ideal of immediately that is so common in the book of Mark can mean the straightest or best path.  Also remember that in Mark that Jesus’ miracles prove his authority and make is teaching more believable.  Jesus told his hungry followers to feed the crowd.  Right away they pointed out that it would cost seven months worth of wages to feed the crowd.  Jesus asked them what food they had; five loaves of bread and two fish.  That wouldn’t even be enough for a six inch subway for each of the twelve let alone feed the whole crowd.  Jesus had the crowd set down in groups.  He then prayed to God the Father and proceeded to divide the five loafs and two fish up among the whole crowd.  At the end of dinner we find out that there were 5000 men (maybe as many as 10000-15000 people counting women and children who certainly were there too) who were filled up by the meal.  When they twelve cleaned up they each had a full basket of leftovers.

In spite of the fact that Jesus sometimes hides who he is in the book of Mark it is clear that he wanted people to know just who he is.  His message was good news about God becoming a man so that the sins (disobedience and rebellion toward God) of each of us could be forgiven (see John 1:1, 14-17, 26-30).  And he did miracles to prove that he was God.  But the miracles that Jesus did also were helpful to the people around him, bringing a little girl back to life, feeding a hungry crowd, causing a paralyzed man to be able to walk again, causing demons to leave a person.  Jesus saw the needs of people both spiritual and physical and he had compassion; he taught them the truth and did miracles.

Jesus was a shepherd who led and fed the people.  That is comforting to me, that the creator God of the universe knows my life and is willing to use his power to do what is best for me, for today and for eternity.  I’m sure that it was comforting to the Roman believers over 1900 years ago, too.

Jesus help me remember that you love me.  Help me trust you when I am hungry and you ask me to give you my last piece of bread to feed someone else.  Let me care for others the way you care.  Help me be concerned about their spiritual and physical needs.  Give me the ability to meet both.  Give me the “guts” to meet both.  Help me have compassion.  Thank you for yours for me.