8, where we find once again a people, a large group of people in the wilderness without food to eat. And again, the Lord provides miraculously bread for them. Mark 8, beginning at verse 1, and we'll read through verse 10. 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 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, And his disciples answered him, How can one feed these people with bread here in this place? And he asked them, How many loaves do you have? And 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 Dalanutha. And the Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side. Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see? And having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? And they said to him, Twelve. And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? And they said to him, Seven. And he said to them, Do you not yet understand? May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word. You may be seated. Let us look to the Lord again in prayer. Our great Heavenly Father, we do come before You this day. Lord, our needy people, people who need to be fed, not only our bodies, but Lord, our very souls by You. Lord, we desire that You would indeed be gracious and compassionate to us and that You would satisfy our needs in the Lord Jesus Christ, that you would bless us now through His word, that you would feed us as your sheep. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. I wonder who here has ever been hungry before? Who's ever been hungry? Children probably every day between breakfast and lunch and then lunch and dinner and then probably 20 minutes after dinner. Mom, I'm hungry. How many times have we heard those words? But have you ever been truly hungry, so hungry that you felt weak and faint, that you thought you were going to die? Perhaps not often, there might be a few here have gotten to that point of hunger, but we live in a land of plenty. That if you're hungry to the point of weakness, it's probably because you're on some sort of extreme diet, or you're testing yourself in some way or another. Not because there's not food around. Few of us have been that hungry to the point of danger, but we all know what it means to be hungry. We all know how uncomfortable it is, especially if there isn't the certainty of food in the hamper or in the refrigerator. That with that gnawing hunger comes a fear, where is my next meal going to come from? Am I going to die? Can I survive? Bread, healthy, nutritious bread, certainly it satisfies. It gives strength. And bread is often used as a picture of that. Bread was often the staple food for many cultures. And what is true physically is also a picture of us spiritually. Now we all have a hunger for food, but also there is a spiritual need, a spiritual hunger that must be met. So have you ever found yourself hungry, truly hungry for something of more substance than what the world has to offer? Does your very soul feel empty? Has it ever felt empty? Do you feel listless, without purpose, without direction, without satisfaction? Why am I here? For what end, for what purpose am I here? Are you, in short, as many people have observed that this passage in Mark chapter eight, it's in the literal wilderness, the physical wilderness, but it is a picture also of spiritual needs. Are you in a wilderness, in need of something, wandering? Not able to meet that need yourself. Those around you not able to meet that need. Still searching for something more satisfying. You might be thinking, what does this have to do with Jesus feeding the 4,000? Oh, it's the same compassionate and powerful Savior who satisfies not only their physical hunger here, but satisfies the deepest desires and needs of our souls. That's what we find here in chapter 7. We saw again and again how Jesus was ministering in the midst of the Gentiles. He was doing healing. He healed even this woman, the Syrophoenician woman, because of her faith. And there that great truth that was said that yes, even the Gentiles eat the scraps of the people of God, the Israelites, but that they still will be fed We saw that picture given to us even last week, how Jesus healed the blind man, or He held the deaf man and the mute man. In chapter 8 we have what many describe as we've just read today, verses 1 to 21, really are a three-part narrative, a three-part narrative. with parallels in the Old Testament Exodus. What we find here in our section, verses 1 to 10, is Christ satisfying the people in the wilderness, as we saw the Lord doing in chapter 16 of Exodus. Then there is this period of testing in verses 11 through 13, and we see many times the people of God testing the Lord in the Exodus. And then there is this confusion, verses 14 through 21, and we see time and again in the Exodus, the confusion that's there, the disbelief, the slowness to understand what the Lord was doing, but the Lord, Jesus, is patient and He teaches what is taking place. What we find in chapter 8 is that Jesus is still in the region of the Gentiles. But there's no transition yet saying He's gone back to the people of Israel, but He's in the region, it seems, of the Decapolis. We're told that Jesus is again ministering among them, that even as the Seraphimation woman confessed that the Gentiles are going to be satisfied with the crumbs from the table, that those crumbs are in fact far more abundant than many perhaps would first think. So this morning, Lord willing, we'll see from this text the glorious compassion and power of Christ to satisfy those who are in need. We see the glorious compassion and power of Christ to satisfy those who are in need. And we'll see in three parts. First, there is great need. There is great need as we wander in desolate places. Again, that's where we find this narrative taking place. It is in the wilderness. It is in a desolate place around the Decapolis, and there is a large crowd, 4,000. 4,000. And in this, unlike the previous miracle of 5,000 men, it does seem that this is 4,000 people. Perhaps a bit larger, but it is still a large crowd. And many, we read, had traveled from far away. They had heard the testimony of Christ, this great healer, this powerful worker, this teacher, and they have now been following Him for three days. And so whatever provisions they may have brought have been used up. They are now hungry and they are growing weak. They are without food. There's not enough to feed this large number of people. There's no grocery store nearby. They're in the wilderness. There's nowhere to get bread or food to eat and they are too far away, too far away to just go home and grab a snack. So if we were to be dropped in the middle of this situation, with no prior knowledge of what was going on or no prior knowledge of what was taking place. But we were there in the wilderness with this large crowd with no food. We also would be tempted to despair. How are we going to survive? It's a life and death situation. They're in the wilderness. Jesus is concerned that if they go home, they're going to faint on the way. People will die, everyone for himself perhaps is the temptation. Let's get out of here. But we read of the compassion of the Lord Jesus. Jesus sees their need, and He calls the attention of the disciples to that need. Because Jesus knows that they have nothing to eat. He sends them away hungry. They'll faint on the way, and some of them have come from far away. And His disciples answered Him, How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place? Of course, this is a straightforward question. How could anyone feed them, Lord? But actually, this is a profound question. It is a profound question. One that goes far beyond this mere incident. Who is able to do such a mighty work? Who can satisfy, more broadly speaking, who can satisfy the needs of humanity in such a desolate landscape? There is nothing, earthly speaking, able to do such a thing. Who is able to do it? Can material wealth do it? Can the teachings of mystics or humanists or so-called deities, can they meet the deepest needs of humanity? Is there anyone, anyone who is able to truly feed us so that we can be full and satisfied? Perhaps that's where you find yourself now. Or perhaps you know someone who is there. Who can meet my deepest needs? Where do you turn? Where do you go? Truly, who is able to do such a mighty thing? There's a way to ask that question in faith. O Lord, you're able to do it. Who you are. And then there is, of course, a way to do it with doubt, even as the disciples seem to be doubting. But of course, there is one who satisfies. And there is irony in this text. As we read it, we're not being dropped in the middle of this. We know what has come just a few chapters before. We know what has come pages and pages, books and books before, as the Lord has revealed Himself. The disciples should have known better. They should have known better, even by their own experience. Just in chapter 6, we see the Lord doing, at least humanly speaking, a mightier work even than this one. That these two miracles, the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000, they have many similarities to the point where some think that they're the same event, just recorded differently, but they're clearly different events. But the earlier one was 5,000 men plus women and children, we think. And there the Lord used a smaller amount of bread and there was a larger amount of leftovers. And here it's only 4,000, but it is still a mighty miracle. But they saw this. They saw the Lord provide miraculously for a large crowd with little resources, but also in the record of Holy Scriptures. They ought to have known that account of the Exodus. that the Lord provided food for a much larger group of people out of nothing, manna and quail, but also other accounts in Scripture. I was reminded of that very passing account in 2 Kings chapter 4. You can read all of 2 Kings chapter 4 and there Elisha does many miracles. He makes the oil not run out. He provides. He heals a stew that was poisonous. And then towards the end of the chapter, we read this. A man came from Baal, Shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the first fruits, 20 loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, give to the men that they may eat. But his servant said, how can I set this before a hundred men? So he repeated, give them to the men that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, they shall eat and have some left. And he sat before them, and they ate, and had some left according to the word of the Lord. There you have in a whole chapter filled with miracles, we have a miracle by a prophet of the Lord feeding a crowd, there only a hundred men with twenty loaves of bread. And here we have something far greater than Elisha. So the disciples, they ought to have known better both by experience but also by the teaching of God's Word. There is someone able to do this mighty work. But Mark, of course, is showing us and the Lord is going to teach us more directly in verses 14 to 21. We're being shown here the danger of deafness and blindness, spiritual deafness and blindness. We'll see more of this in the verses to come, but we must acknowledge that this is a great failure of the disciples. They are not responding as they ought to have been with faith. particularly based on what they'd seen and heard already. The Scriptures and their own experience should have taught them that there is one who is able to satisfy, but they are so slow to understand. There are doubts. Before we just make the disciples look more terrible than they are, how very similar we are to the disciples at times, are we not? We come upon some trials, some difficulties, some future event that is tempting to cause us to anxiety. And perhaps we might not say the words, but we're asking, who is able to do a mighty thing in my life? Who is able to overcome this trial? Many times we are more doubtful than we ought to be, even in our own experience, knowing that the Lord has provided and sustained us to this point, but also the clear testimony of His Word. We know the Lord is good, and yet so often we find ourselves doubting. Perhaps we are called by a friend to remember. Perhaps we read God's Word that instructs us. And instead of faith, we respond with doubt, surely not this time. And we think somehow that God has changed and He's not faithful, but He is. And so even this day, we must be reminded again, who is this one who satisfies? And so we've seen first that there is a great need in this desolate place. But secondly, there is a compassionate Savior who sympathizes with our need. There is a great need, but praise the Lord, there is also a compassionate Savior who sympathizes with our need. Before we get even to the miracle itself, we must first see the motivating factor that we read here. Why does Jesus do this great work? What are we told? Of course, we know he's demonstrating by signs and miracles his identity, but why does he do this on this occasion? What are we told? His compassion. Verse two, I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. There was no, as it were, obligation on Christ's part to meet their needs. Again, He's not even, as it were, in the midst of His own covenant people. These are outsiders. These are Gentiles. He's in a foreign land. He could have left them. It's their fault for following Him. Of course, these are silly things to say. Christ is compassionate. He sees their need and it moves Him. He's filled with compassion, a strong movement because of their need directed to aid them. So as we think of compassion, it's somewhat hard to define. You can make distinctions between sympathy and empathy. What we would say here that this is neither a powerless feeling, sad only for its own sake, but neither is it a cold indifference. From his heart he is moved, but he doesn't just do nothing, he acts powerfully. And we should note too that, especially in Mark, the word that's used here for compassion, it's used in other places, but it's often used towards those who you would not naturally feel compassion. Christ is especially condescending in the positive use of that word. It's easy for us, isn't it, to feel sorry for people that we like. When you see your best friend, when you see your child, when you see your loved one suffering, your heart just automatically goes out to them and you want to help them. But oftentimes when it's our enemy or someone who we do not like or something in them that repels us, it's more difficult to have compassion on them. But we see time and again that Christ has compassion on the unlovely. We've seen already He's had compassion on lepers. He's had compassion on revolutionaries. He's had compassion on Gentiles here. He'll have compassion on the demon possessed. He, the perfect Son of God, has compassion on sinners. This is the heart of Christ. As we read in the book of Hebrews, the Lord Jesus, of course, is a sympathetic High Priest. Just think about this occasion. These ones have been going two or three days without food. Christ knows what it means to be hungry, doesn't He? In the wilderness, He went 40 days without food. and then was tempted. And yet in that he affirmed that man was not to live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Even in spiritual warfare he knows what it means to contest face to face with the great enemy, Satan. He experienced false accusations He was misunderstood. He faced rejection. He was abandoned by His own disciples. He was denied even enduring the poured out wrath of His heavenly Father on the cross. So that we can never say, Jesus, You do not understand what I'm going through. You just don't get it. You don't know what it's like in my life, what I have to endure. No, Jesus knows far more. Hebrews, we read, since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who's unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help and time of need." Of course, it's easy for us reading the pages, black and white, on the pages, these words. The disciples ought to have asked the Lord, Lord, You're able. You provide. Give this food. Of course, they failed to do that, but Christ still has compassion. And He has compassion on these nameless ones, predominantly Gentile people, for their physical hunger. How much more then does Christ have compassion on His own people for their spiritual needs which He has promised to meet? Those whom He died for. Those who are now united to Him in faith. Those who are described as His own body. Those who are His bride that He gave His life for. Those who He will one day present to His heavenly Father. Christ has compassion on His people. The Lord Jesus will in the very next chapter express other affections, that of anger most likely, but let us never forget the compassion of Christ that He has for those who are in need. But then thirdly this morning, in doing that, as we remember rightly the compassion of Christ, let us never forget His power. that there is a powerful Savior who satisfies our need. It is one thing for someone to say, as you share with them your burden, your trial, oh, I'm so sorry. That sounds difficult. but then are unable to help. Many times that is the case and that can be comforting knowing that you shared your burden and that someone would be praying for you. But it's one thing for someone to say, I'm sorry, that sounds difficult. And another thing to have both the heart and the ability to relieve someone from their suffering. And that is what we see here. So we read of Christ performing yet another great miracle. And so what do we see? Again, there's many similarities between here and chapter six of the feeding of the 5,000 with some differences. Here, there are seven loaves. He again directs them to sit down. He gives thanks and blesses the bread. The same formula, as it were, that he uses as he breaks the bread there at the Lord's Supper and gives it to his disciples to eat. Here there are a few small fishes that He also blesses and He gives, and the people eat. And we're told very clearly, verse 8, they ate and were satisfied, and that there is some left over, seven baskets full. Some commentators, some preachers, they get into, is there significance to the numbers? And we're not going to get into that here this morning, perhaps just to say that this is a mighty miracle. But it is, humanly speaking, slightly smaller than the one that he performed among his own people. Perhaps, again, that comparison of the fullness to the Jews and then these crumbs to the Gentiles. But then He gives a parting blessing. He sends them on their way. He sends them home satisfied, full, fed. And they return home. I think there's even a picture of how the Lord sends us from worship, fed with His blessing. So there is this mighty miracle. How then do we apply these things to us? We've seen Christ feed people before. What do we learn here? Well, the big question of the text is who can satisfy? Who is able to satisfy? And certainly in the multiplication of these loaves, the answer to the question is given. The Lord Jesus Christ is able and willing to satisfy the needs of those who are in need. We must remember that we focus rightly on Christ. We focus rightly on Christ, not what kind of bread it might have been, not what kind of fish it was, not even to the means that He uses, but to Christ, the One who gave the means. This is a mighty work of the Son of God. That's the point. not merely the nutritional value of the food itself. And He is able, we learn also, that He's able to repeat these mighty deeds. He did it in Israel for 5,000. He's just done it again. It wasn't only a one-time thing. It's not like He had a tank full of miracle power that was going down over time. No, He's able to do these mighty works again and again. It's not a trick. It's not a magical spell. It's not tied to one place. It's a mighty work of the Son of God. And of course we see that just as He satisfies the bellies of these ones in the wilderness, so He is able to satisfy our souls. We must never allow ourselves to doubt Christ's power to supply the spiritual needs of His people. Isaiah chapter 33, we read these words, He still lives who had compassion on the hungry crowd in the wilderness and supplied their need. How much more, can we ask ourselves, will He supply the needs of those who trust Him? He'll supply them. He will not fail. Isaiah 33, bread shall be given Him, His water shall be sure. And so, the one who hungers, let him go to Christ and be fed. The one who thirsts, let him go to Jesus and be satisfied. This is the very imagery that Isaiah uses in his prophecies of the coming of the Great One. Isaiah 55, a familiar passage. Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. He who has no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread? And you labor for that which does not satisfy. Listen diligently to Me and eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food." Here we have and we see some of the great blessings that would come with the coming of the Messiah, the coming of the Kingdom. But how often do we see this picture taking place today? There is one who is able and willing to satisfy the needs of your souls. But how often do we see people we know and we love and strangers labor and buy those things that don't satisfy? Pursuing those things that lead to greater destruction and despair instead of the one that brings joy and peace and fullness. Christ is the one who satisfies, He is the one that you come to and again that language of buy and eat without money, how do we do that? Well again it is graciously given. He has done that in the midst of His own people, He does it in the midst of the Gentiles. Of course all of these things fulfilled in Christ. How often did Jesus use and teach using the imagery of bread? We know, again, the Lord's Supper, we'll see more of that in just a moment. But even before that, in John chapter 6, do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. He's interacting with these ones and they say to him, our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. And Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. And they said to him, sir, give us this bread always. And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Truly I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I'm the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. It's not something outside or external to Jesus. It is the Lord Jesus Christ himself that satisfies. He himself is the bread of life. And all those who believe in him have eternal life. And his compassion extends far greater than we may be tempted to think. His own covenant people, but also those who are far off. So even as we sang this morning from Psalm 16, truly the Lord is my chosen portion, my cup, you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. Those who are in Christ, these are true of them. What a great abundance it is. Again, remember, we're told about the scraps for the dogs. Well, the scale of the miracle may be slightly reduced this time, but the crowd was no less satisfied. They went away full and there was plenty to spare. How rich and full were the leftovers. So better to have Christ's leftovers than even the full meal of the world. Again, these things, as Christ satisfies this imagery of bread, certainly it must remind us of the Lord's Supper. What is the bread that we eat? It is the body of Christ Himself. Not that the bread has changed into it, no, but by faith we feed upon the resurrected body of Jesus. It's a feast of God's people, a people taken from every nation, tribe, and tongue, looking forward to that great supper of the Lamb. And Christ is the bread. But even as He did here, He used His disciples to distribute the bread. So also the Lord Jesus is the bread, but He uses His servants to distribute that food. And one way He does that is even in the preaching of His Word. that through preaching we hear the voice of Christ. We are fed with the food of Christ. He strengthens us. He nourishes us. He satisfies us. He guides us. All of these things that we cannot find outside of Christ, He gives to us in and through His Word as we look to Him in faith. So this morning we ask ourselves, do you have need? Do you have need? Have you at one time or another or now, have you sought satisfaction in other things? If you have, then you know that those other things are vain. There is no satisfaction in the things of this world. There might be ways to mask the hunger There might be temporary relief, but then that just brings back more hunger later. There is nothing that can truly satisfy friends, family, wealth, status, these things. We rightly love our families. There is a proper order of affection that should be there. It is a great joy to raise a family. There is, in some sense, using the word slightly differently, there is satisfaction in that, in many good things and work. but only when they are done resting on Christ for the glory of God. Because even those good things will turn out to be empty apart from God. They do not in the highest and most ultimate sense satisfy the deepest desires and needs of our souls. Because how could they? They fade away. Even the most enduring possession that you have, even the most healthy friend or family member you have, they will fade away. Even if they outlast you, you cannot take them with you to the life to come. It is not merely temporal things, but we think eternally. It is in Christ and Him alone that we are able to be satisfied. We give thanks to the Lord for this demonstration here in Mark chapter 8 of how the Lord satisfied the temporal needs of those in the wilderness because of His compassion. From this we draw the lesson that the Lord is able to satisfy the deepest needs of our We are thankful that the Lord promises to do so, even as we read there from John chapter 6, that the Lord Jesus Himself is the bread of life. All those who believe have eternal life in Him. And so let us believe these words. Let us trust in the Lord as our Savior, as the one who is able to satisfy, remembering that He is the glorious and compassionate and powerful Savior. the One who is able to satisfy those who are in need. Let us pray. Our great Heavenly Father, we are thankful. Lord, thankful for Your Word which You give us. We thank You, Lord, for its clarity. We thank You for its power. We pray that You would work powerfully within us by Your Spirit to believe and understand who Jesus is, to cling to Him for salvation. And Lord, that You would feed us with Your Word this day. that we would go from this place full and satisfied in You, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.