I invite you to turn in the Word of God to the Book of Mark in the New Testament, to the Gospel of Mark, chapter six. As you do, I'll mention something that you can look forward to. Starting next week, next week, for both morning services, Reverend Gavin Poe will be preaching for three consecutive Lord's Days, and I want to be clear, At this point and for the foreseeable future, there's not a distinct inheritance church plant service that may occur in the future. That is not at this time. So we're still going to be doing duplicate morning services, but we do want you to have an opportunity to get to know Reverend Poe and for him to gain a familiarity with the whole congregation and vice versa, not just those who think that they might be going to the plant or who just prefer one service or another in the morning. So bear that in mind. This morning, however, we are continuing through the gospel of Mark. And we come to easily one of the most famous of all of Jesus' miracles. And also, no doubt, one of the most significant. And I can be confident of that because this is the only miracle that is mentioned in all four Gospels. Let's give attention to the word beginning in verse 30. The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. And he said to them, come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. For many were coming and going and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them and they ran there on foot. from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, this is a desolate place and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages. and buy themselves something to eat. But he answered them, you give them something to eat. And they said to him, shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat? And he said to them, how many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they had found out, they said, five and two fish. Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass So they sat down in groups by hundreds and by fifties, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing, and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all, and they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish, And those who ate the loaves were 5,000 men. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Amen. Let's ask a special blessing. Father, you were so kind that day to feed so many hungry people with nourishing bread. And all throughout the whole world this morning, You have gathered millions upon millions upon millions of your people to receive true bread, to receive Christ himself ministered through the word, and many of those churches also in the sacrament. We ask that you would please meet us this morning in order to fill our hearts again, strengthen us through what we hear, soften us as we may need repentance, increase our faith in order that we might bear the image of our Savior more gladly. For in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Jesus' miracle in this passage is incomprehensibly wonderful. I would say incredible, but it's very credible. More than 5,000 people witnessed it. And then you have the testimony of the disciples who gave their lives rather than deviate from what they saw. But it is important to recognize that it is more than a miracle. This is not just a raw demonstration of divine power, some way that Jesus shows that he's not like us. There is significance to this miracle. There's theological significance. There's practical significance. For instance, theologically, Consider the significance of where this takes place. The text goes out of its way to say that it is in the wilderness and in a desolate place. Can you think of any other instances in the Bible where God leads his covenant people out into a wilderness and they discover they don't have the bread that they need and then he provides for them all that they need. Where he brings bread to barren places. Well, yes, we can think of numerous occasions where this happens, leading up to what we meet in this passage. For instance, you have Israel, the 12 tribes being brought out of Egypt, and then they are in the wilderness for 40 years. And the entirety of that time, these hundreds of thousands of people are dependent upon the Lord to provide them what they were calling manna. Literally, what is it? It's falling from heaven. works like bread, but it's something from above. And then throughout the Old Testament among the prophets, there are different passages telling us that God is going to provide a Messiah, a savior who will somehow nourish his people and deliver them from the curse and the barrenness that came through sin. There are many instances of this kind of prophecy, but I give you one example in Isaiah 49. Isaiah 49 verses eight through 10. Thus says the Lord, in a time of favor I have answered you, in a day of salvation I have helped you. I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people. I believe that in light of Christ's coming, we should understand that that prophecy is spoken to Jesus Christ as the mediator, that God will give him as a covenant to the people to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, come out. To those who are in darkness, appear. Then they shall feed along the ways. On all bare heights shall be their pasture. They shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them. And now in our passage we see Jesus some 600 years after Isaiah come and call his 12 disciples out into the wilderness. And a multitude gathers and they're arranged in formations of 50s and 100s, essentially like the Hebrews were when they were in the wilderness for 40 years. And bread is distributed upon these barren heights, and when it's gathered, there are 12 baskets, and you have this repetition of 12 and 12 and 12 to give you an idea of God reconstituting his covenant people, not under Moses, but in Jesus Christ. More could be said, but theologically, this is a rich act of Christ. But it's also a very practical act of Christ because the Holy Spirit wants you to see something today. He wants you to see that Christ is full of compassion and capability, not one or the other, but both. And he wants you to see that so that you would actually trust in him, not only for yourself, but for all that you would share with other people. And in order that we might rejoice in his mercy. As we consider this passage, we're going to do so under three different major divisions, I'll announce each of them as we come to them, but essentially we're going to look at his compassion and his capability, and then we're going to look at our calling. In the first place, consider the compassion of Jesus. How does the Spirit show you Jesus' compassion toward our human needs in this passage? And why does he do that? In the first place, we see Jesus showing compassion to his disciples, even before they meet the crowd. because here the apostles have just gotten back, or disciples rather, have just gotten back from their missionary journey, their first one, and they, remember, they went in a rush to bring the news to all these different towns, and then they come back to Jesus, and unsurprisingly, all these people who hear that the disciples are performing miraculous healings in a day and a time with none of the kind of medical care that we have, all tell others, and everyone is coming to them now. From all across Israel, multitudes are coming out to discover whether it really is true and there is healing. And so many people had been healed at this point that they're going out and spreading their own message, saying, yeah, I was blind, now I see. And so unsurprisingly, the disciples, it says in our text, could hardly eat because so many people are begging for help. And Jesus doesn't tell them, just go out. I care about those people. Be with them. Jesus says, no, let's get out of here. Let's go find somewhere else to be. Verse 31, come away by yourselves to a desolate place. Rest a while. And we need to appreciate that Christ values our need for rest. Sometimes we have this other voice in our mind that is whipping us and flogging us to do, do, do, do. It's worth challenging that voice and asking whether that is our Lord speaking. He says, come, rest. For many were coming and going and they had no leisure even to eat. And there's a place for leisure. We don't have a task-driving Savior. We have a hard-working Savior, but one who understands our limitations bodily and otherwise. However, their respite turns out to only be maybe three to five hours. As they get into the boat and they cross over the way, and then as they are going, the text tells us, all these other people who see them going out on the water anticipate, oh, they're headed there, we're going to go around, and somehow these people on foot get there before the people in the boat. It seems that the Lord who guides the winds and can walk on the water granted the timing. His disciples got some rest. But when they get there, there's this huge crowd and work needs to be done. We find something in our own experience. The idea of the amount of rest that we need is not always the same as the amount of rest that God has determined is sufficient for our work. Sometimes we think that we need more, but the Lord knows best and where a need is pressing, Generally, we recognize if it's an actual deep need that he must have provided us the rest that we need in order to engage. Now, why has the crowd come to Jesus? They have not come at this point because they know he provides food. They don't know anything about the food provision of Jesus. Later on, we are told that they start to come because they hear that Jesus somehow has all this bread, we don't like working, let's go out where he is. At this point, they're coming because they've heard there is a prophet with authority. Give the people some credit. John the Baptist never did a single miracle, and yet all Israel was going out to him. There was an interest to hear some teaching if it was with authority, especially if there were miracles and people wanted to see the miracles or perhaps experience the miracles. And that's why they're coming out at this point. Now, what is Jesus' response to them, notably? His response is so different than what perhaps our response would be under those circumstances, where you feel so overworked, you're trying to get away from them, and then you find them right here in front of us. His response is not, we're tired, we're trying to get some rest, leave. His response is not, you know what, under the circumstances, sure, we'll help you, but it's gonna cost you something. Bring the bread out. It's the complete reverse. He goes into service mode because he's full of compassion. He has actual feeling towards them. And the compassion he has is twofold. It's compassion towards their souls and their bodies. See the way that his concern for our spirits is reflected here in verse 34. When he went ashore and saw the great crowd, he had compassion. The Greek term literally means a twisting of the guts. He feels, and we've all felt that, I trust, at different times. Some of us just, probably in the last month, maybe you saw a movie or read a book, and it had some tragic part, and you feel yourself tensing up in your core. That's the idea of this here. It's not just cerebral. He feels something as a true man. When he went to shore, he saw a great crowd. He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And notice that, not he had compassion on them because they were poor. and their clothes weren't nice, and they didn't have food with them. That will come, but because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and this is a callback to a passage we saw just a few weeks ago in Ezekiel 34, where the Lord says, I shall be their shepherd, and he brings an indictment against the teachers, the leaders, the priests of Israel for failing to provide proper spiritual guidance to his people. And so the Lord looks at them and he says, I see a bunch of people who have come out here for teaching and they don't have half a clue who I am and what I'm about. And he begins to teach them, not for just a little bit, for hours and hours and hours. We imagine that he arrived there at something like 10 or 11 a.m. and it tells us that he continues teaching until it's getting so late, the disciples are concerned that the people are going to have to walk back in darkness. This is an incredible feat of commitment emanating out of his compassion. And then it's not just a compassion for their spirits, for their knowledge, but it extends to their bodies as well. Look in verse 35 and 36, the disciples urged Jesus, send them away to go find food. And that's a natural thought. Not seeing any forthcoming miracle, they are using the ordinary means. Send these people away. Most estimates are given where, the towns that we know of were at that time, that this was something like between 10 and 20 miles that people needed to walk back. And Jesus, hearing what they say, begins to protest. In fact, we have his words in Matthew 15 and Mark 8, where it says, I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days, in another instance, 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 very far away. He cares. And he looks in this crowd and there's probably elderly people. And there are children. There are people who are hobbling there because they need healing in their legs. And he looks and he says, no, something has to be done. I'm not satisfied with your idea. And the problem is not that they don't have bread. It's not an indictment on the disciples for not having for these people what they need. But he's inviting them to feel something of the concern. Not just, you know, I guess if they don't have what they need, that's between them and God. Send them out, they have to go find it. But feel the concern for what may become of them. And even so, we have in this passage a demonstration, since God is unchanging, of his care for you. for your body, for your soul. And you can say, well, how does he care for my body if I'm going through so many ailments? He cares so much about your soul and other people's souls that he's willing to sanctify us and the church through our many sufferings. But don't let that deceive you into thinking he doesn't feel for us. He doesn't change. Isn't it the case for anyone who's ever been an older sibling of a much younger sibling or maybe a parent that you've seen a young child in pain and you want to help them, but they don't believe that you are really starting to help them, especially something like trying to pull out a splinter or put in eye drops for a small child. And they're writhing and convinced that you hate them. And you're trying to do something that's bigger than just that one spot. And the Lord in that way shows us his compassion so that you would receive it and trust in it and come to him. but also he's revealing something of what it means to become Christ-like. If you only care for people's souls and ensuring that they get the right information, as if that's the only factor, even of their soul, and if you turn a blind eye to their tangible needs, you aren't reflecting the Jesus of the Bible. As we read elsewhere in the scripture, if somebody comes to you naked and hungry and you say, be warm and filled, You have not done anything for them. It's mere platitudes. It's so good that this church has had a habit for decades now of opening its hand in wisdom to those who have need. And there are all kinds of provisions and clarifications we would need to have if this were a sermon about how to do that without harming people. But recognize, not only the church does that as a corporation, we do that as individuals. We are called to feel something for the body and soul needs of others. Now let's turn to the second main division here. As the Spirit sets before you, Jesus' capability. It is one thing to feel something for other people. It's a different thing to be able to actually help them. We all know that. There are needs all around us that we look at and we say, you know, I hurt. that this need exists. If you actually were to look up and just see the number of children in Phoenix who are in homes that are abusive. We wish that we could do something, but then what's our ability as individuals or even as an institution to meet the need? But in Christ, we are getting an image of somebody who has absolute capability, total sufficiency for whatever he applies himself to. And he shows us this so that we would go to him to receive, in the first place, care for our own needs, body and soul. And to help us in that, first appreciate the magnitude of the physical need that was before them that day. The disciples estimate something like 200 denarii, and a denarius was a day's wage. Take an average laborer's wage and 200 days of that. eight months of wages just to feed these people for one day. It tells us 5,000 men. It doesn't tell us how many women and children. The number is probably much greater than that. This is an immense need before them. How much do the disciples have on hand? Go and see, he says. Five loaves and two fish. That doesn't, to me, that doesn't sound like necessarily enough even for the 12 disciples. They are ready to go without. And this is such a meager, meager circumstance, and it's important that even the amount that he starts with is so little in order that we might recognize where the abundance comes from. See how the miracle unfolds. Verse 39, read it closely. Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up 12 baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were 5,000 men." Now, it's possible that the crowd didn't even understand what was happening. They discovered there was bread, but sitting down in a vast multitude, they might not actually see how this is working. We don't know for certain how the bread was multiplied. Is it that as Jesus breaks it, it's like one of those magicians who just is able to make cards come out? I don't know. Was it just bubbling up in the bottom of the basket, so it's a bottomless basket of bread? I have no idea. I don't think that the mechanism, even if it told us more, would satisfy our curiosity. It's a miracle. It transcends nature. This isn't his first time doing this. Remember the woman with the oil in a vessel in the Old Testament and it doesn't run dry. But the purpose is to provide an assurance to us that Jesus can meet every temporal necessity. Not just spiritual, but our temporal necessities too. And I hope that you recognize and you glorify him for that. that the things that you've been provided for have come through his hands. And he's multiplied to you so many times when we wondered, how are ends gonna meet? And it's so easy to forget, to look back years later and to just not even remember the ways that we were so tight and he provided for us. And he does so not only for those who know him in truth, even out into the world. And the world doesn't recognize and thank him for it. He sends his rain upon the just and the unjust. He has goodness that abounds, but the purpose of the miracle is to affirm to us it really was him the whole time. Now, I do want you to notice, he does not at this point do so extravagantly. He doesn't turn the bread into caviar. He doesn't give them everything they might want. If you can be satisfied with bread, then service in the kingdom is for you. And sometimes he gives much more than that, but he does guarantee our necessities Luke chapter 12, verse 29 through 31, Jesus says, fear not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And there, the kingdom refers not simply to an order of rule, but to the fullness of blessing. Matthew chapter six, he says, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you'll eat or drink, nor about your body, what you'll put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Therefore, he says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these will be added to you. Your clothing, your food, your water, everything you need for godliness in this life. Beyond satisfying their stomachs, Jesus is doing something else here. he is underscoring his spiritual authority. And he does this in other instances too, where he says, you know, what is easier to say? That your sins are forgiven or take up your bed and walk. And in a similar way here, what's easier to say? I am the bread of life. If anyone comes to me, he shall never hunger, but shall have everlasting life. Or to actually multiply loaves in front of people. It's much easier to make big spiritual claims than to deliver a miracle. And in this miracle, Jesus is affirming, especially to his disciples, everything I've been telling you, as incredible as it sounds, is true. And you need to hear that and believe that again today. Hear what Jesus says in John chapter six, I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger. And he's talking far beyond the temporal needs of this life. He's talking about your soul not perishing, but having satisfaction forever. And it says that as they gathered up all the baskets, everyone had been satisfied. And there's something in a way unsatisfying about the way that Jesus, if I can speak as a fool, ordained the Lord's Supper to be. On the night before he was betrayed, he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it. And he shared it among 12 people. That's a small piece of bread, one loaf shared by 12. It's a foretaste of future glory. It's an invitation and participation in the beginnings of life to come. But there is satisfaction on the horizon. And Jesus is giving us that assurance, as it says in Revelation chapter seven, then they shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, for the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd. He will guide them to springs of living water. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. This past week, I saw a grown man shed tears over the fact that a young girl's father was actively trying to convert her out of the Christian faith. Every tear. This is not hypothetical, this is not poetic language. If you are in Jesus Christ, now and then we weep, because we're like him, but he is sufficient to satisfy. And I want to urge you then, receive the invitation, or if you've received it before, savor the expectation. Hear what it says in Isaiah 55, Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. He who has no money, come. Buy and eat. How do you come and buy without money? I suppose you bring Christ himself. You trust that his generosity pays for it. Come, buy wine and milk without money, without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread? Why do you labor for that which does not truly satisfy? Listen diligently to me. Eat what is good, delight yourselves in rich food. Why do we go to the world and to sin expecting that to satisfy us when we have Jesus Christ who is the bread, who is abundant, and he says, trust in me. And you have a taste of that in this life, but full feasting in the life to come. I urge you all, receive him, treasure him, feed upon him in your heart by faith. Not just on days when we have communion, but all the time. There's a third and final lesson that I want to bring before you from the word here. And it's referenced in verse 37 if you look with me. It has to do with your calling. Your calling to participate in dispersing Christ's benefits. He commands his disciples, you give them something to eat. You give them something to eat. And why does he ask that? It's obviously not because he is unaware. He knows that they can't provide for 5,000 people. He would have seen them coming to that very spot with a bunch of bread. Jesus knows it, but he wants to ready them to have a sense of their insufficiency so that they will deeply recollect this for all future occasions of need. And then, as he provides, he begins to hand them baskets, and they get to participate by faith believing there's going to be more and more. They don't just stand there and say, this isn't enough. There's only so many baskets, look at all these people. They by faith begin to carry out and to trust that there will be more and more to meet the needs. Even so, you have a calling to feed others, to abound in Christ's bounty, to those who have need all around us, both their spiritual needs and their tangible needs. The church does both and is most beautiful when she's committed to both. I want you to recognize in this text that the disciples begin to share while they are still in the midst of feeling like they lack. And even so, in your ministry, in your activity, It is often going to be accompanied not by a sense of having plenty, but by a feeling that there is not enough, and you begin to give out in faith. You begin to share. As it says, 1 Corinthians 9, verses 8 through 11, God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having everything you need in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. you're going to feel not just material limitations, you're going to feel personal limitations, that you don't have the energy to meet needs around you, that you don't have the skills to meet people's needs around you. And I want to be careful here. I am not encouraging anyone, I'm not trying to give a license to coerce other people beyond their healthy limits. I'm talking about you and how you handle your own. And in this passage, there's a tension Jesus does care about providing the disciples with rest. On the other hand, he's giving them an opportunity to stretch themselves in faith and to discover that there was more of the Spirit's help than they thought. That is so important for us because like the disciples, there are days where we just begin weary. There is more for you to do than you can possibly do on any day if your eyes are actually open. When I hear people say, I respect differences of opinion about this, but I have heard it said, and it was once said here, before we had two pastors and eight elders, we had one pastor and, at one point, far less than eight elders, and things were said like, well, you know, we're a small church so we don't need more people in service. And I just, my only reaction is to want to put my hand on my belly and to laugh and laugh and laugh. There's so, so much opportunity. Not just that you need more pastors, but more elders, more deacons, and frankly, just more people engaged in service. There's that whole, you know, the Peter's principle, 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. I don't actually think that applies to our church in many different areas. I think there's a significantly greater engagement level than that here. But you can't ever do it all. And this is the miracle of the Christian mission, that it multiplies in a way that is like the loaves. When Jesus takes into his hands the lives of just a few believers, and he blesses them, and he breaks them, and he begins to give them away in service, from that small means he is able to nourish a multitude onto everlasting life. We are all beneficiaries of that. 12 disciples thousands of years ago, millions across the world worshiping Jesus Christ and feeding upon him today in faith. May we each be a part of that and trust that there are resources that we don't know about and not be handicapped by doubt concerning his provision. The Spirit has set this promise before you in the word this morning. I urge you simply hold on to it, believe it, walk in it, And he sets it before us visibly, tangibly in the elements of the Lord's Supper. His full commitment to our nourishment unto everlasting life. Let's ask his blessing. Pray with me. Father, we thank you for your word. We ask that you would cause it to bear good fruit in us. That you would please satisfy our hearts with the knowledge of your faithfulness. and the expectation that our needs will be met in this life and that there's a feast on the horizon and we have been invited. We ask that you would please grant us to share these truths with others as well when they are in periods of weakness or fainting. For in Jesus' name we pray, amen.