4 Steps to Being Fed (Mark 6:33-44; 8:1-9;) | 7/21/19
Mark 6:33-44; 8:1-9; 7/21/19 | Will DuVal
This morning marks the halfway point in our study together as a church through the Gospel of Mark, a series we’ve entitled “ROOTED”; Mark wants to ROOT us deeper in the gospel – the good news of who Jesus is and what he’s done for us. I’ve grouped similar stories together into a few topical mini-series - we spent 2 weeks on Jesus vs. Demons, 3 weeks on Jesus & Healing - and this morning is another part 2 of sorts, in our topical study of Jesus’ MIRACLES. Last week, we looked at Jesus’ calming of two storms in chs.4 and 6, and this morning we’re gonna examine Jesus’ two separate feedings of the thousands in chs.6 and 8. And we discover that not only does Jesus USE the physical laws of our world - oceanography and meteorology - to bring about his own sovereign purposes by commanding the wind and the waves – but he actually RE-WRITES the laws of physics, and causes them to BEND to his own power and will when necessary. In a way, this morning’s accounts are the most mind-blowing of all Jesus’ miracles, because storms are known to quiet down, diseases can be healed, demons can be exorcised, but instantly turning one fish into two identical fish – spontaneous cloning - defies the basic law of conservation of mass.
But as I said last week, if we interpret these passages as merely stories about Jesus’ power over the physical world, we’ll miss the point. Once again, I want to suggest that these passages are not JUST about Jesus’ past ability and desire to feed people’s BODIES, but they’re meant to point us to his present ability and desire to feed our SOULS. So often in biblical interpretation we get tripped up by whether or not a story is meant to be taken literally, or metaphorically, and so OFTEN the answer is BOTH. It’s not “either-or”, but both-and. Jesus literally, PHYSICALLY PERFORMED these miracles. And yet he did it, PRIMARILY, as PROOF that He really was the Son of God, and that he’s ABLE to perform the even GREATER miracle, that you and I desperately need, regardless of our physical appetites, and that is, to spiritually feed our souls. But in order to BE FED today, we must do FOUR things: four steps to being fed. And if that title sounds WEIRD to you, like, “I’m an adult; why do I need to ‘be fed’. I’ve been feeding myself for as long as I can remember now...” This sermon is especially for you!
Would you stand with me as you’re able for the reading of God’s word, Mark 6:33-44 and 8:1-9
MARK 6:33-44
33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 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. 35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late.36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii[f] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 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.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 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. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied.43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
MARK 8:1-9
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, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.3 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.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 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. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.
This is the word... Let’s pray...
Step #1 to BEING FED: Recognize you are HUNGRY. (6:33-35; 8:1-2)
Let’s start REAL simple here: you don’t EAT unless you’re HUNGRY. Now, we might DISPUTE this assumption in modern-day America; sometimes WE eat just cuz we’re BORED. Or just cuz it’s 6:30pm and that’s what we ALWAYS do then. Or if you’re like ME yesterday, cuz we have 3 week old HAM leftover in the fridge that NEEDS to be eaten before it gets tossed. But since NONE of these factors affected people’s eating habits 2,000 years ago, or affect MOST of the world’s population today, let’s just GRANT my premise here, that before you EAT, you first need to RECOGNIZE that you are hungry.
That’s how both these stories start.
ch.6,vv33-34: “Now many saw the disciples going [while they were sailing], and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.” Why? They’re HUNGRY. Hungry for more of Jesus’ miracles. We know from the parallel account of this story in Matthew’s Gospel (14:14), that Jesus was also healing their SICK. But what ELSE are they hungry for? What’s Jesus primarily doing for them here? v34: He began to teach them many things.” They’re hungry for his TEACHING. His WISDOM. His word. SO hungry, that they stay all day LONG, after having left in such a hurry to catch up to Jesus that they failed to pack DINNER, so the DISCIPLES come to Jesus to inform him in v35: Hey, it’s late, these people are about to start getting HUNGRY, and this place is so DESOLATE, so REMOTE, there’s not even a McDonalds out here, so you KNOW you’re in the sticks! Jesus: send them AWAY so they can go buy some food. They’re hungry.
The crowd in ch.8 is even HUNGRIER, because v2: they’ve been listening to Jesus preach for THREE DAYS STRAIGHT. Now, I’m no Jesus. Even the great apostle PAUL had to learn this one the hard way, remember what happened when Paul tried to preach through just ONE night straight, in Acts 20, and he bored a guy to sleep, guy falls out the window and DIES. That’s why our windows don’t OPEN in here. But do me a favor and if I ever start to drone on a little up here, and your tummy starts to growl, just remember that I have BIBLICAL PRECEDENT to preach for THREE DAYS. Okay? God’s word is THAT important. So no watching the clock; this isn’t middle school math class – come on, people!
But Jesus’ word is SO GOOD, and they are so SPIRITUALLY HUNGRY for it, that they haven’t even NOTICED that they’ve gone THREE DAYS without food. But their PHYSICAL hunger is finally starting to catch UP to their spiritual hunger, so much so that Jesus acknowledges in v.3 that “if I send them away to their homes, they won’t make it all the way home; they’ll faint on the way.”
Have you ever been hungry? Some of our brothers and sisters in Africa, Asia, central and South America will hear this story very differently than we will, and yet, there is SOME relativity when it comes to hunger, even if that means for you, being a few hours late for a meal. Any of y’all get HANGRY, like my wife? My wife is the sweetest person you’ll ever meet, until she skips a meal. We had to stop fasting together, as a couple, because I was too emotionally sensitive. She starts saying things that usually she keeps to herself on a full stomach.
In my youth ministry days, we used to lead students through WorldVision’s “30 Hour Famine”. And by the end, you’d of thought most of them were on death’s doorstep. And you laugh, but YOU try it. We are SO dependent on our physical sustenance, aren’t we? Fasting is meant to remind us of our NEEDINESS, our utter RELIANCE on our daily bread. And yet, what did Jesus pray when he’d gone without food for FORTY days! And was tempted by Satan: ““‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”” Can you even IMAGINE, going 40 days without food, he was fully man; he didn’t STOP being human... Imagine fasting for 40 days and proclaiming, “I STILL need God’s SPIRITUAL sustenance just as much as I need His PHYSICAL provision.”OUR problem, in 21st c. America, is that so FEW of us know what need IS anymore. We’ve all heard, “The first step is ADMITTING you have a problem.” Jesus puts it this way in Mark 2:17 – “It’s not the HEALTHY who need the doctor, but the SICK.” Tim Keller says, “All you need is need”. But the problem in our society is that we’ve become so good at masking our needs that it’s hard for us to RECOGNIZE our need anymore. ANY need. Want food? open the fridge. Want healthcare? vote for our candidate. Want affirmation? post and wait. Want sex? swipe right. Or click here; it’s free at your fingertips. And it’s not that these things are BAD. Not ALL of them anyway. It’s GREAT that people aren’t starving to death all around us. But our culture of comfort does have this unintended consequence of making us BLIND to our DEEPEST needs.
What about you: are you HUNGRY this morning? What do you NEED today? In Matthew 5:6, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” “Chortazo”: Same word he uses here in 6:42 and 8:8 - full; satisfied. I don’t know about y’all, but I’ll just be honest, I skipped quiet times this past week. I had a busy week, and I made excuses, and I had days where I didn’t open my Bible first thing in the morning. I WANT that to not be okay. I WANT that to throw my ENTIRE day off, because I’m so spiritually STARVED to spend that time with the Lord. Praise God - that is more true of me today than it used to be; I don’t know about y’all, but I FEEL it these days when I skip a spiritual meal. It was a ROUGH week. But by God’s grace, and through my own spiritual discipline – 1 Tim 4:7, we’ve got to TRAIN ourselves for godliness – man, I pray that in the years to come, I’ll be SO dependent on God’s word, SO hungry for righteousness, that I won’t be able to STAND it without that quiet time with Him.
What about you? Maybe you’re here this morning because you’ve just started to recognize your hunger. Your need for something more. From the outside looking in, from the WORLD’S perspective, you’ve got everything you could possibly ever WANT, much less need: great family, great job, great friends, financial security, you name it. But something... is still... MISSING. C.S. Lewis said, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” As cheesy as it sounds, God really did design us with a God-shaped hole in our hearts, such that, as Augustine said, our hearts are RESTLESS until they find their rest in HIM.
Friend: recognize that you are HUNGRY this morning. All the money and possessions and family and friends you could ever DREAM of in this world will die and rust and be left behind; only ONE thing survives the grave. Only one PERSON.
NEXT, Step #2: You must Admit you can’t FEED YOURSELF. (6:36-37; 8:3-4)
Look at the disciples’ advice in ch.6,v36, this miracle didn’t even NEED to happen: “Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” Jesus could have let them buy their OWN dinner. Why didn’t he? Cuz the story’s not JUST literal; He’s making a deeper point here about their SPIRITUAL need, and how THAT need, MUST get provided for. NOT by them. Jesus instructs them: “YOU feed them dinner.” And their response? “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii[f] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” That’s 8 months wages for one person; maybe $20,000 today. “Jesus – you JOKING?! We’re HOMELESS out here – Luke 9: the Son of Man has no place to lay his head; in fact, you told us ten verses ago in Luke’s Gospel not to even CARRY any money or food with us! – but you think we’ve got $20,000 hiding under these tunics to go buy supper for 5,000 people. Actually, Mark says 5,000 MEN; Matthew adds that there were many more women and children; so maybe 20,000 people?! WE can’t feed them!
The situation’s even WORSE in ch.8 – because the crowd’s gone so long -3 days- without food that even if they WANTED to feed themselves, they’d pass out on the trip back home. And keep in mind, too, the little food they DO have, their “loaves” here are these little flatbread wafers; these are NOT Subway foot-longs. Together with the small fish, this was just enough food for a single lunch for a small boy”, which makes SENSE, because that’s exactly whose lunch we hear it WAS in the parallel account from John 6. 20,000 people; enough food for 1 person. They are in trouble.
And friends, maybe you’ve come here this morning RECOGNIZING your need. But you haven’t yet admitted that you’re in TROUBLE, because it’s a NEED, that you can’t meet yourself. Step #2 might be the BIGGEST obstacle to the spread of the gospel in our day, because even when we DO acknowledge we want more out of life than we’re currently experiencing, how often is our next step to simply try HARDER. Do more. MAKE more, so we can buy the bigger house, go on the longer vacation. Even if I DO have a need, I can fix it. I’ll read a self-help book. I’ll go to therapy. There’s an app for that. A YouTube video. I’ve said it before: there’s nothing more UNAMERICAN than the gospel. What’s more American than the American DREAM. If you can believe it, you can achieve it. With enough hard work and effort, you can do ANYTHING. Be anyone. And here comes Jesus saying: No ya can’t. Can’t save yourself, spiritually. Eternally. Can’t earn Heaven. You can’t be good enough to do that. Matthew 5: think you’re good enough? Ever lusted? Then you’ve committed adultery... in your heart. Ever been ticked off? Then you’ve murdered... in your heart. Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, unless you’re perfect, Matthew 5:48, you’re not good enough for Heaven.
That’s why Jesus said in Matthew 18:3 ““Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Why? ‘Cuz children KNOW they can’t feed themselves. My daughter’s as self-reliant as they come, but there are some foods she doesn’t even BOTHER trying to eat herself, because she knows there’s no way in heaven her Mom is gonna let her eat spaghetti in her brand new fancy dress all by herself. She needs to BE FED.
And friends, maybe you’re here this morning because you’ve been trying to feed yourself for a LOOOONG time now and you’re EXHAUSTED. It’s not WORKING. Keeping up with the Joneses. Cuz where are the Joneses? They’re ALWAYS one step ahead. Ask the richest man in the world, John Rockefeller, how much money is enough, and the answer is STILL “Just a little more”. Maybe you’ve been trying to cover over and fill that God-shaped void with all SORTS of different things – relationships, work, entertainment, FOOD, alcohol, pills – and you’re finally realizing: “this is a hunger I can’t satisfy; a thirst I can’t quench” on my own. There is no sadder character in the Bible than the rich young ruler in Mark 10; we’ve got a whole sermon coming up on him in a few weeks, so I won’t spoil it here, but can you imagine being RICH (money), being a RULER (power), AND being a RULE FOLLOWER (self-righteousness), and being told by Jesus that there’s no place for you in His kingdom. You can’t BUY your way in. Imagine him walking home that day, sitting back down on his gold-encrusted thrown; I bet it never felt smaller. His money never felt more worthless. His gold star church attendance award never felt more futile.
Friend, if you’re tired this morning of trying to feed yourself, of trying to impress others by how together you’ve got things, come fall in the arms of the One who’s actually able to fill that void. The One who #3... is ABLE, and WILLING.
Step #3: REALIZE that JESUS... ALONE, is ABLE and WILLING. (6:34,38-41; 8:2,5-7)
First of all, he’s ABLE. We’ve witnessed that time and time again, in multiple passages:
He is ABLE to cast out demons. ABLE to heal sickness. ABLE to restore sight to the blind. Sound to the deaf. LIFE to the DEAD. He is ABLE to calm storms. And he’s ABLE to turn 1 fish into 2 fish, and feed 20,000 with 1 lunch.
But most importantly, He is ABLE to make the SPIRITUALLY dead... ALIVE. He is ABLE... to SAVE us, FROM us. Friends, we’re not the solution; we’re the problem. It’s OUR sin – MY sin, YOUR sin – that created the infinite spiritual CHASM between us and a holy, perfect God in the FIRST place! It’s kind of like that new, tongue in cheek Safe Auto commercial (sorry Scott ): but where she says, “Don’t get stains OUT, get everything else IN”. Where the guy spills guacamole on the white couch and instead of trying to REMOVE the stain, the fake infomercial lady sprays bright green “STAIN MATCHER” on it. “That doesn’t sound right, but Safe Auto can get you a free car insurance quote...” WE are the guacamole spillers. We can’t clean it up! Even when we TRY, we’re just spreading more guacamole – Isaiah 64:6 says even our BEST deeds are like dirty rags. We’re trying to clean the couch with a dirty rag. We can’t clean it! But Jesus can.
And what’s even more SHOCKING, is that He WANTS to. He is WILLING. That is truly shocking. Why SHOULD I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. It doesn’t make sense! And YET, this I know with all my heart: His wounds have paid my ransom.
Because what’s the most powerful word in BOTH these passages? “Compassion” (6:34; 8:2) Jesus isn’t just “willing”, he is “splanchnizomai”, he is compassionate, literally, “moved in his BOWELS”, he is GUT-wrenched. For the crowds here. And for YOU. Speaking of commercials, Jesus looks on US the same way WE look at those commercials of starving children with their bloated stomachs protruding out and flies swarming their faces. That is SPIRITUALLY how Jesus sees the crowd here, and how he sees YOU, if you have not yet turned to Him in faith. Others might see you as the successful, beautiful, perfectly put together, idyllic white picket fence achiever, but 1 Samuel 16:7, God looks on the heart and unless he’s looking at His own Holy SPIRIT who now resides there because He’s already performed open heart surgery and REMOVED your heart of stone and GIVEN you a born-again heart of flesh, then what GOD sees, is BROKENNESS. DEATH. ENSLAVEMENT. To sin. And it moves Him to His CORE. To his BOWELS. He ACHES to see you turn to Him for freedom. For healing. For reconciliation and renewal and PEACE... JOY... HOPE. You can made NEW today. You can be FED, all you who are hungry this morning. If you will but turn to JESUS.
And Step #4: Experience IN Jesus: FULFILLING PROVISION. (6:42-44; 8:8-9)
FULFILLING is the closest English translation of the Greek “chortazo” in 6:42 and 8:8, that the ESV renders “satisfied”. It’s more than being “filled”; Chortazo means being FULL-filled. According to MacArthur, it was a term used in animal husbandry to refer to feeding the livestock until they just wouldn’t EAT any more. Y’all ever seen livestock eat? I know we’re in West County here, but I grew up in the country. Moreover, I own a DOG. Who was the runt of her litter, and suffered early in life from food insecurity. She ate everything she could get her paws on, she was constantly begging for table scraps, nosing her way into the trash can and cabinets. So the vet recommended we buy her the biggest bowl we could find, and keep her food filled up to the brim. He said, she’ll literally eat til she vomits for a day or two, and then she’ll realize she’s got all the food she needs and learn to self-regulate. And sure enough, Day 1: Bentley ate SEVEN cups of food in one sitting. Went outside, puked, pooped 3 times, came back in, stank up the whole house, ate ANOTHER three cups, puked AGAIN... but by day TWO, she’d already learned her lesson. And realized: I’ve got all I could ever NEED or WANT.
Friends, THAT’s chortazo; That’s the kind of FULL-filling provision that Jesus offers us. Abundant, EXTRAVAGANT, uncontainable, spilling-out-over-the-brim GRACE that Jesus offers us. You can’t out-sin His grace. You think you’ve used it all up – there’s no WAY God could still love and forgive me – and you look back down and “By God, Jesus you’ve filled the bowl back up to the BRIM again!” You can’t out-run His grace. You TRY and stray and He is the good shepherd, John 10, who knows his flock, and Matthew 18, who leaves the 99 to come find you. And friends: You won’t get TIRED of His grace. Every other idol of your heart will leave you wanting a little more, like Rockefeller. Even the GOOD idols, like relationships. If you’ve made your boyfriend or girlfriend, your husband or wife, your KIDS! (parents)... your own personal MESSIAH, if you are counting on another sinful, screwed up human being to give you your identity and worth and love and validation and FULL-FILL you, friend: be prepared to be MASSIVELY disappointed. That’s not fair to them – that’s a burden NO ONE should have to carry. Except the One whose shoulders were BUILT for it.
There’s so much more we could point out about these passages; they’re so RICH!
We could point out the HUMOR of Mark 8:4, and the disciples dumbfounded questioning of how Jesus is gonna feed the crowd DESPITE the fact that they witnessed him perform this EXACT miracle just a chapter and a half ago in Mark 6. And yet, how often do WE forget God’s past faithfulness when WE face current trials in our lives?
We could note the overtones of the LORD’S SUPPER here, in the language Mark uses: After having blessed the bread, Jesus broke it, and gave it to them. It’s the same wording. This a prefiguring of communion, a foreshadowing of Jesus’ ULTIMATE spiritual provision for us, in his atoning sacrifice in our place on the cross.
We could speculate about why Jesus organizes them in groups, by hundreds and fifties; I’ve got some interesting theories.
But I want to end with this: These crowds in Mark 6, and Mark 8, they’ll eat for the night, but they are gonna wake up physically hungry the next morning, 12 hours later. And friends: whatever substitute you’ve been using to try and fill the God-shaped hole in your heart; it may temporarily fill your need, satisfy your hunger, for a night. But you will wake up hungry again in the morning.
But hear the words of Jesus, the PROMISE of Jesus, in John 6: ““I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall never hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” He promises us ETERNAL satisfaction. Chortazo; FULL-fillment. And our hearts will indeed be restless, and at best only partially, temporarily filled, until they find their rest and FULL-fillment, in Him.
Let’s pray...