THE COMPASSIONATE SHEPHERD – Mark 6:30-34
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 5, 2015 under 2015 |
Message preached Sunday, July 5, 2015 from Mark 6:30-34
Theme: Jesus is a loving Shepherd who is moved with compassion toward all who seek Him.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
The larger theme of this story is the compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ. It tells us about one of His most famous acts of compassion. The second half of the story is the half that tells us about the act of compassion He performed. But the first half shows us the compassion He felt for people that compelled Him to that act.
And I suggest to you, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that if we want to perform the kind of compassionate acts that Jesus performed to people, we need to learn to have the kind of compassionate feelings He had for them first.
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So; here’s the first half of the story—the half where we’re told about the compassion Jesus felt for people. It’s found in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Mark; and it tells us of how the twelve apostles had returned to the Lord after they had completed a mission that He had sent them on. Beginning with verse 30, we’re told;
Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things (Mark 6:30-34).
That’s the part of the story that tells us how deeply Jesus felt for all the needy people from all the surrounding cities that sought Him. We’re told that He “ was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd”; and that He, in love, served them and met their needs. And then comes the half of the story that tells of a particular act of compassion He performed for them. Starting in verse 35, we’re told;
When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.” But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men (vv. 35-44).
You’ll notice from the second half of the story that the apostles didn’t necessarily feel as much compassion for the multitudes as Jesus felt. In fact, you get the impression that they were just a little annoyed with this huge crowd. “Lord, it’s getting late. They’re going to start wanting food pretty soon. Please send them away.”
But Jesus not only allowed His apostles to see the compassion that He felt for this large crowd of “sheep without a shepherd”, but He also actually demonstrated that compassion toward them by the fact that—like a good shepherd—He fed them. He, in fact, fed them abundantly! He even made the apostles do some of the work of helping to feed them. And in the process of it all, He demonstrated—miraculously—that nothing can ever hinder Him from showering all the compassionate care that could possibly be needed upon all those who truly seek Him.
So; that’s why I think it’s good to break this story in half. We certainly need study that miraculous act of compassion that He showed for that large crowd of spiritually and physically needy people. But first, we need to spend some time learning about the deep compassion that our Lord and Master felt for them. We need to feel something of that compassion ourselves—and allow the Holy Spirit to establish the compassion of the Lord Jesus in us and change the way we feel about others in need.
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Now; I need to tell you that this story has had two very important impacts on me.
First, it has made me love the Lord Jesus more. What a compassionate Savior He is. When He came into this world, He told us what His sense of His own mission from the Father was:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19).
We can come to Jesus with all our needs; and we never have to fear that He will turn us away. He will never tell us that our needs are too insignificant, or that our concerns are too silly for Him to be bothered with. He will never tell us that He doesn’t have time for us, or express that He is annoyed with our dependency upon Him. As it says in Hebrews 4:15-16;
So; one of the great impacts that this passage has had on me has been to remind me that my Lord and Master is the most compassionate Lord and Master anyone could ever serve. He looks upon Me in my own times of need as one of His own sheep; and He gives Himself completely to shepherd me and care for me. Looking at this story just makes me love Him more—and makes me want to come to Him far more often.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16).
But it also makes me look at myself and feel ashamed. I can point to many times when my hard-hearted reaction to other people in their need was more like the twelve apostles than like my compassionate Lord. I can think of far too many times when I was too busy with temporal things, or too ‘important’ in my own eyes, or too self-focused and self-centered to have compassion on the people that the Lord has sent to me in their need. I knew at those times that my heart was tightening up toward them, and that I was not allowing myself to feel toward them as the Lord Jesus would feel; and that I was annoyed with the way that their need intruded upon me.
I am afraid I have a lot of failures to be ashamed of. But I love Jesus so much that want to be changed. So; join me this morning as we look at this passage in greater detail. Let’s learn about the compassion that Jesus felt for others—and let’s love Him all the more for it. Let’s learn to come to Him freely with our own needs—knowing that He always welcomes us. But let’s also allow His compassion toward us to rebuke the hardness of our own hearts; and let’s ask that the Holy Spirit to develop in us the compassion of our Lord toward others.
What a compassionate Savior! He knows our frame. He knows how much we need rest—and He commands us to take the time to enjoy it in Him.
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Now; if they were at Capernaum, and if the place they went to was Bethsaida, then it would have been a relatively short trip by boat—perhaps only about three miles along the coast of the Sea of Galilee. And I wonder if, in making the trip, they just cruised along gradually—rowing slowly, and enjoying the scenes along the way.
The reason I say that is because there was apparently enough time for something else to be happening while they made the trip. Mark tells us in verse 33, “But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him” (v. 33).
I don’t believe we should blame the crowds for this. They came to Him as soon as they knew where He was because they felt a great need for Him. They didn’t know that He and His disciples were tired and needed rest. In fact, I suppose that the potential for the crowds to do this was a part of why Jesus called His disciples away to a deserted place for a time of solitude.
But the people found out. And what’s wonderful is that, when He saw them, Jesus wasn’t angry with them. He wasn’t annoyed at the crowds for coming to Him and demanding more from Him. He didn’t look at the multitude that was eagerly awaiting Him, and groan under His breath—like we might—and say, “Oh no . . .!” Instead, He was patient and tender and welcoming toward them.
Note what Mark tells us about . . .
3. THE COMPASSION OF THE SHEPHERD.
He writes; “And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them . . .” (v. 34a). The word for “compassion” is the word splangxnizomai. I don’t get to use that word very often; but I love it, because its related to the word from which we get the English word “spleen”. It means “to be moved with pity” or “to feel compassion at the deepest, innermost level” or “to feel down deep in the gut”. Seeing this crowd so needy and so desperate for Him—seeing that they would come from so many places on foot, at perhaps such great effort, in order to be near Him—was something that moved His heart at the deepest level. Oh, that we would feel toward needy people with the kind of deep feeling that Jesus felt!
And notice why he felt that way toward them. He felt deep pity and love for them “because they were like sheep not having a shepherd” (v. 34b). He saw that they were helpless without Him. He perhaps saw that the religious leaders of the day had weakened the spirits of these people by endless rituals and regulations and religious ceremonies—and that they had not been truly nourished their spirits with the word of God. He saw that they were without guidance and protection; and were exposed to the dangers of and threats of the enemy. And when He looked into their longing faces, He couldn’t turn them away.
So; even though He was tired, and even though He was grieving in His spirit at the loss of John the Baptist, and even though He would have perhaps preferred to be alone, we’re told, “So He began to teach them many things” (v. 34c).
What a compassionate Shepherd!
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Now please understand. I’m not saying that we should ignore the times when we truly need rest. I’m certainly not saying that we should try to do more than we can do. That would not be God’s will for us.
But this story suggests to us there may be times when we miss opportunities to fulfill the Great Commission toward people in need—people who the Lord sends our way in order for us to introduce them to Himself—because we are not allowing ourselves to feel the deep compassion that the Lord Jesus feels toward them. There may be times when we allow ourselves to get too annoyed with people in their need, or become so self-focused that we close up toward them. I know that I—personally—have lost far too many opportunities to be a representative of the Lord Jesus because of this; and I want to change.
So; let’s first of all learn to celebrate what a wonderful, tender, welcoming, compassionate Shepherd the Lord Jesus is. Let’s rejoice in the way that He was moved with compassion for people in their need—and let’s be thankful that He shows that compassion to us all the time. Let’s allow His compassion to become a part of who we are.
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Let’s go back to the beginning of this long passage, then; and let’s look first at . . .
1. THE LABORS OF THE DISCIPLES.
Now; they had just returned from the preaching and ministering tour that the Lord had sent them on throughout the regions of Galilee. And when it was over, we’re told in verse 30; “Then the apostles gathered to Jesus”—I believe this would have been back at Capernaum, by the way—“and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.”
Consider first the things that they would have told Him about. The Gospel writer Mark tells us that they reported on all the things they had done and taught. They would have given a detailed report of their actions and their preaching. To appreciate what it was that they had reported on, you need to go back to verses 7-13 to see what it was that He sent them out to do:
And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts— but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics. Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them (Mark 6:7-13).
So; they would have come back and told Him all the stories of how they went where He sent them, and of how they had performed miracles in His name, and of how they had taught the people to repent of their sins and believe on Him. I believe they also would have reported to Him how they had experienced all of His provision for them along the way—where it was that they were able to stay, how they felt courage that the times when they were rejected, and how it was that their every need was wonderfully met.
They would have had some exciting things to report—and the accuracy of those reports would have been greatly ensured by the fact that they had gone out two-by-two. One member of the team would tell some of the stories; and the other would have filled in the details and mentioned things that the first one might have missed. I think that, all together, the twelve apostles would have had an overwhelming sense of having been used by the Lord Jesus, and of having served others in His name. What a compassionate gift from our Lord that would have been!—that He would have allowed these simple, humble men to bear His authority and perform His great works! And what’s more, what a compassion it would have been to the lost people of that area—’the lost sheep of the house of Israel’—to whom they would have ministered in His name!
But there’s something else I think it would be important to notice; and that is that a full report was required of the Lord when their work was done. They weren’t free agents; but rather, were sent missionaries who were accountable to the one who had sent them. In fact, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I think of the report that they gave as something of a miniature picture of the accounting you and I must one day give. It will not be an accounting to determine whether or not we are saved, of course; because that was settled when we placed our faith on our Lord’s sacrifice on the cross. Rather, this will be an accounting of how we did with the opportunities and responsibilities and capabilities and talents and resources that our Lord gave us to use in His name in fulfilling our part in the Great Commission that He gave us.
No one labored harder in that commission than the apostle Paul. And here’s what he once wrote about it:
Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:9-10).
Now; I’m very thankful that I don’t have to be afraid of appearing before Him. He is a compassionate Master, and He will forgive my many failures. But nevertheless, I want to be as pleasing to Him as I can on that day of review. I love Him; and I want to be able to give Him a good report. Don’t you?
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Well; they came to Him and gave a report. He had sent them in compassionate love to serve the lost and needy people around Him, and commanded them to declare His grace to them and call them to repentance. When it was all over, I believe that the report that they gave was indeed a very good one.
And that leads us, next, to the compassion that Jesus showed to them after the work was over. Here’s where we see . . .
2. THE NEED TO REST.
Mark tells us in verses 31-32, “And He said to them, ‘Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’ For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.”
Dear brothers and sisters; I wonder—when you read those words, are you like me? I read them and find that I inwardly sigh and say, “Oh yes, Lord, yes!” What a wonderful invitation from our Savior! Or perhaps it would be better to say, what a wonderful command! This invitation to rest was more than just an invitation. I believe it was a merciful imperative from a divine Master to His servants—and every word is worth considering carefully!
First He said, “Come aside” or “Come away”. In the telling of this story in Matthew’s Gospel, we’re told that when He was informed of the death of John the Baptist, “He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself” (Matthew 14:13). I believe that our Lord’s own heart was broken over the news of John’s death, and that He personally needed some time away. But here, we see that He didn’t go alone. He took His weary disciples with Him. Whenever we feel the gentle call of Jesus to get away with Him for a while, we should obey His call to “Come aside!”
Second He said, “by yourselves”. This was a time to get away from everyone else—from all the crowds, and all the responsibilities, and all the demands of service—and be by themselves for a while. It may be that, after having given this wonderful report to the Jesus, He knew that His disciples needed some time to reflect on it all. Back in Mark 4:34, we’re told that “when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.” I’m pretty sure that we rob ourselves of great moments of insight and instruction when we fail to just ‘get alone’ with the Lord Jesus, sit at His feet, and spend time with Him.
Third He said, “to a deserted place”. He wanted them to have a complete change of pace; and because of all the activities that were happening, and because of all the many people ‘coming and going’, they needed to go to a ‘deserted’ or ‘unoccupied’ place of retreat. According to the Gospel of John, they went to Bethsaida—which is northeast of the town of Capernaum; up from the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, over by where the Jordan River fed into the sea. It would have been a hilly, grassy, quiet area with a beautiful view of the sea and the gentle sounds of bubbling water. It would have been a place for them to catch their breath. Maybe it was even meant to be a visual illustration—a quiet place where the refreshing waters ‘fed in’. Sometimes we need to get some distance away to be able to have the kind of time with the Lord Jesus in which He feeds us and refreshes us with His Spirit.
And finally, He said “and rest a while”. It was not a time to do some other kind of work. It was a time to stop from the work altogether, and to refresh and renew. And it wasn’t forever—it was just for a while. A very wise friend and mentor once warned me that it’s the people who love their service to the Lord the most that are the most in danger of burning out and becoming ineffective in His service; and it’s because they don’t see how great their need is to rest from their labors. I’m thankful that our Lord sees and knows how we’re doing in His service; and that He commands rest.
Now; I’m going to have to be the first to admit that—as true and right as everything I just said is—I very often fail in keeping faithful to it. I’m afraid I don’t take the times to rest as often as I should. I hope, before God, that I will change that. But just reading these words sure makes me want to change that! How about you? Do you ever read these words from our Lord and feel the Spirit of God gently tugging on you to get away and be with Jesus? Well; let’s do it. Let’s not just “get away” and be self-indulgent and irresponsible—because that’s not His will for us. And let’s never “get away” in order to be independent from the Lord—because that wouldn’t be a call from Him. But let’s remember His wonderful invitation:
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
And then, let’s let the Holy Spirit teach us to be like Him toward others.
