Prelude to Feeding of the Five Thousand

Introduction and Context of Mark's Gospel

0:02 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, September 22, 1985, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Let's turn together to the sixth chapter of Mark's Gospel, the Gospel according to Mark. And will you follow, please, as I read in your hearing, verses 30 through 44. Mark chapter 6, beginning the reading at verse 30.

0:36 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and they told him all things whatsoever they had done, and whatsoever they had taught. And he said unto them, Come yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while. For there were many coming and going. And they had no leisure so much as to eat.

1:06 And they went away in the boat to a desert place apart. And the people saw them going. And many knew them, and they ran together there on foot from all the cities, and out went them. And he came forth and saw a great multitude.

1:24 And he had compassion on them, because they were his sheep, not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them. Many. Many things.

1:35 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him and said, The place is desert, and the day is now far spent. Send them away, that they may go into the country and villages round about, and buy themselves somewhat to eat. But he answered and said unto them, You give them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred shillings worth of bread, and give them to eat?

2:04 And he said, And he said unto them, How many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five and two fishes. And he commanded them that all should sit down by companies upon the green grass.

2:22 And they sat down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties. And he took the five loaves and the two fishes. And looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves. And he gave to the disciples.

2:37 To set before them, and the two fishes divided he among them all. And they all ate and were filled. And they took up of broken pieces twelve basketfuls, and also of the fishes. And they that ate the loaves were five thousand men.

2:59 Now let us again seek the face of God in prayer, pleading now in prayer what we have pled with him in the language of the hymn, that God would come and give us teachable hearts, eyes to see, hearts to mark and read aright his holy and sanctifying word. Let us pray. Our Father, we do thank you that in the gospel of your Son you have made known your eternal counsels. And as we come to study together this portion of one of the gospel records, we pray that the Spirit who guided your son, your servant Mark to write these words, would now come powerfully to make them live in our minds, in our understanding, in our sanctified imaginations, and then, oh Lord, to write them upon our hearts so that we may be governed in all of our thinking about our Savior, all of our thinking about his work, and above all, in all of the reality of our relationship to him, may we be governed by the word of truth that we now study together. Come then and help the preacher and your listening people, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

4:27 Now some two years ago we began a course of consecutive expositions of the gospel of Mark in our morning worship services. That course of expositions was interrupted for some six weeks during the latter part of this summer, due primarily to my ministry in Australia and in the Philippines. Now during that time many new faces have appeared in this assembly for which we give God unfeigned and continuous thanks. And for the sake of those who are the new faces among us, and also to reintroduce the book of Mark to those who have been present for the previous expositions, I want to take just a few minutes this morning to reiterate those things which have constantly been before us in the course of our studies in this gospel. We have had occasion again and again to set before you the fundamental concern of Mark in the writings of Mark. The beginning of this gospel and therefore the fundamental concern in the exposition of the gospel. And that concern is stated in the simple language of Mark 1 and verse

5:51 1, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark is concerned to convey good news concerning Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Amidst all the details of the gospel of Mark, fascinating strokes of Peter's influence as an eyewitness upon Mark's record, amidst all of the activities, there is this underlying literary passion in the heart and oozing as it were through the pen of Mark, and that is that we might hear good news, good news that focuses upon Jesus Christ, who is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And then we have had occasion to note again and again that Mark's method in conveying the good news concerning Jesus of Nazareth, God's Son, is to set before us the Son of God as God's mighty worker, the servant of Jehovah who is mighty in word and in deed, but particularly in deed. Unlike the gospel of John, in which there are lengthy discourses of our Lord, or even

7:16 the gospel of Matthew, we have fewer discourses and only a couple of lengthy discourses in the gospel of Mark. Rather, we have these rapid frames in which we are given glimpses of the mighty deeds of Jesus of Nazareth, deeds of compassion and of power, deeds of mercy and of love, which demonstrate the grace of his saving heart and the might of his saving hand. And if we have been at all sensitive to the gospel of Mark and its expositions, we have sensed again and again that God has been revealing to us the grace of the saving heart of Christ and the might and power of the saving hand of Christ. The Gospel of Mark, chapter 1, verse 1-2. Verse 1-2. Verse 1-2.

8:10 Verse 1-2. Furthermore, Mark, almost exclusively, describes those revelations of the heart and hand of God through the Lord Jesus, his mighty worker, as they were performed in that upper part of Palestine called the Galilean region, that area near the Sea of Galilee. Now, in our study of the earlier part of chapter 6, we saw our Lord's second rejection of the Nazarene, as recorded in the first six verses, and then immediately following that, his commissioning of the twelve, verse 7. And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. And so at this point in our Lord's ministry, conscious that he could not personally reach the people of the Lord, all of the lost tribes of Israel, he commissions the twelve, and putting them into groups of two, he confers upon them authority to perform mighty works, and to preach his message with peculiar and unique authority as apostles.

The Recurring Motif of Withdrawal and the Significance of the Miracle

9:33 Then there is the interlude of the account of the death of John the Baptist, beginning with verse 14. And going down through verse 29, a passage which we expounded just prior to our break in these studies some six Lord's days ago. Now as we take up our studies at chapter 6 and verse 30, we take them up at a point in which there is, as you will see in the unfolding studies, a recurring motif of our Lord withdrawing from the multitudes, then returning to the minister, withdrawing and returning, until ultimately he withdraws from Galilee to go down to Judea and into Jerusalem, where he would be crucified and raised from the dead, and he would not be back in Galilee until his post-resurrection appearance and his subsequent ascension back to the right hand of God the Father. Now as Mark begins to describe this section, in which we have these withdrawals from the

10:48 multitudes there around Capernaum, and then a return to the multitudes, the first miracle upon which he focuses during this period is the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. Now what makes this miracle unique is that it is the only miracle that is recorded in all four Gospels. So there must be some tremendous significance to this miracle. Many of the

11:19 miracles are recorded in what we call the three synoptic Gospels, those Gospels that are somewhat alike in their basic approach, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John has a totally unique approach in his Gospel record, but this miracle is recorded in all four Gospels, all four of the Gospel writers. And as we come this morning to begin our study of Mark's account of this miracle, you will have noted, I trust, that there are basically two major units of thought. Verses 30 to 34 constitute what I have chosen to call the general setting

12:01 or the prelude to the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. And then in verses 35 to 44, you have the actual description of the miracle itself. And time will permit us to consider only the general setting or the prelude to the miracle this morning. And in that prelude, there are very simply and very obviously, you will note that there is no artificial structuring of the passage as we work our way through. There are basically five divisions of the miracle. And there are five divisions of the miracle. And there are five versions of the miracle. There are different ways in which a particular command can be used to determine how the dust check is working. It appears that the universe of evil is caused

12:54 by the smaller parts of the universe. And therefore, there are various ways that we can measure whether the universe of evil is paying off, whether the universe of leoint even has a blend. So let us begin the preaching of the Bible. I am using this?!

The Return and Report of the Twelve Apostles

13:08 Just so that I have extra space to share. There are three things here. One is that the probably most important thing you will learn and you will find why God is so motivated when Adam and Eve doctrines each other and this is God's power over man and men. verse 7 of this same chapter you will remember that this was the first mission in which the 12 were sent forth unaccompanied by the Lord Jesus they are sent out unaccompanied by the Lord himself he confers upon them peculiar authority and power to heal and to preach and even to raise the dead and cleanse the lepers and as they go forth God wonderfully works with them and by them according to verse 12 of this chapter they went out and preached that men should repent and they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them now if you regard the account of John the Baptist's death as a parenthesis you will notice how naturally the narrative is going to change and the narrative is going to change and the narrative is going to change and the narrative is going to change and the narrative is going to change and the narrative is picked up in verse 30 the last thing we heard about the 12 is that they were sent forth and they were greatly successful in their mission now we read that they return and they report that success to the Lord Jesus Christ now how long were they away the scripture does not tell us had the Lord

14:30 Jesus given them a pre-appointed time and place at which they were to report to him the Bible is utterly silent all we know is that whether by two and two over the course of a few hours a few days or a couple of weeks we do not know the text simply says that these apostles the twelve sent out two by two gather themselves together under Jesus and apparently it's not important for us to know precisely when or in what way they were sent forth and they were gathered together under the one who commissioned them that's the important thing and it is that that mark emphasizes now when they are gathered what do they do and here mark gives us some of his touching intimate detail he tells us that they told him that is the Lord Jesus all things whatsoever they had done and they were gathered together under the one who commissioned them they have talked about a few days and whatsoever they had talked now if they came back two by two over the course of a few hours or a few days there might not have been too much

15:50 confusion one can picture the Lord Jesus seeing the first group of two come and they're full of enthusiasm and excitement and they say oh master let us tell you and notice where the emphasis falls what we did they were still taking up with the first time they had laid hands upon sick people without jesus present and they were healed and they spoke the word of exorcism and demons fled so they're all full of excitement like kids on christmas morning with their new toys and they're telling the lord what they did and they didn't give him a summary or specimens they told him all things whatsoever they had done every healing every exorcism every single thing they had done and when they're all done with that then they tell him all things whatsoever they had taught now if they had come together over the course of a few hours or days that might not have been either too confusing or too wearisome but suppose they all came back together and there's impetuous peter always wanting to bud in and say what he did and what he preached and there are the sons of thunder and remember that's the name that is given to the one whom we usually identify as the apostle of love john was one of those sons of thunder and that enthusiasm and that intensity well you can imagine

17:16 what the scene was like in the lord jesus trying to quiet them down and saying now fellas let's just remember now we have six groups of two there'll be time enough for all of you well if you just sort of read between the lines what must have happened for the lord jesus patiently to listen to all things whatsoever all of them had both done and said and it is that emphasis that comes through very clearly and powerfully in the original that there was great and extensive detail in the report as it focused upon deeds and upon words those of you who were here last sunday night will remember that i attempted to give a report of three weeks of preaching activity in just two places and i was deliberately selective purposely condensed and gave you only summaries i only gave you the titles of sermons preached i didn't tell you tell you all things whatsoever i had said in the course of three weeks and even at that it took me an hour to get out my report so transfer this to twelve who had been healing people perhaps raising the dead cleansing lepers casting out demons

Jesus's Response: A Gracious Command for Rest

18:35 and the lord jesus patiently lovingly listening to all things from all of them whatsoever they had done and whatsoever they had taught so the prelude to the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand begins with the return and the report of the twelve but then it moves on secondly to record the response of our lord to this report and their present circumstances and that's what we have in verses thirty one and thirty two the response of our lord to this report and to their present circumstances notice verse thirty one and he said unto them after hearing all things whatsoever they had done and taught here is his response come ye yourselves a part into it desert place and rest awhile four there were many coming and going and they had no leisure so much as to each our lords response comes in the form of a gracious imperative an authoritative but trying and sensitive command

20:00 his command to them is that they separate themselves from the crowds and the and other disciples and retreat to a place of quiet. The word desert here is used in the sense in which it is used in chapter 1 and verse 35 where it describes our Lord Jesus Christ going out a great while before day seeking a place to be alone and to pray. So it doesn't mean so much a desert in the sense that you have sand and possibly an oasis and all that we generally associate with desert but it means a place where one can be away from the pressure of the crowd and the press of the throngs of solitary places and there were many such places along that northern shore particularly as one moved eastward away from Capernaum and towards Bethsaida and even further on the northern shore where we are now. of the Sea of Galilee and that imperative that they come apart from others had as this purpose come apart into a place of solitude for this purpose

21:21 that you might rest a while. Now that word rest does not necessarily mean sleep but it means to have refreshment the most contemporary the most contemporary the most contemporary the most contemporary synonym I know a period of R&R it's the word that that poor rich fool uses who says I'll tear down my barns and build greater and say to my soul soul take thine ease that's the word take your rest it's used in 2 Corinthians 7.13 in terms of the inner refreshment of the spirit so the Lord Jesus received him and he's able to read the Bible the very first chapter from Matthew 2.2 when John gives the command to the people of Galilee as he responds to their report by saying come apart into a place of solitude in order to rest a while and what was the reason for this command well we are told in the text for there were many coming and going and they had no leisure so much to eat. You see the clear indication is that when the Lord Jesus was eating

22:36 When Jesus sent out the twelve two by two, he did not go off into a solitary place for a personal R&R. He was actively ministering probably there in the area of Capernaum. And when the disciples come back to give their report, in the midst of all of that, we are told many were going and coming. No sooner does one mass of people come and begin to retreat, but another takes their place.

23:05 And no sooner do they make their retreat for business or for the care of personal needs than another group comes and they keep looking for a lunch break and they can't find it. Well, you remember it was that very set of circumstances. That earlier caused his own relatives to think that our Lord was losing his mind. I remind you of the reference to this in chapter 3, verses 20 and 21.

23:37 And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard it, they went out to lay hold on him, for they said, He is beside himself. When they saw the Lord Jesus Christ, they said, He is beside himself. And he was previously, in the company of his disciples, so consumed with outgoing love and service that he took no time to eat.

24:04 They said, This is the activity of a madman. And his friends, possibly his very relatives, came forcefully to lay hold of him and tried to give him a forced R&R, hoping that he would return to what they regarded as a state of normalcy and mental and emotional balance. But in this case, he was not. In this case, it is evident that it was our Lord's sensitivity to the need of the disciples that caused him to respond as he did.

24:36 For when he heard all that they had done and all that they had taught, as one who himself knew what it was to be poured out in ministry, he knew that their frail humanity was drained and weary. And in the sympathy that only he has as the great high priest of his people, he says in this gracious imperative, Come apart to a solitary place and rest a while. So the primary purpose for that command was our Lord's desire that his own disciples who went out in obedience to him would not be harried and worn out. They would not be worn down before their time, but that they might have a season of refreshment. But when we compare the other records of this same event, we also find that there was another undercurrent for this season of withdrawal. And that's the emphasis of Matthew's gospel in chapter 14.

25:47 For what is recorded in the gospel of Mark preceding this incident, namely the death of John, we read in Matthew chapter 14 that it was at this time that Jesus had just heard the news of the tragic death of John. And in verse 13 we read, Now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from that place in a boat to a desert place. And when the multitude heard, they followed him on foot. Here Matthew places the emphasis, not upon our Lord's sensitivity to the weariness and the drained condition of his disciples, but he places the emphasis upon the shock to our Lord's own human spirit upon receiving the news of the death of his cousin John, who had been a burning and a shining light, a faithful servant of God who had pointed men to him and said, Behold the Lamb! Behold the Son of God! He must increase, I must decrease. And yet so like our Lord, though his own heart is grieving, though when his disciples come back full of joy and exuberance,

27:09 his own spirit is crushed, there's not a shred of evidence that he dampens their enthusiasm. He is a beautiful picture of rejoicing with those who rejoice, even when they are sad. He is a beautiful picture of rejoicing with those who rejoice, even when they are sad. He is a beautiful picture of rejoicing with those who rejoice, when your own heart is broken.

The Retreat and the Multitudes' Reaction

27:25 And so there is that undercurrent of his own broken heart in this prelude, his own shocked human spirit upon receiving the news of the death of John. And yet as he enters into the report brought by the Twelve, he says, you men need some R&R, and so he gives this gracious command in response to their report. Then in the third place, we have not only the report of the Twelve, the response of our Lord, but then in verse 32, we have the retreat of our Lord and the Twelve. And they went away in the boat to a desert or solitary place apart. And here is a simple account of their actual retreat, having directed them by authoritative, albeit gracious command, come apart. It wasn't optional. It's in the imperative.

28:27 Their Lord was speaking authoritatively, albeit graciously, out of a heart that could have been insensitive to their needs but was not, forever showing there is no incongruity between the strictest authority and the most sensitive compassion. They are wedded in our Lord and wedded in every man of God. And every woman who walks after the pattern of Jesus. There is an actual retreat.

28:59 They go into the boat, that blessed boat that had so often been a means of grace to them, and they set out in that sailing vessel to a secluded place. Now according to the parallel passage in Luke 9 and verse 10, that secluded place was in the region of Bethsaida, on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. And it would have been approximately about a four mile journey by the tip of the Sea of Galilee from the area of Capernaum over to the area of Bethsaida. It would have been about twice that distance for any who would have made the journey on foot.

29:43 Then we note in this prelude, or this introduction to the miracle, a fourth development of thought, the reaction of the multitudes to the retreat of our Lord and His disciples. Verse 33, And the people saw them going, and many knew them, and they ran together there on foot from all the cities, and out went them. Here is the reaction of the multitudes to the retreat of our Lord and His disciples. Most likely as we compare the four Gospel records, this retreat occurred early in the morning.

30:25 However, Mark indicates that a season of retirement it was not ordained to be. For when they left early in the morning, some were privy to their leaving. And the text says that people saw them going, many knew them, and ran together on foot from all the cities, and out went them. Apparently someone who was very much aware of how a person set his sails, and the route normally taken to get from Capernaum to Bethsaida, said, the set of the sail, the set of the tiller, I know where they are going.

31:09 They are heading to the area of Bethsaida. And no sooner did word buzz through the crowd when people started what was approximately a 10K race to get there. Approximately 10, I should say more than 10K. It was almost 10 miles.

31:24 8, 9 miles. More than a 10K race. Now obviously it doesn't mean that all of them came from Capernaum. Some may have seen the crowd as it moved along.

31:35 For we read at that season of the year, many were making their way to Jerusalem to the Passover. It was approximately a year before our Lord's actual death. So it could be that some of the halt and the maimed were not in the running crowd, but the vast majority were people well enough, according to Mark, to make the journey from the area of Capernaum to Bethsaida and to beat our Lord and His disciples to that place. So this was the reaction of the multitudes to this retreat.

Jesus's Compassionate Response to the Intrusion

32:11 Now as we come to the fifth part of this introduction to the miracle, we come to the most crucial part in the whole prelude of this miracle. Get the picture. A band of weary disciples who having, as it were, relived all of the excitement of the things they had done and said, having seen and received their Lord's sympathetic hearing, were in the midst of that emotional and physical backlash that comes from a period of intense and wonderfully Godly God-blessed ministry. And take my word for it, though you may never know what that is, those of us who have ministered and have at any time known something of the help of the Spirit of God in pouring out mind and soul and body, having one's whole humanity, as it were, run out over men's spiritual needs, we know what the euphoria is as we reflect upon it and relate it to others. And then what it is to be dashed, as it were, upon the deck and to be vulnerable to dejection and depression and a sense of weariness that almost lies upon one's spirit like a lead blanket.

33:37 Well, in that condition, this band of weary disciples attached to their Lord, now in the boat making the brief journey anticipating this period of rest for a while, and one can only wonder how it rang in their ears, come apart, rest a while, we don't even have time to eat, rest a while, rest a while, and perhaps with every wave that splashed on the bow of that ship they heard the words, rest a while, rest a while, rest a while, rest a while, but then the last, as the ship pulls up to the shore, what do they see? The multitudes again. As we compare the Gospel of John, there is an indication that they may have had a brief time together up on the hillside prior to the multitude actually pressing in upon them. But I leave some of those details to those who spend their life trying to harmonize every little detail. That's a very real possibility. But it was not long before the weary disciples who had been feeding with expectation upon the words, rest a while, rest a while, rest a while, they see the multitudes.

34:54 And then our Lord, who longs to capitalize on this new experience in the lives of His disciples, those great foundation stones in His church, to have a season of intimate interaction with them, who Himself has been pouring out Himself in ministry with no time for a lunch break, who in His own sanctified humanity longs for rest and a period of refreshment. This is the crucial point in the whole prelude to this miracle. How will our Lord respond? How will the disciples respond?

35:33 Well, that brings us in the fifth place to the response of Jesus to the intruding multitude. And I know not what else to call, verse 34, the response of Jesus to the intruding multitude. The multitude goes before, verse 34, and He that is Jesus came forth and saw a great multitude and had compassion on them because they were His sheep not having a shepherd and He began to teach them many things. Notice carefully the verbs having come forth, He saw, He was moved, He began to teach. And it is in those verbs that we have the climactic strokes of Mark's painting of this introduction to the scene of feeding the five thousand. Now what was the key to that response of our Lord? We read that when He came forth He saw, He had compassion, He began to teach.

36:53 But the key to all of it is to be found in what He saw when He looked and what He felt when literally His inners were moved toward the multitude. There was no revulsion. The multitude again, you unthinking people, can't you give me any peace? The very multitude of which John speaks in John 6 who in a short while will say these are hard sayings, we cannot receive them and they go back no more.

37:29 The very multitude to whom Jesus will speak and say you're following me not because you really see who I am but your bellies were filled. How does He respond? And why does He respond as He responded? Well Mark and Mark alone gives us the key in this instance.

37:50 He had compassion on them because because in other words as deep as was the emotion of compassion and the Greek word used is one that defies English transcription. It appears rather gory and coarse to speak of one's vital organs, the liver and the inwards being moved but it's the concept you see that this movement towards them this compassion was no surface emotion. It was the deepest kind of emotion that leads to the greatest kind of sacrifice for the sake of others. And that emotion was based upon a rational judgment made in his mind. See the text? He was moved with compassion because because there was a rational explanation for the motions of his holy heart.

38:57 Because they were they were not that they saw themselves in this state but He saw them for what they really were. They were as sheep not having and in that oriental context that is the most pathetic of all conditions to be in. Sheep without a shepherd vulnerable exposed to every predator unable to find a place of refuge from violent storm and hail and lightning unable to find the blessed best places to graze sickly vulnerable without guidance direction and protection all that is pathetic Jesus saw when He looked upon these multitudes. Oh yes they had religious teachers by the score but they were of the order of Matthew 23 the scribes and the Pharisees who constantly laid burdens upon them grievous to be borne who set no pattern of real contagious godliness scribes and Pharisees who fleeced the sheep

40:25 who took advantage of them guising their avarice under making prayers in widows' houses read it for yourself but our Lord Jesus looked upon them and saw them for what they really were lost yes under the wrath of God many of them yes condemned for their own sins yes but they were like sheep not having a shepherd and so looking to His heavenly Father in the midst of His own grief and weakness He finds strength to give Himself afresh not just to a little token instruction but the text says He began to teach them many things Luke says many things concerning the kingdom of God Luke adds that He also validated His message by healing and I remind you as we've had occasion throughout these studies when Jesus preached and healed He didn't do it like a computer He didn't do it like a battery gives out its energy when you turn on the car and the battery is called upon to yield its energy it feels nothing in the process but it's said of our Lord that when that woman touched Him He said

41:53 virtue has gone out of me it cost our Lord to preach to teach to heal He entered in with heart and soul and mind and body the entirety of His sanctified humanity was wholly engaged with men both when He healed them and when He taught them Jesus was no off the cuff cool communicator you know what I mean by that? that's the model in our day the man who leans over his news desk and simply slickly and nicely parrots what he's either half memorized or sees on the teleprompter and it cost him nothing there's no pouring out of his soul he can talk about the death toll is now three thousand in Mexico City he can narrate the scene no tear no throb no breaking down no turning spontaneously to the audience and saying oh television audience in America how can you abuse without a broken heart you must never lose your cool

43:18 that's the image of the effective communicator in our day Jesus was no cool communicator the scriptures describe Him as shaking with emotions of anger and of grief yes shaking with emotions Luke describes Him as wailing when He saw condemned Jerusalem John describes Him as crying out Temple if any man first and if you have a problem with anything other than a communicator you have a problem with the Jesus of the Bible do you hear that your problem is with Christ with the God whom He perfectly reflects there was compassion there was an entering in with His whole humanity just the sight of them as lost sheep caused Him to forget the plans for our and our for a time verse 45 says later He sent the multitude away there comes a time there comes a time when He must send them away but now overcome by this compassion this concern He teaches them

Application: Revelation of the Savior's Heart to His Own

44:46 many things well that's the prelude to the feeding of the five thousand now then as we draw the message to a conclusion what does that say to us what is there in that prelude that comes over the two thousand years and is the word of God to this congregation this morning well I have but two points of application first of all its message to us is this it is a wonderful revelation of the heart of our Savior this prelude is a wonderful revelation of the heart of our Savior first of all to His own and also to sinners in general what does it say about His heart to His own it tells us that He has a patient heart to listen to all the things that are important to us don't you see that in the text they come running back like a bunch of kids as I said on Christmas morning and they can't summarize a thing may I say it with tongue in cheek they were very feminine in their report that morning one of the complaints that often comes to me in marital counseling is couched in the words of Higgins in My Fair Lady why can't a woman be like a man

46:14 the man gives a report of something and often does it in verbal shorthand but the wife she gives all the sweet little details and all the filigree and everything filled in and men find themselves dear get to the point will you I mean get to the point for the most part and that is not a sinful stereotyping it's one of the general ways in which men are different from women and so I say I don't say that in a negative way I just simply say that and your tittering indicates that you've had more than one little discussion with your husband or wife about that difference you understand that well in that sense they were very feminine that morning they told him all things whatsoever they had done and they had taught and the Lord just patiently listened patiently no indication he said fellas look it's like a broken record now I've heard it from the first three groups guy I no he's very patient to let them pour out their enthusiastic hearts in his ears and do you know that that's the God who says pour out your hearts before him at all times ye people have you learned to feel at ease going into the presence of Jesus and pouring out your full heart in great detail convinced that he's never going to start rubbing his fingers on his father's throne and get antsy

47:43 and wonder when you're going to be done one of the most wonderfully inward healing exercises for a believer is to pour out his heart into the ear of his sympathetic high priest to go to the Lord Jesus and tell him everything tell him everything and you'll never find him tapping his foot looking at his watch rubbing on the sides of his father's throne you'll find him to be exactly what the disciples found him to be one who patiently listened what a revelation of his heart to his own but it also tells us about his heart to his own that he has a sensitive heart to respond to our needs as frail creatures of the dust he has not only a patient heart to listen to us but a sensitive heart to respond to our needs as frail creatures after they're all done pouring out all the details what does he do? he doesn't make comments about some inaccuracies or probe them as to whether they did it the right way or not he gives them a command come apart and rest he listens as Psalm 103 says as one who knows our frame who remembers that we are dust he listens in the language of Hebrews chapter 5 as a high priest who is touched with the feeling

49:12 of our infirmities as I've already intimated he knew what it cost to preach really to preach what it cost to heal to look upon human suffering not like some physicians we've gone to you wonder if indeed there's any heart in the men they can face the most intense human suffering with such callousness now I know they must develop some degree of a callous or they would be emotionally crippled I knew one of the best physicians we've ever known family physicians in another state years ago who eventually had a nervous breakdown and I believe one of the reasons what he was so compassionate and so entered in to the needs of his patients that it ultimately crushed him and broke him so I'm not making a blanket generalization but I'm simply seeking to draw a contrast our Lord Jesus listens and as he listens he's not just hearing facts he knows that to do all of that and to say all of that cost a tremendous amount of expenditure of energy and no matter how much a human being is helped and aided by the Holy Ghost there is a price paid in his own humanity it was true of our Lord he came at noonday to Sychar's well weary

50:40 in his journey the one to whom the Spirit was given without measure the one of whom the Father said behold my servant whom I uphold yes upheld full of the Spirit yet weary at noonday so bone weary that he was sound asleep in the rear of a ship as we saw him in the midst of a raging storm that was about to sink the ship and it didn't even wake him one who knows that knows us and oh dear people of God that's who our Savior is are you nervous are you reluctant to come before him and say oh Lord Jesus in this course of seeking to fulfill my role as a man as a husband as a father as a wife as a mother as a worker in this office as a student Lord there is weariness Lord there is distraction there is dullness pour out the complaints that grow out that grow out of your frail humanity know that your Savior not only has a patient heart to listen to all the things that are important to us but a sensitive heart to respond to all of our needs and then with respect to his own he exercises a gracious authority over all things to meet our needs he exercises a gracious authority

52:07 over all things to meet our needs he gives the command to come apart he provides the means the boat and though there is a temporary suspension of the season of R&R according to verse 45 it came later he orders and disposes all things to meet our needs and so if there is a time when you hear what seems to be his words speaking by his providence that a season of coming apart and resting is right around the corner and every wave as it were that beats upon your ship as you're making your way brings you excitement and a sense of release yes come apart and rest come apart and rest and lo and behold you turn the corner and what do you find more need just when you've come through that time when one of your children has been so sick over a long time that you say oh God I can't take another week of this and the doctor says she's on the way to mending or he is just about to be well and you hear the words come apart and rest come apart and rest and lo and behold what happens another child comes down with an illness that's even worse you say Lord I can't take it yes you can he's ordering all the events and all the circumstances and listen there is no demand made upon you

Application: Revelation of the Savior's Heart to Sinners and the Priority of Proclamation

53:35 that is not a demand upon his grace and his grace is sufficient the disciples who were to have an R&R end up serving 5,000 people you think that didn't cost something in the way of physical energy try it sometime and then they had to go around pick up all the leftovers but there's no indication any one of them died or had a heart attack he gave them strength when they thought all strength was gone there was grace that was sufficient well that's the wonderful revelation of the heart of Christ to his own that's in this prelude but there's a wonderful revelation of his heart to sinners that was a mixed multitude as I've already indicated soon many would leave to follow no more yet his inward parts are moved and so today in this assembly as Christ is in the midst of his own he looks out upon those of you who are in your sin and his heart is moved with compassion he sees you for what you are you see you don't think you're a lost sheep you think you've pretty well got your act together you've imbibed the philosophy of this world about your identity about your career about what's important and you regard yourself as having things pretty well put together but my friend you know what you really are you're a poor lost vulnerable sheep a prey to the devil

55:04 a prey to those philosophies of this world that are destructive of your very being and will one day take you down to hell and Christ looks out upon you with compassion ready to teach you many things if only you'll be taught but you've got to get off your high horse of arrogance thinking you know who you are what the meaning of life is what standards are to regulate life you see the hope for this group was that they knew Jesus knew more than they knew and they were willing to be taught and oh my dear unconverted friend that's your state you're a sheep without a shepherd and you need a shepherd who first of all will teach you teach you what you are as a sinner teach you what you are as lost and condemned and on your way to everlasting darkness teach you that you can do nothing to save yourself teach you that God in Christ has done all that is necessary to give you a righteous grounds of acceptance in his presence as justified and as you heard in the previous hour adopted into his family you need to sit at the feet of the great shepherd and be taught many things but then this setting or prelude is not only a revelation of the heart of our Savior

56:30 it's a powerful confirmation of the priority of proclamation as the method by which the Savior meets our deepest needs you see that it's a powerful confirmation of the priority of preaching as God's method to meet men's deepest needs when Jesus saw the sheep not having a shepherd what did he do? he didn't call together an orchestra to play tunes he didn't call together a dance troupe to dance he didn't call together an acting troupe to act he preached he taught he instructed and if they were too proud to listen then they were too proud to be saved and helped by the great shepherd and my friend you listen to me God's ordained by the foolishness of preaching to save and if you're too proud to listen to authoritative teaching and preaching you're too proud to get saved if you're so proud that you want God's truth floated up to you and in a way you choose then you'll go to hell in your pride God's chosen to humble you by taking fellow sinners who belong to the same hell to which you're going in that attitude save them commission them put his spirit upon them move them to teach and preach his word in his name and if you'll not be saved by that method

57:59 it is just of God to send you to hell in your pride if you don't like that then my friend go to hell in your pride the great shepherd then funneled his compassion for sinners not by stroking them not by giving them a dance troupe not by giving them an orchestra not by giving them a mime not by entertaining them but by teaching them many things and he does the same today as we heard last Wednesday night is in a sense recommissioned not Wednesday night as we pray recommission this church as he came upon us with the spirit of prevailing prayer and we cried that we would never budge from the centrality of preaching and teaching the word of the living God and I serve you notice my friend if you're not comfortable with that then the sooner you clean house from here the better because this place is not going to change while many of us have breath and it's not just your rotten old elders there are hundreds sitting out here who say amen to that do you or are you going to take on an awful lot of people if you're going to try to change things around here friend

59:25 nobody was pre-warned about that amen or paid off you see it that's what this passage teaches us not only the heart of Jesus but this powerful confirmation of the priority of proclamation and then finally it's a searching illustration of his own words in Matthew 6.33 and I just must touch on that in two sentences he said seek first the kingdom and all things will be added he was seeking some legislation legitimate R&R for himself and his disciples but needy multitudes diverted him he sought first the kingdom and the rest came in its due time oh may God make us like our savior that where we make legitimate plans for vacations and periods of rest when human need is brought before us may we never be so callous that we cannot be moved and alter our plans that we might seek first the kingdom then we can say with Jesus when the disciples came back to a weary savior and they found him refreshed and said we've gone to get the food that we knew we all needed for refreshment he said I have meat to eat that you know not of I've been strengthened in ministering to a needy soul oh may God give us the spirit of our savior

Prayer and Concluding Exhortation

60:53 may God make us like our savior not sparing self and seeking self and protecting self and coddling self but giving of self to seek first the kingdom and his righteousness now that's just the prelude to prepare us for the wonderful miracle may we come prayerful that God will give us a sight of our savior as we contemplate the miracle that will warm our hearts and draw them out in love and worship to him let us pray our father we thank you for this record of the heart of our savior we praise you for the large number of that heart for the sensitivity the compassion the tenderness of that heart and oh how we pray that we may be made like him as we behold him for you have said we all with open face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are transformed into that same image from one stage of glory to another and for those who are here sheep without a shepherd who may not regard us as such but who indeed are such Lord give them to know their misery that they might know your salvation and we pray for us as your people

62:20 that we like our savior in the twelve would ever seek first the kingdom deliver us from self-seeking deliver us from the inflexibility of carnally fixed plans and oh that we would be pliable and responsive to need as we see it write upon our hearts your word and accomplish your saving purposes in us through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen