The Feeding of the Four Thousand

Introduction and Distinction from the Feeding of the Five Thousand

0:04 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, January 12th, 1986, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Mountainville, New Jersey.

0:17 Now let us turn together to the 8th chapter of the Gospel according to Mark, Mark's Gospel, and the 8th chapter. And will you follow, please, as I read the first paragraph, that is, verses 1 through 10.

0:42 In those days when there was again a great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, He called unto Him His disciples and said unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way, and some of them are come from far. And His disciples answered Him, From what source shall one be able to fill these men with bread here in a desert place? And He asked them,

1:28 How many loaves do you have? And they said, Seven. And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, He broke and gave to His disciples, to set before them.

1:48 And they set them before the multitude. And they had a few small fishes. And having blessed them, He commanded to set these also before them. And they ate, and were filled, and they took up of broken pieces that remained over seven baskets, for about four thousand.

2:15 And He sent them away, and straightway He entered, into the boat with His disciples, and came into the parts of Dalmanutha. Now let us again bow in the presence of God and ask the help of the Holy Spirit as we seek to understand the Word of God together. Our Father, we do thank You for the truth we have confessed in our previous hymn. We thank You that Your Word does abide, that with the psalmist we,

2:55 we confess forever, O Lord, Your Word is settled in heaven. And we do believe the words of our Lord Jesus, who said that though heaven and earth pass away, His own Word would never pass away. And we thank You that You have chosen by that Word and its entrance into our hearts to give us light and knowledge. And, O our Father, we ask, we ask that that saving, sanctifying light and knowledge may indeed be imparted by the Word this hour as the Holy Spirit illuminates our minds,

3:40 as the Holy Spirit gives utterance to Your servant, as the Holy Spirit takes of the things of Christ and reveals them to us with power. O Lord, we look up to You, and in the activity of this spirit, expectation of faith we plead. Come and teach us of yourself through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

4:08 Now for many of us, the incident read in our hearing had a very familiar ring to it. And the reason for this is quite simple. Several months ago in the course of our consecutive expositions of the Gospel of Mark, we had occasion to consider the feeding of the 5,000 plus women and children, the miracle recorded in Mark chapter 6, verses 30 through 44. And while there are many striking similarities which appear on the surface of these two miracles,

4:53 the differences in detail are so many and so real. That only the bias and blindness of unbelief could ever suggest that they were one and the same incident, but that they are simply recorded in a rather sloppy historical manner as two incidents. And though some of you may be shocked to think that anyone would even think that, let alone dare to write it, I inform you of the fact that there are people with earned doctor's degrees,

5:28 in the related theological and biblical studies field, who actually have dared to set forth such a baseless theory. Though there are many similarities on the surface of the narratives, yet when we consider them in detail, we see indeed that there are tremendous differences. They occur in different geographical locations. One of them on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, the other somewhat distant from the southeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

6:08 In one, the miracle took place at the end of one day of teaching and ministry on the part of the Lord Jesus. In the incident before us, the miracle took place at the close of a third day. The interaction between our Lord and the disciples, and the two incidents, has an entirely different flavor and substance. Furthermore, the description of the immediate circumstances differs.

6:40 In one, they sat down upon the green grass. Here, they sat down upon the earth. And as a very insignificant in some ways and yet in other ways a very significant capstone to those differences, when it came time to gather up the first two incidents, fragments and then to describe the amount that was left over there is perfect consistency in the account in Matthew and in Mark that what they took up of that which remained over in the first incident of the miracle of feeding a multitude the incident of Mark 6 they gathered in 12 little

7:21 lunch pails would be a contemporary parallel to the basket of Mark 6 but here it is said that they gathered seven hampers full as we shall see in the exposition a different word is used and that difference is not what we would call merely a stylistic difference for the sake of using a synonym so that there would not be the repetition unnecessarily of a word but further on both in Matthew and here in Mark when Jesus questioned the disciples about these incidents he carries on that distinction verse 19 when I broke the five

8:06 loaves among the five thousand how many little lunch pails full of broken pieces did you take up and they said twelve and the seven among the four thousand how many how many how many Hamper, fools, of broken pieces did you take up? And they said unto him, Seven. So if indeed this is one event described rather sloppily by the followers of Jesus, then Jesus himself was mistaken about his own activities. No, the narrative is very clear that this is a separate incident in the life of our Lord Jesus.

8:51 Yet we must acknowledge that it is very similar to the miracle recorded in Mark chapter 6. Now in the light of the fact that the miracles that are recorded are only a specimen of the many that Jesus did, you remember John tells us many signs Jesus did that are not recorded, there must be some gracious purpose of God in giving us a miracle that has many signs that are recorded. There must be many similarities and setting it before us twice. Passing over, no doubt, many miracles that were singular in their details and circumstances.

9:36 And therefore we should come to this miracle not only expecting that there are lessons in this that have a common denominator with the parallel miracle recorded in Mark 6, thereby understanding, scoring and reinforcing the lessons of the feeding of the 5,000, but because there are some very fundamental differences in the miracle, we should come with the expectation that out of this miracle will come some distinct and winsome flashes of the glory of Christ that are not to be seen in the former miracle.

The Prelude to the Miracle: Circumstances and Disciples' Response

10:19 Well then, with that introduction, and course, and collation of the purpose of God in the two miracles behind us, let us come to the text, and as we think our way through this morning, we'll do so in the three categories into which the miracle naturally falls. First of all, we'll consider the prelude or the introduction to the miracle, then secondly the performance of the miracle, and thirdly the postlude to the miracle, and then seek to understand, the two categories of the glory of Christ that indeed break forth from this passage.

11:01 First of all, then, the prelude to the miracle, verses 1 through 5. And what we are given in these verses is, first of all, some hint as to the general location of the miracle. In those, now those opening words are an idiom, which, in one sense, are indefinite and imprecise with reference to time, and yet, they constitute a phrase which limits very broadly and generally the time frame,

11:41 the circumstantial frame within which this miracle took place in those days. And that has reference to the general description of the miracle, the ministry that the Lord Jesus was performing in that area called Decapolis, the area of the ten cities which lay to the east of the Jordan River and south and east of the Sea of Galilee. And our Lord was somewhere up in that northwestern quadrant of Decapolis, near to the Sea of Galilee, but not right upon the Sea of Galilee, when he performed the previously regained,

12:24 recorded miracle of healing the deaf and the man with the impediment of speech. And so it is in this general area, the area, you'll remember, that was blessed with the testimony of the Gerasene demoniac. For after his healing, as previously recorded in Mark's Gospel, we are told that he went back and proclaimed throughout Decapolis the mighty works. The works of Christ on his behalf.

12:57 Furthermore, we learn from Matthew 15, 29 to 31, a parallel passage to the last paragraph of Mark 7, that in that area of Decapolis, Jesus also healed many people of many maladies, until it is said that multitudes glorified the God of Israel. So, as we consider the prelude to the Gospel of Mark 7, we are told that Jesus healed many people of many maladies, until it is said that multitudes glorified the God of Israel. So, as we consider the prelude to the Gospel of Mark 7, we are told that multitudes glorified the God of Israel. In that prelude, or introduction to the miracle, we are first of all to understand that its general location was not back in the densely Jewish populated area up around the northern part of the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum and those other cities,

13:42 but rather in this area where there was a mixed population. Many pockets of Jews, but many gentiles, as well. then we see in the introduction what I'm calling the specific circumstances which precipitated the miracle. And they are as follows.

14:04 First of all, a multitude of 4,000 men, and according to Matthew 15, 38, plus an unnumbered amount of women and children, have followed Jesus and attended upon his ministry of preaching and healing for at least part of three days. Now this does not mean that there were three 24-hour periods in which they were following him, but it does mean there was at least a part of three days. It may have been one afternoon and a night, an entire morning and night, and then the morning of the next day.

14:45 But using the terminology common to speak of time in that particular period, Mark tells us, that they had been continuing with Jesus three days. Obviously, whatever food they had brought with them when they originally went out to hear Jesus and to see his miracles, that food had been expended. The Lord is about to send the multitude away that he with his disciples might remove to another place in Galilee. And this he anticipates, verse 3, and, if I send them away.

15:26 So as our Lord anticipates concluding his ministry to these multitudes that have hung upon his words and have looked with amazement upon his mighty works, he is concerned in the language of verses 2 and 3 for two reasons. He says in verse 2, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus does something in this verse that is not found anywhere else in the gospel records.

16:10 He speaks of his own compassion. Now there are several other passages in which he is described by the gospel writer as having compassion, but this is the only incident. In which Jesus informs the disciples of the stirring of his own viscera, the stirring of his own inner being, and he says, I have compassion upon the multitude, and you'll notice that compassion was based on their immediate condition. They continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

16:50 Their stomachs are playing a tune on their backbone. And Jesus, aware of it, is stirred with compassion. But then he is also expressing a concern as he anticipates their immediate future. Verse 3, And if I send them away fasting, that is, in this state of not being able to eat, because food is all expended, if I send them in this state to their home, they will faint.

17:23 Literally, they will die. Give out on the way. And some of them are come from far. Some of them may have traveled to some of the cities in the Decapolis that were as far as 50 miles away or more.

17:39 And therefore our Lord's compassion is not only drawn forth in the light of their immediate condition of hunger, but his concern is deepened as he anticipates the immediate future. If I send them away in this state, because some of them have such a long distance to go, on their journey to their homes, they may literally give out or collapse from exhaustion, might be the most accurate rendering of the word that is used. Now notice that he said these things in the presence of his disciples. Verse 1, He called unto him his disciples,

18:24 and said unto them,

18:27 You remember that it is in this part of our Lord's ministry when he is intensifying his training of the twelve, knowing that in less than a year's time he will leave them. He is concerned to impart certain lessons to them. So unlike the first miracle, in which he does not consult with his disciples immediately, here he does. He consults with them and says, I have compassion, I have concern, to which the disciples respond in verse 4.

19:02 His disciples answered him, Whence, that is, from what source shall one, one of us, be able to fill these men in a desert, in a barren, in an uninhabited region?

19:21 And according to the parallel passage in Matthew 15, they said, From what source shall we? So when Mark tells us that the response came forth, from what source shall one, they meant shall one of us. From what source shall one of us fill such a multitude? Unlike Mark 6, they made the suggestion, send them away into the towns and villages that they may get bread to eat.

19:50 But here there were no towns and villages. In that section of the Decapolis, it was an omniscient, uninhabited wasteland. There were no towns and villages. And these cities were separated by great distances.

20:05 And so the disciples respond to the Lord's expression of compassion with a legitimate question. And many of the commentators take the disciples to task and castigate them for their unbelief, for their callousness. But I have no liberty to do so, for the text does not in any way assert unbelief. It does not assert callousness.

20:30 It does tell us that they asked a legitimate question. Lord, you're telling us that you're moved with compassion in the face of their present state of hunger. Lord, you've informed us that you are deeply concerned as you anticipate what that state of hunger will produce if you dismiss the crowd. Now, Lord, you've informed us to which we respond with a legitimate question.

20:55 From what source shall one of us be able to fill these men with bread here in an uninhabited region? I can just as well read in that the anticipation of faith. From which source shall one of us do anything? Lord, you have a problem?

21:17 You're the only one who can resolve the problem. Why do you speak to us about the problem? So it all depends how you look at the text. So I'll not read, into it, gross unbelief or strong faith.

21:29 I'll simply explain the words of the text. Now, in answer to their question is the final note in the prelude to the miracle. Jesus then asks them, that is the disciples, how many loaves do you have? And they said, seven.

21:49 And as the subsequent details indicate, they also had a few fish. But since the Lord didn't ask, how much food do you have, but how many bread cakes? How many chapatis, like pieces of food do you have? They said, seven.

22:06 And that's the prelude to the miracle. Can you picture the scene now in your mind's eye? There is this vast multitude comprised of at least 4,000 men, plus women and children. How many we do not know since they are uncounted and unnumbered.

22:24 But this multitude, and it's not an exaggeration to say of thousands, for part of three days and at least two nights, they have been hanging upon the word of Jesus, amazed at the mighty power of Jesus. They have exclaimed, He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. And they glorified the God of Israel.

22:52 But now toward the conclusion of those three days, some of the children begin to cry, Mommy, I'm hungry. Daddy, I'm hungry. And some of the strongest of the men begin to feel the pangs of hunger and begin to belch with the kind of belching that accompanies an empty and a growling stomach and gastric juices flowing and nothing to dissolve in the stomach and everything that goes with real hunger. These were real people.

23:25 And so, when it says our Lord had compassion upon them because they were hungry, this was real hunger with all of the attendant circumstances of it. And before Him stand the disciples with their question, How shall one of us be able to fill them with bread in this uninhabited region? And the Lord Jesus draws their attention to what they possess of their own supplies brought with them on that particular preaching tour. And they said, Seven little loaves and a few fishes.

The Performance of the Miracle: Jesus' Orderly Provision

24:02 Well, that's the prelude to the miracle. Now, verses 6 through 9, we have the performance of the miracle.

24:13 And in the performance of the miracle, you will notice that the attention is riveted upon the activity of Jesus. Yes, the disciples are there. They become Jesus' waiters to serve the food and the busboys to pick up the crumbs. And the multitude is there to receive the food and to be filled.

24:37 But the focus of the attention falls upon the activity of Jesus Himself. And you will notice that activity, first of all, is set before us in terms of our Lord directing an orderly, suitable preparation of the multitude. An orderly, suitable preparation of the multitude. Verse 6.

25:04 And He commandeth, present tense, we have that historical present. You see, Mark has taken us in his prelude up to the miracle. And now he says, picture yourself there and watch the Lord Jesus while He performs His miracle. And the first thing He does is to command the multitude to serve the Lord.

25:27 To sit down upon the ground. We are not told how He mediated that command, whether He did it through the twelve, whether He thundered out so that the multitudes could hear Him. And our Lord was perfectly capable of doing that. He preached many times in the open air to thousands.

25:49 And so He obviously had tremendous vocal powers to project so that the multitudes could hear and wonder at the words of God. With grace that proceeded from His mouth. We don't know if He sat them down in groups of fifties and a hundred as He previously did in the miracle of feeding the five thousand. The fact that a count was made and made so accurately of the men suggests that they may have been directed by the twelve to sit down in groups of fifties or a hundred.

26:22 But the text is silent. But this we do know. He directs and orders a literally suitable preparation for the multitude. And you say, why do you use the word suitable, Pastor, for this very reason?

26:36 The text tells us that He commanded the multitude not literally to sit down on the ground. You must not picture them as sitting cross-legged in oriental fashion. But the verb literally means to recline in the posture that one would recline if he were sitting at a table. So the very thing Jesus commanded intimated that they were not sitting to hear more preaching, but they were being seated in preparation to be fed.

27:11 He commanded and directed an orderly, suitable preparation of the multitude. And I resist the temptation to let my imagination run off and think what kinds of conversations there might have been among some, of those from Missouri and some of the doubting Thomases, when He tells them, put yourself in the posture suitable for the serving of a meal. And they've seen these seven little chapattis and a few dried fish brought by the disciples in place before the Lord Jesus.

27:56 And Mark gives us another little note that shows there was an eyewitness. They reclined now not upon the green grass as they did in Mark 6.39, but it simply says they reclined here upon the earth or upon the ground for by this time the grass was no longer green. It had been burnt up by the season that had just passed and there is that little stroke of detail that is so often found in Mark's gospel.

28:31 Now then, after he directs an orderly, suitable preparation of the multitude, the next thing he does is he effects a calm but miraculous supply for the multitude. He effects a calm but miraculous supply for the multitude. The main action focuses on the two verbs breaking and giving. However, there are two preliminary activities that are involved.

29:01 Introductory and subsidiary. Look at the text. And having, sorry, and he took the seven loaves, having taken the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke and was giving to his disciples. So the main focus is upon his breaking and his continuous giving which were previously seeded by his taking of those pieces of bread cakes like pancakes, like chapattis,

29:45 and having received them, he probably lifted up his eyes to heaven and gave thanks before the multitude and then he breaks and he gives. And the intimation of the passage is that as he break, as he gave, as he continues to break, he continues to give until there was an ability to distribute what he broke to the four thousand men plus women and children. And while no doubt the eyes of little children are practically standing out on their cheeks

30:28 and others in their hunger perhaps irresponsibly chomping away and pushing this stuff into their minds, mouths, and apparently some had eyes bigger than their stomachs because there were even more leftovers here than in the previous miracle, the Lord Jesus, according to verse 7, takes the few small fishes and having blessed them, a different word, blessed them by giving thanks for them, what does he do? He then distributes these through the hand of the disciples and sets them free. He sets them free. He sets them free.

31:06 He sets them free. He sets them free. He sets them free. He sets them free.

31:06 He sets them before him. So here in calm but miraculous manner the Lord Jesus makes an adequate supply for the entire multitude until it can be said of all of them in verse 8 and they ate and they were filled. And then the activity of Jesus is seen in the third place in the conservation of the excess production of the flesh. Of his miraculous supply.

31:39 The conservation of the excess production of his miraculous supply. Verse 8 and of the pieces that remained over seven baskets were taken up. Now I've already intimated that the word for basket here is different from the word used in Mark 6.43 and in the parallel account in the Gospel of Matthew.

32:08 And it's a basket large enough that it could hold a man and allow him to be let down over a wall in it because that's precisely the word used in Acts 9.23 when Paul was let down over the wall in a spuridas a large wicker or rope basket while he never could have been let down over the wall in a cotinos unless he had taken some magic potion that would have made him into a lilliputian. And then a few of him could have been placed in the basket. And so Mark tells us again with that minute detail of an eyewitness

32:52 that they took these large hamper-like baskets and went around and they filled up seven of them with the pieces that were broken and left over from the miraculous production of the Lord Jesus. Well, those are the details of the miracle itself. Now having considered the prelude the actual performance of the miracle now very briefly verses 9 and 10 you have the postlude. What followed this miracle?

The Postlude to the Miracle: Dismissal and Journey

33:23 Well, what followed was a numbering of the crowd a dismissal of the crowd and then the journey of Jesus and his disciples to Dalmanutha. We read verse 9 and they were about four hours Matthew adds this detail four thousand men besides the women and the children.

33:49 And that this number is accurate is affirmed by our Lord himself later on in the chapter when speaking to the disciples and dealing with another subject that God willing will come to in two weeks time he asks the question verse 19 when I broke the five loaves among the five loaves among the five thousand how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? And they said unto him twelve and when the seven among the four thousand so this was not a so-called quote evangelistic number God have mercy on us that such a term was ever coined dishonesty in the name of promoting

34:33 the success of the kingdom that's what quote evangelistically speaking is. There was no evangelistically speaking there were four thousand men plus the women and the children who had tummies that were full as a result of the miraculous work of Jesus and having filled them and probably those that were taking journeys had some of these loaves these chapattis these little bread cake type of loaves with them he then described dismissed the multitude verse nine he sent them away and having sent them away then the Lord Jesus with his disciples

35:18 enters into the boat and I'll not go into any detail about what that boat may be suffice it to say they didn't swim they entered a boat and with that boat they went to a place called Dalmanutha called by a different name in Matthew where it is we do not know with any precision it was probably on the western shore of the sea of Galilee somewhere near the southern tip of the plain of Gennesaret and that's the postlude almost disappointing isn't it it seems as though so glorious a miracle is concluded with a postlude that is so anticlimactic well if nothing else it indicates to us that the gospel writers

36:03 were not writing for dramatic effect they were conveying straightforward history historical facts and if they come to a glorious crescendo and leave us with our heart beating and our eyes bugging out so be it if they bring us down from that place to one that seems rather anticlimactic they're not at all concerned they're concerned to convey facts as they were unfolded in the life of Jesus now then as we have so often said in opening up these various miracles of our Lord Jesus what is God saying to us

Aspects of Christ's Person: Infinite Power

36:46 in this straightforward record of the miracle of the feeding of the four thousand and in answer to that question I say by way of introduction to our application I confess that I went through hours of frustration trying to collate into some kind of category or categories that would make me feel like I was in a place that would make me feel like I was in a place that would be helpful six or seven major principles that seem to just leap out of the passage as I prepared and prayed over it in preparation for this morning and what I've done is just choose to pass over some of the applications

37:31 that have been so helpful to my own heart and to give you simply two basic heads for the applications that I want to make this morning and I'm going to and what I propose to do is to set before you what this miracle tells us of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus the gospel has as its central concern to declare the glory of God's salvation extended to men in the person and the work of his own beloved son it is a matter of fact it is Mark's great concern as I have repeated

38:15 again and again Mark 1 and verse 1 the beginning of the good news that concerns Jesus Christ the Son of God and we are never wrong in ministering the word to saint or sinner in coming back to that central issue alright then what aspects of the person of Christ are highlighted in this miracle well I suggest at least three are surely more but at least these three these three are highlighted in the miracle first of all this miracle underscores for us that he is a savior

38:58 of infinite power he is a savior of infinite power scripture tells us that in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily when we turn to the scriptures we come upon such incidents as we find in the Old Testament under the ministry of the prophet where the barrel of oil and the and the cruise of oil and the barrel of meal did not fail and Jehovah is recognized as the one who through the prophetic utterance of the prophet

39:42 was multiplying that oil and multiplying that meal but here in this passage we do not find the Lord Jesus in the name of Jehovah doing this mighty work of multiplying the seven bread cakes and a few dried fish into a meal sufficient to feed many thousands and then seven hampers full left over calmly and quietly he simply breaks and gives and breaks and gives and breaks and gives and breaks and gives

40:25 and for these disciples one can only imagine how it underscored in their own dawning understanding of who Jesus was something of the infinity of his power you see there are one shot wonders in all my life almost every field some of you who follow baseball know that some guy came up from the minor leagues and the first time it bat facing big league pitching he knocked one clean over the center field wall and everyone figured ah here comes the next Babe Ruth or the next Mickey Mantle or the next Roger Marris or the next Willie McCovey or whatever and lo and behold he went up to the bat

41:10 time after time and at the end of the season he was batting .097 hitting little dribblers to second base and they stuck him back down in the minors and he never made it out of class C ball for the rest of his days he was a one shot wonder I've heard some preachers who were what I call one sermon wonders they expended all their resources after one sermon well you see they had seen the Lord Jesus do this to the five thousand he had taken the provision that they set before him and with the loaves and fishes had broken them after giving five thousand thanks and distributed and there was this mighty manifestation

41:55 of his power and now what does the Lord do without any fuss without any falderal without any excitement calmly and quietly how many loaves do you have seven small fishes bring them to me he gives thanks to God and he breaks and he gives and he breaks and he gives what is he saying he's saying it is easy for me to feed four thousand as far as five ten as two a million as one for all I am in my own person the one in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily you see they needed to learn that lesson

42:39 in a year's time he was going to lead them he was going to lay upon them a tremendous responsibility and he points to this very reality before he formally charges them with the task going therefore make disciples of all the nations he precedes it with the words all authority has been given unto me in heaven and in earth going therefore make disciples and here in this miracle there is underscored as to the person of our Lord the fact that he is a savior of infinite power we find the prophet speaking in the first verse

43:23 person in the Old Testament saying I am the Lord the God of all flesh is there anything too hard for me and the question is answered in Jesus Christ not with a revelation of power that is filled with terror as at Sinai when that mountain quaked and when the voice of God shook the mountain and shook the hearts of the people until they cried out Moses Moses don't let God have direct dealings with us you go up and have dealings with him on our behalf hear the God of Sinai display not in a manner

44:06 that terrifies but in a manner that is winsome and winning he takes bread no voice that peers to men

Aspects of Christ's Person: Tender Compassion and Considerateness

44:37 the savior of infinite power and secondly he is the savior of ten passion and considerateness I wondered if I could find a synonym for that second word and I had to settle on it I could find none that satisfied me he is a savior tender in verse 2 I have

45:21 passion some of you can remember way back to our first encounter with this word in Mark 1 it comes from a Greek word that describes the upper the Greek state the nobler feelings and they didn't say I moved with all my heart but I moved with my liver and my spleen the viscera the upper viscera and that's the word Jesus uses I am stirred in the depths of my inner being because

45:59 it will need the contrast in chapter 6 when he performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand verse 34 of Mark tells us where the compassion was drawn forth in the face of spiritual need he came forth and saw a great multitude of them a great multitude and had compassion on them because

46:43 sheep having a shepherd and he began to teach them when his heart is moved with compassion in the face of spiritual need he does not give them bread immediately he gives them truth which alone can meet that spiritual need but when he's in the face of raw physical need he doesn't preach to them he makes bread for them

47:19 now how could he be compassionate he who is God in flesh well because he knew what hunger was Matthew 4 2 tells us that after 40 days of fasting Jesus was hungry he knew the gnawing pangs of real hunger and therefore as one whose humanity was true and real and for whom hunger was not an abstract notion but a felt experience he identifies in genuine compassion the heart drawing alongside another in his or her

48:04 need but then I've said there was also considerateness he anticipates that those who leave in a state of hunger hunger may faint and fall exhausted upon the way now how was it that he could have that considerateness of anticipation well because he himself knew what it was to be fainting from hunger in a journey read John chapter 4 as he makes his journey through Samaria he leans upon a well being what wearied with his journey while he sends the disciples into the town

48:49 to purchase food and so he has the considerateness born of that similarity and affinity of experience and blessed be God he is the same today for though he is no longer with us in the flesh and in his glorified state he is beyond the reach of hunger pangs and weariness as professor John Murray has stated it so beautifully Christ has carried with him into heaven the reservoir of human experience acquired while here

49:33 upon earth and all of his high priestly ministry from the right hand of God the Father carried on in the throbbing plenitude of everlasting life and the life and power is suffused with that reservoir of felt identification with our weak and human existence what is Jesus like he is the same yesterday today and forever and therefore we are to behold him in this passage

50:18 not to admire the fact that in the face of legitimate hunger he was moved with compassion and in the face of legitimate anticipated danger he was moved to considerateness and admire him that he once was that to men but you and I as the people of God are to know and to be consoled that he is that to his people now for we have present tense we have not a high priest who cannot be touched right now with the feeling of our infirmities though in the heavens and in the glorified state beyond the reach

51:02 of personal felt hunger and thirst and weariness it is not beyond his ability to draw up from the depths of his holy soul the vivid remembrance of those experiences we have a high priest touched with the feeling of our infirmities able to succor with that affinity and with that sympathy that is unique to one who has passed through the very experience of the person whom he seeks to succor and so this passage wonderfully declares to us that our savior is a savior of

Aspects of Christ's Person: Exemplary Thankfulness and Frugality

51:47 infinite power a savior of tender compassion and love and compassion and love and considerateness but he is thirdly a savior of exemplary thankfulness and frugality he is a savior of exemplary thankfulness and frugality the scriptures that tell us that Christ in his person in work is the only hope of needy lost guilty sinners also tell us that Jesus Christ in his person is the pattern for his people to follow first John 2 6 he that saith he abideth in him ought himself

52:31 so to walk even as he walked God has foreordained predestined that we should be conformed to the likeness of his son what is there about Christ in this passage in which we see him in his pattern as the great exemplar the great pattern of his son his people I say we see him in his thankfulness and his frugality there in a non-religious setting not in the temple not in the synagogue but out beneath the open skies amidst this mixed multitude of Jew and Gentile he acknowledges though he himself is God

53:15 that the father is the fount of all provisions temporal and spiritual and he gives thanks before the entire multitude for the loaves and he blesses the fish I say he is a savior of exemplary thankfulness and then also of frugality for he does not reason all are filled and I being God can multiply food at any time it's necessary no miracles were never performed as a cover up for laziness miracles were never performed in a manner that tented God it's evident you see that for this trip he and his disciples

54:00 had made provision and they still had a little left seven loaves that as they made their journey across the sea and thought of their next preaching tour they were never to think that miracles were something you snapped your finger for whenever you got an urge that's why you and I must not look upon the so-called miracle workers who tell us come Tuesday night to such and such a place for a miracle sir It's as though they had at their fingertips the ability to perform miracles the son of God himself didn't operate that way a miracle is an abnormal and unusual a divinely planned and purposed intrusion into the normal order of things and when you make miracles daily fair

54:44 they cease to be miracles well that's just an aside but here I say our Lord is a pattern of thankfulness and frugality listen to one of the writers of another generation who , picked up on this element of our Lord as a pattern of thankfulness finally let us not fail to note the example which the Savior has left us in the matter of giving thanks Matthew tells us that after taking the seven loaves and the fishes he gave thanks Mark tells us he first gave thanks for the bread and then gave thanks for the fish the action of his glorified God revealed the piety this action of his glorified God and revealed the piety of his own heart and had its

55:29 influence on the performance of a miracle but it is particularly significant in illustrating the manner in which we should receive the good gifts of God's providence we're too apt to regard them and to receive them and partake of them as things of course without feeling any emotion of gratitude for them or giving expression in any form of such gratitude as we may feel time was when it was as common for Christians to give thanks before anything they ate as it was for them to eat and then the author goes on to tell of an incident in the history of the Scottish Covenanters these were Christians who rather than give

56:14 the king a right that the word of God denied him they were willing even children men and women mothers fathers to lose

56:27 I've seen some of the moors and some of the valleys where these people hid and used to meet in their secret meetings that they called conventicles and then the king would send out his troops called the dragoons and you should hear a Scot who knows his history when he says the word dragoon I tell you you can just feel something of the antipathy to the dragoons in

56:57 gave three of them and a man approached them and said that he was one of them when he came in and someone had deposited a little bit of food for them sneaking it out to them they noticed that before he ate he gave no thanks he simply took his food and began to eat they secretly conferred with one another and said he's not one of us he's a spy for there is no man among us who would receive even a crust of bread without giving public thanks to God no matter what his company was and they sneaked away and sure enough the man was indeed a spy sent there by the governing powers to apprehend these people you see

57:42 the lesson don't you if you were treated as a fake Christian every time through shame or through sheer indifference and unconcern about the goodness of God you received any of God's gifts particularly his gifts of food without giving thanks you give thanks to the in the lunchroom in the shop in the office in the restaurant are you ashamed to bow in the school cafeteria not do a little eye wiper no I'm not talking about that you know what I mean by an eye wiper bow just enough someone maybe had a speck in his eyes a little sleepy dirt no no bowing your head

58:27 long enough to let people know that you without shame are giving thanks to the God of heaven for the food that he has provided Paul did it on a ship in the midst of a storm you read about it in Acts gave thanks it says before them all our Lord has set the pattern the reality is that every good and every perfect gift comes down from above at least the dog wags its tail and barks in the direction of the master that throws him a bone dogs shame us at times for we who are given the faculty of intelligence speak and thought give no

59:11 conscious thanks to God our Lord is the great pattern of thankfulness and also of frugality no wastefulness no prodigality in the use of God's gifts what was not needed to fill the bellies now would be needed to fill them later therefore they are gathered up and the number of the hampers is forever embedded in the memory of the disciples and now recorded in holy scripture well surely these are three things that break out from the passage with reference to the person of our Lord now very quickly in conclusion what aspects of the work of Christ are highlighted in this miracle

Aspects of Christ's Work: Confirmation as the Bread of Life

59:56 well first of all there is a vivid confirmation of his identity as the bread of life think now think you remember after the first miracle of feeding the five thousand he gave the discourse the next day on the bread of life he said what I did for you the day before when I multiplied the loaves and the fishes was an object lesson of what I've come down from heaven to do he said I've come down from heaven to give my flesh as true bread and my blood as true drink I have come down as the true bread to give life and food to the

60:40 world that initial miracle was interpreted by the Lord Jesus the day after in the presence of his disciples in order to focus on the fact that his work was a work of being to men through his sufferings and death the bread of the world and surely again in the slow dawning spiritual perception of the disciples and certainly after the descent of the Holy Spirit they could not help but look back and say oh how thick we were the Lord was confirming the sermon that he gave us interpreting the first time he fed

61:24 the multitudes with but a few loaves and fishes we were so dull we didn't see it all we saw was a mighty miracle but then he interpreted for us the next day and said here is the true message of hope I am bread come down from heaven your fathers ate in the wilderness and they died eat of this bread and you'll live forever and then he says that bread is not my person in abstraction it is my person in conjunction with my work and he says you must eat my flesh you must drink my blood he says my flesh is that which I give for the life of the

62:09 world and all my sinner friends sitting here this morning conscious perhaps of but one little gnawing pain of hunger the longing and the thirst for fulfillment for reality for purpose for certainty about the future and death and the world to come all the way to someone who may be nothing but one big spiritual hunger pain listen the slightest twinge of the hunger of the soul to the most acute kinds of hunger there is but one place to have them satisfied

62:53 and that's in Jesus Christ crucified he died to be the life of sinners he rose that he might make good all of his promises and as surely as that vast multitude that day could not have the physical hunger met by flowery words and by ethereal notions and I say it reverently even by looking upon the face of Jesus as wonderful as it was a physical stomach that's empty can only be satisfied with physical food and so that soul with the hunger of a vacated God

Aspects of Christ's Work: Extent of Saving Mercy

63:38 can only be filled with that God revealed in Christ crucified but then there is in this passage a glorious anticipation of the extent of his saving mercy remember in this passage it was in Decapolis in those days Jew and Gentile who would normally be kept off at arm's length the Jew calling the Gentile a dog what do we find in this passage we find the unifying power is the son of God giving bread to hungry people and remember hunger is no respecter of persons

64:23 when a Jew gets hungry the feeling is the same as a Gentile dog and when the son of God is in the midst they have a Jew and Gentile feast from the hands of Jesus what a beautiful picture of how his saving mercy is going to extend to the nations he had said in John 6 the flesh my flesh is that bread which I give for the life of the world he said that in the midst of Jews now he begins to fulfill it symbolically as in the midst of Jew and Gentile there's no hint that he discriminates saying I'll give two chapattis to the Jews and only a fourth of a one

65:07 but no they all equally feed until the text says they are all filled and thank God that what is anticipated here symbolically is now wonderfully fulfilled in the outpouring of the spirit upon all flesh in the sending of the gospel to all the nations so that I can stand this morning and say to any sinner of any ethnic racial cultural sociological background whatever the specific expressions of your sin may be Jesus Christ is an adequate and an offered savior to you he is bread of life to you if you

65:52 if you go on in your hunger and live in that hunger and die and go to hell with it it will not because it will not be because no bread was offered it will not be because no bread was declared to be adequate Christ is yours so there is a glorious anticipation of the extent of his saving mercy and finally he will be and finally he will be this passage tells us with reference to the work of Christ that there is a clear illustration in it of the divine method in meeting human need

Aspects of Christ's Work: Divine Method in Meeting Human Need

66:35 how does Christ meet the need for whom of the need of the multitude for whom he has compassion he could have dealt with them directly God sent manna directly out of heaven upon his ancient covenant people but he incorporates the disciples into the whole process of the process his first question is how many loaves do you have I have compassion I know what I will do how many loaves do you have you'll remember when that question was asked in John 6 they said we have a few of this and a few of that but what are these among so many he said

67:19 bring them to me and I'll tell you what they are among so many in my hands they become an adequate meal to fill everyone and is not this an illustration of the divine method in meeting human need as we think of humanity all about us in respectable respectable Montville in not so respectable ghettos and inner cities across the oceans in the bush in the jungle in the vast metropolis of Manila wherever men are found in all of the diverse expressions of their lostness and sinfulness

68:02 we stand amidst the hungry multitudes and we say oh God how is any one of us adequate to provide food in this desert minister to men's need in this uninhabited place and the Lord says how many loaves do you have bring them to me bring to me Lord I only have the loaf of this poor wretched scar but blessed be your name redeem humanity with its limited mind and its even more limited energies and with its narrow

68:47 heart and with its remaining sin and he says bring it to me and in his hands cleansed by his blood and filled with his spirit feed the multitude that's what he's always done he took those very unlikely shriveled loaves these people whom we'll see in the next couple of paragraphs who at this stage were so dull and unresponsive and so spiritually insensitive and what did he do by his word and his spirit he made them a people of whom their enemies said they're turning the world upside down what they were doing was putting the world

69:32 right side up and all the way through the history of the church that's been God's method for we read in Corinthians he takes the weak things to confound the mighty and the base things and the things that are not to bring to naught the things that are that no flesh should glory before you oh dear people do you see something of the privilege that is ours you see the divine method as the Lord Jesus still this day has a heart that is moved with compassion for the multitudes in the primacy of their spiritual need yes , but also

70:16 in terms of their physical needs he is moved with compassion for the whole man how will that compassion find a conduit through you and through me as his disciples and in that sense that little poem is true he has no hands but our hands it's not that we limit him it's that he has chosen this as his ordinary method of working and you see that's the wonder of having the work of his spirit bring us to the place where personal ambition

71:00 and personal reputation and self-aggrandizement are swallowed up in love to Jesus and in longing to be used of him God's not looking for clever people and wealthy people and influential people rarely does he have the power to do such that's what the Bible says not many not rich in faith he has chosen the weak the foolish the despised the things that are not that's God's nothing

71:45 the evangelical church that's waiting to parade the bank presidents and the quarterbacks and the hot shots and the beauty queens into the pulpit to command the gospel the pay and the people the service the servitude destroying the failed the hungry and the hungry eat what the untouchable the empty he won't I will not fecture so a moment I don't know how in the world you can take the likes of me but if that's your method here I am oh may God help us all to respond

72:29 and my dear sinner friend do you see what a dull miserable existence being a non-Christian is if for no other reason you don't and the sheer joy of being in the hands of Christ used to feed hungry sinners. For the sheer joy of that, it's worth all the liabilities and the heartaches of being a child of God.

Prayer and Benediction

72:59 Oh, that we may from this passage see the glory of our Savior's person, understand and appreciate more fully the wonder of His work. Let us pray. Oh, our Father, we bless You and thank You for Your beloved Son and our only Savior, the Lord Jesus. We thank You that He comes to us in the livingness of His person through His own Word that He fills with His own presence

73:39 so that we are conscious of not dealing with ink upon a page and concepts locked into a past history, but we thank You that by the Spirit's ministry, Christ Himself fills up the record of Himself and comes to us Himself by the Spirit and feeds our hearts upon Himself. Oh, Lord, for any who are strangers to the great reality of feeding upon Christ by faith, oh, may they feel that horrible hunger of a Christ

74:19 and have no rest until they feed by faith upon Him. Thank You for this record. Thank You, Lord, for giving us two such miracles. You know our dullness, our slowness to comprehend.

74:37 Thank You for condescending to us in our weakness. Seal now this Word to our hearts and to Your name be praise and honor and glory through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.