You Give Them Something to Eat

Mark 6:30-44

Key Verse 6:30

“But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’”

In this passage Jesus gives his disciples feeding training so they would grow and function as shepherds after Jesus’ example. This passage, then, reveals Gods’ will to ensure that all peoples on earth would be properly fed by those who practice the wisdom Jesus teaches here.

First, the apostles 

Look at v. 30. “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.” This verse starts out with a big title, “the apostles.” It also indicates that their mission journey was successful. They went out two-by-two and said to people, “Repent!” Mysteriously, people repented. They also drove evil spirits out of people. 

Who were the apostles? Mark 3:16-19 tell us that they were not some special people with special abilities but ordinary people with ordinary abilities. The word “apostle” means “the one sent by God.” This title generates the impression that only special people with special abilities can meet the challenge to feed the crowd. But when we think about each of the disciples, it is not difficult to see that only if one learns from Jesus one can meet Jesus’ challenge to feed a multitude of people. 

Again, not all ordinary people with ordinary abilities are successful in responding to Jesus’ call to feed the needy. This raises a question: What made the ordinary disciples succeed in helping many? In view of the preceding Bible passages in Mark’s Gospel (such as Mark 6:8-11), we learn that the disciples became successful because of three qualities: 1) they fully committed themselves to learning from Jesus; 2) they had faith in Jesus; and 3) they obeyed Jesus’ instructions (Mark 6:8-11). 

From their example we learn that anyone (regardless of one’s human conditions such as weaknesses or other limitations) who commits oneself to Jesus Christ, has firm faith in him, and is willing to obey his words can make himself a fruitful servant. (Read also 1 Corinthians 1:27; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10) 

Second, come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. (31-32)

Look at v. 31. “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.” This passage gives us another clue for effective services in the Lord, that is, the wisdom to find rest in the Lord. Before being able to serve the Lord and his flock, one must secure good moments of deep rest in the Lord.  Thus far in order to serve others the disciples worked hard. Most likely they skipped meals as they worked. So Jesus wanted to give them the opportunity to eat. He saw in them the need for rest. What then is the biblical way to find rest? The phrase “Come with me,” answers the question. For rest Jesus could have given them a leave of absence for a week or two, or even a month. He could have said to Simon Peter, “Simon! Now you can go home, spend time with your wife, and come back in a week. Oh, wait a minute. Here are two round trip tickets to Hawaii, one for you and another for your wife. Have a good time. See you!” He could have said more or less the same thing to the other disciples. But Jesus did not say that. Rather he said, “Come with me…” 

One commercial advertises, “Don’t leave home without it.” The American Express Card Company believes that the American Express Credit Card is a must-have item for a meaningful vacation. But the Bible says that Jesus Christ is a must-have item. Why is this so? The answer is clear. In Jesus can we find all the resources for rest. Jesus is the God of Creation and the God of recreation. Most importantly Jesus is the God of rest.  Man is not only a physical being but also a spiritual being. While we need to rest physically we also need to rest spiritually. In addition, there is an order (or priority) between physical rest and spiritual rest, that is, we must secure spiritual rest first and then physical rest. One may rest physically really well, but one’s soul may remain restless. On many occasions physical rest without spiritual rest may turn out to be a tiring experience, even torture. In Ecclesiastes 5:12, King Solomon explained this concept: “The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.” One person I know experienced this truth firsthand while he was delivering The L.A. Times newspaper. Paper delivery does not generate much income. But this job has an interesting feature: while others are sleeping, you wake up, and work busily but quietly. Once upon a time a man I know got a paper delivery route in residential areas near Wilshire and Bundy in West L.A.; the route served 380 accounts (meaning 380 newspapers were to be delivered). His job routine went something like this: wake up around 1 a.m., go to the station, make papers into bundles, load them, go your route, deliver the papers one by one, walk quietly, make sure that dogs do not bark and papers do not hit the doors or windows of apartments. The actual delivery time began around 3 a.m. when thieves are most active and everything is dead quiet. But, your body is busy. However your mind goes into an idle mode. Then, as you carry bundles of papers, go up and down in elevators or walk the stairways of one apartment complex or another, and as you already know every little corner of the route, your body moves almost like a machine, but your mind is not working that way. In your mind all kinds of crazy thoughts are flashing like: “When can I quit this job?” As all kinds of weird thoughts hit you, you even lose your step. Then one day this man even fell into a swimming pool. One day however he figured out the way to find deep rest even while delivering papers. He started memorizing God’s word. Sometimes memorization did not come easy. So he typed up the passage on a palm-size piece of paper and stuck it in his chest pocket. Then, as he started on his route, and as his body was working on papers, his mind was working on God’s word. And memorization developed into meditation. As he deeply meditated on God’s word, his mind grew calm. He began to think clearly. He began to see things he could not see. He also could see the beauty of the Lord. And he started enjoying his job. After finishing the route, he came back home. His body was exhausted, but his soul was rested. But the problem was that the pay was too little and he could not make a living. And his car broke down so often. Then one day he learned that Taco Bell pays a little more. So he quit this job. But still he misses this one fabulous feature: time to memorize God’s word and the spiritual rest that came with it.

Third, sheep without a shepherd

Look at vs. 33-34. “But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”

The Sea of Galilee is somewhat similar to Lake Tahoe. Have you ever visited Lake Tahoe? A few years ago I got bored of L.A. So right after the Christmas worship service, I got away from L.A. and visited Lake Tahoe.  I got lost, so I ended up driving around the lake in a full circle. Then I quickly got bored of the area, came back to L.A. and never went back to the Lake Tahoe area. Anyway, around the lake I could see small towns that have developed. It is kind of a resort area. Likewise around the Sea (or Lake; yes indeed, it is not a sea but a lake) of Galilee, villages and towns were developed. Perhaps Jesus and his disciples left one village by boat and crossed to the other side of the lake to a remote place where there is a good spot like a community park for a picnic. Normally, as you can ride a boat and get there in a straight line, it is likely that you will arrive there earlier than those who would get there in a circle on foot. But surprisingly the crowd got there a lot faster than Jesus’ company. These crowds of people were sort of “unwanted” guests. Therefore Jesus could have seen them as burdensome. So he could have asked the disciples to go right back to the boat, put the engine in the highest gear, speed up the boat, and go away to another place. 

But that was not what Jesus did. Rather when Jesus landed and saw the large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

Here we find another important factor that makes a man to be a good shepherd after Jesus’ example, that is, the way to see the flock of God – sheep with (or without) a shepherd. When we look at this passage we can quickly see that compassion did not arise until after a thread of thought had arisen in Jesus’ mind: sheep without a shepherd. Jesus saw that they were like sheep without a shepherd. This thought gave rise to compassion. As Jesus saw them this way, all of a sudden Jesus felt deep compassion for them. “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Being a sheep itself is all right. But being a sheep without a shepherd is not. Here the letter “a” in “sheep without a shepherd” has the connotation of “not even one.”

The number of people in the crowd was around 5,000, not counting women and children. But they had not even one shepherd for them. Thus far the Lord God worked hard to raise up spiritual leaders (or shepherds) in the history of Israel. But these shepherds did not function as shepherds or shepherdesses. Why? We don’t know. Perhaps they were busy taking care of themselves. The world they found was the Roman society. Life under the Roman rule must not have been easy. Perhaps jobs were rare. The average hourly wage might not have been good. So most likely parents had to work overtime or have two or even three jobs. Rabbis at local synagogues must also have been busy with their own livelihood, for it could have been that the congregations at local synagogues were not able to support rabbis financially. Whatever the reasons, the flocks that thronged around Jesus were like sheep without a shepherd. So he had compassion on them. Thus he began teaching them many things.

Jesus’ reaction to the seemingly irksome crowd helps us to make an educated guess at how Jesus would diagnose the problems of the people of this generation, especially young people, had Jesus come here today: lack of shepherds. Let us stop for a moment and think about the expression, “sheep without a shepherd.” Let us put this expression in a context. The crowd had many problems. In reviewing Mark 1-6, it is not difficult to see that these problems existed on all different levels, some on a physical level and some spiritual. Let us take a quick look at the problems as Mark describes them. Mark 1:4 reads, “And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” So you can say, “Oh, their problems were ‘sin’ problems.” They needed to repent of their sins. Mark 1:23-24 read, “Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, ‘What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!’” Based on this passage one can say, “Oh, yes. Their problem was the problem of evil spirits.” Here “evil” can also read “unclean.” So you can say, “Look! They lived a dirty lifestyle. They saw all the dirty things. So they think dirty and live dirty. That is why they have so many problems.” Mark 1:32-34 leads us to a deeper level of the problems they suffered from. “That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.” Reading this passage we may easily conclude: “Look. Their problems are physical, mental, and spiritual. They need more exorcists, more psychotherapists, more medical clinics manned with more medical doctors. Oh, yes. Their problems are more spiritual than physical, so we need to build more mental hospitals.” As we read Mark’s Gospel further, we find people with more complex problems than these. Take a look at a man called Levi, for in Mark’s Gospel 2:13-17, we see a man called Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. This man was not sick. Perhaps his health was as clear as the sound of the bell around the neck of Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer during Christmas time. And certainly he was not demon-possessed. Have you seen a demon-possessed man working fulltime at a CPA office crunching numbers for others and of course for himself? Oh, yes. Let us think about a man named Nicodemus. He was a teacher of Israel. He was a man of standing – a man holding a very prestigious position, that is, a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council which is more prestigious than being a U.S. congressman or a U.S. senator combined. Yet, he too had a problem. He had money, power, perhaps a beautiful wife, and yes, fame and reputation. But he had a “serious” problem and could not sleep well at night. In the passage for today Jesus had a congregation of about 5,000. The congregation was a hodge-podge of people – people from all different backgrounds and we can rest assured that all of them had all kinds of problems – job problem, disease problem, family problem, mental problem, spiritual problem, marriage problem, drug problem, this problem, that problem. And certainly Jesus knew all of their individual problems, one by one. But Jesus did not see their problems in the way people normally see them. In Jesus’ eyes their problem was first the lack of shepherds (“not even one”). 

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Let us think about the thoughts that underlie the expression “sheep without a shepherd,” once again. The idea here is that, yes, people are like sheep. But this is okay. What is not really okay is the lack of shepherds. So we can conclude that in Jesus’ eyes the fact that sheep had many problems is not a problem: it is even a natural thing. After all, what sheep does not have a problem or two? I am like a sheep. I have a problem or two. Sometimes I have not one or two but three, four, five or sometimes seven or more problems hitting me all at the same time. But in Jesus’ eyes, even though I am hit by this problem or that problem and beset by it, on a fundamental level, I am not going to be a “problem” child, if I have a shepherd. So a sheep’s real problem – I mean, a sheep is in real trouble when he goes without a shepherd. You may think that I am extending this idea too much. But please reconsider your way of thinking, for it is not only in this place in the Bible that God sees man’s problem as the lack of proper shepherding but in all different places of the Bible he consistently describes man’s problem as the lack of true shepherds. For the same reason had Jesus come today Jesus would have diagnosed the problems in the same way. Many thinkers point out the problems suffered by teenagers, people on a high-school or college levels. But to Jesus their problems are more the problems of people whom the Lord put above them like teachers at school, professors in college campuses, parents at home, pastors of a church, and so forth. This observation gives rise to one prayer topic: prayer to raise shepherds after Jesus’ image. This is precisely what Jesus was doing in the passage. This is the point of even today’s message entitled “You Give Them Something To Eat.” Who then are the shepherds? What is their main duty? Again v. 34 answers the question: “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.” A shepherd’s main duty is to serve the flock of God with God’s word. For this reason we need to pray for God’s help that through his guidance we all would keep the Bible close to our hearts, learn of it, and in our lives incorporate its teachings in letters and spirit, so we would all grow as spirit-filled Bible teachers, knowing how to correctly handle the word of God. 

Fourth, you give them something to eat.

Living as a shepherd or shepherdess after Jesus’ image requires more than just Bible knowledge. Had it been the case that it is only Bible knowledge that makes a good shepherd, we would all have gone to a divinity school and secured a divinity degree. Yes. Academic disciplines are necessary. In-depth Bible study is much needed. But there is a lot more to being a good shepherd than good Bible knowledge. What more is needed? 

Look at vs. 35-37a. “By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him.  ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and it’s already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’” This passage describes the disparity between the disciples’ approach and Jesus’ approach to the problem: the disciples’ suggestion seems reasonable, whereas Jesus’ demand seems unreasonable. Yet why did Jesus say to them, “You give them something to eat”?

The disciples’ approach is in line with the so-called “individualism” of today that says, “You eat your bread, I eat my bread.” It is a good idea and it works fine as long as each person knows how to take care of him or herself. It does not work when one or two or, God forbid, all (in a fellowship, in a family, or in any society) do not know how to take care of themselves. Human experience thus far indicates that not all know how to take care of themselves. Even pastors, school teachers, political leaders, and certainly parents break down and fail to function properly. They are limited by all kinds of limitations, and when the going gets tough for them, tension mounts higher so that as these so-called leaders break down and fail to provide their followers with the proper kind of protection and provision that are needed, and as their folks’ needs remain unheeded, certainly the whole community of people will go down: they will be like sheep marked out for butchering. Wolves may come down on them. Or even if no enemies come around to finish them up, they themselves will starve. And no life is meant to starve to death. Every life has an inborn desire to not only survive but thrive. Every living creature is meant to become fruitful and increase in number. But individualism cannot support the way life is created. It falls short of meeting the need every living creature has.

This is where Jesus’ approach becomes necessary. “You give them something to eat.” Jesus’ approach is realistic in that it recognizes the reality that some people are categorically incapable of taking care of themselves at least to a certain degree or for a certain period of time. For example, a little baby like Hanna Larsen cannot take care of herself. She has begun to take a few steps on her own, and her parents videotaped this new move. But still in many ways Little Hanna needs a lot of care. So she needs her parents’ shepherding (or parenting, if you will). More fundamentally: reality demonstrates that all fallen men behave more or less like sheep, which when left to themselves are bound to go astray, even as the Prophet Isaiah said, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…” Isaiah 53:6a. The only way to help these “human” sheep is to raise spiritual shepherds who have been trained to lead the flock to Jesus Christ. 

“By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and it's already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’” Jesus’ command, “You give them something to eat” then gives rise to a repentance topic: we need to repent of our self-centered, individualistic ideas. Of course, the so-called “rugged individualism” which is the foundation of American culture and economy has its own merits. But there is a limit to it. In addition, we Christians are more than Americans. After all we hold dual citizenships – U.S. citizenship and the citizenship in the Kingdom of God. And those who belong to Jesus have already died to themselves. We then must overcome the deep-seated individualism: we must surrender our selfish, egotistic ideas to Jesus Christ, and let a Christ-like attitude dictate the way to see and serve others. 

Fifth, go and see. 

Still there are more hurdles for us to overcome in growing up to the level of a Jesus-like shepherd. Look at vs. 37b. “They said to him, ‘That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?’” When Jesus challenged them saying, “You give them something to eat,” the disciples were kind of upset. Jesus did not give them any salaries. Their hourly wages were zero cents. One pastor I know gets paid a lot of money as a monthly salary. Each time he travels, he always goes first class. But Jesus never paid his disciples even one red cent. Yet Jesus asked them something to eat. So they talked back bluntly, “That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” I don’t know who said this. But some one must have said this. What is interesting is the selection of the pronoun “we”. Are “we” to go…? This man did not speak on his own behalf. He said what he said as a representative of all the disciples. And as this man presented his argument perhaps other disciples were also nodding their heads, not too visibly but slightly, and saying “Yes,” loudly in their minds. 

What did Jesus say to them? Look at v. 38. “‘How many loaves do you have?’ he asked. ‘Go and see.’ When they found out, they said, ‘Five--and two fish.’” The brief conversation between Jesus and his disciples indicates that again the disciples’ approach to the problem was different from that of Jesus. The disciples’ approach was materialistic in that they thought that they could meet Jesus’ challenge only if they had money sitting in their pockets. As it was, the disciples did not have money. So the conclusion was “no way.” This already tells us that the disciples’ approach was limited: it is as limited as money is. But Jesus’ approach is different. As we learned from Hebrews 12:1-3, Jesus is the author and perfecter of faith. So Jesus’ approach is a “faith” approach. It is based on faith in God. By definition God is not limited. Didn’t Jesus say, “Nothing is impossible with God; all things are possible with God”? So Jesus’ approach is not limited. Aside from what Hebrews 12 says, we can say that Jesus’ approach is based on faith in God, because as the definition of faith goes in Hebrews 11:1, faith sees what is not visible. At that particular moment the disciples lost faith in God. So they looked at the reality and could see nothing. But Jesus had faith in God and when Jesus saw the reality with faith, Jesus believed that there might be something right among the congregation. So what did Jesus say? He said, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” When the disciples went and saw, surprisingly they found so many: one, two, three, four, and yes, even five “loaves” of bread, plus something more: two fish! Wow! That is a lot! Jesus was “right.” Jesus saw what the disciples did not see! Thank God for Jesus’ faith. And thank God for giving us the spiritual eyeglasses called “faith” that enables us to see what normal eyes cannot see! From this we learn that what makes a good shepherd is “faith” in God the faith that sees what is not visible. 

Sixth, have them sit down. 

Verses 39-44 teach us two more important steps a good shepherd after Jesus’ example must secure. 

Look at Verses 39-40. “Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.” We can learn from this passage the importance of preparing a believing environment in which all are gathered expecting miracles to happen. In the course of having the crowd sit down in an organized and orderly manner, the disciples must have picked up a lot of faith in Jesus. It might have been the case with the crowd as well. We know that a believing environment is very important because each time Jesus performed important miracles such as a dead teenage girl brought back to life, Jesus let all the unbelieving people go out of the room, and kept only those who were close to him. Then he prayed and performed the miracles. Let us pray that in our fellowship, and in our family, there would be a believing environment. Then God’s kingdom will arise very powerfully. For example, when two people pray together, believing God’s miracles will become commonplace. 

Seventh, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. 

Verses 41-44 show the way Jesus brought up enough bread for the crowd. Look at vs. 31-44. “Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.” This passage shows us the practical ways in which Jesus desires us to feed God’s flock. First of all he wants us to bring our five loaves and two fish to Jesus. So it is very important for us to bring to Jesus what we have. Then Jesus looked up to God for help with thanksgiving, thanking in advance that God would certainly fill the needs as much as needed. Do you remember Mother Teresa’s favorite phrase: “[God will provide] according to needs”? The expression “he broke,” or “divided,” indicates the importance of “sharing.” Yesterday, we established a new brothers Common Life house right in front of William’s Elementary School. There we arranged bunk-beds and study rooms. It was God’s provision. And in the common life house they share a lot of things: bathrooms, bunk-beds, study rooms, desks, a garage, an eating table, and much more. Most importantly they share Jesus Christ. And I believe God will do his mighty work as these brothers work together sharing many things with Jesus at the center. The expression “he gave them to his disciples to set before the people,” is a biblical idiom for God’s will to use believers as channels for God’s blessings to flow into the lives of many. It is the principle built in the Garden of Eden coming with four streams of river running from its center to the four corners of the world. As we follow the wisdom Jesus demonstrated here, we can rest assured that all who put into practice this wisdom will be fully satisfied. God’s blessings will overflow in and through them to all peoples on earth.

One word: You give them something to eat

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