Jonah Albrecht

9th Sunday After Pentecost

July 21st, 2024

Mark 6:30-44

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Our text this morning finds Jesus’ disciples returning to Him after He had sent them out two by two into the countryside to preach the Gospel, heal and cast out demons. This had been a strenuous task, as they did not even have time to eat. At the same time, it was one of which the disciples were overjoyed. They reported to Jesus all that God had accomplished through them and all the people they had reached with the Word. Most people remember this text for the great miracle that comes at the end of the section, the feeding of the 5 thousand. While this is an incredible miracle that showed the power of Jesus as true God, there is one verse in particular that sets the foundation, not just for the miracle Jesus does, but the entire section. That is verse 34. 34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

This verse is where we find our theme for this morning: The Compassion of Christ is Complete.

There are countless examples throughout Jesus’ ministry that you could point to that show His compassion. He raised the widow of Nain’s son from the dead. He changed water into wine in order to prevent a wedding party from facing embarrassment, or point to any time Jesus stopped what He was doing in order to heal someone who was sick. This section is no different. Jesus’ compassion shines through, not just for His disciples; and not just for the physical needs of the people, but also, and most importantly, for their spiritual needs.

It begins with His compassion for His disciples. After they had returned to Him from teaching and healing people, there was no break in the action. Streams of people continued to pour in to see Jesus and to be healed by Him. Mark notes that they didn’t even have time to eat. Jesus’ recognizes the need of His disciples to rest, to break from the constant go go go of helping these people. He says to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.”

We do not see Jesus rest very often during His ministry. And when He does, He usually goes off by Himself. Rather, Jesus wants to take the time with His disciples to rest from their work.

As they get into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee, the crowds of people recognize Jesus and race to the other side and meet Him there. So much for resting in a desolate place together. Yet, this is where we see the Savior’s compassion shine through once again. Instead of looking over the people in frustration, that they would not leave Him alone, He has compassion on them because they are like sheep without a shepherd.

I don’t know how much you know about sheep, but they are entirely dependent on a shepherd. Whether it is for food, or safety, or direction, without a shepherd they are always lost and in great danger. When Jesus looked over the people, He saw into their hearts. He saw the state of their spiritual well-being and this is what stirred up His compassion. The people of Israel were supposed to have shepherds – the priests and the teachers of the Law – the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. And sure, the priests and pharisees did perform the tasks of offering sacrifices and reading from the Law.

What they did not do, however, was shepherd the people. Instead of pointing them towards God’s grace and mercy, the Gospel message of the promised Messiah, they dragged them down with the burden of law upon law upon law. It should have been clear to the people exactly who Jesus was, that He was the long-promised Messiah. And yet, many of the people were blind to that fact and spiritually bankrupt because they were never shown.

The first thing Jesus does is teach them many things. His compassion recognizes the most important need that they had, the need to hear the good news of forgiveness through Him. We aren’t sure how long Jesus spent teaching the people, but it went along long enough to the point where it was getting to be too late in the day to go and buy food from the market in order to feed the people.

Again, we see Jesus’ compassion shine through: Rather than sending the people home, rather than trying to buy bread for over 5000 people, Jesus would provide for them Himself. With 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, Jesus didn’t just feed all those people, but made sure no one left without being completely filled. What did this do? Not only did it show once again how much Jesus cares about the physical well-being of His people, but it served as a testimony to everything He had taught the people about Himself earlier in the day. Yes, He was the promised Messiah. He was true God, and here is the evidence.

Throughout this section we see three examples of Jesus’ compassion. Two of them were for the physical well-being of people. The third, and most important was the spiritual well-being of people. As I mentioned earlier, these were not isolated incidents, but consistently, Jesus showed throughout His life what the love of God truly is and how far it goes to take care of His creation.

Obviously today, we do not have Jesus physically here in person. But that does not mean His compassion is not with us every day. In fact, we could spend an entire morning simply giving examples of His great compassion in our lives every day. It is no different than when He walked this earth to where He is now, seated at the right hand of power, ruling over all things. No matter where He is, the compassion of Christ is complete.

Have you been a recipient of Jesus’ compassion? Maybe it doesn’t feel like it sometimes. Maybe you have been going through something difficult in your personal life, or your health isn’t exactly where you would like it to be. Complication after complication is compounding and makes you wonder, “When is it my turn to have some of that compassion?”

I do not know what the Lord has planned for you, nor exactly why He has permitted these things to come into your life. What I do know is that we still live in a sinful world. Sin reigns all around us, and yes, we must admit, even in our own hearts. Sin of all kinds has consequences that we must deal with. It could be that we did something wrong and must suffer the results of that sin. More often than not, however, it simply comes from a decaying, dying world. This world that was made to live forever, our bodies that were made to live forever, are welting away because of sin and we see the effects of that every single day.

What more reason do we need, then, to carry our burdens and our worries to the Lord of Compassion? Jesus’ compassion is complete even in your life, and the examples given in our text will show that. 1. As He had compassion on His disciples to give them rest, He also has compassion on you to give you rest. He has provided you with a place to go each week to break from the hustle and bustle of life and to join your fellow Christians at church to be refreshed by His Word.

In our world today, it has become easier than ever. Not only are we able to livestream our services when you might be out of town, but your brothers and sisters in Christ are but a phone call away. We are able to share in fellowship and help each other so that no one needs to feel alone or isolated. The same way Jesus took care to help His disciples.

As He had compassion on the crowds of people to take care of their physical needs, so also He has blessed you and me with abundance. When is the last time you sat down to go through the things in your house and decide whether to keep something or get rid of it? I remember doing that at least once a year growing up, though I was never very excited to do it. Yet, doing so taught me an invaluable lesson: God’s compassion has overflowed my cup with blessings.

Think about it: Each of you was able to make it here to church today. That means you have the breath in your lungs, the ability to come through those doors, clothes to wear, etc. Our very basic needs have been met and then some. James writes, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Everything that we have, everything that we have been blessed with has come from your Heavenly Father.

As Jesus had compassion on the crowds of people for their spiritual needs, so also He has had compassion on you and me for our spiritual needs. We don’t need to look any further to see a greater act of compassion and love than that of our Savior Jesus. No one would dare to leave the glory of heaven in order to walk this earth and die for the very scum of the earth. In the eyes of man it might just be the most foolish thing you could think of. But for God, it was His compassion. It is His love for people like you and me. Rather than sitting in heaven and seeing us wander about like lost, blind sheep, God decided to do something about it. The Father sent you and me a Messiah, a Savior from our sin. He sent us a Shepherd. Someone to guide us through this life according to His will, to defend us against our foe, the Devil, and to take care of our every need both of body and soul.

In order to accomplish all of this, Jesus had to die on the cross in your place. He paid the punishment that you and I deserve so that we do not face God’s wrath, but we receive His complete compassion.

Rather than leave you with my own words, hear the comfort that Scripture holds concerning God’s compassion for you:
Lamentations 3:22-23 – “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Psalm 103:8 – “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

Ephesians 2:1-7 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience– 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ– by grace you have been saved– 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. Amen.