Bread From Heaven, Pt. 1
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Think about the last time you faced a problem and realized you didn’t have what you needed to meet the moment. Pastor Nick Gatzke takes us to a similar moment when the exhausted disciples faced the impossible task of feeding 5,000 men in the middle of nowhere! Discover what God can do when we think we don’t have enough
As you grab a Bible and open with me to the gospel of Mark chapter six, let me ask you a question. Have you ever experienced something that was so enjoyable, so rich, so meaningful that you never wanted it to end? Could be any number of things. What are you hungry for? Hunger is primarily used to describe the desire to eat, but It’s often used to describe what you desire more broadly or what you’re pursuing in your life. Today, we come to a familiar passage in the Gospel of Mark. In fact, it’s the only miracle that is recorded in all four of the Gospels. Today, as we turn to Mark 6, starting at verse 30, we look at the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. As we turn there, please follow as I read.
It starts this way in verse 30. It says, “Now many saw them going and recognized them and they ran there on foot from all of the towns and got there ahead of them. When they went ashore, when he went ashore, Jesus 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. And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.’ But he answered to them, ‘you give them something to eat.’ And they said to him, ‘shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?’ 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.’ Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups by hundreds and fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave it to them, to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up 12 baskets full of pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were 5,000 men.”
The news of John the Baptist’s death had hit the disciples hard. Jesus had loved his cousin, whom he had referred to as the greatest man on earth beside himself. The energy of the disciples had been completely exhausted as they had been going from village to village, preaching a gospel of the repentance for the forgiveness of sins because the kingdom of God was at hand. And they healed sick people and they cast out demons and they learned in the midst of that what it meant to depend on God. And now they were exhausted. Whether you’re serving God as a traveling evangelist or serving God in a local church or serving God simply as a faithful Christian, which all of us are called to do, Sometimes that type of service can just completely wear you out. People work is fluid. There are a variety of reactions. The spiritual warfare is at hand. The output required to be a servant of the Lord can be high, and you are dealing in a currency of eternal significance. Jesus and the disciples needed a break.
And so verse 31, he tells them to come away by yourselves to a desolate place to rest a while. They were coming and going. They didn’t even have time to eat. And so they got in the boat to go to this desolate place. And it’s interesting that three times the place that they’re going is called a desolate place. Mark seems to be setting us up to see something about the place, beyond the fact that it’s just isolated. In fact, this idea of a desolate place is mentioned by Jesus, it’s mentioned in the description, and the disciples later say again that this is a desolate place. And Mark is going to make a point about the fact that they’re in the wilderness, and just like Israel was in the wilderness 40 years ago, Jesus is going to do something to show how he fulfills the needs of people and the promises of God. As the boat was making its way across the sea, you can imagine what would happen.
People recognized the sail or they recognized the boat. They weren’t too far off the shoreline and all of a sudden somebody points and they start running. They guess where he’s going to land. And as they’re going through the villages along the way, they’re telling their friends, Jesus is headed that way. Let’s go and see. And they sprint across the shoreline and they actually beat him there. It says in verse 33, they saw them going. They recognized him. They ran on foot to all the towns and he got there ahead of them. That’s pretty impressive. And when they 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.
First thing you notice about that is the nature of people. They were like sheep without a shepherd. And what happens to sheep without a shepherd? Well, they wander aimlessly, following their desire for food. They’re vulnerable to attack from wolves and other prey. detriment. Back in 2005, it all started with one self-destructive leap. The shepherds were eating breakfast outside the town of Gevaş, Turkey, when they were surprised to see that one lone sheep jumped off a nearby cliff and fell to its death. They were stunned, however, when they saw that the rest of the flock of nearly 1,500 sheep followed. Each leaping off of the very same cliff.
And when it was all over, the local Axis newspaper reported that 450 of the sheep perished in a billowy white pile. Those that jumped off the edge of the cliff from the middle or the back of the herd had experienced a fall, but the cushion of sheep below them was so high, it spared them from death. The estimated loss to the families of Jevis topped over $100,000, which is an extremely significant amount of money in a country where the average person earns $2,700. annually, at least back then. Sheep without a shepherd, leaderless, wandering, following each other, even following each other to death. I can’t help but wonder if this is one of the explanations to our own culture devolving with all of the theories and behaviors that look and seem and feel completely illogical to us.
Things like boys that want to be identified as girls and girls wanting to be identified as cats and the sexual dysfunction that occurs and the encouragement of promiscuity and then the wondering why there’s so much difficulty. The list goes on. We follow each other’s ideas around in circles, sheep without a shepherd. And Jesus’ response to them, his response is to teach them. It’s not just to be an example to them, though he is. It’s not just to encourage them or confront them, though he does, but he teaches them. He feeds the sheep with his word. The second thing we observe is the motivation for his teaching them. We observe the compassion of the Savior. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I’m tired, when I’m exhausted, when I’m really expended, my level of compassion tends to be pretty low. I imagine I’m not alone in that. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to get off the boat and to say, we’re finally trying to get away. And here they are again. The people who are there are hungry. They’re wandering. They want something, but they don’t even really know what they want.
And in the midst of the tiredness, Jesus is compassionate with them. Many years ago, at a teaching hospital, the staff found out that one of its young residents had a marvelous effect on children. And these children responded to him with such a delight, they would do things for him and yield to his ministrations in a way that they wouldn’t do for any other person on staff. And so the administration assigned a nurse to try and discover the secret of this young resident. And it wasn’t until the second week when she was on the night turn that she found out the secret. It was simply this. Every night on his last round before he left the building, he would kiss, hug, and tuck in every single child as he walked through the ward.
And it was that act of compassion, you see, that act of sympathy, that he made contact with them. And it’s this type of sympathy, this type of compassion that belongs to Jesus and that he reaches out to you and to me. It’s that compassion. That’s the thing about him that charms us more than anything else. Because, you know, sometimes people feel like God is angry and other people are waiting to that God might be waiting to get you in that sort of like, I got you a moment. I’ve been waiting for you to screw up, and I finally saw it. Some people think that God is apathetic or aloof because he’s allowed painful things in their lives.
But here is Jesus, the very image of the Father, and his first response to people is compassion. In fact, nine times in the New Testament, it mentions that Jesus feels compassion for people in need. You might have a lot of perceptions about God, but know that Jesus extends his compassion even to you. He’s compassionate enough not just to leave you where you are. He’s compassionate enough to teach you and to even provide for you in a way that you can’t imagine. And he provides himself. Well, the sun is beginning to dip below the peaks of the hills now and the surrounding cliffs and mountains and the day of rest had turned into a long day of ministry and the people are continuing to hang around. It’s clear they don’t want to leave. It’s kind of like those folks you have over for dinner and you’ve had your conversation and it’s time for bed, but they’re still there.
Their souls were hungry. You would think that their stomachs would get the better of them and eventually that they would just disperse and move on, but they didn’t. So why did they stay? Common sense that they would go on their separate ways sooner or later, but they didn’t. Their bellies were hungry and they weren’t satisfied, but their souls were even more hungry and they were starting to be satisfied. The disciples, We’re very hungry. And so they said that this isn’t going to end anytime soon. And so they went to Jesus and they said, this is a desolate place. And the hour is now late. Send them away and go to this around the countryside and villages and have them buy themselves something to eat.
And Jesus answered them, you give them something to eat. And they said to him, shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat? Jesus seemingly gives them a sarcastic answer. He knows that they’re not able to feed the people and the disciples shoot back with some tone of disrespect. They know they can’t spend 200 denarii on bread and even if they could, they probably wouldn’t be able to find enough bread to feed this many people. It’s all setting up the fact that this is now an impossible situation. They hung around too long and there’s no way out. The people, have a growing need, and this growing need will only grow further.
But you know, when the situation is so clearly impossible, like it is here, the source of power that is displayed comes with equal and crystal clarity. And so Jesus asked the disciples to go to the crowd and see what resources are available, and they come back with five small pieces of bread, perhaps little barley cakes, and two fish that are most likely pickled. And then the miraculous happens. But here we need to take a step back, way back in time, to help us understand the importance of what happens. I wonder if you know who were considered to be the greatest prophets in the history of Israel. Who were the prophets that come to mind? Maybe you heard them in children’s stories. Maybe you’ve studied them deeply in your own study of the scripture. Abraham, Elijah, and Moses. Abraham is considered to be the father of the people the one who receives the covenant for the promised land.
Elijah is known for great power and righteousness and messages of great conviction. And Moses was known as the one that God used to deliver his people from slavery into Egypt. Also the one that God used to deliver the law, and the one who brought them through the wilderness right up to the edge of the promised land. God did mighty things through Moses. In Egypt, Under the whip of their harsh masters and of a Pharaoh, God used Moses to institute 10 plagues upon the Egyptians to show his supremacy. And the 10th plague, the one that broke their back, was the angel of death that took the life of the firstborn of every family and even animal across the nation. However, if their houses or dwellings had doorways painted with the blood of a lamb, they were passed over from the angel of death. And thus, the Passover holiday became a marker point of God’s salvation for his people from Egypt.
God did mighty things as he delivered the two tables of the law to Moses. As the mountain was shrouded in smoke and lightning and the glory of God, and his presence passed in front of the prophet, the law would reveal true righteousness and holiness, and it would highlight the people’s need for a savior as it displayed their sin. And God gave it to Moses. Of all people, he gave it to Moses to give to them. God did mighty things through Moses as he led the people through the wilderness for 40 years. Sometimes we feel like we’re waiting for a long time for 40 days or 40 weeks, but these people were in the wilderness for 40 years. It didn’t need to take 40 years if they’d just gone in a straight line, but God’s way is not always a straight line.
And so for 40 years, Moses led them through the wilderness and God led Moses and the people through a pillar of cloud by the day and a pillar of fire at night. And he gave them guidance along the way through life. This isn’t days, this is life. 40 years. And God did mighty things to meet the physical needs of those people while they were in the wilderness. There were some couple million of Jews anyway during that time. And how would they survive as nomads wandering for 40 years? Well, God rained down bread from heaven called manna for them to eat. And he did it every day except for the Sabbath day, to meet their hunger and to provide for their need. And Moses was the one who directed them on how and when to collect and eat.
You see, Moses was one that God used to deliver the people and to provide for the people. Moses was a great teacher. He was a great leader. He was a great prophet, but he was seen as God’s instrument of salvation and of provision. And now God’s people were in the wilderness again. They had followed Jesus to the desolate place. And they were wandering directionless like sheep without a shepherd.
And once again, they were hungry. And they not only had a great teacher of God’s word among them, a great leader among them, a great prophet among them. What Jesus does was more than a second Moses could provide for them with. Jesus does more than Moses could ever possibly do. And he divides the people into groups of 50s and 100s, just as Moses had done in Exodus 18:25. And he looked to heaven, looked up to his father, but he did not need to look for manna to rain down upon them as bread from heaven.
Instead, he thanks his father. He splits the loaves and the fish. He passes his disciples to distribute. And then something amazing happens. No matter how many times they reached into the basket, it never emptied.
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This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy, but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.
