Grab a seat. Last night, we served a new record of people Saturday night dinner. Seven hundred and two cheeseburgers were served here last night. And that just means a lot of people are coming to church. I think some people are inspired to come by the tragic events that are happening in America. And so, can we give anybody who's here for the first time a warm welcome here today? Thank you for joining us. It is an honor to have you here with us. And I was Face Timing with a pastor in Texas this week, and it somehow came up that we have Saturday night dinner, and he's like, you guys have a Saturday night service and you offer dinner to everyone afterwards? How do you guys even do that? What does that even cost you? You could see the headache forming on this pastor's face, like, how can these things even be? There isn’t just the meal, there’s planning, the shopping, a whole team to prepare the food, and then many people come and they all want to eat it. Wow. Can we take a moment to thank everybody who works hard to make those dinners, the meals for us? That's a lot of work. This guy's like, how do you guys even do that? Well, you want to talk about what's really amazing? Open your Bible with me to Mark, chapter 6, verses 33 to 44, where Jesus is going to spontaneously feed thousands of people with just five loaves of bread and two fish.
So, I want to take you to the most famous miracle of Jesus, the feeding of the five thousand. Now, all the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they'll tell you the story of Jesus' life, that Jesus, he is the Christ. He is the Anointed One that God sent to save us. And Jesus, he lived a perfect life, and then he died on the cross in our place to pay for our sins. And on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead to offer everyone a new life who will believe in him. And so, all the Gospels, they teach you that. But then they focus on different things along the way. There is only one miracle that's in all four of those gospels, and it's this that we're coming to in Mark 6:33-44 that he feeds thousands of people in this miraculous way. So, you might have heard of this miracle before, but I want you to look at it with fresh eyes with me today.
When we last left Jesus and the disciples, they got in a boat to get away from the crowd, and they were going to the other side of the sea, and that's where we pick it up in Mark 6:33. So, out of respect for God's Word, I invite everyone to stand for the public reading of Scripture, and I encourage you to give this your full and undivided attention, because this is the Word of God. Please follow along as I read starting in Mark 6:33-44.
Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 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. 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 and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii[a] 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 by 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 them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
That's the reading of God's word. Please go ahead, grab your seat. I don't know how you feel when you get interrupted, especially when you're anticipating a time of rest and relaxation, and then you get interrupted by other people. That's what happens here in our passage. If you go back to Mark 6:31-32, you can see that the disciples, after Jesus sent them out, two by two, they came back and they were debriefing with Jesus. This is what we taught. This is what we did. And Jesus, he says here in verse 31, hey, come away by yourselves to a desolate place, and let's rest a while. Let's get away from the towns and the villages, away from this massive crowd. Let's go get something to eat. So, let's go relax. And so, they get in the boat, they go to the other side of the sea, and what do they see when they get there? A great crowd of thousands waiting for them. How would you feel in that moment? Somebody told you, it's jammy time. You're looking forward to the couch. You're ready to sit down in some comfy clothes. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? And now, all of a sudden, someone has the nerve to call you at that moment. Someone wants to come over right now, someone wants to interrupt your R and R. And how do you feel when you just see a great crowd living here in Orange County? There's always a great crowd going wherever you want to go. Does anybody want to say, Amen? Why are there all these cars on the road? Why are there all these people in line? Why is everyone going to In-N-Out for drive through right now, when I'm going there? Has anyone else felt these ways, right? Does it ever feel to you like other people just exist to be in your way? Well, that's not how Jesus reacts. A great crowd of people are waiting for Jesus when he just said to the disciples, let's go and eat and rest. Jesus is not interrupted. Jesus is not inconvenienced. No, it says here in Mark 6:34, which I think is the key verse that kind of unlocks this whole passage, “When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them.”
This is how Jesus sees people. And you want to learn how to view other people through the lens of Jesus. Jesus sees people with compassion. So that's a key word. If you're going to take some notes, there is a handout there in your bulletin. You definitely want to circle that word “compassion,” because that's the way that Jesus saw the crowd. And this is a very important concept, that if we're going to go through the gospel and we're going to learn about Jesus, compassion is one of the things about Jesus that we need to see clearly, and we need to even learn how to look at other people the same way that Jesus saw them. Now, I've been impacted by this idea of the compassion of Jesus. I've tried to preach this to our church before, but when I was studying the Greek verb that is this idea of having compassion, it's this idea that you feel other people's pain inside your own body. You care about other people's needs in your own bowels, down into the deepest part of who you are. That's the idea besides this word.
One thing I had never noticed before, until I was studying this word afresh for this sermon today, is that this word is exclusively, only used about or by Jesus. There is no one else that this verb is ever used to describe. It's only used to describe how Jesus sees people, or if Jesus tells a story about how God has compassion, or how we should have compassion on other people. That's the only time this Greek verb is used. So, this is something you need to make sure you recognize about Jesus is that when he sees people, Jesus doesn't come at people with judgment, like, what's these people's problem? And why haven't they figured it out already? Jesus doesn't come at people with this accusatory tone, like they should already know better, and with this kind of angst or frustration at other people. Jesus, he sees their needs, and he cares about them.
Let's get this down for number one if you do want to take some notes: “See how Jesus saw the needs of others.” See how Jesus saw the needs of others. We want to look at the world through Jesus's eyes here for a moment, and I know for myself if I'm ready for rest and I get interrupted, if I'm thinking, the day is over, let's go relax, and then something else happens. I might not be ready to see those folks with compassion, but that's how Jesus saw them, and we need to learn that from his example.
Go with me to the Gospel of Matthew, just a few pages to the left. Matthew, chapter 9, verses 36 to 38 gives us another glimpse through the eyes of Jesus here. This is another moment where he sees a large crowd of people pressing around him. And it says in Matthew 9:36, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them.” And then look at this description, “because they were harassed and helpless.” See, Jesus isn't expecting that they should help themselves. He's looking at them like they need help, and he's caring about helping them. One of the famous stories that Jesus teaches is when he brings up the great, second greatest commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And somebody gives kind of a smart answer, well, who is my neighbor? And so, he tells the parable of the Good Samaritan. Have you ever heard this? Someone is beaten up and they're left by the side of the road, and religious people walk right by them on their way to somewhere else, but the Samaritan, who would have been looked down upon by the Jews, the Samaritan is the one who has compassion, and he sees the helpless man, and he helps the helpless man get up, and he takes care of him, and he meets his needs. That's the idea here, harassed and helpless, are like people who have been beaten down and they need someone to help them get back up. Jesus is not expecting people to save themselves. He's not expecting people to figure it out on their own. He's thinking that they need help, and he cares to meet their need.
Now, this phrase here that it says both in Mark 6:34, and here in Matthew 9:36, “like sheep without a shepherd.” This is a common analogy throughout Scripture where we need the Lord to be our shepherd. Because all we, like sheep, have gone what, everybody? Astray. We have turned, every one of us, to our own way. Something about sheep that a lot of people would have really known at this time is they require a shepherd. Someone has to provide for them. Someone has to protect them. Sheep will not survive on their own. That's how Jesus sees the people. He says, look at these poor people. They don't really have someone leading them. They don't really have someone in charge who cares for them. They don't have someone setting the standard, setting the tone, setting the example for them. Oh, they're so harassed and helpless. They're like sheep with no shepherd. And so, Jesus, his heart goes out to them, and he feels the pain of their need inside himself, and he says here to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” He cares about the lost souls of people, and he wishes more people would go on the mission to make disciples.
Now he doesn't just care for the souls of these people. Go over to Matthew 14:14, which is Matthew's account of the feeding of the five thousand. And here in Matthew 14:14, it describes that same moment when he went ashore. He sees a great crowd, and he had compassion on them. And here it says, “He healed their sick.” And Mark highlights how he taught them many things. Well, here it highlights that he heals their sick. The main mission of Jesus was teaching, proclaiming the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel. That's Mark 1:15. That's the message of Jesus. But as Jesus saw people who were sick and in need, he cared about their physical needs. Go even over to the next chapter, Matthew 15:32 where we get to a second miraculous feeding of thousands of more people in a different place this time. And it says, “Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.’” Wow. Three days’ sermons, three days of teaching? Wow. “And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” So, here's Jesus like, hey, they've been with us for three days. We've been teaching, we've been doing these miracles, but they need something to eat. I don't want them to faint. I want to make sure they're well fed, taken care of. So, you can see, Jesus cares about the souls of people, their spiritual needs. He cares about people's bodies, their physical needs. And he's ready to heal the sick. He's ready to give food to those who are hungry. You're supposed to come away with this idea that Jesus, he really cares.
And so, have you learned this compassion from Jesus? Is this the way that you now see other people? Do you see people as souls, people who are lost and they need to be found dead, and they need to be made alive, and even you would go so far as to care for their physical needs, you would feel their pain in your own body. I didn't learn about compassion going to Bible college. I didn't learn about compassion going to seminary. I'm not this naturally outgoing person that would just be caring like this for people. I wasn't raised in some kind of background where we really knew how to love other people. I learned compassion from seeing the example of Jesus. Have you learned to see the world the way that he does? Because even though I've learned how to see this, and this has been important here at our church for us to preach this, that people have to care, they have to know that we care about them. We want them to care about who we know in Jesus, but they need to know that we care. They will know that we are his disciples by our love for one another.
Compass needs to be short for compassion. We've said all these things over the years, but here's the thing, at the end of the day, when you get tired, is your compassion tireless? That's what I see from Jesus here. Hey guys, we’ve got to get away. We’ve got to rest; we’ve got to eat. Guess what? There are thousands of people waiting for them where they're going to go rest and eat. And he still, even when he's tired at the end of the day, he still cares about those other people more than himself. Does your love reach its limit, or are you learning the compassion of Jesus, who loved people all the way to the very end, who was willing to lay down his life in his love.
So, the compassion of Jesus is a perspective that you want to consider. Is that how I am? Are other people in my way, or am I here because I care for them? Now go back to Mark 6:34, because, like I said before, this is an amazing miracle, and this is the key verse to really understand what Mark is showing you in this passage. Okay, it's one thing we could talk about, the fact that out of five loaves and two fish, Jesus feeds thousands of people, and they're counting it up at the end, they get to five thousand men; that does not include the women and the children. So, I don't even know how many thousands of people this really was, but he prays. He thanks God for the food. He says a blessing to God, and he starts handing out bread. And as he's handing out bread, more bread is being created. Matter that was not there is now being made. And here's the fish, too. And thousands of people are eating out of five loaves and two fish, and we just keep handing it out, and it's going to groups of hundreds and fifties. And how many baskets… did everybody pay attention? How many baskets did they end up with, leftover to-go baskets? How many was it? Twelve. How many disciples does Jesus have? How many disciples were like, how could we pay for this many people? How could we give these people something to eat? Well, we just happen to have a goodie bag for all twelve of you at the end, to show you, yeah, I'm able to provide for all these people. So, this is showing that Jesus is the Creator. He can make things. He is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. He upholds the universe by the Word of his power. Jesus is the Son of God. That's what this proves. That's why you think that's impressive, that he can multiply the loaves and fish. Have you ever really stopped and started thinking about who came up with the idea of bread? Who made the fish to swim in the sea? This is Jesus. He made all things, and he's doing a work of creation here in the mold, and people are eating it, and they're like, that's a great fish. That's a good loaf. I feel full. Thank you very much. And there are leftovers.
This is amazing what Jesus is doing here, but notice what Mark says. Notice how there's a way that Mark writes it. And in verse 34 when he says that Jesus saw the crowd with compassion, then he gives that line because they were” like sheep without a shepherd.” And so, he starts teaching them many things now. Then he has a conversation with his disciples about the food, and it's off to the miracle from there. But when Mark says, “like sheep without a shepherd,” it's not just this common biblical analogy that the people are all kind of going their own way, and they need a leader to direct them. Mark is making a statement when he says, Jesus saw the people like sheep without a shepherd. This is an announcement that Mark is making, and we may not notice it if we're not careful, because the way we usually read the Bible today is we're kind of reading the Bible backwards. We start with Jesus, we start with the end of the Scripture, and we don't really read it from the beginning, where it goes all the way through the law, the prophets, the Psalms, and it builds up to Jesus. Okay? So when he says, like sheep without a shepherd, if you and I were Jewish people who had started with the law and the prophets and the Psalms, and then we heard Jesus, as soon as Mark said to us, like sheep, without a shepherd, we'd be like, Oh, I know what he's referring to. Oh, I've heard that before. Oh, wow. Jesus is that one? He's the one that was prophesied to be the shepherd. That's who this is.
So, go with me to Numbers 27 and let's retrace some of these scriptures that have already been given that Jesus is now fulfilling, that Mark is now referring to when he says that line “like sheep without a shepherd.” You're supposed to think of what Moses said. Moses being the leader of God's people who went to Pharaoh on behalf of Yahweh and said, “Let my people go.” And Pharaoh said, no. But God brought ten plagues on Egypt, and God led his people out through the Red Sea on the dry ground, and God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt through the leadership of Moses. And Moses got tired of the people complaining, one day, he got angry. He struck the rock. And God says, Moses, you're not going to go into the Promised Land. You're going to die. And here, in Numbers 27, Yahweh is talking to his faithful servant, Moses, saying, hey, the time has come for you to die. And look at what Moses says. “Moses spoke to the LORD.” And when you see LORD with all capital letters like that, that means Yahweh. “Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, ‘Let Yahweh,’” let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation.” Moses is going to say here, hey, I think you should appoint another leader like me. But notice what he says to Yahweh, and you may want to write this down above point number two, if you're taking notes, “the God of the spirits of all flesh.” What an interesting way that Moses refers to Yahweh. You are the God over all the souls of all the people. See, what Moses understands is that God doesn't see us primarily as skin and bones. God sees us as souls, the real you, inside your body, your spirit. When God created us, he said, “Let us make man in our image.” The challenge to that is God doesn't have an image. He doesn't have a body, so to speak. He doesn't have these physical characteristics like we do. God is Spirit, and those who worship him, they worship him in spirit and in truth. So, when God says, “Let us make man in our image,” that means he made us to be spiritual beings. That's who we are. We are a soul that will live forever. We're either going to live forever with God or we're going to live forever apart from God. But your soul is eternal, made in the image of God. And Moses, he says, God, remember how you care about all the souls that you've created. Remember how you're the God of all the spirits of all flesh. So, don't you want them to have a leader? And then look at what Moses says in verse 17. “Don't you want a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd?” Oh, that would be bad if all the people were just going their own way. No, Father, don't Yahweh’s, your sheep need a shepherd? And so, this is the appeal that Moses makes to God. And look at what God says. He accepts the premise that Moses gives him. “So the Lord said to Moses, take Joshua, the son of Nun, and man in whom is the spirit.” Yes, I know what's going on in the soul of that man. “Lay your hand on him, make him the leader after you. Yes, Joshua, he's like the prototype of a man of God. His name in Hebrew, Yeshua becomes the Greek name Jesus, which means “the Lord is salvation.” So, Joshua, he's a man of faith, and God says, yes, Moses, we should have another leader over the people. Let it be Joshua. And if you've ever read the book of Joshua, he doesn't let the law of the Lord depart from his mouth. He meditates on it day and night. He's very strong. He's very courageous. He's a man who does what God tells him, and he does a great job of leading the people. He says, famously, “As for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.”
And so, that's the example of the kind of leader that God's people need, really, that all people need. And so, when Mark says, “like sheep without a shepherd,” you would be thinking, oh yeah, that's what Moses said. That's where Joshua came from. But there's even more to it. Go to Jeremiah 23. That's the law. Now go with me to the prophets and Jeremiah 23. God is referring to the shepherds of Israel here, and God is very upset with them. So, in Israel, as it develops as a nation, they would have anointed three different offices. We're turning to Jeremiah 23 right now, if you can find it. They would have anointed prophets to speak the Word of God. They would have anointed priests to mediate and bring the people to God. And then they would have anointed kings to be the leaders over the people of Israel. And God, here in Jeremiah 23, he has had enough of the shepherds. The shepherds are not caring for his people. So, this is a rebuke, a call out of the leaders of Israel. Look at Jeremiah 23, start with me in verse 1, “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares the Lord.” Or Yahweh. “Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: ‘You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.”
And then here's a prophecy about who this future Shepherd is going to be. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’” So, God rebukes the leaders of Israel for not caring for the people, and then he says, someday he'll gather his people back to the land, and he's going to have a king over them who will rule in righteousness. And so if you read through these prophecies like Jeremiah 23 or let's go to another one, Ezekiel 34 just a little bit further to the right here, Ezekiel 34 if you guys can find that passage with me, these prophecies show why Israel got judged. King Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon came in, desecrated the temple, tore down the walls of the city of Jerusalem, exiled the people to Babylon, and God prophesied that judgment will come because the shepherds, the leaders of Israel, were not caring for his people. And so, God prophesies judgment is coming, but someday, there will be a shepherd who will reunite the people. He will bring God's people back to the land, and he will be king over them. He'll really care for them, and he'll do what is right. They will all experience his righteousness.
And so, you start to get this picture. Now notice how the prophecy was “like my servant, David.” So, you have to understand the timeline. The first person is Moses. He writes the first five books. Later on, David, he's like the example of the king of Israel. He writes the Psalms, and then the prophets come after. So, it's like Moses, then 400 years later, David, then 400 years later, you start getting Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. And Ezekiel, look what he says here in chapter 34, “The word of the Lord came to me, ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel.’” God's got more to say to these bad leaders of his people. “Prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?” And it's this whole rebuke here, “You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.” You leaders that are in it for yourselves, not really caring for the people, not really meeting their needs, not really showing them the way to go. No, you're just getting it all for yourself, and you don't care about my people, the souls that I have made. This is a God who rebukes the leaders of Israel. He could rebuke the leaders of many nations, for this God is upset when the leaders don't care for the people, particularly here in Israel, where he's told them a way to be, and they're not being that way. They feed themselves. They don't feed the sheep. And so, look what God says in verse 11. “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.”
Do you see the passion that God has to care for his people? And then there's another prophecy. If you go down to verse 23 you could read this whole epic chapter, but if you just jump ahead to verse 23 he says, “and I will set up over them. One Shepherd, My servant, David.” So just like David was a good example of a king of God's people, there's going to come this other servant in the line of David, in the name of David. And what's this servant David going to do? “He shall.” What does it say there, everybody? He shall, what? “He shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”
Do you see what is happening? If you go back now with me to mark 6:34, what is happening when Mark identifies that Jesus looks at the crowd with compassion, and he sees them like a herd of sheep that have no shepherd. What is Mark saying there as he then describes the way that Jesus, without preparation, without meal planning, without money, without getting all the food together, look how Jesus can just feed these sheep. What is Mark telling us he is the one. He is the shepherd. He is the leader that God is sending for the souls of all flesh like this is not just a miracle. This is not just an amazing physical thing that happened. This is an announcement. This is a statement. This is the coming of the King. And can you see he's the one? Believe in him. He can feed thousands. He can feed God's people as prophesied. This is the fulfillment. And when you see that, that's what Mark is saying, you start to notice the way that Mark describes it. Look with me here a couple verses down, if you look down at verse 39, after he has a conversation with the disciples, and they're like, how much money do you think this will cost? We can't do this. Well, no, Jesus is setting the stage for what he's about to do. And notice the language here verse 39, “Then he commanded them.” Jesus is taking charge. Jesus is leading, and he knows how to meet the needs of the people. He “commanded them to sit down in groups on the” what kind of grass does it say there, everybody? Now, have you seen many other colors of grass lately? You see now, sometimes when grass is dying, it doesn't look very green, right? Dead grass, right? So, when he says green grass, is he concerned that we can't see what color the grass is, or is he creating a picture here for you that someone is commanding the people. He's commanding them to get into groups. He's breaking them down into hundreds and fifties. He's arranging them in a certain order. He's making them lie down in green pastures. That's what Mark's trying to say. Here is the Shepherd has arrived, and the shepherd can feed the sheep. The shepherd knows how to lead. The Shepherd's organizing. The people are experiencing the leadership that their heart has been craving for, and it's him. It's Jesus. He is the one. This is a statement of the coming of the King. And everybody gets a free meal to celebrate. The problem is people just take the meal, and they don't see who they're there to celebrate. So, we need to see this story. Many people have heard this miracle at church on a Sunday morning. It has not impacted their lives. It has not changed the way they live. These people that were here that day, they enjoyed the free meal. Unfortunately, many of them stopped following Jesus. Many people come to church. They hear this miracle, they go, they eat their Krispy Kreme. Nothing really happens. I want you to make sure that when you hear about this, this miraculous feeding of 1000s of people, that you see the shepherd that God sent has come to lead us.
“The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not” what am I quoting there, everybody? Psalm 23. Let's turn there right now. Let's all turn to Psalm 23 okay? So, it's one thing to see Jesus care for the crowd. It's one thing to hear Scripture read that God cares for his people. The most important thing is that you need to know Jesus cares for you. You need to know the Lord is my shepherd. I know Jesus, and more importantly, Jesus knows me. I'm one of the sheep, and by myself, I would be astray. But I have found a leader, or better said, the leader has found me, and my leader now defines my life. I now have a shepherd, and he protects me, and he provides for me, and he leads me in his way. Now we're reading the Psalms together as a church right now. Who's been reading the Psalms with us here? So many of you have been reading the Psalms. You are such an encouragement to me. Flip your hand out over, and you'll see, every day, Monday to Friday, we're reading through the Psalms. We've done 20 chapters. We’ve got 130 left. So, if you haven't read with us yet, there's plenty of time for you to jump on in all right. And every day, people are talking to me about these psalms here at church. It is so encouraging. We're making videos. There they go live every day, at 7am a bunch of people are on there live. It's a lot of fun. You can watch the videos at any time. The main thing is read the Psalms. They help you to know God. They help you to know that you have a shepherd who actually cares for you, and when you know that your shepherd has come to care for you, you're not harassed and helpless. You're not wandering in your own ways. He's leading you in his ways. And so, I want to take you through Psalm 23 here. And I just want to say Psalm 23 is probably the most famous out of all the Psalms today. I would imagine it was in the time of Mark, as well.
Psalm 23 often quoted at a funeral. Don't save this psalm for the funeral. This is a psalm to live by every single day. This is a psalm about how you could know Jesus this week. It starts out, “The LORD is my shepherd.” David's referring to Yahweh. We might think of Jesus, who, according to John 10, is the Good Shepherd, because the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. And what this miracle proves is he can feed us. He can provide for us. And so, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” What an amazing statement. If I have Jesus, I have all that I need. It's not Jesus plus something else. It's not Jesus and anything else. Jesus can completely save me out of my sins. He can completely set me on a new path for life. Jesus is enough. Can I get an amen from anybody else? If I have Jesus, I don't need to want anything else, because he's my shepherd. He cares about me, he feels the pain of my needs. He sees me for who I really am, and he has compassion towards me.
“The Lord is my shepherd.” Is this real to you on Monday morning? Is this something you're thinking about throughout the week? “He makes me lie down in green pastures,” verse 2 says, I think that's why Mark's highlighting the green grass there. “He leads me beside still waters.” Obviously, green pastures would highlight that the sheep could eat. Still waters would highlight that the sheep could go and get a drink. “He restores my soul.” He turns who I really am on the inside to him. “He returns me. He restores me. He leads me in paths of righteousness.” What for his namesake? It's not my righteousness. He's not telling me things to do and I have to go do them. No, he did it. He came, he suffered, he died, he rose. He did it. He's leading me in his righteousness. He's showing me the way to live by faith in what he did, for his name's sake.
Now look at these next three verses. It is amazing how much ground you can cover in six verses, when you're doing a masterpiece of Scripture like this, look at how even if you're “in the valley of the shadow of death,” verse 4, even if you're in the presence of your enemies, verse 5, and then even if you feel like you're alone, verse 6, he's got something to say for you. And so, look at how this works here in these verses. Verse 4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Why? “For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” There are always people here at the church in the valley of the shadow of death. Someone is always finding out that they have cancer. Someone is always realizing that their body is breaking down. Someone is getting a diagnosis. I guarantee you, there's a prayer request out at the church right now, in one of our groups for someone who's going to a meeting this week where they're going to find out possibly some very bad news. And it's a reminder that this body we live in is going to die, because “the wages of our sin is death,” and even if I know I'm going to die, or perhaps it's not you, perhaps it's a loved one that you're caring for that's headed towards death, and even if you know that's coming, you don't have to be afraid, because Jesus is such a good shepherd, and he cares for you in a way like no one else can. He can actually go through death with you. He can actually see you through to the other side. I don't have to be afraid of evil, because I know you're with me, even though, what's the worst thing that could happen to somebody on planet earth? Well, they could die. But see, that's the thing is he's with us, then he is the one friend who can be with us all the way into eternity. He is the one friend who never fails us even to the end. And so, I'm not afraid even when it's death. Well, what about when the world is closing in around you? What about when you have enemies coming up close to you, personally, backstabbers hitting you with the knife in the back? What about when you've got people persecuting you for your faith? Well, in verse 5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows.” Yeah, I’ve got enemies, but here I am eating a feast right in the midst of these enemies, my cup is overflowing. God is anointing me. He's showing his favor upon me. He's showing that I'm one of his people. And if God is for us, who can be against us? see, do you know your shepherd's with you, and your enemies come around, and then it says this right here, “Surely goodness and mercy” or Surely goodness and steadfast love “shall follow me all the days of my life.” Do you ever feel like you're alone? Do you ever feel isolated from other people? Perhaps you're overwhelmed with feelings of self-pity, like nobody really cares for me. Nobody really notices me. I don't know if I really matter to other people. Do you realize that if you know Jesus being alone is a lie, because he's always with you, even to the end of the age. If you ever feel like you're walking through a dark alley by yourself, just look over your shoulder, you will find the goodness and steadfast love of Jesus are running after you. They literally have your back is what it's saying, and that happens all the days of your life. His goodness is chasing you, his steadfast love is never leaving or forsaking you. If you ever think you're alone. And you know Jesus, your Shepherd is there, and he cares for you. The Lord is my shepherd. Do you know this?
Let's get this down for point number two: “See how the shepherd cares for you.” This is your shepherd, miraculously feeding thousands of people. He is the one sent by God. He is the one who is able to feed the sheep, to care for the sheep. This is the one that Moses was kind of like this. Joshua was kind of like this. David was kind of like this. A lot of the leaders weren't like this at all. But there was one who could give us his righteousness. There was one who would be God among us and would feed God's people and give them the love and care that God wanted his sheep to have. And when Jesus feeds the thousands, you're supposed to see him there, the one who sees the sheep without a shepherd, and look, he's feeding them. He's organizing them. They're on the green grass. There are twelve leftover baskets. It's thousands of people who could do this. The question of feeding five thousand is not how did he do it? It's who could possibly do that. He's the one that's what we're all supposed to come away thinking. This proves it. He's the one we've been waiting for, the leader our hearts long for. We know his name.
We know that if you were ever hungry, if you were ever sick, if your soul was ever harassed and helpless, if you were lost on your own way, we know that he would care for you. That's who he is. And this was supposed to be the statement, the announcement, he's arrived. Everybody gets a free meal, but nobody knows what we're celebrating. It goes right over their heads. Literally go back to Mark, chapter 6, and they make this point, this is such an amazing miracle, but the point of the miracle is missed even on the people who experienced it. And so, in Mark 6, this miracle is followed up by another amazing miracle. Really, we're coming to the climax of Jesus' ministry in Galilee. We're coming to the apex of all of his miracles. He feeds thousands. That's awesome. What do you do to follow that up? I don't know. How about walking on water? Is that impressive to anybody? Right?
And so, he sends the crowd away after they're fed. Sends the disciples away on the boat. He goes to pray by himself, and then later on, he decides to catch up with his disciples. Actually, he was maybe just going to walk past them and get to the other side and be waiting for them when they happened to see him walking on the lake, which kind of makes me wonder, had Jesus done this before, but nobody saw him? That's what we're going to get into next week. And so, he does this amazing miracle. They realize it's Jesus. He gets in the boat with them, and it says this in Mark 6:51-52, it's a preview of where we're going next week. “He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased, and they were utterly astounded.” Look what it says, “for they did not understand about the” what everybody? “the loaves, but their hearts were” what? And so he left a basket for each one of these guys, and they missed the point. They're still surprised when he walks on water. They're not seeing really who he is.
So, many people, the people who were there, the thousands who were there, even the disciples who were there, even many people who have read this in their Bibles, or heard this preached at church on a Sunday like this. For many people, this miracle, it goes right over their heads, because they're like, well, that's an amazing thing that happened, but they don't see him. Can you see him? Can you see the shepherd? Can you see that he's the one who can feed God's people? He's the one who actually will care for them? That was the point. And people didn't get it. The only person who really knew what was going on at the feeding of the five thousand is Jesus himself. Even his own disciples don't get it. And the crowd, they really don't get it. Go to John, chapter 6. John, he takes from the hype of them being like, we should make this guy king. This is free meals for life. This is amazing. Let's make this guy king. And then the next day, they're looking for another free meal. And Jesus, he starts calling out what's really going on when they come the next day. This is John 6:25. Now remember, he sent away the crowd, and then his disciples got in a boat, and he sent them away, and then he went off by himself. And so, the crowd's like, where's Jesus? We don't know. They go find his disciples, and Jesus is there. And so, they ask a very pertinent question in verse 25 of John 6, “When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’” Because yeah, how did you get here? They're not thinking, oh, yeah, you probably just walked on the water over here. So, they're like, well, how did you get here? But Jesus, he cuts right to the issue. I want everybody to write down if you're taking notes, John 6:26, this is the verse we want to think about in response to this amazing miracle of spontaneously feeding thousands of people with food you create in your own hands. This is John 6:26, “Jesus answered them ‘Truly, truly, I say to you,” which is what he always says when something is hard to believe, but he wants you to know it's true, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” You guys aren't looking for me because you saw me. You're just looking for some more bread. That's the real issue. People love the blessings of Jesus. They don't really see Jesus.
And so, Jesus says, you're just looking for more loaves. You haven't really seen me. And so, he tells them in verse 27, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” And so, look at how they fall right into the thinking of religion here, when they say in verse 28, “Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to be working doing the works of God?’” Oh, okay, you're telling us we have to do the work of God. Well, what is it that we do? That's where religion goes. Religion is always me trying to establish my own righteousness. Tell me what to do so I can be right. Oh, you're talking about some kind of eternal life. Okay, tell me what to do so I can do it. And he's like, nope, that's not it. Verse 29, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” No, the work that God wants you to do is believe in me, to see that I'm the one. That's the whole point. I'm the one that God sent. Transfer your trust to me. I'm the one who can do it. Believe in me. And then look at this. This is amazing. Verse 30. “So they said to him, ‘Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?’” You know, our Father's Day, the man in the wilderness, as it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. You got some bread you can make fall from the sky for us right now so we can believe in you. Like did he not just feed thousands of people a free meal out of nothing? Was that not a sign enough?
Now, seeing does not equal believing. Just ask the thousands of people who were there when the miracle happened, but they wanted to see more. They didn't see him, and this is the fundamental human problem. We were made to see him, and we want to make it about us. We want the loaves, not necessarily Jesus. And so, how does this like epic miracle that impacts more people than any other miracle he did, how does this become the time where so many people stop following Jesus. That's what John 6 describes. This conversation gets rough because Jesus keeps trying to say, you guys are missing the point. It's me. And he starts saying it in even clear ways, like verse 35, if you go down to John 6:35, he says, “I am the bread of life.” Guys, it's not about the bread. I am the one. It's about me. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. Whoever believes in me shall never thirst. I'm not here to just give you another meal where you're going to be hungry and thirsty again later. I'm here. I'm the one. I am the one who can make you say, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.” That's what I'm here to do. And they're like, this is getting weird. Now we're going to eat this guy? I don't like where this conversation is going. In verse 51 he says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” See, he's says, I'm coming to die. I'm coming to offer my body as a sacrifice. In fact, in verse 53 he says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” And look at verse 60, “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’” And many people turn away from Jesus if he was offering more loaves. They're listening when he says, It's me.
They don't want it. They can't see it. They're blind to it. He's starting to get very specific. It's going to be my body, that it's going to be the sacrifice. It's going to be my blood, my righteous blood, that I will offer as a ransom to pay for your soul. I will redeem your soul through my righteousness. But they're like, we're going to eat his body. We're going to drink his blood. They're so focused on the physical, they can't see what Jesus is saying. They can't see who he is, that he came to save their souls from their sin. It gets so bad that he goes to the twelve and he says, are you guys going to go also? And Peter gives that great answer, “Lord, where else would we go? You have the words of eternal life.” That's the answer. And we have to look at verse 69 down there in John 6. “We have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.” See, sometimes Peter can give the right answer. We know who you are. We see you. You are the one.
So, I wonder, as we come now to take communion together today, I have this question that I want everyone here to ask: “Are you filled with the loaves or filled with his love?” Are you filled with the loaves or are you filled with his love? Why do you come to Jesus? Do you come to Jesus to receive blessings? Do you come to Jesus to go to heaven when you die? Or do you want to know Jesus? What is it for you? Is this about what am I going to get out of this, or is this about I want to love him in the way that he loved me. See, a lot of people are pursuing a religion, but who's here for Jesus? That's the question. That's the point. And religious people, they have a great way of making it about what we do rather than about Jesus. Even with communion, there are people who, because of this passage, they think that when we take communion, it becomes his body and it becomes his blood. No, the point was they were focused on a physical thing, and they weren't seeing him. His body and His blood represented how he was going to die for them. And so, even communion, people act like, well, this is a spiritual thing, or this is a religious thing, or this is a really good thing to do. The whole point of communion, Jesus, when he gave him the bread and said, “This is my body,” when he gave him the cup and said, “This is my blood,” and when he gave them these at the Last Supper, it most definitely wasn't his body, and it wasn't his blood. His blood was still inside his body at that point. No, he said, “This is my body. This is my blood. Do this in remembrance of” what? That's what Jesus said, “me”. The point of the story of feeding five thousand is, can you see the shepherd, the one who came to feed the people, the one who came to care? Can you see him? And do you love him? People in this room have prayed for a job, and Jesus, in his mercy and grace, He gave you the job. What do you love more? The job or Jesus? People in this room have prayed for a family, and Jesus, in his grace and mercy, he gave you a family. What do you love more? The family or Jesus? People in this room have begged Jesus to spare your life, to extend your time on earth, to give you more days, and he answered your prayer. You're still alive today. You're here. What do you love more? Your life or Jesus? Because Jesus knows if you're coming for the loaves.
Jesus doesn't see your skin and bones. Jesus sees you with compassion. He sees your soul. He sees who you really are. And we're going to go and we're going to pray to Jesus right now, I'm going to ask everybody here pray to Jesus. And let me tell you, when you go to pray to Jesus, he already knows what's in your soul. You're not offering him any new information. If you're about something more than him, if you're ready to take the loaves and run, if you're just ready to sign up for endless loaves given to you. He already knows about that. Jesus sees your heart. He sees whether you love him or whether you're caught up in something else besides him. And he says, Truly, truly, I say to you, you're not here because you saw the signs. You're here because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
Are you here to see Jesus and respond to him and love him, or are you here for what you're going to get out of it? We need to go before Jesus, and we need to talk to him about this. Now let me just say I'm sure there are people here in a crowd this size on a Sunday morning. You have never really believed in Jesus. You've never, maybe, really seen him until this very day that he's the shepherd. He could feed you; he could care for you. He offered his body and his blood in your place to pay for your sin, to save your soul. If you can see that about Jesus, you don't need to take communion, the reminder. You need to pour out your heart and believe in him right now, you need to call on the name of the Lord Jesus, and he will save you, and he will be your Shepherd from this day forth for forevermore. So, if there are people in this room, this isn't about you going and doing something. Can you see Jesus? If you can see Jesus, believe in him right now. Don't put it off. Don't delay. Trust in him today, he is the one. Look at him handing out bread and fish that did not exist, that he's now miraculously multiplying. See him feeding the people on the green grass in their groups, commanding them, taking charge of the scene. See who he is and believe in him and be saved, and if you have been saved by Jesus, I want to remind you, what was it like when you first loved Jesus? Is that what it's still like today? Could you honestly say, as you sit here today, that you love Jesus as much as you ever have, in fact, that you love him more than ever before? Could you honestly say that? Because if you can't honestly say that, he already knows about it, and he already sees what's going on in your soul. He knows if you're in it for the loaves, or he knows if you have your first love. And so, we need to talk to Jesus. Let's pray right now.
Father in heaven, I just pray that during this time of that the music is being played, that everyone here could pray to you, that everyone could respond to this amazing miracle. Look at the disciples carrying the baskets of bread. Look at the people eating the fish. Where did it all come from? From a good shepherd, the one that you sent to feed your people, the one who would actually care for your people, the one who would give them righteousness. Jesus, the only one. God, I pray that we could see him. And how sad it would be for us to hear Jesus say, you came for the loaves, and to know right then we weren't really loving Jesus, and that he could see it. God, I pray for my brothers and sisters that we would be honest before the Lord right now, that we would be honest, that we would be able to say the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, or that we could be honest. Actually, there's some other things I'm wanting. I pray that we could all talk to Jesus right now and confess any sin, that you would restore our soul, that you would lead us in paths of righteousness, for your name's sake, that you would renew our first love. And I pray for those who are here today, God, maybe this is the first time. Maybe they've been here many times. Oh yeah, I've heard this story before. Oh yeah, it's a miracle Jesus did. No, I pray that they could see who he is, that you would open their eyes, that there was one that was long prophesied, who would come, the Anointed One, the Savior of all mankind. And on the day that he sat everybody down on the green grass, and he commanded them in groups of hundreds and fifties, and he miraculously fed thousands and thousands of people. That's amazing, that's wondrous. That's awesome. But the point is not the miracle. The point is him, that he is the bread of life, that it's his body, it's his blood. We do this in remembrance of Jesus. And so, Father, let us see him now and love him dearly. Let us worship him. Let us stand amazed at Jesus, the Nazarene. Think, why would someone like him love someone like me? And let us pray to him now, in Jesus’ name. Amen.