A Compassionate Desert Feast for paper Jan 25
Mark 6 records an account following the sending out of the 12 that gives us insight to our Lord’s compassion. The disciples had just returned from the Galilean towns and countryside after preaching the kingdom of God and casting out demons. They give Jesus a report of their many activities. Upon hearing their report, the Lord desires to get them away for a little R&R. “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” said Jesus. So they get into a boat to sail to a quiet, restful place on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. But the crowds will have none of that. They had been ministered to mightily by the apostles preaching of the gospel and by deliverance from many demons. They are unwilling to have this time of powerful ministry end. They somehow determine where Jesus and his disciples are heading and run there on foot ahead of them. Before the boat even gets to shore, the crowd is there waiting for Jesus.
“Compassion”. This account is a sparkling example of divine compassion in action. Amidst increasing opposition to his ministry and against the backdrop of the mourning he must of felt over John’s death, Jesus feels compassion for the crowd. His disciples need rest and ministry themselves after this great episode of powerful preaching and power over demons. The sending out needs follow up teaching. But Jesus puts his needs and his apostles needs aside to minister in word and deed to the crowd in compassion. That in itself is a glorious message of God’s grace and love found in the Lord. Jesus is never too busy, never too distracted by other things, to take care of us. The Lord feels compassion for us down to the depths of his soul.
The disciples think the Lord’s compassionate teaching is all well and good, but there’s a problem. It’s getting late; people are hungry. “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.” …. Very practical. Their humanistic solution basically says, “Scatter the flock and let them fend for themselves!”
You’ve got to love it. Jesus and his twelve disciples are light-years apart from one another. Mark describes the difference with remarkable subtlety. The disciples instruct Jesus to send the crowds away so that the crowds can take care of “themselves”. That was the word they used, “themselves.” Not us, Jesus. It’s not our concern. Let them do it. Jesus issues a different command: “You take care of it!” The bewildered disciples exclaim, “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? They are completely ignoring the power Jesus has just bestowed upon them, and think purely in humanistic terms.
Jesus responds calmly, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see”. After some search, the disciples scraped up five loaves and two fish. The desert cupboard isn’t bursting full with abundance! With those simple gifts, Jesus’ compassion finds its way to the crowd yet again. All five thousand men are fed to the full. The loaves and fish never ran out. Every appetite was satisfied! The room in people’s stomachs filled up way before Jesus stopped giving. It was a desert feast.
We Christians are all too content thinking Jesus takes care only of our spiritual problems. He forgives sins; he comforts our afflicted conscience. But Jesus is concerned for the whole person, soul as well as body. This account reminds us that the Lord’s compassion extends over our spiritual and physical needs. We should not separate the two. Jesus is the compassionate Lord over body and soul. We see how Jesus takes care of both soul and body in feeding the five thousand.
When Jesus takes, blesses, breaks, and gives bread and fish to the crowds, he’s foreshadowing what is to occur in the giving of the Lord’s Supper. Receiving the body and blood of Jesus isn’t merely a nice remembrance meal. It’s the compassion of Christ’s cross being felt on your tongue, in your mouth, straight to your soul. It’s a divine feast of Jesus’ precious body and blood given for your body and soul in the present, for the future, and into eternity.
It’s tempting to think we’re too small to make a difference here in our community, much less the world. But Jesus’ Compassion Overrules Our Logical-Sounding Reasons as to Why We’re Too Small, Too Insignificant, to Matter to God. Jesus smiles and says, “Bring what you have here to me.” He’ll take us, bless us, break us for his purpose, and then give us to the world for the benefit and salvation of many in both body and soul. What matters most is Jesus’ compassion. Come, then, dear people of God. Come to Jesus’ feast and receive his compassion in body and soul. With him there’s always enough to go around—enough compassion, enough forgiveness, enough of Jesus for every hungry mouth and heart. It’s a feast after all!
Blessings,