Mark 6:30-44 (The Bread of Life and True Rest in Christ)

The Gospel of Mark and the Son of God

Thank you for subscribing to the Shepherds Church podcast. This is our Lord's Day Sermon. We pray that as we declare the Word of God that you would be encouraged Strengthened in your faith and that you would catch a greater vision of who Christ is.

May you be blessed in the hearing of God's Word and may the Lord be with you. Well, that was a fine speech. Now, what shall we do?

Derek I wanted to start really by just letting you know assuring you that today I've only had one time where I got angry with my wife. Where'd you go? So I've only had one time for that and I'm hoping that the Lord forgive me forgives me for that and it was actually we did well right up until it was time to go and then I was ready to go and and There was another I think there was another 30 seconds or so that I was delayed.

And I said, come on, we got to go. We got to hit the road. So I try to joke sometimes at the beginning of my sermon just to take a little bit of the pressure off. So I would start by this saying greetings With the grace peace and blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ By his power by his grace.

We are assembled this morning. Kendall gave me a fine introduction and I would say that Kendall it is my honor to serve with you. We have grown together. I think over these last what four years three years We've made we've traveled hundreds of miles in the car together and it's been my honor.

Honestly It's my honor to be here this morning to preach to you. I hope God uses me to Bring light into your life there's I'm sure there's a lot of darkness that we have from from week to week and Those low points, but hopefully I pray I know he will he'll bring us light this morning.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve and Calls Them to Rest

So mark at the beginning of his gospel, he opens it with this the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God as we know I think there's many books in the world that the opening line really does speak To what goes on and the rest of the book and there is no finer place than as these each of these biblical books are Opened they open here and this one here with Mark.

He says at the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God and then every one of these individual stories. Everything that mark unfolds from that point. Speak to that very thing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God turn with me this morning to Mark chapter 6 and I'm going to preach from Mark chapter 6 and just keeping that background in our minds that here We're seeing the Son of God Unfolded here.

So Mark chapter 6 6 beginning at verse 30 and I and I Use the dreaded King James Version is my church's Bible that we use. It's one that we founded upon 50 years ago and as many of us that just can't break from that.

We love the cadence and the way that the King James just unfolds a lot of things. Some would say it's an archaic language and we find it at Tri-City Covenant Church to be absolutely beautiful. And the Apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus and told him all things Both what they had done and what they had taught and Jesus said unto them come ye yourselves apart Into a desert place and rest a while.

For there was many coming and going and they had no leisure so much as to eat and they departed into a desert place by ship privately and the people saw them departing and many knew him and ran afoot thither out of the cities and outward them and out went them pardon me and came together unto him and Jesus when he came out saw much people and was moved with compassion toward them because they were as a sheep not having a shepherd and he began to teach them many things and When the day was now far spent his disciples came unto him and said this is a desert place and now the time is far past.

Send them away that they may go into the country roundabout and into the villages and buy themselves bread. For they have nothing to eat. He answered and son to them Give eat pardon me give ye them to eat.

And They said unto him shall we go and buy 200 penny worth of bread and give them to eat? And he saith unto them. How many loaves have ye go and see. And When they knew they said they say five and two fishes and he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass and They sat down and ranks by hundreds and by fifties and when he had taken up the five loaves and the two fishes he looked up to heaven and blessed and break the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before them and two fishes divided he among them and they did all eat and were filled and They took up twelve baskets fulls of fragments and of the fishes and they that did eat of the loaves were about 5 ,000.

Almighty God our father. I pray that you would open our hearts our minds the very depths of our souls. Oh Lord God to your word this day father. Might we hear your word father? Might we internalize it?

Oh Lord God I pray that you would watch over my tongue this day might your truth come forth in Jesus name. Amen. So here we see that at the beginning of this we see that the Apostles gathered themselves Unto the Lord Jesus Christ and what we see here first is the idea that they this is the one of their first mission trips.

Or was the first mission trips they were returning from that mission trip earlier in verse 7 We saw and he called unto them the twelve and began to send them forth by two and two and gave them power over unclean spirits.

And in verses 12 and 13 and they went out and preached that men should repent and they cast out many devils and Anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. So here in verse 30, we see this gathering back.

They had gone out to the battlefield. If you will they had gone out there and they had cast out devils. They had healed people. They had ministered the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. They had ministered the kingdom of Christ.

So here they are they come back to Jesus they're coming back from the battlefield if you will. They returned to the master to give a report of what they had accomplished. What they did out there in the field on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus had equipped them and all they with all they needed for their mission and he gave them power over unclean spirits. They went out and utilized those gifts of from Jesus and here again they return unto the one who supplied those gifts and here they make an account of how they used them and He said unto them being it seemed to be improved proud of their accomplishments.

Or at least he was very satisfied with their accomplishments. He said unto them come yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a while. For there were many coming and going and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

They departed unto a desert placed by ship privately. Again it would be it would seem here that Jesus was satisfied with what they had done. It was now time for them to rest. And the Lord Jesus Christ said we're gonna go into a desert place and rest a while.

They had returned again from the battlefield calling people to repentance wrestling with all sorts of sin. Casting out demons and directing the people to the kingdom of Christ. We see the disciples are continually gathered around Jesus and his disciples or the multitudes Pardon me are gathered around Jesus.

We see them every place they move. They're gathered around Jesus. They had no break. The scripture tells us from the needs of the people. Many were in need and they kept coming and going were told. So much and so many that the disciples had no time for rest and here we're told no time to eat.

So having compassion on them Jesus wanting to protect their health. Jesus provides some time of rest. He takes them once. His desire is to take them apart from the crowds and to bring them to that desert place.

One of the things that should be striking to us this morning is just notice how much Patience our Lord Jesus Christ has here. He shows there is much work he knows there's much work to build the kingdom of Christ.

They know there's much work that lies ahead. But what's he do here? He rests he brings the disciples. His desire is to bring the disciples away for a time of rest. Jesus is no slave driver. He doesn't need he doesn't he receives a good report and immediately doesn't send them back out.

He doesn't say okay great job go back out go back out of the net battlefield. What Jesus says is Come on to me. We're gonna go and rest a while. Of course brothers and sisters. We have this opportunity every Lord's Day.

We have a time that we have that God calls us to himself. He says set aside all those daily cares all of those daily vocations and rest. You've labored for six days. Come and rest. Remember our Lord says in his law remember the Sabbath day to keep it.

Holy. To come off the battlefield if you will the battlefield of our vocation and the battlefield of life and labor. Here and rest with the Lord. It's also beautiful that in our time. We have this starting the start of our week we of course back in the Old Testament.

They would work for six days and rest one. Work for six days and rest one. The Lord God of course changed all that with Christ. And then he has us begin our week with rest. Yeah, we were in the middle of six days that we just labored.

But now we rest at the beginning of our week so that everything that we do today. Everything that we do in this worship service now we carry that through our week. So rather than rest from our labors we begin our week and rest and worship.

At Tri-City Covenant Church. We are very famous for saying everything. Everything flows from worship. Everything that we do Sunday morning flows into the rest of our week or it should. Further we know that our Lord said come unto me all the you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. We have that constant invitation from the Lord Jesus Christ that constant invitation Come unto me.

We see that we see that in the Old Testament many times the outstretched arm of the Lord calling people to him calling his people to him and Jesus even today says come unto me and I will do what for you.

Give you rest. Come unto me and I will give you rest. So often I ask myself then why am I why is it often so difficult? To go to him. If I know the result is going to be forgiveness of sin. Because I asked and I know that rest is there.

Why is it so difficult to come? One of the things that I've been Really trying to unfold to my church over the last. Oh, I think five or six years and I think we have it down pretty well now, but it's starting our day.

Before the Lord starting our day with a time of devotion. When we wake up from our nap from our sleep we are granted life. Life from the Lord Jesus Christ. Why would we not turn to him at the beginning and say Lord God?

Oh Lord God be with me today. Read his word dive into his word. I've been very passionate about that with my people and I believe that we've got a lot of folks that now do that. When I that's the first thing I've done this for a number of years now the first thing I do at five o 'clock in the Morning almost without alarm clock.

The Lord Jesus wakes me up almost at five o 'clock almost every day. Although lately it's been around four. I Wouldn't mind if he adjusts that back to five, but in any event Five o 'clock and I get to get up and the first thing I do every day is I read God's Word and I devote.

Beginning there. Why would we not ground our day and The one who says come on to me. This is exactly what we should be doing. This is exactly what Jesus wanted for his disciples. He wanted to take them away for a time of rest.

Jesus Sees the Shepherdless Crowds with Compassion

So returning now to our scripture this morning we have Jesus getting on a ship with the disciples heading off to a desert place and the people saw them departing and many knew him and ran afoot thither out of all cities and Outwent them and came together unto him.

This moment this moment by ship is not far from Capernaum where they were. In fact, it's just a few miles but Jesus puts them on the ship that they would move that way. It's all this is at the top of the Sea of Galilee Capernaum here and the desert place over here just a few miles apart.

So the people are watching the ship move from the shore and they're following Jesus. And of course they get there before he does so they stayed close the ship again stayed close to the shoreline and Then we say right away that Jesus comes out of here and he's moved by compassion.

This whole idea of rest the way that Mark presents this the idea of rest that he had for the disciples is now Interrupted by the crowds following him along the seashore. And I say how dare they? How dare they interrupt rest of all things?

How dare they? And of course if Jesus were any ordinary man, he might be like me. How dare you he might have come off that ship and said I'll go away for a while. But that's not what our Lord Jesus Christ does.

He doesn't mind the interruption. We see that throughout the gospel that his plan hit not his plan. Everything was his plan, of course but as he's moving this way here comes an interruption and here comes another interruption and Jesus Christ handles each one of those because He's the Son of God.

Because he is the Good Shepherd and Jesus when he came out saw much people and was moved with compassion toward them. Because they were as sheep not having a shepherd and he began to teach them many things.

So here again, we have Jesus coming out of the ship. He's moved with compassion. He is a true shepherd. He sees the people they've they've wandered if you will away from their homes away from their provisions.

We see the true Good Shepherd here being very interruptible. He doesn't get mad at them. He doesn't send them back away. He moves with compassion and of course here if we look at this the account here in Mark We don't know why this multitude is following Jesus.

All we're told is that they follow Jesus. They see him they know him and they're following him. They're like wandering sheep looking for a shepherd and boy a shepherd they found. They were like sheep without a shepherd because they lacked a faithful shepherd.

They were prone to wandering off and that's what we really in a way. That's what we really see as now we when we turn here in a few moments to the feeding of the 5 ,000. We found out they to follow Jesus they kind of wandered off from their homes.

They wandered off without provisions. Meaning no food. They followed the ship wandering off to the desert place. Unprepared in a way and again, we'll see that more in just a few minutes. They were looking for a faithful leader.

We could say Attracted to this Jesus who was no ordinary man. Being the Son of God the Good Shepherd he began to teach them many things. He instructed them in the ways of the kingdom of God and Here we know that these people they needed some guidance.

They needed guidance to be to not wander off to other gods. They've been attracted to the true God the God-man the Son of God and Here they needed instruction in order to stay with him if you will and not to continue to wander they needed to be shown the kingdom of Christ and again, they needed the saving power of the Messiah the Son of God and They received that from the Good Shepherd.

Additionally Jesus is instructing his disciples by his action. He's showing that we can be interrupted. He's showing that then in that there's a providence of God that lies before us. That we could be interrupted that we may have this plan and this place to go.

But there might be something there might be some call there might be something that says hey I need to interrupt you of course. They don't put it that way. They say I'm and I'm and I need help. So Jesus here is instructing his disciples as well.

And when I preached this to my congregation a few months ago I said I did tell them that this is one of the things that is one of the biggest struggles for me. Is I'm not all that interruptible. I am more so today than I was say ten years ago.

But I'm I but I feel like it's always my agenda. Like even my wife if she's if she wanted to confess any of that to you she might say to you. Yeah, every time I try to interrupt him at like at our business that we have together.

Yeah, he's like What are you saying or or I'll I can't remember how I do it, but I'm just I'm not all that kind. Let's put it that way. But when it comes time for me to interrupt her I just yell it across the office.

Oh, honey. Or that but when I when she does that to me often although I think I've gotten better over the last few years. But anyway, she'll try to interrupt me. I'll say don't you know, I'm trying to do this trying to finish this thought I have.

Don't you know that? Anyway, Jesus is interruptible and we all need to remember that and when the day was now far spent his disciples came unto him and Said this is a desert place and now the time is far past.

Send them away that they may go into the country roundabout and into the villages and buy themselves bread. For they have nothing to eat. Providentially the day has gotten away from them. If you will it was late.

They were still in that desert place without provision. The disciples know that people were getting hungry and of course, they're getting hungry as well. I'm sure. And they go to Jesus. Hey, can we wrap this up?

Can we wrap up this time of teaching you get to the food, that's probably what I'd be saying. Well, they come up then they come up with a human solution. To allow the crowd to fill their hunger. They he tells that they go to Jesus say send them away.

Send them into the villages that they might go and get something to eat that they might part they might do that. But of course our Lord Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd knew exactly what was good. He was gonna do.

He was gonna feed those people. He will feed the people this because he is again the Son of God. He's the Good Shepherd and the Good Shepherd fills his people. He answered and said unto them give ye them to eat and they say unto him Shall we go and buy 200 penny worth of bread and give them to eat?

Now here we know Jesus command commands him. We'll give them something to eat. Imagine the thoughts of the disciples now Jesus you know that we don't have much to eat. These people wandered off from their homes with no provisions.

You are in the boat with us. You know what we brought out of the boat. We don't have anything and what do they do right away. They turn to their natural resources, right? Well, all we got is a little bit of money to any penny worth and that's no way that's gonna feed such a large crowd.

In his account and the Apostle Paul Apostle John pardon me said that Jesus knew that he was going what he was going to do. He of course knew he was going to feed these people. That he was going to provide The manna from heaven if you will for these people.

And he saith unto them how many loaves have ye go and see? And when they knew him when they knew they say five and two fishes. So Jesus here tells them to go take an inventory go figure out what we have here for the to feed these people and Again and referring to John's account.

All we know is that they had some poor kids sack lunch. And I take that from Toby Sumner some poor kids sack lunch. That's what we have. John tells us further that the boys sack lunch was five barley loaves.

That's interesting to note that they lived in a well a well a good region if you will a Region where the finest wheat is available. But all this boy was had had was barley loaves. Barley, of course was the poor man's bread.

So that's why we could say it's the poor man poor boys sack lunch. So this banquet on the hill if you will is not some fine banquet hall, but a mountainside in a desert place. The food is not escargot or caviar or filet mignon or not even hamburger.

I love hamburger. You probably can't tell. Rather it's barley loaves and fish fragments. Just a little bit. However, it was the best place on earth and the finest food available at that time. Because it was in the presence of the Lamb of God.

Who was the bread of life? And he fed them there in that desert place on that mountainside. The one who would soon give up his body and blood to nourish his people with the very best of both every age and until the end of time.

The Bread of Life Feeds and Orders His People

And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass and they sat down in ranks by hundreds and fifties and when he had taken the five loaves and two fishes he looked up to heaven and blessed the Blessed and break the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before them and two fishes divided he among them all.

Notice how orderly this is. Jesus tells them to sit down. Jesus tells them to organize by hundreds and fifties. Orderly and then after they were seated Jesus gave thanks to the Father. Then he distributed the bread and fish to the disciples and then the disciples to the people.

Now we know that Jesus is dealing with a crowd of a lot of people 5 ,000 men and Here we are have an unspecified number of women and children as well. Which means this crowd was big lots of people. One of the children, of course, we know is smart enough to bring along a sack lunch which Jesus uses as the basis of the meal and Even with a such a large crowd Jesus puts things in order.

I'm going to have you sit by hundreds and by fifties on the green grass. Now what's interesting about this mountainside theme or picture here? Is that green grass is not all that common. Especially in that day on that mountainside.

But yet here we're told that Jesus sits them down in the green grass. What's that reminiscent of? Some 23 he maketh me to lie down in green pastures and For what purpose? He restoreth My soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Amen. Jesus sits them down in the green pasture to restore their stoles and Lead them in the path of righteousness there in that desert place. And notice before Jesus performed the miracle and fed them to their fullness.

He prayed. Giving thanks to the Father for this provision. Brothers and sisters, of course, we are to follow this pattern of Jesus Christ. Giving thanks in all things first to God for his provision. This is especially true when we sit down for our meals together.

We give thanks to God for providing the food that he that will nourish us. We see this that in everything we receive comes from the hand of God. Again here stressing the idea that everything here is orderly.

Jesus sits has them sit down in an orderly fashion. He breaks the bread or gives thanks and breaks the bread distributes the meal. Performing the miracle of taking the boys sack lunch and feeding thousands upon thousands in an orderly manner.

There of course are many many lessons from this account right here. One of which is that we should follow this pattern in our homes. There is a dynamic to eating together that we cannot replicate in any other way.

No matter how hard we try. This is the Lord's design. Your goal, of course should be to have at least one meal a day where you gather around your table. For most of us that will typically be dinnertime.

Follow the pattern of the Lord Jesus Christ bring order to your homes. It may be difficult for a time of course. Satan stands there in your home. He hates that Lord's order. And he will do everything to complicate that order that you would like to bring.

He will do everything he possibly can but we will overcome the devil. Give thanks, of course to God at every meal. It is by his provision that you have food to eat. Give thanks for that. It's time to check in one with another how was your day what problems did you encounter and how did you handle them?

While you're at the table, it's a good time to open the Word of God and read it together and pray together. That was a one of the things that we did often with our children was that without would be the time.

We tried to just before bedtime. We tried all these different things, but the thing that worked for us the greatest Amount of time was when we just did it right after the meal. Clean the table get the Bibles out and we all read scripture together prayed for each other in these things.

Brothers and sisters we should make that time together the thing of the day. The highlight of every day should be that family meal that family gathering ordered giving thanks caring for one another. We should see that as something greater than a bridge between this activity and that activity.

We should never see it that way. We shouldn't see it as let's get this done so we can go watch Oprah. You probably don't watch Oprah praise the Lord, but you know what I mean. Or video games or fill in the blank we should make it the thing.

There's a dynamic that happens when we're eating that cannot be replicated elsewhere. Our home should be Centered need to be centered must be centered on the Lord Jesus Christ and Our meals together are extremely important towards that in Author Joe Rigney wrote this everything in God in God in everything.

Everything in God and God in everything. And they all did eat and were filled and they took up 12 basket full of Fragments and of the fishes and they did eat of the pardon me. And they that did eat of the loaves were about 5 ,000 men.

Again truly a miracle of our Lord Jesus Christ. Producing enough bread and fish to the extent that they were all filled again greater than 5 ,000 people they were all filled. From us from a poor boys sack lunch.

No one went away hungry. The supply was limitless. Plenty left over and of course we know that Jesus supplies in abundance. And let us recall just for one more moment where this miracle occurs on the side of a mountain in a desert place.

This of course is reminiscent of Israel being in the wilderness when God poured out manna from heaven. Into wilderness. However, the supply of manna was limited. Their instructions was take only enough for each person for one day.

If you could take more than that it's going to rot and it did. But on Friday, of course, they were allowed to take for two days one for Friday and one for the Sabbath day on Saturday. Here though we find that the Jesus Christ the bread of life changes everything.

He is the new manna from heaven. His manner is without limitation. For he is the bread of life. The manner of heaven in the wilderness was given to the people in response to their complaining. As we looked at that account We would find that that's what they did they said gee what you do bring us out here into the wilderness to to die of hunger and The Lord moved upon them and gave them the manna and then God and that time Responded with giving them enough to sustain them just enough to get by if you will.

But here brothers and sisters The new manna from heaven the bread of life is given to a people that follow Jesus Christ. They sought him out they drew near and they desired to be with him and He responded by giving more than what would sustain them.

He gave them until they were full with leftovers. And of course that is what Jesus Christ does for us, isn't it? He will supply all we need in surplus. But of course we must be people like these people.

Follow him along the shore. Follow him wherever he draws us. Looking to draw near to receive him receive his teaching his healing his bread of life. To receive his wisdom. To the very depths of our souls.

Sin has injured us greatly and The only thing to means to healing those injuries is to draw near to the bread of life. At Jesus's instruction they gather up their fragments so that nothing will be lost.

And of course, that's another whole sermon on its own that nothing in the kingdom of heaven is going to waste. Even those fragments that we receive. Even the little fragments that we might receive on Wednesday or Thursday even those Come from the bread of life.

Feeding us in ways that we could not possibly understand. But all work to the glory of God. Brothers and sisters God has Translated us into the kingdom of his dear son into the kingdom of the Son of God.

He hasn't taken us to a desert place. Rather he has taken us into his glorious kingdom. On the Lord's Day, he takes us off the battlefield if you will. Yeah, he might ask us to wrestle with some of our sin and these kind of things.

But he takes us off the the tyranny of the urgent all of those and things that we think are important day to day. And he brings us off that battlefield draws us near to him in worship and he gives us rest.

He has and is feeding us with his word this morning. He's giving us spiritual nourishment and a few minutes. He'll feed us with the bread of life more spiritual nourishment nourishment, pardon me. Brothers and sisters we need to take Jesus into the fiber of our being.

Into the fiber of our souls. Using this metaphor of bread. What is bread made from? Well, not barley, but grain. It's made from grain. Grain is taken and transformed into bread. We must take the bread of life into every grain of our being everything in God and God in everything and Just as grain must be transformed to make that bread.

We must be transformed into Christ's likeness. Our sinful wicked grains must die. That we would have the newness of life in Jesus. We are in the process of being made new like Christ. That's what happened when we were translated into his kingdom that process began.

That means that every grain again in our souls must become Christlike as We eat of his word as we eat of his bread our grains become new. They become Christlike. Why does it take a lifetime of sanctification in Christ?

To become new in him. Why is it because we have so many grains that are wicked. So many grains that are sinful so many desires that must be mortified that that new life of the Lord Jesus Christ comes.

He has brought us into the glorious kingdom. So again everything in God God in everything in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.