Sermon Tone Analysis

Mark 6:30-56

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Introduction

I recently heard about a group of scientists who used MRI to study belief.

They took 30 subjects, 15 committed Christians and 15 non-believers, in order to measure signal changes in the brain as they evaluated the truth and falsity of religious and nonreligious propositions.

One thing they discovered that when belief was involved, certain areas of the brain were more active than others.

In the paper which reported this they made this very interesting statement: “There is, of course, a distinction to be made between mere /profession/ of such beliefs and actual /belief -/a distinction that, while important, only makes sense in a world in which some people actually believe what they say they believe.”

Do you actually believe what you say you believe?

When we talk about being followers of Jesus, this is a very important distinction.

Do we merely profess to be followers of Jesus, or do we actually follow Him?

The reality of following is revealed when the evidence for following is not clear.

This is the message of Mark 6:35-56 which both challenges us and encourages us to follow Jesus.

There are times in our life when the evidence of God’s presence is so real that we have no difficulty trusting Him.

For example, faith and following are easy when we are at camp or on a mission trip or when we see powerful manifestations of His presence.

But do we still trust Him and follow Him when the doctor’s report is cancer or when flooding comes for the second year in a row or when the crops fail?

This section of Scripture moves a lot.

Jesus and His disciples are constantly on the go and there is a lot of action in this section.

As in much other Biblical literature, the passage is structured so that the main point is in the middle.

The first story is a great story of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000.

The final story is a great story of Jesus healing people.

In between, we have what looks at first glance like another miracle story, but contains some disturbing elements which invite us to look deeper.

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I.                   The Power and Compassion of Jesus

Before we get to that central section, let us be encouraged by the power and wonder of Jesus’ miraculous works of power.

We are impressed and blessed by the truth of the stories found here.

!! A.                 Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

Jesus had sent the disciples out to preach.

When they came back, we notice that they are called apostles.

Disciple means learner.

Apostle means sent one.

This is the only place in Mark where they are called apostles.

They had been sent and now they returned and reported all that had happened.

I like the image which is suggested by the phrase, they “gathered around Jesus.”

It suggests a great time of encouragement, friendship and bonding.

However, the crowds which surrounded Jesus didn’t stop coming.

In fact, Jesus was so busy ministering that they didn’t even have time to eat.

Jesus knew that the disciples were tired from their “mission trip” and suggested in Mark 6:31 “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

So that is what they did.

They got into a boat and were going to go to a place where they could be alone for a little while.

But things did not turn out the way they planned.

The crowds saw where they were going and ran around the lake and got to the “solitary place” before they did, so that when they got out of the boat, they were immediately surrounded by people again.

It is very likely that they saw the people coming as they rowed their boat, but Jesus didn’t tell the disciples to steer in another direction.

Instead, we read that Jesus “had compassion on them.”

What a wonderful thing to recognize that this is Jesus.

He is one who sees people in need and has compassion on them.

We also read in Mark 6:34 that Jesus knew that “they were like sheep without a shepherd.”

It is important to note the tremendous love that Jesus had for those in need.

He deeply cared for them.

Even though He and the disciples were hungry and tired, His compassion moved Him to minister to the people.

While ministering to the crowd, it was getting late.

It seems that the disciples also had compassion for the people but perhaps also driven by their own hunger, they suggested that it was time to eat.

The problem was that it was late and they were in a remote place.

One needed appropriate lead time to send the people away so that they could find some food before night came on.

That was their suggestion, but Jesus had another one.

He suggested that the disciples should feed them.

The disciples couldn’t put together such a plan in their heads.

The difficulty of finding enough food in the remote area, but even more the amount of money required to do this overwhelmed their notion of what was possible.

Jesus offered a further suggestion.

They should find out what resources they did have.

Perhaps there would be enough to feed them all.

But when they did the research, they found that there would not even have been enough for the disciples and Jesus, never mind the whole crowd.

Jesus, however, had a plan.

He instructed them to get organized.

The people gathered in groups of 50 and 100.

The mention of green grass in verse 39 may suggest Psalm 23:2 in which God leads His people to green pastures.

A few weeks ago at the AWANA final program a group did a skit of this miracle.

They actually had bread there and began to distribute it.

And guess what?

The bread did not multiply.

But when Jesus distributed it, the bread did multiply.

I have often wondered how that would have been like.

As the disciples distributed the bread, did they actually see another piece appear in their basket or did the pieces grow as they were shared?

When they were done, there was more left over than when they started and everyone had been well fed.

I know that when the food committee plans for a meal, their worst nightmare is to run out of food.

In fact, they don’t mind having leftovers and they plan for having leftovers so that doesn’t happen.

When Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes, he started with too little and ended up with an abundance of leftovers.

The wonder of this story is to show us both the compassion and the power of Jesus.

We see that Jesus has so much compassion that even though he and his followers were tired and hungry, He still ministered to the people.

We learn that Jesus cares enough about hungry people to provide a meal for them.

We also learn that Jesus is able to meet the needs of the people.

He has the power to heal those who come for healing.

He has the ability, the power to multiply bread and fish so that no follower of His need ever go hungry.

Wow!!

!! B.                 Jesus Heals Multitudes

At the end of this section when Jesus and the disciples left this remote place, they crossed over the lake again and landed at Gennesaret.

In Mark 6:53-56, we read that “as soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus” and so the ministry continued for Jesus.

In these stores we see once again the compassionate willingness with which he put himself at the disposal of the people.

The geographical extent of the work was amazing.

In this section we hear such phrases as, “whole region” and “everywhere he went” and “villages, towns or countryside.”

The pace of ministry was relentless.

Wherever Jesus went, people came running to him.

Their expectation was the same expectation and hope that we have.

They wanted to be healed.

They brought all who had any illness to Jesus and they hoped that he would heal them.

Their faith in the healing power of Jesus was very great.

It was their expectation that if they could “touch even the edge of his cloak” they would experience healing.

This seems to be a reminder of the healing of the woman who in Mark 5:27, “touched his cloak.”

The amazing thing is that “all who touched him were healed.”

There was no magic incantation spoken.

They did not have to have enough of the right kind of faith.

They simply had to touch the edge of his cloak and they were healed.

Although the intention of these miracles is to demonstrate with clarity and power that the kingdom of God has come, the wonderful thing is that healing happened.