Chapter # 6 Paragraph # 4 Study # 9
January 25, 2022
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: There are two "intended results" for the feeding of five thousand men: a large umbrella "result" that identifies Jesus as "The Christ" as "The King Of Israel"; and a smaller "apostolic result" that makes the function of "apostles" possible.
Introduction: We have spent two months, thus far, in a consideration of the feeding of 5,000 men by Jesus. It has been my claim that this particular historical event is a strategic key to human participation in the glorious Kingdom of God because it is the only "miracle" that is recorded in all four of the Gospels, and because Mark makes it a major event in his Gospel by committing three chapters of his shortest of all of the Gospels to pointing out its intended, divine, impact to his readers.
As we come to the end of Mark's actual presentation of the event, we are given the final facts that make this "miracle" so crucial.
- I. It Is Crucial Because It Identifies Jesus As "The Christ".
- A. After the extended presentation of Jesus as the source of food for 5,000 men and for 4,000 more people on another occasion, Jesus raises the question of His "identity" and Peter rightly professes Him to be "The Christ".
- B. Since it is His identity as "The Christ" that is the critical root issue of "Faith Unto Justification" (John 8:24), these two feedings of massive crowds accomplished that objective.
- C. This is the "larger" truth; an umbrella over all other truths.
- II. It Is Crucial Because It Identifies Jesus As "The Christ" In The Particular Aspect Of His Identity As "The Great Shepherd".
- A. Biblically, there are three "Shepherd" theses attached to "The Christ".
- 1. There is "The Good Shepherd" Who "lays down His life for His sheep" (John 10:11 & 15); an identity given in detail in Psalm 22 where the details of His death are given.
- 2. There is "The Chief Shepherd" Who rewards the "under-shepherds" for their faithfulness (1 Peter 5:1-4); an identity given in detail in Psalm 24 where the details of His "rewarding" is given (verse 5).
- 3. There is "The Great Shepherd" Who is raised from the dead by the God of Peace (Hebrews 13:20 and Micah 5:1-5) Who "equips you in every good thing to do His will"; an identity given in detail by Psalm 23 where His qualitative ministrations as a "shepherd" are detailed.
- a. Among the details is 23:2 where the Septuagint translates "He makes me lie down in green pastures" as "He causes me to inhabit a place of green shoots of grass".
- b. There is the deliberate reference in Mark's record to being told to "lie down" (erroneously translated "sit down") on the green shoots of grass.
- B. In our current text in Mark, the lead-in characteristic of Jesus is that He sees the vast crowd as "sheep without a shepherd" so that He steps into that role.
- 1. As the "shepherd of the sheep" (Hebrews 13:20) Jesus "compassionately teaches many things" where the "things" of His teaching are food for the people and are mirrored in the record as equivalent to the "green shoots of grass" that are the food of sheep.
- 2. Then there is the "river of bread and fish that flows off of His hands" that as the physical food for the crowd mirror the "many things that He taught" as His words are true food for the non-physical, relational, creatures that are the equivalent of "sheep".
- C. In our current text in Mark, the record states that "He was giving to the disciples in order that they should be setting [the loaves and fishes] before them".
- 1. This highlights the specific issue for the disciples: His "command" is fulfilled by His own provision and by the disciples' action of "giving" (paratithosin; an intensified form of the verb tithemi), an action made possible by Jesus' continuing "giving" in 6:41.
- 2. This is the illustration of the function of The Great Shepherd Who equips men to do His will.
- D. Thus, in our context, Jesus is "The Shepherd".
- 1. He is The Good Shepherd as pictured in His "violent breaking of the bread" which was to mirror His own suffering in His body, which is the "bread" of the New Covenant.
- 2. He is The Chief Shepherd Who is preparing His "under-shepherds" for their reward at the establishment of His Kingdom.
- 3. He is The Great Shepherd Who "equips" His people for their service to Him by making all of the required provisions necessary for them.
- III. It Is Crucial Because It Presents Jesus As "The Christ" In The Particular Characteristics Of Both "Compassion" And "Extreme Generosity Of Provision".
- A. His motivation was "compassion".
- B. The gathering up of twelve baskets full of broken, but uneaten, loaves and fish is a testament to the extreme generosity of His grace.
