[0:00] Mark chapter 6, which I believe is one of the most amazing chapters in all the Gospels.! Especially in relation to the Galilee and ministry of Christ, Galilee is a small region.
[0:17] It's only about 50 miles north to south and about 30 miles east to west, but it is an impactful area in the Gospels.
[0:29] There's probably about 200 small towns and villages scattered throughout that area, but the surrounding areas, those are tight and densely populated, but the surrounding areas are farms and pastures.
[0:47] At the time of Mark chapter 6, Jesus had been ministering there about a year, and He would not be there much longer. He would soon move on to Tyre and Sidon, and Sidon and Tyre are on the Mediterranean coast up north of Galilee, unmarked on this map, possibly even beyond the map a little bit, north on the Mediterranean.
[1:15] It was the land of the Gentiles. And after spending some time there, He would come back through Galilee, enter into the Decapolis area region, and then in chapter 10 of Mark, He heads toward Judea, before His decisive move toward the cross in Jerusalem.
[1:38] So that's the setting of Mark chapter 6. Now, there's three reasons why I believe this is possibly the most amazing chapter in all the Gospels.
[1:50] One of them is Jesus was ineffective in His own town. That amazes me that some were changed, but few were changed because they did not believe.
[2:06] That's pretty amazing to me. The second thing that amazes me about this chapter is the great movement that took place when He sent out the 12 apostles two by two.
[2:18] powerful things happened throughout the Galilean region. He sent His apostles to preach and to minister, and that's what they did. He gave them authority to do it, and with that authority, they preached repentance.
[2:35] They preached the kingdom. They healed the sick. They cast out demons. They had a major impact in that area. And by the way, 11 of them were from that area, which again is pretty amazing to me that those 11 apostles had a powerful, effective ministry in the area in which they were raised, but yet Jesus was ineffective in the very town that He was raised in.
[3:03] But that passage tells us that it was an exhaustive measure. The Gospels tell us that. Not only that, not only was their ministry effort exhausted, but it was exhausting to the point that Jesus knew they needed time away.
[3:21] But our passage today tells us they didn't get the rest they needed. Not that night. And the third reason why this chapter is amazing to me is the miracle that takes place.
[3:37] Now, if you've been to Sunday school, what we used to call it, and you've been to church long enough, you probably know the story of the feeding of the 5,000.
[3:50] And my prayer has been that familiarity would not take away from you learning possibly new truth from this story.
[4:01] Don't get to the end before we get there, please, because I'm firmly convinced that God has some things to show us today in a pretty familiar story. But I'm telling you, I hope that that familiarity don't steal the truth of it because it is amazing.
[4:16] Listen, there are only two miracles in the Gospels that are mentioned in all four Gospels. One of them is this miracle. The other is the resurrection of Christ. So this stands out.
[4:29] This is a big one. And it was so impactful that after this, they tried to force Jesus to become king. They wanted him to take over.
[4:41] Not only can he provide for us, not only is he the master teacher, not only does he relate to where we are, let's take on Rome. He's our king. Let's force him to be king.
[4:54] That's the setting for Mark 6, beginning in verse 30. And it says this, The apostles returned to Jesus and told them all that they had done and taught.
[5:05] That's when he sent them out. And he said to them, Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
[5:18] And they went away in a boat to a desolate place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them. And they ran there on foot from all towns and got there ahead of them.
[5:31] 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.
[5:44] 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 them something to eat.
[5:59] But he answered them, You give them something to eat. And they said to him, Shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?
[6:17] And he said, How many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they had found it, they said, Five and two fish.
[6:31] 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 set a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people.
[6:49] 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.
[7:05] And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men. The impact of the apostles being sent out and being used so effectively caused the people to follow them all the way to the shore.
[7:25] When Jesus tried to get them away in a boat, the people saw them leaving. And the people saw them traveling. And they hurried on shore.
[7:36] Some of them ran as far as eight miles to get to Jesus and his men as they landed.
[7:49] And what happened next is miraculous. What this story teaches us is not only the miraculous power of Christ, but it also teaches us some truths about Christ.
[8:00] Truths that we need to remember when we're hungry. Truths we need to remember when we're desperate. When we're empty.
[8:14] When we're tired. Truths we need to remember when we're overwhelmed. Four truths from this account about Christ.
[8:28] One is, he cares deeply. Jesus knew firsthand the need of rest in ministry.
[8:40] Being all things to all people in the hope of reaching some, as the apostle Paul put it, can wear you out. And Jesus was well aware of that.
[8:53] He cares for our well-being. He cared about the apostles' well-being. And he strived to get them away from the action after intense and productive ministry and get them the needed rest.
[9:12] He cares deeply. What were they? When they were not able to get that rest because they had flocked immediately on shore by a lot of needy people, how did Jesus respond?
[9:30] Well, verse 34 tells us, when he went ashore, he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
[9:41] He saw their needs. He had compassion on them because he cares deeply. And in that compassion, the first thing that he gave them was exactly what they needed the most because the rest of that verse says, and he began to teach them many things.
[9:58] Luke tells us that he taught them about the kingdom. Now, if you want to understand what he teaches when he teaches about the kingdom, the greatest way to find a summary of that is in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5 through Matthew chapter 7.
[10:17] You'll see very similar messages, very similar stories and very similar message in the Sermon on the Plain that Luke talks about as well.
[10:27] So these were redundant themes that Jesus used from time to time to teach kingdom truths. He told them through stories. He shared with them how the law of old, how it applies, not only physically in the way that you think, but how it applies mentally in our lives as well.
[10:45] And he gives great application to what it means to walk with the Lord and what it means not to walk with the Lord. That's what it means by teaching the kingdom. Not only that, but he taught the gospel.
[10:55] And the reason why I know that is because he came to proclaim the gospel. He taught them on their level. He taught them in illustrative ways that they could understand.
[11:07] When sheep were in the field, he would tell a story about sheep. When you saw the wheat growing in the field, he would tell a story about wheat.
[11:17] He spoke to where they were and understood exactly what they needed because he cares. He cares deeply.
[11:28] When the apostles recognized all these people were in desperate place, he didn't send them away as the apostles suggested for him to do.
[11:40] He didn't leave them to fend for themselves. He cared deep enough about them to do something about it. He saw them as sheep without a shepherd.
[11:52] Now, personally, I don't know a lot about sheep. I'm not a sheep farmer. I ain't spent a whole lot of time with them. But I have read about them a lot because Jesus talked about them a lot.
[12:06] And I wanted to understand them more. And I will tell you, sheep without a shepherd are going to die. They will not find the pasture that they need once they eat up what they got. They'll die.
[12:18] They need help because they can't fight off the enemy. And they are easy prey for any predator. And so they're victims often of that.
[12:30] And when they get knocked down, they can't get up. They need help getting up. They can't help each other up. And when they get dirty, when they get buggy, when they get thorny, they need somebody to clean them up.
[12:54] They can't clean their own wool. Somebody has to care for them. Somebody has to lead them. Somebody has to lead them to water.
[13:07] And Scripture's clear that we're like sheep. And Christ is our shepherd. And I am thankful today that He will lead us and He will feed us and He will stand us up when we fall down.
[13:26] And He will clean us up when we get dirty. And He will protect us and He'll be right there for us because He cares for us. He cares deeply.
[13:40] But it won't stop there. Another truth that this accountant shares with me is He provides sufficiently. Instead of sending them away, He tells them to feed them.
[13:56] John chapter 6 tells us that He looked at Philip and asked where are we to buy bread so that these people can eat? Now listen.
[14:08] The Gospel of Luke tells us that they were outside of Bethsaida. And Bethsaida was a small port village, a little fishing village.
[14:19] Very small. Maybe a couple hundredfold. There are no remains of Bethsaida. No ruins there at all. which tells us how small that it was.
[14:33] You've got thousands of people here. Bethsaida's McDonald's could not handle it. The walkthrough, they didn't have a drive-through, would not have been able to handle it.
[14:49] Where are we going to find this? There was nothing in that town that could feed thousands. Christ knew that and Philip said eight months worth of wages, get this, eight months worth of wages would not feed this many people.
[15:07] And all they could come up with was a boy's lunch. Scripture says it was five barley loaves and two fish. Now those loaves are not those big sour dough loaves that all you ladies are making now since you attended that class.
[15:25] Fellas, how's that working out for you? I'm still paying $10 a loaf. But anyway, who can let me go home with them today?
[15:46] They were small loaves. like a biscuit. And these fish were not tuna.
[15:58] They tell me tuna can weigh as much as 1,000 pounds. No, these were very small pickled fish. Often used as a relish.
[16:12] Let me put it in our terms. The boy had sardines and crackers is what he had. Now, I'll tell you that I got enough rednecks in here to say, man, that sounds good.
[16:30] It's good lunch. Until they begin to share with somebody else. And that changes everything. That ruins a fishing trip, brother, when you got to share your can of sardine.
[16:41] this is all they had. But I want you to hear me.
[16:56] All they had was enough in the hands of the Lord. It reminds me of 2 Kings chapter 4. Elisha, the follower of Elijah, that got a double portion from him.
[17:14] God used Elisha in such powerful ways. And a lady came to him and said she had nothing. But her debt was so deep that she was going to have to sell her two sons into slavery to pay her debt.
[17:31] And Elisha asked her, he said, what do you have in your home? And she said, all I've got is a single jar of oil. He said, well then go to all your neighbors and collect as many empty jars as you can find.
[17:54] So they did. And he said, when you get all those empty jars, he said, go into your house and shut the door. And as a family, take that jar of oil and pour it into an empty jar.
[18:14] And when you fill that jar, pour it into another one. And when you fill that jar, pour it into another one. And then pour it into another one.
[18:25] and then pour it into another one. And then sell that oil and pay your debt.
[18:39] It happened just like Elisha told her that it would happen. God always provides sufficiently.
[18:54] God cares deeply. He provides sufficiently. a third truth from this text is this.
[19:06] He orders purposefully. I want you to get this. Verse 39 and 40 says this. Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass so that they sat down in groups by hundreds and by fifties.
[19:23] Now, I want to get something straight. How many people were there that day? Because what scripture says is 5,000 men.
[19:38] Okay? We're going to go deep in the language here. Okay? In the Greek language that word for men, you know what that means? Men.
[19:50] That's what it means. It don't mean people. It is distinctive. It means men. And I want you to see what Matthew 14, 21 says.
[20:02] It says, and those who ate were about 5,000 men besides women and children. So, in that culture, what was prominent in that culture would be that those men, most of those men brought their wives.
[20:24] And most of those wives brought their children. children. And so, you had a lot more people than 5,000 people.
[20:37] At least 10,000 people. Upwards to 15,000 to 20,000 people. Some have estimated as much as 25,000 people. Most people.
[20:48] And Mark tells us that he told them to sit in groups of 50 and 100. Now, I want you to imagine 20,000 people sitting in groups of 50 to 100.
[21:06] That means that there were 200 to 400 groups of people there that day. He is bringing order to the chaos.
[21:19] Tens of thousands of people crushing each other, jamming together dangerously to get to Christ and to see what they can get from him. Because, be clear, these are not faithful people.
[21:35] They are wanting people. What can you do for me now? somebody told me they went to the George Strait concert last night and they live about 25 minutes away from the stadium and they got home an hour and a half later.
[21:54] Okay? Got at 2.30 in the morning. That's why your pastor didn't go to George Strait. Okay? Because Sunday was coming. That's chaos.
[22:07] Leaving that place is chaos. Can't even see the final song if you want to go home. know? It's chaos. Nothing wrong with it. It's chaos. As they chaotically clamor together, he says, sit down orderly.
[22:30] You know why? And I want you to hear this. We don't serve a God of chaos. 1 Corinthians 14 verse 33 says this, for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.
[22:48] God's not chaotic. And let me just give you a clue. When things get chaotic, God's not in it. It's a sign. It's a sign. When I see people make sporadic decisions that are not wise, go from one thing to another, it's not God.
[23:07] Mark that down. Remember that. When everybody's in a hysteria about everything, God's not in that. God commands them to sit.
[23:18] And you know what they did? They sat. And by them sitting in those groups, it made aisles for them to be able to distribute the food they needed to be able to distribute.
[23:33] Well, what is God telling you to do in the midst of your chaos? And the question is, when He says it, and you sense His calming voice speaking to you, what do you do in response to that?
[23:49] There's always purpose behind His order. None of the gospel accounts say that they ask, why should we do that? They sat down.
[24:05] It's a trait of the Lord. when the world was without form and void, and by the way, the word form there, without form, means literally chaos.
[24:18] When the world was without form and void, you know what happened? He spoke and order came. When the storm raged wildly, chaotically on the sea, Jesus spoke and the storm stopped.
[24:39] In the midst of your chaos, remember something, God orders purposefully. He does it for a reason. It's not simply to exert the sovereignty and authority of God.
[24:55] It's to bring order water in the midst of our chaos. One more truth I want you to see. He satisfies abundantly.
[25:11] It says, and they all ate and were satisfied. It does not say everybody got a nibble. satisfied. It says, Jesus satisfied.
[25:26] Fellas, that word there for satisfied is the same word they use when they put a bag around an animal's head that's full of feed and they eat the bag full of feed.
[25:41] It is the same word that's translated in the book of Revelation gorged when it's talking about the feast. several years ago, me and a friend began day hiking the Appalachian Trail in Georgia.
[26:01] And we did it over several years. We only could do it. I lived in Mississippi at the time. We could only do it once a quarter, maybe every six months or so. Sometimes we skipped a year.
[26:12] And one guy that does it all the time said, man, it's like y'all starting over every time. And he said, yeah, you're right. Feels like it when we're done. We did all of Georgia except for the last eight miles.
[26:23] And the problem with the last eight miles is when you get the last eight miles, you're nowhere. You're eight miles from anywhere. And we just never want to do 16. We did 13 one time in a day and we paid for it.
[26:38] So we did eight, 10, 12 miles every time we went. 12. And I read this story and I realized that when I began to study it and realized that they had traveled eight miles to get to Jesus, running and working to get to Jesus.
[26:55] And they were worn like that. I thought about the eight miles. That was kind of a minimum for us. The eight miles when we would hike. And again, it took us 70 miles, so it took us several times and it went over a few years.
[27:08] And I'm a binge and purge guy, you know, so some days I'm watching what I eat and some days I'm not and all this kind of stuff. And so there were days when I would watch my chloric count and there were days I wasn't eating many carbs and all that kind of stuff.
[27:25] And I remember one time pulling up to a fried chicken place when we got done. There's a Zaxby's that if you hike that area, you go by that Zaxby's every time. And that became the place where we would stop to eat after we had come off that trail.
[27:38] He was trying to figure out what I could eat and all that. He said, as many calories as you burn a day, eat whatever you want to. And we did. And every time we'd stop at that restaurant or whatever restaurant we'd stop at, we'd gorge ourselves, we'd eat.
[27:54] Why? Because I'd burned 80,000 calories or whatever it was, you know? That's the word that's used.
[28:06] God that's what the men did. That's what the women did. That's what the children did. And they were satisfied. God satisfies abundantly.
[28:22] The apostle Paul told it this way. He said in Philippians 419, and my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Jesus told us that he came to give life and to give it more abundantly.
[28:38] And I want you to see how abundant that it was and that it is. Verse 43 says this, and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.
[28:53] Twelve baskets. Now that's not a big basket. it's the equivalent to, some of y'all will know what I mean when I say this, to a lunch pail.
[29:11] If you don't know what that is, a lunch tote. Okay? Insulated. With a fifty dollar mug. That's what it is.
[29:27] And there were twelve of them. Does that number ring a bell? How many men were serving the group with Jesus?
[29:45] Twelve. They all took out takeout and went home. and it was precisely enough.
[30:02] Because I told you that God orders perfectly. His precision is amazing. He satisfies abundantly.
[30:18] So remember, he cares deeply. Don't you ever doubt the love of God? Don't you ever doubt it. He sees us as sheep without a shepherd.
[30:31] He cares for us deeply. He provides sufficiently. Never have a doubt. I like the way the first Peter five, seven says it in the New Living Translation.
[30:42] Give all your worries and cares to God for he cares about you. what's worrying you today. Give it to God. If he can feed an arena full with a boy's lunch, what in the world are you concerned about?
[30:59] He orders purposely. When God speaks order in your life, listen to his guidance. He's right. He satisfies abundantly.
[31:14] He satisfies every need. Every need we have. By the way, he is our greatest need. And if you've never given your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ, that's where it starts.
[31:33] That's where that more than enough kind of relationship starts. Sometimes I ask questions about that to people. I say, have you ever given your life, have you ever become a Christian?
[31:45] I've been a Christian all my life. You know what? I feel like I've been married all my life. That's a good thing.
[32:01] But the reality is I hadn't been. There was a starting point. October 28, 1995 was the starting point.
[32:13] if you're a Christian today, it's because there was a starting point.
[32:28] If there's never been a starting point in your life, you've never surrendered to Christ. And the reality is the greatest need that we have is the Lord Jesus Christ.
[32:38] greatest need that we have is to ask him to forgive us of our sins and to come into our life and to change us. To empower us with the spirit of God to be able to rely upon him for all things.
[32:52] To give him not what we got, but to give him who we are. It satisfies our greatest need. It's the starting point.
[33:07] You don't have to know the date and the time for it to be sufficient, but you better have a date and time for it to be sufficient. It has to have a starting point. It don't come by church attendance.
[33:22] It don't come by baptism. It don't come by holding leadership positions. It comes by surrendering your life to Christ.
[33:36] If you have done that, have you ever made that public? Have you ever told me bye bye? Jesus said, if you're ashamed to me before men, I'll be ashamed of you before my father, which means that in reality it never really took place.
[33:50] The first step to make that private decision public, by Jesus' example and by his commission is to be baptized, to recognize that relationship publicly through baptism, a physical picture of what happens to us spiritually.
[34:06] If that's never happened to you, it's your next step of obedience to follow God. Maybe you're here and God's drawing you to First Baptist Church.
[34:16] Listen, Brian mentioned four years, four years, that I've been able to be your pastor. God's been good.
[34:28] Four fabulous years and I thank you for being part of that. God's drawing you to Pickens First Baptist Church. He's doing a move here and I thank God for that.
[34:40] He's leading you to come. Be obedient and follow him. But then there's maybe stuff in your life when you, there's your stuff. stuff that he needs to bring order to, needs that he needs to supply.
[34:58] Maybe you've been running, trying to catch him, running down the shore. You need relief. You need a touch. Surrender all that to God tonight.
[35:10] At this altar with me praying in your seat wherever, just be obedient to follow God and whatever he'd have you to do. Heavenly Father, thank you that you are more than enough.
[35:24] For whatever it is we need, help us to be obedient as you speak to our hearts and lives. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.