Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-44

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

After a long day of work, the last thing anyone wants to do is to be bombarded with a list of chores. Work can be exhausting, so we just want to come home and put our feet up. However, we all know that isn’t always possible. Taking care of a family requires us to pour every last ounce of effort into meeting the needs of those we love. So, even after working all day, we clean, cook, and serve our spouse and children. No matter how exhausted we are, we tell ourselves it needs to be done. 

So it was for the disciples in our Gospel reading. They return to Jesus after being sent out to preach and to heal the people. Jesus notices how exhausted they are, so they go to rest. However, the crowds follow them. The crowd even beats them to their destination. In their exhausted stupor, they beg Jesus to send the crowd away. Send them to get their own food. But Jesus doesn’t. Rather, he tells the disciples to feed the crowd. So they tell Jesus, two hundred denarii (days’ wages) couldn’t buy enough bread to feed the crowd much more than crumbs. Even after all the miraculous things they did, the disciples are probably feeling insufficient for this task. How could they ever do what Jesus is asking them to do? 

But notice what Jesus does with the disciples. He doesn’t ask them to go out and buy the food. He’s not asking them to prepare a gourmet meal. He asks them, what do you have? “How many loaves do you have?” And they tell him, “Five, and two fish.” For this is where Jesus in essence says, “I can use that.” Jesus’ care for this crowd overshadows the disciple’s insufficiency. For so we’re told, “[Jesus] had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus shows in this miraculous meal that he is the Good Shepherd. For Mark also records for us, “Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass,” (Mark 6:39). For so we remember from the twenty-third Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.” With just five loaves and two fish, Jesus satisfies the hunger of five thousand men, plus women and children. Jesus uses what little the disciples had to satisfy many.

For so Jesus looks at you with compassion. We’d be foolish to think his compassion stops at the spiritual. No, he cares very deeply about our physical well being also. For you see, this is why Jesus came down from heaven. He came to heal many who were sick; he fed the hungry; he even raised people from the dead. Yes, in our Lord’s compassion, he goes to the cross to wash away all of our sins. But so too, does he use common elements to satisfy our hungry souls. Just as he did for the five thousand, Jesus took bread; he blessed it and he gave, saying, “Take, eat, this is my body;” “Take, drink, this is my blood… given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” By his death and resurrection, Jesus invites us to his table to eat and be satisfied in both body and soul! 

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, though we do not deserve Your goodness, still You provide for all our needs of body and soul. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may acknowledge Your gifts, give thanks for all Your benefits, and serve You in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!