Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction, Outline, & Prayer

Just like the last sermon in Mark, I want to begin with a flashback.

It’s July 20, 1969 and the Apollo 11 spacecraft just successfully landed on the moon.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong exits the spacecraft and as his foot touches the dusty grey surface, he speaks one of the most famous lines of the 20th century: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

I was negative 16 years old when this happened; so, I don’t remember it but I’m still persuaded that it is inarguably the greatest feat in the history of human exploration.

What else could possibly compete for the top spot?

Mt.

Everest is roughly 29,000 feet above sea level; summit that and you’ve accomplished an awesome feat.

But even at the top of Mt.

Everest you’d still have to travel another 1,261,363,000 feet before getting to the moon.

And someone did it.

Don’t let familiarity with this event dull the truth of how utterly astonishing it is that a person stood on the moon.

A person.

On the moon.

It’s amazing but for some reason, not long after new records are set, humans start thinking of ways to break those records.

When it comes to breaking Neil Armstrong’s record, I think there’s really only one option: standing on Mars.

So, let’s imagine that on July 20, 2069, on the 100th anniversary of the lunar landing, a spacecraft successfully touches down on the surface of Mars.

An astronaut exits the spacecraft and as his (or her) foot touches the dusty red surface he (or she) says: “That’s one big step for man, one enormous leap for mankind.”

I think most people watching the Martian landing would understand the significance of that statement.

It would be a very direct and deliberate way of honoring the lunar landing 100 years prior while simultaneously declaring it is no longer the greatest feat in the history of human exploration.

But do you think someone 1,000 years later would see the significance?

Or would they say something like, “There were 100 years between those two events.

You only see the connection because you’ve got the history books in front of you—no one back then would have made a connection like that.”

Or maybe they would say, “Those quotes are too similar to be genuine.

Somewhere along the line someone must have tampered with the history books and fabricated a connection by changing what the astronauts said to make it match like that.”

Here’s why I’m mentioning all of this: Jesus often “broke OT records” (so to speak).

The events of His life often both resembled and surpassed prior events found in the OT.

And when that happened, He honored the glory of the prior event while revealing something even more glorious about Himself by replicating it x100.

We are going to encounter one of those events in today’s passage; so, the question is, what are we going to do when we read about it?

Will we think it’s an example of well-intentioned people making shallow or artificial connections between Jesus and the OT that aren’t actually there?

Or, convinced that both testaments in our Bible share the same divine author, will we see the foreshadowing of Christ in the OT come to full and glorious light in the NT? May the Holy Spirit help us see that the latter answer is the right answer as we look to Christ through the word this morning.

Let’s open our Bibles to Mark 6:30–44.

We are going to make our way through this passage in three points: The Weary Apostles (vv.

30–32), The Shepherdless Sheep (vv.

33–34), and The Satisfying Feast (vv.

35–44).

We will end by considering some of the ways God intends to impact our lives through this passage.

Let’s read then pray:

“The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.

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.

And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

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.

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 themselves something to eat.”

But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.”

And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”

And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have?

Go and see.”

And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”

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 said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people.

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.

And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men” (Mark 6:30–44).

Point 1: The Weary Apostles (vv.

30–32)

Verse 30 picks up where v. 13 left off.

In v. 13, Jesus paired the 12 disciples, gave them authority, and sent them to the villages of Galilee to proclaim His message of repentance and faith.

In v. 30 they returned so excited about their mission and the success they had that they immediately began telling Jesus all about it.

There may have been more to Jesus’s response but Mark simply quotes Him responding, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while” (6:31).

If you happen to be an adventurous person who thinks desolate places make sweet vacation spots let me rain on your parade a bit.

This wasn’t camping with Jesus on a nice campground with a couple of furnished cabins.

It was trekking to an isolated, uninhabited, undesirable wilderness with absolutely no amenities.

That’s what Jesus meant by the word “desolate.”

And that was how far they had to go to get rest at this point because Jesus had become so well-known that “many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat” (Mark 6:31).

This is similar to what we read back in Mark 3:20, “Then [Jesus] went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat.”

The difference is that this time, it’s not just a gathered crowd but many people coming and going—as people leave, others take their place.

On the heels of such a successful yet tiring mission, Jesus is concerned that His apostles take time to rest.

We don’t know where they departed from—my guess would be Capernaum since that seems to have been their home base so far.

We also don’t know where they departed to—all we know is that it was far enough away to be considered “a desolate place” and yet close enough that a large crowd could get there on foot and faster than a boat.

One Bible atlas I looked at suggested a place about 2 miles west of Capernaum.

Point 2: The Shepherdless Sheep (vv.

33–34)

As we move to point 2, I want you to put yourself in the story.

Imagine that you are one of the twelve apostles that Jesus sent.

You’ve been working hard and travelling for many consecutive days and finally return to meet up with Jesus and the rest of the apostles, hoping for some rest.

Instead you and the others are so unceasingly swarmed by crowds of excited and needy people that you can’t even find a few minutes to eat something.

Thankfully, Jesus realizes that this is a problem and decides that it’s time to retreat.

Everyone heads to the boat and escapes the crowd by sailing to a desolate place.

It’s not exactly the destination you would have chosen but as long you get the food and rest Jesus promised, you’ll go anywhere.

As the boat sails away and the roar of the crowd fades, you drift off to sleep.

But after a short while, a strange and distant noise wakes you up.

It’s quiet; so, you keep your eyes closed, waiting for it to go silent.

A few moments later, it’s gotten louder.

It sort of sounds like the crowd that was clamoring after you when you set sail but, obviously, it can’t be since Jesus said He was taking you to a desolate place.

You didn’t feel the boat turn around, so you manage to persuade yourself that you’re mistaken.

A few minutes later, the sound is unmistakable—it’s definitely a crowd of people.

As you open your eyes and look to the shoreline, you see that it’s not just any crowd but the same crowd only bigger—these people not only ran to a desolate place; they ran there faster than a boat.

How would you have responded in that moment?

Jump overboard?

Highjack the boat?

I might have said, “Guys, I just had a great idea.

Instead of camping in that desolate wasteland, why don’t we just take a cruise?

A week at sea, just the 13 of us.

No crowds, lots of fish, lots of quiet.

What do you say?”

Mark doesn’t tell us what the disciples thought or did but He does tell us what Jesus thought and did in v. 34, “…he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

And he began to teach them many things.”