Sermon Tone Analysis
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*Mark 6:30-34…* Then the apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught.
31 He said to them, “Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while” (for many were coming and going, and there was no time to eat).
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to some remote place.
33 But many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they hurried on foot from all the towns and arrived there ahead of them.
34 As Jesus came ashore he saw the large crowd and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
So he taught them many things.
*Commentary*
In Mark 6:7-13 Jesus sent the Twelve out throughout the countryside so that they could preach repentance to the masses.
They went from casual observers of Jesus’ ministry (disciples) to active participants (apostles) as those sent in Christ’s name to proclaim Christ’s message of repentance.
Upon gathering together again the Twelve came to Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught.
The things they had done refers to the use of their apostolic powers of healing and casting out demons, and the things they taught clearly refers to the message Jesus gave them to teach.
The twelve men must have shared an exciting time that day sharing their experiences with their Master and with one another in v. 30.
Keep in mind that even Judas Iscariot, who later proved himself to be a traitor, took part in these wonderful evangelistic feats.
Jesus’ response to the Twelve, following their town-to-town evangelistic efforts, was to lead them away for some much needed rest in v. 31.
There were so many people following them at this point, they couldn’t even eat.
It must have been like a celebrity scene.
Up to this point Jesus had made a habit of going out to the people, but now he makes a concerted effort to withdraw from them.
The reasons he withdrew might include the following: First, as is clear from the text, the disciples needed rest.
Jesus also wanted to get them away for a time of personal instruction.
They likely had many questions that Jesus needed to attend to following their first evangelistic tour of duty.
Second, Herod Antipas was jealous and frightened that Jesus was John the Baptist back from the dead.
This madman would stop short of nothing to keep his power and reputation in tact.
Third, there was a false assumption among many of Christ’s followers of that day that he was simply a political messiah sent to deliver Israel from Rome.
His withdrawal from the territory was his attempt to keep those who wanted to make him king at bay.
Finally, the Jewish hostility was increasing against Jesus.
After all, he himself had raised a huge uproar up to that point, but after his disciples went around the country preaching repentance their anger likely increased.
Thus, their resolve to kill him, though not at its peak, was steadily increasing.
Now while Jesus and the Twelve were attempting to proceed to a solitary place to rest, the people got wind of where they were going and followed them.
By the time Jesus and his men reached the “solitary place” it was anything but solitary, for there were thousands of people waiting for them.
Verse 34 says that Jesus had “compassion” on them because they were all like sheep without a shepherd – people without anyone to lead them.
So Jesus did exactly what he always did for those he had compassion on: “He taught them many things.”
*Food for Thought*
Preaching the Word of God, whether professionally or as a layperson, is a strenuous task.
It requires rest, but it also requires continual instruction in order to stay sharp.
Sometimes, however, rest alludes God’s servants, and they must press on with compassion toward those who need instruction in God’s Word.
After all, Jesus never ignored those in need, and he expressed the compassion he felt for people with inadequate leadership simply by /teaching/ them Truth.
*Mark 6:35-34…* When it became late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is an isolated place and it is already very late.
36 Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.”
And they said, “Should we go and buy bread for two hundred silver coins and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have?
Go and see.”
When they found out they said, “Five – and two fish.”
39 Then he directed them all to sit down in groups on the green grass.
40 So they reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties.
41 He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the bread.
He gave them to his disciples to serve the people, and he divided the two fish among them all.
42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and they picked up the broken pieces and fish left over, twelve baskets full! 44 Now there were five thousand men who ate the bread.
*Commentary*
After Jesus taught the multitudes into the late afternoon, the disciples, recognizing that the area in which they were in was remote, suggested to Jesus that he send them away so they could depart and eat.
But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.”
This command astonished the weary disciples who responded in dismay about how much it would cost to feed so many people.
In their mind it would cost “200 silver coins” to feed so many people.
The /silver coin/ is literally a denarius.
It had a picture of Tiberius Caesar and was worth one day’s wage for hard labor.
Two hundred of these would obviously be many months worth of hard labor, and the Twelve didn’t possess this much money.
Jesus’ suggestion to them, however, was his way of teaching them to trust him and him alone, as they grew in their understanding of him.
In v. 38 Jesus sent the disciples to see how many pieces of fish and bread they had with them.
Tired and hungry as they were, they probably marched off in frustration wondering what Jesus intended to do with what little they had with them.
They found that they had five loaves of bread and two fish – a meal that would have been enough for them but not for the thousands who were in need of food.
But they faithfully reported it to Jesus.
Jesus addressed the crowd in v. 39, told them to gather together, and he gave thanks to God for what little they had.
What followed was nothing short of a miracle because v. 44 says that there were five thousand men there who ate and were satisfied.
Once he prayed, the little became many.
By the day’s end, the disciples went around and cleaned up, and they picked up twelve baskets of fish – one basket for each disciple!
They actually had more fish after feeding thousands of people than they did before they began.
The God who gave Israel their daily bread in the wilderness for forty years is the same God who gave provisions to Elijah and Elisha during their time in the wilderness.
It’s also the same God who provided bread and fish for the thousands who followed Jesus in Mark 6. How God provided is not given, but He did provide daily bread visibly and yet in an unseen way.
*Food for Thought*
In the previous passage Jesus viewed the multitudes who came to him as “sheep without a shepherd.”
And because he is the Good Shepherd (John 10) he has compassion on those who follow him and seek him.
He feeds them, first and foremost, with the bread of life – the words of God that we find today in Scripture.
And second, he feeds them physically and cares for them.
In the same way that Jesus instructed the disciples to carry no bag with them or extra food so that they wouldn’t worry about such things (6:7-13), Jesus tells his children the same thing today, that is, not to worry about daily provisions.
He will provide for those who seek him faithfully.
*Mark 6:45-48…* And immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the multitude away.
46 And after bidding them farewell, He departed to the mountain to pray.
47 And when it was evening, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and He was alone on the land.
48 And seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.
*Commentary*
In v. 45, just like the conclusion of a church service where the pastor stays to shake the hands of the congregants, Jesus stayed in the place where he had fed the 5,000 until they had all departed.
Prior to this, however, he sent the Twelve away in the boat to the other side of the sea where he would later meet them.
What they didn’t know was the trial that lay in store for them.
In v. 46 Jesus took the rare opportunity of being alone to go up onto a mountainside and pray.
After he had bid farewell to the last of those who lingered behind he seized the chance to pray while alone.
There is little doubt that he was praying predominately for the Twelve whom he was training.
Their instruction had gone far deeper in a short amount of time than at any point prior.
With all that awaited them in the coming years Jesus’ prayers would sustain them.
In vv.
47-48 the disciples, on the Sea of Galilee, experienced another storm that threatened to overtake them and their boat.
They were in the middle of the lake while Jesus was on the land, and while the text says that they were “straining at the oars” – a figure of speech denoting a terrible storm – Jesus was watching them from his location on dry land.
Verse 48 says that the “wind was against them.”
This time, however, they could not go to their Master in the stern of the boat and ask for help.
Previously, Jesus had calmed the storm with a simple rebuke of the wind (4:35-41), but now Jesus has the Twelve in a more difficult circumstance in keeping with his careful training of these men.
After having been up all night the disciples were tired and fighting for their lives.
But Jesus had them right where he wanted them so he could deliver them.
As always, Jesus waited until the disciples were at the end of their rope before coming to their aid.
He came to them “about the fourth watch of the night,” that is between 3 a.m.
& 6 a.m.
The Jews reckoned their days from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (12 hours) with four “watches of the night” – each watch consisting of three hours.
The fourth watch was thus 3 a.m. to 6 a.m.
At some point during this time Jesus came to the disciples walking on the water.
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