Mark 6:30–44

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹And 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. ³²And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. ³³Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴When 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. ³⁵And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. ³⁶Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” ³⁷But 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?” ³⁸And 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.” ³⁹Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. ⁴¹And 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. ⁴²And they all ate and were satisfied. ⁴³And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

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From Mark’s Gospel the Holy Spirit gives us an example of divine compassion.  Christ’s compassion is no passive “I feel your pain,” no, the sympathy the Lord feels for us goes down to the depths of His soul.  The Lord’s compassion, His pity on our condition, moves Him to action to relieve us from our distress or suffering.  

Out of His compassion, Jesus began to Shepherd the people.  The so-called “shepherds of Israel,”--the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees--were not shepherding God’s people.  They did not teach the holy truths or participate in the divine things to secure hearts and minds and strengthen the peoples’ holy faith.  The crowd waiting for Jesus was like a flock of wondering sheep, easy prey for the devil, the world, and their own sinful flesh.  So, “Jesus began to teach them many things” (34).  Through human words and vocabulary, Jesus speaks repentance, peace, and deliverance into people’s lives.  Only through the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ do we have access to God. To find His grace and mercy, you must go through Christ’s humanity given to us through His appointed, tangible means: His Word, Baptism, Absolution, and Holy Supper. 

The disciples were good with Jesus’ compassionate teaching, but it was getting late, and the people were hungry (cf. 35-36).  The Twelve’s practical pragmatism instructed Jesus to “scatter the flock and let them fend for themselves!’”  But Jesus had a different idea, “You take care of it!”  For the first Church potluck, the disciples scraped up five loaves and two fish.  Jesus’ compassion found its way to the crowd with those simple gifts.  The loaves and fish never ran out, all five thousand men were fed.  The peoples’ stomachs “were satisfied” (42) long before Jesus stopped giving.  As ordinary, common, and mundane our needs may be, Christ provides for us with the most unlikely of means through godly vocations such as father, mother, workers, and yes, the government.

The story of the five loaves and two fish feeding five thousand men is amazing; however, the most amazing part is not the miracle or that the crowd did not even know about the miracle. The most amazing thing is the compassion that stimulates the miracle.  The only thing that matters is Jesus’ compassion.  With Jesus there is always enough to go around--enough compassion, enough forgiveness, enough of Him for every hungry mouth and heart.  After all, it is a feast!

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