Question
You Give Them Something to Eat
Mark 6:30-44
Key Verse 6:37a
But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
1. V. 30 calls the disciples, ‘apostles’ and it indicates that their mission journeys were quite successful. Who were the apostles? (Mark 3:16-19) What made them so successful? What can we learn from Jesus who helped them to work so powerfully for his redemptive purpose?
2. Consider what Jesus said to his disciples in v. 31. Why did he say that? What do Jesus’ words in v. 31b tell us about: 1) Jesus; and 2) the way for a man to find real rest? (Matthew 11:28-29)
3. Vs. 32-34 indicates that the way Jesus sees and helps men is quite different from the way we normally do. Had Jesus come today and seen the people of this nation, young ones in particular, how do you think Jesus would have diagnosed their problems? What would Jesus have done for them? What prayer topics or direction does this passage show us in serving the people of this generation?
4. Vs. 35-37a describes disparity between the disciples' approach and Jesus' approach. The disciples' suggestion seems reasonable, whereas Jesus' demand unreasonable. Why then do you think Jesus said to them, "You give them something to eat?" What repentance topics can we find in Jesus' rebuke?
5. Vs. 37b-38 show us another difference between the disciples' approach and Jesus' approach in meeting the challenge. How are they different? Why is Jesus approach better?
6. What do the following expressions in vs. 39-40 teach us in meeting Jesus' challenge to feed a hungry crowd? 1) Have them sit down; and 2) in groups.
7. Consider the way Jesus came up with enough food for the crowd in vs. 41-44. What do the following teach us about the way to feed the crowd of people?
1) "Taking the five loaves and the two fish";
2) "looking up to heaven he gave thanks;
3) "broke the loaves...and divided the two fish among them all";
4) "he gave them to his disciples to set before the people";
5) "they all ate and were satisfied"; and
6) "the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish."
Manuscript
Message
You give them something to eat
Mark 6:30-44
Key Verse 6:37a
But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
In this passage, Jesus apostles just finished one training session given to them by Jesus. Immediately they went right into another training session. Through this second training session Jesus helped the disciples to have sense of compassion for the people. He also taught the disciples how to respond to a situation by faith instead of looking at their human limitations. Let's look at this passage in two parts.
The apostles return from their mission journey. (vs. 30-32)
This passage starts out when the apostles had just returned to Jesus after their mission journey. They were so excited and filled with joy. Each one wanted to be the first to share the highlight of their mission journeys Maybe Peter stood, up in front of Jesus, gently shoving the other disciples out of the way. “When I said to a demon possessed man, ‘Demon, you get out of that man.’ The demon came out of the man shrieking like a mad dog. “AaaaHH”.” Maybe Bartholomew said in kind of a quiet timid voice, “When I prayed over and laid my hands on a man who couldn’t walk, he got up and was able to use his legs. The man who was healed, said, ‘Thank you, thank you. Then he praised God in loud voice.’” The disciples experienced first hand that when they obeyed the word of God they could heal the sick, drive out demons, and perform many other miracles. They were so joyful, that maybe for the first time they weren't so concerned about sleeping and eating. Through them a spiritual tidal wave struck the land of Israel. Just before they were sent out, a dark moment came upon the land. John the Baptist was beheaded in prison. Maybe many of the disciples feared in their hearts. “Is this how a life of hard service to the Lord ends, being killed by someone just for preaching to them that they need to repent.”
Yet, Jesus issued a strong counter attack against the kingdom of hell. He sent his disciples out two by two, and through then the power of God, shook the nation of Israel upside down. Even Herod when he heard what going on hallucinated and thought that John the baptist had come back to life.
Now when the disciples were trying to share their experiences, Jesus could tell that they were tired and hungry. Even though people in the towns where they had gone, did welcome them into their homes, still they did not eat or sleep properly. Because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have chance to eat. Jesus said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
In vs. 32 it says, “So they went away by themselves in boat to a solitary place.” The disciples were going with Jesus to have a nice quiet retreat. Could things get any better. They just got back from a powerful mission journey and now they were going to have a sweet retreat with Jesus. As the boat started across the lake, the warm morning sun shimmered off the smooth sea. They became very relaxed. Maybe they dozed off a bit. Maybe they had visions of sitting in the shade of trees on the beach front, drinking coconut milk and listening to Jesus sweet words. Ah what a nice time it was going to be.
2. You give them something to eat (vs. 33-44)
In vs. 33 it says, “But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.” As the boat started to head for their landing site, that nice relaxing feeling in the disciples started to go away. Instead their eyes became wide open, and their hearts became filled with anxiety. What is that on the beach. That didn’t look like drift wood or clumps of seaweed. It was a huge crowd of people, about 5,000 of them. As the boat landed, maybe the crowds annoyance had become unbearable to Jesus disciples. Possibly Matthew said, “You shameless people. I’m going to drive you away with a baseball bat.” Maybe some of the other disciples grumbled something like, “You selfish and shameless people. You are going to drain us to death.”
Yet, Jesus did not see them this way. Maybe Jesus thought, “Good morning sirs! You are so good to us. What can I do to help you very special people”
Let’s look at verse 34. “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.’ Jesus didn’t have the same attitude as his disciples. Jesus had compassion on these people. Jesus saw they had so many problems, because they didn’t have a shepherd. There was no one to teach them words of God, and help them to grow into wholesome men and woman of God. The key point we want to look at in this verse, is that Jesus had compassion on them. What it is compassion?
Compassion is having endless pity on a person. Compassion is the grace of the our Lord Jesus who died on the cross, for all people, not just for those we think look promising. We can know compassion when we think about the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When one has compassion, they can grow to be a man of integrity with divine nature. When one has compassion they can love others as themselves. When a married couple each have compassion, they can avoid thinking about divorce no matter problems may rock their marriage. There are so many young single men and woman who have to be careful about having no compassion. When they have no compassion, no one will measure up to their standards. They might grow old alone, and never get married. Also without compassion, a person can’t have any rest or peace in their heart.
There was one medical doctor missionary, who due to his faith in God had a lot of compassion. He was one of the directors of the hospital he used to work at. Because of his compassion he admitted so many free patients. He fed them, and even distributed some of the hospital food to a nearby railroad station where there were so many poor people. Eventually the Board of Directors confronted him about the financial deficiency of the hospital, and he had to leave. Then he went as a doctor missionary to Bangladesh. There he preached the word to them, and give them donations which he collected in America. By the end of his life, when he was over 70 years old, he had gone back and forth to Bangladesh fourteen times.
We know the Martin Luther was a great man who was instrumental in the reformation, and making the Bible available to just about everyone. He was a man of courage, and a lover of the truth. Yet, when he said his famous phrase, “If I were God, I would destroy all mankind, ten times a day,” Martin Luther did not have the compassion of Jesus in his heart.
So in vs. 34, we see that Jesus had compassion on the crowd of people. Jesus saw each of these people as his own children who were ailing and gradually dying.
So Jesus taught them the word of God. Jesus did not give them any bread or drinks. He did not say any words of sympathy. Jesus taught them the word of God. Jesus teaching was endless. He taught them until the word of God worked in their hearts. He taught them until they became enlightened, and they became new people. The basic theme of the message seemed to be repeated again and again, but the people liked it so much. They completely forgot that they were sick or ailing. They forgot that they were hungry. Their minds and bodies became fully satisfied through Jesus teaching. As Jesus teaching continued, the sun was gradually going down to edge of the horizon. The dusk sky became beautifully colored with blue, red, orange, and the white clouds.
Up to this point the disciples had been patiently waiting and trying to listen to Jesus message. Yet, their fatigue, boredom and hunger became so strong. So they had an emergency conference among themselves, and they came up with a solution. They went to Jesus and in vs. 35 and 36 they said to Jesus, “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” This was a brilliant and reasonable idea. After all the people had been there all day listening to Jesus. It was time for them to go and get something to eat and take care of themselves. The truth was is that it was the disciples who wanted to eat.
Jesus responded in vs. 37a. “But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’” What did Jesus say? Again is says, “But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’” This seemed completely unreasonable to the disciples. Maybe they thought, “What?? Lord you must be kidding.” In the passage one of the disciples said, “That would take eight months of man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat.?” Because the disciples were obviously upset, they may have answered ironically. Also when we look at cross references to this passage, we can learn that it was Philip who said, this. Like Mathew, Phillip was a smart guy. Just by taking a quick glance he could get a decent estimate of how much it would take to feed this crowd of people. It is very good to be educated. Yet, the problem with thinking too much, is that when you approach a situation with reason, and calculating instead of trying to have faith in God, the result will always be negative. In this case they figured it would take eight moths of a man’s wages to feed the crowd. Could anyone expect that the disciples would have that amount of money?
What Jesus is trying to teach his disciples is that they must have compassion on the people. Instead of seeing the people as annoying, and just waiting for the time to send them away, Jesus wants his disciples to have a shepherd heart for the people. When they have a shepherd heart for the people, even if they don’t have any bread or money, by any means they can find a way to feed the people. This is the faith that Jesus wanted his disciples to learn. When one has compassion, they can find a way.
In America, the pull of materialism is so strong. From our youth in our minds we are conditioned to go to school and study hard to get good grades. Of course this is very important. Yet, in the minds of so many college students in this nation and around the world, is the very simple and universal thought to be successful in school, so that they can be successful at taking care of yourself, and your family members. Yet, when people become successful in taking car of themselves, they don’t have any compassion for anyone else.
Yet, Jesus says, “You give them something to eat.” From these words, we find the direction to go to the college campuses and serve Bible Study. We need to teach students the word of God until they pick up faith and compassion. We need to teach students the Bible so they can become fellowship leaders, and campus directors. We need to teach them until they pick up faith, that through Jesus and his word, they can be great sources of blessings. Jesus’ disciples didn’t care about the crowd of people. Jesus knew this. So Jesus is teaching his disciples through this event to have compassion, and a sense of responsibility for the sick and needy people.
I am very much like the disciples, and most likely worse. I’ve been serving UCI, but lately because I tell myself that my health is not that great, I have not been fishing at the campus. When I have had Bible students I have served them Bible with a sense, that this is what is done in the UBF. Yet, I did not have a sense of compassion for their spiritual well being. The bible studies went okay, but I had no real concern for their spiritual well being. I didn’t invite them to Sunday Worship Service or Bible Conferences. I have been very weak at encouraging themible Students to write testimony. At the very least I could’ve shared one of my testimonies with them to help them get an idea of what a testimony is. Yet I never did that. Then when they stop Bible study, I feel very little compassion, and don’t even remember them in prayer.
In terms of helping others in a more material way, I have done basically a negative amount. On many occasions I have run into financial problems of my own, and I usually run to someone and beg for help. One Bible student I used to have named Jose, instead of me buying something for him, he always would take me out to lunch or dinner all the time. Please pray for me to have the compassion of Jesus. When I have the compassion of Jesus, then no matter what my personal situation, there is way to help a person grow in Jesus.
In the passage, after the disciples complained that they didn’t have eight months wages, Jesus said in vs. 38, “How many loaves do you have.?” He asked. “Go and see.” This verse shows the true way to find a solution in any situation, especially when it looks impossible. We need to go and see. When we calculate, we just come up with an a negative result. Then we just keep sitting down. Yet, here Jesus tells the disciples to go and see. When we go and see by faith, we will find something. When they looked around, they found five loaves and two fish. Possibly this could’ve been a small boys lunch, that now he was saving for dinner. Maybe the bread was all dried up, and fish was starting to get a bit smelly. Yet, they found it and brought it to Jesus. Jesus words, “Go and see’ are words we need to follow for success. So when we are confronted with an impossible looking situation, let’s not just think that the situation looks impossible. Let’s remember Jesus words, “Go and see.”. Then what you find, with a thankful heart, take it to Jesus.
In the passage, the disciples brought the five loaves and two fish to Jesus. Jesus had the disciples direct the people to sit down in the grass in groups of hundreds and fifties. Here we see that Jesus co worked with his disciples. Jesus never works alone. He always co works. Through participating, the disciples can grow in faith.
Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looking up to heaven, he thanked God and prayed that God would feed his children. God blessed his prayer and all the people ate until their stomachs bulged. They were all fully satisfied. From this passage we can learn a basic model for success in Jesus and serving campus mission. We need to go and see what we have first. Then what we find even though it may look small and maybe not that good, we need to take it to Jesus with a thankful heart. When the disciples did this, there was so much blessing. In the passage it says that there were twelve basket fulls of broken pieces of bread and fish leftover that the disciples picked up. God’s merciful blessing is truly abundant.
So, let’s pray first to have compassion. Then let’s pray to Go and see, in every difficult situation. When we have compassion and faith in God, we can overcome all obstacles in feeding the flock of God, and making disciples of all nations.
One Word: You give them something to eat.
Manuscript
Biblenote
You Give Them Something to Eat
Mark 6:30-44
Key Verse 6:37a
But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
1. V. 30 calls the disciples, ‘apostles’ and it indicates that their mission journeys were
quite successful. Who were the apostles? (Mark 3:16-19) What made them so successful?
What can we learn from Jesus who helped them to work so powerfully for his redemptive
purpose?
These apostles were successful because of their attitude toward Jesus. They were very ordinary people. Three basic points to consider in why they were successful in their mission journey are: They made a commitment to following Jesus, they learned to have faith in Jesus, and they followed Jesus instructions.(vs. 8-11)
Everyone has weakness, whether physical, social, spiritual etc. It doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor. In Jesus, we can be trained to feed the flock of God. This applies to anyone who receives God’s calling. Just think of Abraham in Gen. 12:2-4, or Apostle Peter, or Apostle Mark, or the Prophet Isaiah when he received God’s calling. The list is limitless. Yet, so many just stop because of their weakness. They say they can’t do it, but this is not so.
2. Consider what Jesus said to his disciples in v. 31. Why did he say that? What do
Jesus’ words in v. 31b tell us about: 1) Jesus; and 2) the way for a man to find real rest? (Matthew 11:28-29)
Vs. 31 says, “Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
The disciples were filled with adrenalin, their eyes were shining. They had so many amazing tales to tell of preaching the word of God, healing the sick, driving out demons, and performing miracles. Each one wanted to be first to tell Jesus of their experiences.
Yet, when Jesus looked through their excitement and enthusiasm, he could see that they were hungry, and tired. Although they did have a place to stay, and their host did feed them maybe as well as they liked, their accommodations may have not even measured up to that of a Motel 6. (Ignore last statement.)
a) What this tells us about Jesus is that he knows what we need better than we do.
b). The way to have true rest is in Jesus. We need spiritual rest as well as physical rest. In Jesus we can have both.
Just think about our last Bible Conferences. We could eat the word of God through Daily Bread, go to group Bible Studies, hear messages, testimonies, symposiums, dramas, etc. We could also take in the Conference Olympics, and at meal times seconds were always available.
Complete spiritual and physical rest is what Jesus wanted to provide for his disciples.
In Jesus we can have this true rest.
As the disciples all got into the boat with Jesus, they must’ve relaxed a bit, and let out sighs of relief. Maybe they thought, “Ah, now we can have some good fellowship with Jesus.”
3. Vs. 32-34 indicates that the way Jesus sees and helps men is quite different from the way we normally do. Had Jesus come today and seen the people of this nation, young ones in particular, how do you think Jesus would have diagnosed their problems? What would Jesus have done for them? What prayer topics or direction does this passage show us in serving the people of this generation?
When the boat got closer to the shore, the disciples started to get a bad feeling in their stomachs. They had hoped maybe to see a quaint little beach front, maybe with some pieces of drift wood, maybe some trees where they could recline in the shade, while Jesus taught them about the kingdom of God. Instead, the beach was filled with about 5,000 people.
While the disciples wanted to tell the people to go away and leave them alone, Jesus didn’t do that. In vs. 34 it says, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things”
Jesus didn’t see these people as burdensome. Jesus saw these people as having needs. Jesus saw these people as people who needed shepherds who would help them go to the kingdom of God. Yet, none of the spiritual leaders would help them. So as it says, Jesus began teaching them many things.
I didn’t get the exact time the disciples met with Jesus after their mission journey, though this information is surely there. It could’ve been early in the morning; they took a boat ride, and then the rest of the morning possibly and afternoon Jesus taught the people the word of God. The whole time, the disciples probably just watched, and listened, and pretended to be as patient as possible while Jesus compassionately taught the people the word of God.
4. Vs. 35-37a describes disparity between the disciples' approach and Jesus' approach.
The disciples' suggestion seems reasonable, whereas Jesus' demand unreasonable. Why
then do you think Jesus said to them, "You give them something to eat?" What
repentance topics can we find in Jesus' rebuke?
Probably as the sun started to be eclipsed by distant trees or hills, the disciples realized that Jesus teaching has gone on too long. So they went to Jesus with a reasonable suggestion.
The disciples’ suggestion looked reasonable. The people were hungry, but they were also hungry. They had endured enough of Jesus teaching and compassion. After all they were supposed to go with Jesus to a quiet place and get some rest. Yet, this wasn’t resting.
Yet, they didn’t want to tell Jesus this. Instead they came up with a suggestion that looked reasonable, and even showed some compassion toward the people that were all there. After all, they did need to eat and the disciples didn’t have enough to feed them.
Yet, Jesus replied, “You give them something to eat”. When the disciples heard this they were shocked. How could they feed all these people? They didn’t even have any food for themselves.
Yet, Jesus words to them were very clear. “You give them something to eat”
People are for the most part incapable of taking care of themselves, let alone taking care of others. Also to help this group of people, was also an opportunity to raise up spiritual leaders who have been trained to feed the needy. This was an excellent opportunity.
Also since God created us in God’s image, the only way for one to be totally beneficial to others, is through faith in God.
Probably two of the most important aspects that Jesus was helping his disciples overcome, is their
(1) self seeking attitude. For most people, whether trying to be a disciple of Jesus or not.
(2) We need to overcome our human limitations, and develop a sense or responsibility.
5. Vs. 37b-38 show us another difference between the disciples' approach and Jesus' approach in meeting the challenge. How are they different? Why is Jesus' approach better?
After Jesus suggestion, they calculated in vs. 37b. They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages. Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
When you look at other passage, you can see that it was Phillip that said this. He was a smart guy with a good mind for math. He could take a brief glance at the crowd of people, and he had a good idea of how much it would take to feed the people. They key point about calculating, is that it always yields a negative. You basically calculate to conclude that you can’t do it.
In vs. 38, I think it was Jesus who asked, “How many loaves do you have?” “Go and see” This direction helps us to at least look and see what you have, even if you are convinced you have nothing. When you do this by faith, you can find a solution. Again looking at another gospel you can see that it was Andrew, who had the faith to just go and see. When it looked like there was nothing, he at least just went looked. What did he find? He found a young boy who had a lunch consisting of five loaves and two fish. It was very little, but it was something. Then once he found something, the next thing he did, was he brought it to Jesus.
So in an impossible looking situation, by faith, go and see what you can find. Then when you find something, through prayer, take it to Jesus. Based on the passage, and the same incident in references passage, this seems to be what was done.
6. What do the following expressions in vs. 39-40 teach us in meeting Jesus' challenge to feed a hungry crowd? 1) Have them sit down; and 2) in groups.
Jesus wanted to feed the people, and he was going to do it by a miracle. Yet, Jesus didn’t want his disciples just to watch, but he wanted them to learn the faith to feed the crowds
To have the crowd just sit down is one thing. But to have 5,000 people sit down in groups of 50 and 100 on the grass, requires a certain amount of order and organization. From cross reference passages, I think the groups were to be groups of fifties and hundreds. So this crowd of 5,000 was broken down into a range of approximately 50 to 75 groups of either 50 or a 100 people. This required the disciples to work together, and also receive cooperation from the people. Through having them do this, Jesus helped to plant faith in the heart of the disciples.
7. Consider the way Jesus came up with enough food for the crowd in vs. 41-44. What
do the following teach us about the way to feed the crowd of people?
1) "Taking the five loaves and the two fish";
We need to bring what we can find to Jesus, and God will use what we have.
2) "looking up to heaven he gave thanks;
This shows the importance of looking to God for help, but also with many thanks, believing and thanking God in advance for what we are asking for.
3) "broke the loaves...and divided the two fish among them all";
The spirit of sharing is important to filling not just our needs, but the needs of others. Also when people are able to share, no matter how small, real paradise comes out of this. Hell arises when people just cling on to what they have.
4) "he gave them to his disciples to set before the people";
Jesus wanted to use his disciples as channels for God’s blessing to flow to the people. This is a constant aspect of God’s plan which we see even beginning in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve sinned. You can see how the four rivers separated and flowed from the Garden to the four corners of the earth spreading God’s blessing. Of course we also can see this in Abraham, and how God called him to make him into a blessing for all peoples on earth, which happened through Jesus Christ.
5) "they all ate and were satisfied"; and
God wants us to be satisfied in what we need, but more importantly God wants his servants to be satisfied through our service to the Lord.
6) "the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish."
This shows that God is the God of abundance. Also even the leftovers of God’s blessing are important, and should not be wasted. Just think how many people can be fed by 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.