Reverend Frank Graeff was a pastor in Philadelphia in the late 1800s. He had a radiant personality and an ever-present smile. Because of his cheerful outlook on life and simple faith, he was nicknamed, “The Sunshine Minister.” Although Reverend Graeff’s nickname indicated a life filled with joy, he also knew heartache and spiritual trials. At one point in his life, he struggled with deep depression. The man recognized by many for his cheerful countenance found himself crumbling under overwhelming burdens.
During this time of severe testing, he found comfort and encouragement in the familiar hymn, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus.” Reflecting on the words of that song led him to I Peter 5:7 in his Bible. There, he read: “Casting all your care upon him; for He cares for you.” God’s Word strengthened his heart, and Reverend Graeff was inspired to write his own song to proclaim the Lord’s care even in difficult times. The hymn “Does Jesus Care?” was the result. It resounds with assurance of Jesus’ sensitivity to our trials.
Here is the Altar of Praise Chorale to sing that song for us.
Praise God, Jesus is not callous or uncaring! His knowledge and understanding are infinite. He is sensitive to your needs and mine.
I’m sure that when Jesus walked on this earth, people raised that same question; “Does Jesus Care?” That’s the title for our study today from Mark 6:30-44. I urge you to listen carefully as I read our text.
Jesus’ PROVISIONS for the needs highlighted in our text show us that He really does care!
The First PROVISION that shows Jesus’ care is,
Rest for the Workers
Our text opens with the Twelve returning from their first missionary assignment without Jesus physically present with them. Naturally, they wanted to share all their experiences with Jesus. Jesus, as their teacher and mentor wanted to hear what they had done and taught.
After a time of strenuous ministry, Jesus knew the Twelve were tired and needed refreshment. They had experienced the discouragement of rejection and persecution as well as the joy of miraculous healing and seeing transformed lives. Their emotions may have been stretched to the limit. Adding to their fatigue was the sorrowful news of the death of John the Baptist. So, He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to some deserted place and rest awhile.” The literal meaning of Jesus’ words is “rest up.”
That wasn’t possible in their current location because the crowds of people with overwhelming needs were constantly coming and going. They were so busy they didn’t even have time to eat. So, Jesus invited them to join Him in a secluded place. They immediately and gratefully accepted His invitation and their boat sailed for an undisclosed destination.
The area Jesus chose for their retreat was around Bethsaida (Beth-sah-eeda). This town was built by Philip, the brother of Herod Antipas, and was on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, outside the reach of Herod Antipas who had recently beheaded John the Baptist. The area was used for the grazing of flocks and became the setting for the feeding of the 5,000.
Rest is something we all need and yet something that can be difficult to find. In our frenzied pace of life in the 21st century we find rest to be elusive. In the area of the world where I live, people seem to be obsessed with going, going, going! Well-known 20th Century revivalist, Vance Havner, used to say, “If we don’t come apart and rest, we’ll just come apart.” Jesus knew that and He didn’t want that to happen to His disciples. And Jesus doesn’t want that to happen to you and me either.
Do you find your ministry to be tiring? I do. Dealing with people and their needs takes something out of you. We were meant to be channels that God’s power and love can flow through. We are not a well with an endless supply of water. We need times of rest, rejuvenation, and refilling. However, we can’t always get those things while maintaining our daily schedule. We need to step away from normal tasks and find a place of solitude.
Is your lifestyle hectic? Are you constantly running here and there? My observation is that for most people, busyness isn’t related to ministry, rather it’s business and pleasure. People rush from one thing to the next trying to find satisfaction and fulfilment. If that describes you, you need rest but the reason for your need is different. Jesus has rest for His workers.
Another PROVISION that shows Jesus’ care is,
Direction for the Wandering
As Jesus and His disciples were leaving in the boat, some of the people recognized Jesus. So, they spread the news that He was in the community and people came out from all the surrounding towns. They ran along the shore of the lake and got to the landing place before Jesus and the disciples even got there! I can imagine them tracking the position of Jesus’ boat as it crossed the waters of the lake. From their observation, they guessed where the boat would land.
When Jesus arrived at the designated landing place, instead of the promised rest for Him and the Twelve, a multitude had already gathered. The only respite they had was the short sail across the lake.
Jesus could have been resentful of this crowd, after all, they were interfering with plans for much-needed rest. However, Jesus isn’t like that. As He looked on this great multitude He was moved with (or by) compassion. The original word means to “be moved in one’s bowels.” Today, we use the term “gut-wrenching.” The ancients considered the bowels to be the seat of the deepest feelings. In other words, Jesus was deeply moved by the condition of the people. This term is used numerous times as Jesus’ response to the needs of the people.
And what was the condition that moved Jesus so deeply? It wasn’t primarily their physical needs, though Jesus didn’t ignore them. What moved Him was their spiritual need. He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. In ancient Israel, sheep were a mainstay of agricultural life. Sheep are not very intelligent and are fairly helpless. They need someone to lead and protect them, someone to extricate them from their troubles. Without a shepherd, the sheep will wander and become vulnerable to danger and destruction. That’s how Jesus viewed this multitude.
These people had plenty of official leaders or shepherds, they had rabbis and religious leaders. However, as Jesus lamented at one point, most of them were “blind leaders of the blind.” They were hirelings who didn’t care for the sheep. They cared more for their reputation and the financial rewards of their positions. They liked the power and perks of their positions and the cozy relationships they had with political leaders.
Unfortunately, there are many leaders like them across the religious spectrum today. Hardly a week goes by without the revelation of some well-known leader accused of sexual abuse, financial fraud, abuse of authority, marital infidelity, and more.
Jesus warned about this in Matthew 24. As we approach the end of the age false prophets and deceivers will proliferate and many gullible people will be deceived. The sheep today are being “fleeced,” however, Jesus knows and He’s keeping the record. I believe Jesus experiences the same gut-wrenching feelings of compassion today when He sees the needs of the sheep.
So, Jesus had come to this location for rest, but His heart was touched by the spiritual needs of the multitude. In response, He begins to teach them many things. The literal meaning of the text is, “He kept on teaching them.” This detail sets the stage for what happens next.
The Final PROVISION that shows Jesus’ care is,
Bread for the Wanting
So far, the provisions that show Jesus cares are rest for the workers and direction for the wandering. Now, He will provide bread for the wanting.
Imagine the crowd, in this beautiful rural setting, captivated by the authoritative teaching of Jesus, oblivious to the passing of time. Several times, the Gospel writers tell us that the people were astonished at Jesus’ teaching because He taught with authority and not like the religious leaders. Caught up in the moment, the crowd seems unaware of the passing of time.
As the afternoon shadows begin to lengthen, the disciples become nervous. Notice, in our text there are two evenings. The first evening, reckoned by Jewish time, was around 3 PM, our mid-afternoon. Verse 47 isn’t part of our text for today, but there we have the coming of the second evening, which is sunset.
So, it’s 3 PM. and the disciples propose their idea of caring for the multitude. They advise Jesus; “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.” These are logical conclusions, but Jesus already has a solution to the problem. In response to their advice, He simply says, “You give them something to eat.”
Imagine yourself in their shoes! They are shocked as we can tell from their response. Only Mark’s Gospel records their next question and Jesus’ response. They ask with incredulity, “Shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread so everyone can eat?” The combined daily wages of 200 men wouldn’t buy enough bread for everyone! To their question, Jesus calmly replied, “Go and see how many loaves are available.”
After an inventory they returned with the answer; five loaves and two fish. What they had on hand was totally inadequate for the need. Barley loaves were the food of the poor and if one young boy had 5 of them, according to John 6:8, they couldn’t have been very large. In John’s telling of this account, the disciples ask, “What are [these] among so many?”
Interestingly, the crowd following Jesus at this time was almost exclusively Jewish. They would have been aware that one of Elisha’s miracles was multiplying twenty small barley loaves to feed a crowd of 100 men, with food left over (2 Kings 4:42–44). Jesus is about to perform a miracle even more dramatic than that by feeding thousands with even less. This will mark Jesus as one greater than the prophet Elisha, and eventually inspire the crowd to proclaim Him the long-awaited Prophet.
Jesus commanded the disciples to instruct the multitude to recline in companies upon the green grass (another detail only given by Mark). It was near Passover time and the afternoon sun shone down on the orderly groups of people. This order made the distribution of food easier.
The grass is not green in Israel much of the year, mainly at Passover time. It is still about one year before the last Passover when Jesus was crucified.
Have you ever tried to visualize how all this food was distributed? How did they handle all that bread? Is that what the 12 large baskets (v. 43) were used for? After blessing the loaves and breaking them, He gave the pieces to His disciples to distribute to the crowd. The fish were additional to the twelve baskets of bread!
There wasn’t just enough food to take the “edge” off their hunger as we sometimes say. It wasn’t a snack. Everyone ate until they were satisfied. This same word in other places is translated as “well-fed” and even “gorged.” Everyone ate as much as they wanted.
After everyone was satisfied, the remnants filled 12 baskets! And there were leftovers of fish too. One basket of leftovers for each of the 12 disciples. What a demonstration of Jesus’ care for the people and His miraculous power.
Our copies of the Scripture often place this miracle under the heading, “the feeding of the 5,000.” But that’s not accurate, is it? It easily could have been 15,000 or more. There were 5,000 men, but only God knows how many women and children! This was the high point of Jesus’ Galilean ministry. It was a miracle that caused many to follow Him, sadly, for the wrong reasons.
How would you answer the question, “Does Jesus Care?” Can you testify personally of His care for you? I can. I have experienced His provision of rest for workers. There have been times that I’ve wanted to leave the ministry and just go be a cabinetmaker again. It would be so much easier not having to deal with so many people and their needs. Inanimate wood and hardware don’t criticize you or question your motives. Those thoughts have been few and fleeting.
And direction for the wandering; have you experienced that? Do you know what it feels like to be lost, unsure of what you’re doing or where you’re going? But I’m so glad that God has given us His Word. It provides answers to our questions. It is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. The teachings of Jesus provide hope and healing in a world full of pain and hurt.
The greatest demonstration of Jesus’ care is the giving of His life for our salvation! That is truly, direction for the wandering. We are all like sheep, we have all gone astray, and we all turned to our own way. But God laid on Jesus our iniquity so we could be rescued from our wandering and brought safely into His fold as His sheep. We demonstrate our care for others when we share with them this most important provision of Jesus’ care.
Finally, have you experienced Jesus’ care in your need for physical food? No, I’ve never been fed miraculously like this crowd, but Jesus provides for my daily bread every day. If Jesus didn’t provide health, strength, and soundness of mind to me every day, I couldn’t work to provide for my needs and the needs of my family. You couldn’t either.
I trust you can say with Reverend Graeff, “Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares. His heart is touched with my grief. Though the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I KNOW my Savior cares!”
