Jesus Feeds The Four Thousand Mark 8:1-10 (NKJV)

Transcription

1 Message for THE LORD'S DAY MORNING, October 21, 2018 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina Reggie A. Braziel, Minister Message 33 in Making A Difference Sermon Series from the Gospel of Mark Jesus Feeds The Four Thousand Mark 8:1-10 (NKJV) As we continue with our study of the Gospel of Mark, let's open our Bibles to Mark chapter eight, and let's read verses MARK 8:1-10 (NKJV) 1 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar. 4 Then His disciples answered Him, How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness? 5 He asked them, How many loaves do you have? And they said, Seven. 6 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. 7 They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. 8 So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. 9 Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, 10 immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

2 Introduction It is interesting to note that a number of miracles in the Bible involved a provision of bread,... the most basic foods in our human diet. In the Book of Exodus we read about God miraculously providing the children of Israel with manna, the bread of heaven while they were in the wilderness. **************** In I Kings 17 when Israel was in a time of severe drought, God sent the prophet Elijah to the home of a widow from Zarephath to get some food. Elijah asked the widow to bring him a little water to drink and a piece of bread to eat. She said, As surely as the Lord your God lives, I don t have any bread only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die. Elijah told her not to be afraid. He instructed her to take the handful of flour and the little bit of olive oil she had left and make him some bread first, then make some for herself and her son. She did as Elijah had commanded her to do. And from that day forward through the end of the drought God miraculously provided flour and oil for that widow to have bread each day. ******************

3 In II Kings 4 we read where a man from Baal Shalisha brought an offering of twenty loaves of bread and some grain to the prophet Elisha to feed one hundred young men training to be prophets. In essence Elisha told the man, How can I feed one hundred men with just these twenty loaves? The man told Elisha, Give them the bread I have brought and they shall eat and have some left over. And those one hundred young men ate until they were full and still had bread left over. God had miraculously multiplied the bread! *********** Of course in our study of the Gospel of Mark, in Mark chapter six we have already seen how Jesus miraculously fed five thousand men, in addition to as many as fifteen thousand more women and children. The Lord miraculously multiplied the bread and they still had plenty left over after all had eaten until full. ************************************************************ In today's message we are reading about the second of Jesus' miracles involving bread in the Feeding of the Four Thousand. Critics and skeptics point to this passage as another evidence that the Bible is full of mistakes. They claim the account of The Feeding of the Five Thousand and The Feeding of The Four Thousand were actually the same event and that Matthew and Mark couldn't even keep all their facts straight. While there are certainly some similarities between the Feeding of The Five Thousand and The Feeding of The Four Thousand, when you closely compare the details of both miracles you can easily see these were two totally separate miracles. Let me explain...

4 The first, and most obvious difference is the number of people who were fed. In the first miracle Jesus fed 5,000 men and as many as 15,000-20,000 women and children. In this second miracle in Mark 8 the crowd is much smaller. There were 4,000 people altogether. The location of the two miracles was different. The feeding of the 5,000 took place near Bethsaida on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The feeding of the 4,000 took place in the land of Decapolis southeast of the Sea of Galilee. In other words the two miracles took place approximately twenty five miles apart. The time of year these two miracles occurred was different. In the feeding of the 5,000 Jesus had the people sit down on the lushes green grass, which indicates that miracle likely occurred in the spring time of the year. In the feeding of the 4,000, Jesus had the multitude sit down on the bare ground, indicating this miracle likely occurred in the late summer when the scorching sun had killed the grass. The amount of food provisions in the two miracles was different. In the feeding of the 5,000 Jesus used 5 loaves of bread and two fish. In the feeding of the 4,000 He used 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish. The amount of food left over in the miracles was different. In the feeding of the 5,000 there were 12 small baskets left over. In the feeding of the 4,000 there were 7 large baskets left over. The feeding of the 5,000 took place after a day of teaching. 4,000 took place after three days of teaching. The feeding of the In the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus fed the Jewish people. In the feeding of the 4,000 Jesus fed Gentile people.

5 Well now that we have considered some of the key differences between these two miracles, let's focus our attention on this miracle of The Feeding of The Four Thousand. First of all, I would have you to notice... I. The Multitude's PROBLEM (vs.1-3) 1 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar. 1. If you will stop and think about it every miracle of Jesus that is recorded in the gospels always involved two components: Every miracle involved a problem man could not solve and a provision that only Jesus could supply. In every miracle there was always a problem that exceeded man's ability to fix...heal...resolve...remedy...or provide; whether it was a blind man who needed to see...or a deaf man who needed to hear...or a lame man who needed to walk...or a leper who needed to be cured...or some frightened disciples who needed to be saved in a storm. Every miracle involved a problem that only Jesus could solve... and a need that only Jesus could supply.

6 2. In verse 1 we can quickly identify the problem. v. 1 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat Now some of you haven't had anything since breakfast or maybe you didn't even eat breakfast, and you are already thinking about lunch. And the fact that this message is about food is just making you hungrier and you're hoping I'll cut it short so you can beat the Baptists and Methodist to the restaurants. 4. Well if you think you've got a problem, consider this... This multitude of four thousand men, women, and children has been intently listening to Jesus for three straight days. What, if any food provisions they had brought with them is long gone by now. These people are hungry...their bodies are craving food...their bellies are growling...and its time for them to travel back to their homes. Many of them have traveled a great distance to hear Jesus, and He is concerned that they may faint if they travel on an empty stomach. So what you have here is a BIG PROBLEM! Four thousand hungry people and no food to feed them!

7 ANALOGY: Think of a time when your teenage son or daughter brought a bunch of their High School friends over after school or after a ball game; and being typical teenagers,they were all hungry and you didn't have anything in the house to feed them. Or think of a time when relatives or friends popped in on you around supper time and you hadn't been to the grocery and didn't have anything you could put together for a meal to feed everybody. 5. Now if you think having no food to feed a few extra hungry mouths was a problem, imagine having four thousand hungry people and no food to feed them. Now that's a problem!!! Well that was The Multitude's PROBLEM, now let's consider...

8 II. The Messiah's PITY (v.2,4) 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 4 Then His disciples answered Him, How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness? 1. In these two verses we see two totally different responses to the problem. (A) The PITY of Jesus (v.2) Psalm 111:4 (NKJV) The LORD is gracious and full of compassion. In Christ we see the divine compassion of God. He is not cruel. He is not unkind. He is not indifferent or apathetic to our needs and our suffering. He is full of compassion. Five times in the Gospels we are told that Jesus was moved with compassion. And here in verse 2 we see one of those examples. Verse 2 Jesus said, I have compassion on the multitude... What Jesus is saying is, I sympathize with you.... My heart goes out to you. I identify with your suffering. I see your need for food and I want to do something to help meet that need.

9 Aren't you thankful our LORD is compassionate. When you are hurting, when you are in need, when your heart is broken, when you grieve, when you are lonely, when you are struggling with doubts, when you cry yourself to sleep at night, your Savior is moved with compassion. He wants to meet your need. He wants to comfort your heart. He wants to ease your suffering. He is moved with compassion for you. Now contrast the pity of JESUS with... (B) The PESSIMISM of the Disciples (v.4) v. 4 Then His disciples answered Him, How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness? Don't you know Jesus had to have been disappointed with this response? Just a few months earlier the disciples had witnessed Jesus' miracle of the Feeding of The Five Thousand...they had seen with their very own eyes how Jesus took the five loaves of bread and two fish and miraculously multiplied it into enough food to feed a crowd five times bigger than this crowd in Mark 8. And they had personally collected the twelve baskets of food that was left over after everyone had been filled. And yet all they can say is, How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness? What pessimism...what doubt...what faithlessness!

10 Despite the enormity of the problem and despite the pessimism of the disciples, Jesus is once again about to do what only Jesus can do. Let's consider... III. The Miraculous PROVISION (vs. 5-9) 5 He asked them, How many loaves do you have? And they said, Seven. 6 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. 7 They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. 8 So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. 9 Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away, 1. Remember in the Feeding of The Five Thousand the only food the disciples could come up with from the crowd was the five loaves and two fish of a little boy. This time the disciples were able to come up with seven loaves and a few small fish. The point is this: In both miracles the supply was enormously smaller than the demand! 2. Just as He had done in the Feeding of The Five Thousand, Jesus commanded the multitude to sit down; perhaps in groups of fifty and one hundred, as He did the first time to make it easier for His disciples to serve.

11 3. And just as He had done before, Jesus took the bread and the fish, and no doubt looking heavenward, He gave thanks for the food they were about to eat. 4. And just as before, Jesus handed the food to His disciples to distribute to the people. Perhaps each time Jesus handed bread and fish to His disciples, more bread and fish appeared in His hands. We don't know the specifics, but what we do know is that the supply was endless! And after everyone had eaten till full, Jesus had His disciples go around and collect the left-overs and they gathered enough to fill seven large baskets. *********************************************************** C O N C L U S I O N Illustration: It was called The Miracle On Ice. It was the medal round of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. The United States hockey team was competing against the four-time defending gold medalists, the Soviet Union. Late in the game the Soviets held a 3-2 lead and it appeared the U.S. team was once again on its way to losing to their cold-war rivals. But in the closing seconds of the game the U.S. team scored two quick goals to take a 4-3 lead. And as the final seconds ticked off the clock, sports caster Al Michaels uttered those now famous words, Do you believe in miracles? The U.S. team would go on to defeat heavily favored Sweden in the final round to secure the gold medal!

12 As we bring today's message to a close I want to leave you with this one question: DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? When we read about this incredible miracle of The Feeding of The Four Thousand it teaches us that Jesus Christ is more than able to meet all our needs! You will NEVER HAVE A NEED that is so great that Christ can't supply it! You will NEVER HAVE A PROBLEM that is too big for the LORD to handle! You will NEVER HAVE A SITUATION that is so impossible that the LORD can't see you through it! Do you have faith that the Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient to meet all your needs? Do you believe in miracles?