014-What’s More Important Than Proclamation?

If you’re evangelizing because you feel or think you have to,
you might be doing it wrong.

• Discussion Outline
• Discussion Audio (1 hour 6 minutes)
• Text: Mark 6:30-44

Sermons can form people into active disciples of Jesus who, by feeding the hungry and performing other acts of kindness, become the means by which his divine compassion is extended to the world and his commandments are kept.^[1]

A “Successful” Mission?

The disciples return from their first assignments in which Jesus does not accompany them. They have proclaimed the gospel, cast out demons, and healed the sick. They report back to Jesus. Though the results are not described, there is nothing to imply that we should not see their mission as having great success, so much so that the people are continuing to swamp them to the point that they are unable to take care of even their basic, personal needs such as eating meals.

From a “success” perspective then, the grade seems to be A+, both to them and for us moderns looking in. But is that what Jesus saw? The story of the feeding of the five-thousand may show us something more important than proclamation and acts of service, when it comes to true evangelism of the kingdom of God.

Prophecies Fulfilled

This entire story is full of echoes and allusions back to the Old Testament, particularly of shepherds as metaphors for leaders of the people. Among these allusions, Psalm 23 plays a important part in this story with its mention of green pastures, a banquet table among enemies, a cup overflowing, and goodness and mercy. In contrast to the “banquet of death” (Herod’s birthday banquet / John the Baptist’s execution) immediately preceding the feeding account, what we see in the feeding story is a different kind of king, kingdom, and principles.

Its position in the Marcan framework after the account of Herod's feast juxtaposes the sumptuous oriental aura of the Herodian court with the austere circumstances in which Jesus satisfied the multitude with the staples of a peasant's diet. In spite of the tetrarch's pretensions to royalty, the people are as leaderless as sheep who possess no shepherd. In contrast to the drunken debauchery of the Herodian feast, Mark exhibits the glory of God unveiled through the abundant provision of bread in the wilderness where Jesus is Israel's faithful shepherd.^[2]

Also strongly present in the feeding story is the allusion to Moses and manna.

The wilderness setting of the feeding miracle (6:34- 35) reminds the audience of the Isaian theme of the new exodus and of God's miraculous provision of manna during the original exodus (Exod 16).^[3]

What Motivates Jesus?

Jesus is tired and so are the disciples. But something prompts Jesus to take care of their needs: first their spiritual hungering, their desire for genuine leadership, and then their physical needs. It’s not Jesus’ desire to enlarge his kingdom, to provide more signs, to publicize himself or his deeds.

The miracle took place before the multitude, but there is no indication in the Marcan text that they had any realization of what was taking place. The simplicity of the meal Jesus provided is congruous with his general reluctance to perform miracles and give signs; there was nothing extraordinary in the peasants' fare which would call attention to itself. The messianic meal remained hidden from the thousands. The event is intended to be revelatory to the disciples alone.^[4]

So why does Jesus stop to minister in spite of their exhaustion and need for rest? It is compassion.

“Compassion” is a weak rendering of what was going on within Jesus. The Greek word (splanchnizomai) refers to a churning of the gut. Jesus was churning on his insides because those in the crowd “were like sheep without a shepherd.”^[5]

The disciples have, to this point, learned what and how ministry is done – through proclamation, through freeing people from their “demons,” and through actions that relieve their sufferings – but they haven’t yet learned the “why.” It’s quite possible they thought all of this was to eventually lead to an earthly kingdom to replace the Roman Empire. Dramatic acts, heroic acts, powerful acts – with good publicity – would attract greater and greater numbers.

Who Is Jesus and What Is the Kingdom?

Jesus wants them to understand that the kingdom of God is not like the kingdoms of the world. It is not about putting the leader on a pedestal. It is not about doing things for the leader. It is not about amassing power and influence. Rather, it is about letting all of that go so that each member of the kingdom will learn to have compassion and show it in ways that don’t necessarily bring attention to the evangelist or the kingdom.

By this radical turn of conventional wisdom regarding power and kingdom, the disciples and all who read Mark’s account, are forced to ask, “Who is Jesus?”

What we have noted about the feeding account here amounts to a clear indication that Mark intends his readers to see the event as disclosing not only Jesus' miraculous power but also the secret of his person and significance. That is, the feeding miracle is really more about Jesus than bread and, like everything else in Mark, it presses the reader to consider who Jesus, the Son of Man, really is.^[6]

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[1] Feasting: Mark, location 6679.

[2] NICNT: Mark, 6:35-44.

[3] Reading Mark, 6:31-56.

[4] NICNT: Mark, 6:42-44.

[5] Feasting: Mark, location 6540.

[6] UBC: Mark, 6:30-44.