A Sermon on Mark 8:1-9 for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.

Did you get a sense of déjà vu after the Gospel reading? A feeling of, “Hey, I’ve seen that before?” I hope you did, because a few months ago, you did hear something incredibly similar. The Gospel reading for the Fourth Sunday in Lent is the feeding of the five thousand from John’s Gospel, which is, in many respects identical to the feeding of the four thousand recorded for us here in Mark. Mark actually records both feeding miracles, only two chapters apart from each other.

The feeding of the five thousand seems to be the more popular of the two. When I’m reading Bible stories with my daughter and she asks for the one “with the bread and the fish,” she means the feeding of the five thousand because the feeding of the four thousand isn’t even in that book, and understandably so. Perhaps this is because of the endearing vignette of the little boy sharing his lunch, perhaps because five thousand is just a bigger number than four thousand, so it seems to make the point better.

But basically, we’ve got the same thing, twice. And the two occasions aren’t that far removed from each other. What’s going on, is Jesus running out of content, reusing old material? This is a rerun miracle, one we’ve seen before. But it’s also a good check as to whether the lesson has been learned, and still is a clear demonstration that Jesus provides.

Sometimes we can be a little hard on the disciples. At times that’s fair, because Jesus is, too, and they clearly don’t understand what’s going on. But here, I think we can view the disciples more charitably—it does seem like they’ve learned the lesson.

Comparing the earlier feeding of the five thousand with this later feeding of the four thousand shows some interesting differences. Then, in Mark’s Gospel, the disciples bring it up to 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” (6:35-6). They inform Him of the problem and tell Him their solution. But here, the disciples are silent. They wait for Jesus to bring it up, almost as if they’ve learned not to question Him like that anymore.

Then, when Jesus tells His disciples, “You give them something to eat,” they respond, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” (6:37). Focusing on themselves and their actions as the potential solution to this problem. But now, they respond more abstractly, “How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?” They know it’s impossible, but they’re almost hinting, “But you can.”

They don’t tell him to do that, because they know better than to tell Jesus what to do, that’s gotten them in trouble before. This time they’re waiting for Jesus to act and they want to see what He’s going to do. If we put the best construction on what the disciples are saying here, I think we can say that they’ve learned their lesson.

Can the same be said of us? We all have a history with Jesus. We’ve been following him for some time now. I think each and every one of us can point to times in the past where really the only explanation is that Jesus came through.

We’ve all had struggles and rough patches and times when things were tight. We’ve all worried about physical goods and the numbers in our bank account and how we’re going to make ends meet. But here we are. One way or another God provided and we’ve made it through.

But have we learned the lesson? Or the next time something rolled around, did you freak just as much or maybe even more? Or maybe you’re going through a tough time right now and you just get absorbed in it. It’s hard to see and be reminded of everything that’s come before.

God has sustained us time and time again, as individuals and as the church, we’ve endured so much, but we can’t quite shake the feeling that the next challenge, the next rough spot is gonna do us in this time, even though we have a mountain of evidence to the contrary.

It’s easy to see God’s hand in the past, but it’s really hard to trust that He will provide for me right now. This is a lesson that’s hard to learn, that we fail to learn.

But we see, time and time again, the compassion of Christ. Jesus looks at the crowd and He knows what they need, even before anyone tells Him about it. He’s sensitive to our needs, He knows what we’re going through. He says, “I have compassion on the multitude,” this is a gut-wrenching thing for Him, to see that those who follow Him are in need.

So Jesus makes things right. Here’s another interesting difference between the feeding miracles: for the five thousand He has five loaves and two fish, here He has seven loaves and a few fish, we’re not told exactly how many. But He’s starting off with more food to feed fewer people. But of course, that’s not the point. If Jesus had had a hundred loaves, it still would’ve been a miracle. So in both cases, Jesus takes what little they have and makes it enough. He receives whatever’s available and provides.

So, we too can trust that Jesus will provide. Now, we should still be smart with our money as individuals and as a congregation,  Jesus is careful to collect the leftovers so that nothing goes to waste. This isn’t an excuse for extravagant or wasteful living, Jesus provides bread and fish, not wagyu steak and truffles. But still, Jesus provides. He makes sure that those who follow Him have enough and are satisfied. We don’t need to worry. We know that Jesus sees our needs, has compassion on us, and will provide.

And Jesus gives us far more than financial security, far more than mere bread and fish. We have a lot bigger problems than physical needs and Jesus has taken care of those, too.

Sin would devour us and the devil is hungry for us. But Jesus would not let them consume us. He gave Himself on the cross, surrendered Himself to death. And death took the bait. Death swallowed Jesus, thinking it had devoured another man, but found itself face-to-face with God.

By His resurrection, Jesus burst forth from the belly of death, tearing it to shreds. He has conquered our greatest enemies. He has destroyed death, vanquished sin, and crushed the devil under His feet.

When Jesus provides, it’s not just bread and circuses to distract us for a while. He provides because that is what He does for everything. He fulfills our physical needs because He has provided for our spiritual needs. Jesus’ care and love and concern is holistic, He’s going to make sure that you are taken care of in every aspect of life.

Jesus provides for our physical needs to point to greater things yet to come. The feeding of the multitude is a picture of the great feast in heaven, where there is no hunger or want, no exhaustion or weariness, no worry or anxiety, because there we will be with our Jesus. And Jesus provides.

There’s one last thing in this text that I want to highlight, that final phrase, “And He sent them away.” That sending aspect is really interesting, Jesus doesn’t feed them so they can stay longer, He feeds them so they have the strength to do what they need to do. He doesn’t want to send them away hungry, so He feeds them and then sends them away.

And we see this same pattern in our service. You’re probably getting sick and tired of me saying that by now, but it’s important that we understand what we’re doing here and how it mirrors Scripture. The crowd had been following Jesus for three days, listening to Him teach. We, too, gather around God’s Word, sitting at the feet of Jesus, learning from Him. But He doesn’t send us away hungry. He feeds us. In the Lord’s Supper, we receive the food that we need to be spiritually satisfied and strengthened. Here, we too receive a picture and a partial fulfillment of the great feast that waits for us in heaven. Jesus feeds us with His Body and Blood and then He sends us away, satisfied and full, energized to show His compassion to a hungry, broken world.

At times, this, too, might feel like a rerun. Something that you’ve done before. But this pattern of being instructed, fed, and sent is one that will continue until we sit at Jesus’ feet in heaven, gathered at that great banquet, with nowhere to go but to be there in His presence. Amen.