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

Last Sunday, I had to take my four-year-old and my one-year-old on our flight back home. Our flight was scheduled for 5:13 pm, which made dinner kind of difficult. It was an hour to get to the airport and you’re supposed to get there two hours early and I’m not a fan of submitting to the price-gouging at airport restaurants. So I did what any responsible father would do and loaded up the diaper bag with snacks. Uncrustables, applesauce pouches, Goldfish, veggie straws, fruit snacks, we raided grandma’s pantry. So when my kids got hungry, which happened pretty much right when we got to the airport, I was ready. I gave them something to eat. I knew what I was asking of them—over seven hours of travel isn’t easy for little kids—so I was going to give them what they needed to make it through.

The feeding of the four thousand seems like, at first glance, a rerun or a reiteration of its more famous cousin the feeding of the five thousand. While the basic point is the same, we can see that point applied differently when we compare the situation and the circumstances of these accounts. This is more than Jesus providing when He’s asked. This is Jesus leading His followers into difficulty and then meeting them with compassion and abundant provision. Christ knows what He’s asking of you and He provides for those who follow Him.

I. Led into difficulty

It’s hard to preach on the account of the feeding of the four thousand by itself, it kind of stands in the shadow of the feeding of the five thousand. The feeding of the five thousand is one of the few events recorded in all four Gospels, so it is a big deal. This account is only in Matthew and Mark and, in both cases, only a few chapters after the five thousand. The Scriptures are begging the reader to compare the accounts and see what’s different this time. Because this is more than just a rerun.

So, to set the scene, in the feeding of the five thousand, it’s springtime and the text explicitly mentions the green grass the crowds are sitting on. Jesus has been teaching for a single day and His disciples get worried about having to feed all these people, so they ask Him to send them away. They give Jesus a bit of sass when He pushes back and respond sarcastically. But then Jesus showed them what He’s capable of… have they learned their lesson?

Well now, it’s a few months later. Middle of the summer. It’s hot, they’re in the wilderness, all of the grass is dead. This is less than an ideal location for a picnic. The crowd has been following Jesus for three days. The worry isn’t just how to get everyone dinner but that these people will faint from exhaustion. The situation is far more dire. And Jesus is to blame, He’s been leading them. Have the disciples learned their lesson?

It seems like they have. They don’t bring it up, they wait for Jesus to address the issue. They don’t tell Him what to do, but express that it literally would take a miracle for these people to be fed. They know what Jesus is capable of, they haven’t forgotten, but they also know better than to try to boss Him around. So even though the situation is far more dire than before, they’re doing good, the lesson has been learned.

I think the disciples are far more relatable here than in other places in the Gospels. Often they’re bumbling idiots, completely oblivious to what Jesus is saying or doing. And there’s some parallels that can be drawn to our experience even then, but here it’s a bit more positive, in a certain sense.

We, too, have faith in Jesus. We know His promises, we know what He’s capable of. And we know better than to try to boss Him around. Right, we know better than to commit the more serious mistakes that the disciples do at times. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no conflict or tension or difficulty. As we occupy this space in our lives as Christians, there’s still some uncomfortability.

The disciples trust that Jesus can. But there’s still that question, “How?” They know what Jesus is capable of, but that potentiality isn’t filling any stomachs. There’s this disconnect between what their faith knows to be true and what they’re actually experiencing right now.

Sound familiar? We know the promises of Christ. That He cares for us, loves us, provides for us, protects us. It’s not that we doubt that or don’t believe. But it’s not quite what we experience. We feel alone, vulnerable, and struggle to make ends meet. So how? How will these things be made true? Yeah, I know, everything is possible with God, but I just don’t see how what I’m going through can possibly bring about any good.

Why? I know that God is in control, that He is the one leading me through this, but if God is with me then why is it so hard? Why does following Christ mean so much hardship and difficulty and heartbreak?

We have faith. That’s not the problem. And believing harder doesn’t make everything go away. We have faith but we don’t have understanding. We believe but we don’t know how or why for so many things. That’s an uncomfortable space to occupy. You can learn the lesson but still not be doing great. To follow Christ asks so much of you, we know that it’s worth it, but it doesn’t always feel like it. Faith seeking understanding.

II. Met with compassion

As Jesus has been leading this crowd in the wilderness, it’s not like He was completely oblivious to what was going on. It didn’t just occur to Him on the third day, “Oh, these people might be hungry.” No. He knew what He was asking of them. And because of that, He had compassion on them.

He says, “I have compassion on the multitude.” Now this is something a bit more than “Jesus loves everyone.” He gives the reason, “because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.” Jesus knows what He’s asking. He knows where He’s been leading them. And He has compassion on them. He knows what they need. And He knows how to meet those needs.

And He does so abundantly. He doesn’t give everyone just enough so they don’t pass out on the way home. No, they are filled. Satisfied. With seven huge baskets leftover. The numbers are different in this account too, with seven loaves and seven baskets leftover, just maybe that’s a picture of what’s going on here. Because seven is completion, fullness, rest. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. And here Jesus satisfies the people, fills them up, and gives them rest.

So the point is the same as the previous account. Jesus provides, miraculously. But you can also see how it’s different. The stakes are higher than missing dinner and it’s more than teaching the disciples a lesson. It’s Jesus seeing the needs of His people and fulfilling them. It’s Jesus providing when the need is the greatest. It’s compassion on the hardships of our Christian life.

The point this far has really only been about physical needs. Fish and bread. But we shouldn’t see these physical needs as entirely disconnected from spiritual needs.

For starters, there’s something spiritual in the physicality of it all. Right, when you have a good meal, it’s more than just supplying the nutrients you need or meeting your macros, no, there’s something satisfying, emotionally, spiritually. We are body and soul and we shouldn’t always try to separate the two. There’s something deeper than a free meal. The physical is a picture of the spiritual.

But the spiritual needs come first. That’s an important thing to keep in mind in this account. Jesus doesn’t lure them in with a free meal and then spring a sermon on them. No, He’s been teaching them for the three days leading up to this. And they’re so engaged that Jesus is the one to have to bring up the question about food. Jesus provides first for the spiritual and then for the physical. We see what’s more important.

We can look at all the ways that God has blessed us with all the stuff that we have. But what’s more important are the spiritual goods. Jesus gave His body on the cross, He shed His blood for your forgiveness, He gave up His life to defeat death. Jesus has compassion on you and gives you everything. He gives you a clear conscience by water and the word, He gives you His body and His blood. Christ gives more than bread and fish.  He gives you forgiveness, life, salvation. These are what satisfy us. These are what give us true rest. 

Earlier, I introduced in passing the phrase “faith seeking understanding.” That phrase actually has a very rich history. It was coined by St. Anselm of Canterbury to describe the relationship between faith and reason. Although that phrase can be seen perhaps more negatively, as our understanding often needs to catch up to our faith, he also coined another related phrase that I think is helpful as we navigate our difficult circumstances. He wrote, “I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but rather, I believe in order that I may understand.”

You aren’t always going to understand why God has led you into certain difficulties in this life. When you’re three days out in the wilderness waiting for Jesus to give you food, things aren’t going to make much sense. But “I believe in order that I may understand.” Things can only begin to make sense by faith. Then, we cling to His promises, even when they don’t always seem to be true in the moment because we know that one day, we will understand. At times, God grants us the gift of hindsight, but that won’t always be the case. We trust that He knows our needs, has compassion, and will provide as we are led by Him into life everlasting. Amen.