St. Mark 8:1-9
In the name of the Father, and of the T Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A crowd of about 4,000 men, along
with their wives and children, all Gentiles by birth, followed Jesus for about
three days. They heard his preaching daily and continued on the way with him.
At the end of the third day, Jesus called his disciples together and said, “I
have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three
days and have nothing to eat.”[1] It would seem the people have fasted
for at least the three days they have been following Jesus – the men, women,
and children.
Jesus continues, “If I send them
away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them
have come from afar.”[2] Jesus has led these people on a wandering
trip through the wilderness for three days and there is no possibility that all
will make it home safely to eat. Many would fall prey to bandits but even more
would likely faint, perhaps even die.
The disciples are shown to have
short memories. Sometime before the events of our text, our Lord fed 5,000 men,
along with women and children. On that occasion, our Lord had compassion on the
crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd. They were Jews and the
Pharisees had failed them in the Word of God, teaching as doctrines the
traditions of men. When the day was far spent, the disciples told Jesus to send
the crowds away so they could buy food, but Jesus insisted on making provision
for them. He used five loaves and two fish to feed nearly 12,000 people.
This time, it is Jesus who broaches
the topic of feeding the multitude. The disciples are confounded. “How can one
satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?”[3] Either they’ve forgotten the previous
miracle or they believe these people to be without a promise of provision,
since they are Gentiles. Afterall, it was the ancestors of the Jews who were
fed with manna and quail during the wandering in the wilderness.[4]
Yet Christ, our Lord, has the same
compassion upon the Gentiles as he showed to the Jews. He came that the nations
would be called back to the worship of the true God, that all peoples would be
united in His Body, the Church. Thus, with seven loaves and a few fish, He
satisfies the multitudes. They eat their fill and then some. After the meal,
seven large, man-sized baskets[5] are filled with the remnants. Our Lord
provided the multitudes and the disciples with a superabundance of provisions.
None left hungry. All were not only fed but satisfied.
The Holy Spirit is not satisfied to record the events of history. The events read in today’s Gospel are history. They happened precisely as recorded. However, as the Holy Spirit tells us through St. John, “These things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”[6]
What does this miracle say about Jesus,
the Christ, the Son of God? It says that He has compassion upon all peoples. It
says that He has deep, heart-felt compassion on you. It says that Jesus has a
gut-wrenching desire to satisfy you in body and soul and that his promise is
fulfilled. The provision of Christ for both body and soul is more abundant that
you could ever imagine. Our minds can only comprehend seven loaves of bread,
but Christ provides seven baskets more than we could ever receive.
The disciples hear of the compassion
of Christ and are aghast. Rational thought denies the possibility of providing
food to such a multitude. So much for using reason to determine the actions of
God. Reason itself is a good gift of God but when set against the clear Word of
God it becomes the worst of blasphemies. Forcing the Word of God to fit into
our rational mind has led to many, if not most, of the worst heresies of the
Church.
It doesn’t make sense that Jesus’
has two natures, human and divine, in one person. It doesn’t make sense that a
Virgin would conceive and bear the Son of God. It doesn’t make sense that the
Incarnate Body and Blood of Jesus is present on altars throughout the world. It
doesn’t make sense that God inspired human men to write the words of Scripture without
allowing sin to corrupt the words.[7] It doesn’t even make sense that Christ
has forgiven all of your sin and yet you must still suffer the effects of sin
on this side of heaven.
Thanks be to God we are not called
to make sense of these things. Our rational minds react to these mysteries like
the disciples, “No one could do that! That’s not possible!” The eyes of faith,
enlightened by the Holy Spirit, the heart of flesh which has replaced our
hearts of stone, these react like the multitude, “I will take the cup of
salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord.[8] I will sit at the feet of my Lord and
receive all He will give me. If he should appoint me to die this day, I know it
is good for me because He has promised to give me all good things.” Even those
sitting in the second and third row must’ve seen the paltry loaves and fish
Christ was blessing, yet they react in faith, trusting that Christ would
provide for each of them.
Here you might ask, “If Christ is
such a gracious provider to His beloved Church, why are there Christians who
suffer lack? Why does God allow Christians throughout the world to suffer
poverty and hunger?” This is a fair question, and the answer is in three parts.
First, the Kingdom of Christ to which He has called you and in which you have citizenship, is not a temporal kingdom. A temporal kingdom is founded on the things of this world: house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all we have. Rather, Christ has founded a spiritual kingdom, in which we seek and find eternal and divine possessions. This Kingdom is provided for by the Word of God, the Sacraments, the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit. This Kingdom lacks nothing. Christ would have us long for the eternal gifts of His Kingdom rather than pine for the things of this world. Temporal governments, rulers, fathers, and neighbors may provide or steal temporal goods, but they can never take away the eternal provisions of God.
Secondly,
Christ would have all Christians exercise faith in all matters, temporal and
eternal, in seeing that all things, temporal and eternal, are provided by him. We
are to see the hands of Christ in our paycheck; in the calloused hands of the
farmer providing our food; in the hands of the workman who builds our house;
and even in our own hands when we change diapers, share a cup of coffee, or clean
someone’s house.
Since the Church Militant exists on
earth and will remain on earth until the Last Day, Christ must provide for her
food, drink, clothing, buildings, locations, and all other things necessary to
this life. In fact, the entire world continues to exist only to support and
provide for the Church. If all Christians were to suddenly die, the world would
end for there would be no reason for God to continue to support it. (That will
not happen because we have the promise that Christ will return at the end of
the world to gather the faithful to Himself.)[9]
“But since the devil rules in the world
and he is the enemy of Christ and of His Church, and since [the Church does not]
seek the things of this world, they must suffer [temporal possessions] to be
taken out of their mouths, and [to be] robbed of [that] which belongs to them.
Here now Christ must help His Church and give where she suffers need and want,
that she may continue to exist, that it may be called miraculous giving; and
the Christians acknowledge that it is given by Him and that He shows forth
continually in His [Church] such special miracles [of daily bread], so that
they will have something to eat, drink, etc., even if the world gives nothing
and grants no favors; but takes from her, and is jealous and hateful because of
what God gives her.”[10]
So, when Christians are lacking, they
know that what they can never lose is eternal life. No matter how impoverished
a Christian is, he holds the entire world in his hand because Christ is with
him. And should his stomach growl for lack of food, it is to remind him of
things eternal.
Thirdly, Christians suffer lack in this
world so that others might show them love. The multitudes suffered lack of food
and the disciples were appointed to distribute the miraculous bread to them. Sometimes
the vocation of a Christian requires they be the to be served, to be the object
of another’s affection. This is a holy calling in life: to be the one to
receive the good works of others. We are called to share all good things,
holding all things in common. To serve one another, even when we believe the resources
to be lacking, is a blessed work of God and a loving service to our neighbor.
Finally, we must see the Feeding of the Four Thousand as a blessed picture of the life of the Church. You walk through those doors every week, after seven long days of journeying in the wilderness. You are tired from the cares of this world; from your own sin, the sins of others, and temptation to sin. If you should continue on your journey alone, you would surely faint.
Yet Christ has compassion upon you. He
has called you to follow him, to hear his voice. Each Sunday, He teaches you in
His Holy Word – the Introit, the Old Testament Lesson, the Epistle, and
especially in the Holy Gospel. He is speaking to you know in the words of this
sermon, through the lips of an imperfect vessel. When the teaching for the day
is done, He calls you to gather before Him. He takes break, blesses it and
gives thanks, then breaks it and calls his servant to distribute it to you.
Your body and soul are then satisfied with the Living Bread from Heaven. On the
strength of this bread, you then return to the way, the path of life in this
world until that day when your journey on this side of heaven is complete and
you enter eternal life, where the feast will never end.
‘What Jesus does for the multitude, He
does today. At that time, He acted visibly while today He acts invisibly. Then,
He fed the body. Today, He feeds body and soul. At that time, He gave men
perishable bread. Today He gives you the Eternal, Living Bread from Heaven. We,
the Baptized, need the nourishment of Christ’s own Body and Blood to support us
on the journey through the wilderness of this life toward our heavenly
fatherland.’[11]
O give thanks to the LORD, for He is
good; and His mercy endureth forever.[12]
In
T Jesus’ name. Amen.
[1]
Mark 8:2.
[2]
Mark 8:3.
[3]
Mark 8:4.
[4]
Exodus 16.
[5]
Acts 9:25.
[6]
John 20:31.
[7]
This is a reference to the autographs of the original human authors of
Scripture. I recognize there have been errors in the transmission of the
written texts, however, the Word of God is infallible and communicates the
entire truth of Scripture, even if minor errors have been made in transmission
of the text.
[8]
Psalm 116:13.
[9]
The section regarding the question of why Christ allows Christians to suffer
lack is based on Martin Luther, Sermons of Martin Luther, Vol 4, translated
and edited by John Nicholas Lenker (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983), 220-222.
[10]
Luther, Sermons, 221-222.
[11]
Pius Parsch, The Church’s Year of Grace, Vol 4 (Collegeville, MN: The
Liturgical Press, 1964), 76-77.
[12]
The Benedicamus.
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