Introduction 

Mark’s Gospel is rapid; he wastes no time with unnecessary words or extra details for the main point of each passage and the overarching point of the entire Gospel – The Kingdom of God’s inauguration has begun in the person of Jesus Christ.  Make waste no time on detail because he is trying to pack so much in to help us see all the things we need to grasp about who Jesus is and what it will mean to recognise him as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  Mark’s Gospel is so rapid that you would lose your breath if you read it aloud! 

Context: A Busy Chapter 

The entire Gospel is rapid, yet in the divisions in the book, there is something breathtaking about Chapter 6! There is so much that happens in fifty-six verses that you could spend months researching, thinking, and considering the things that each section of the chapter has been teaching us about the identity of Jesus and the ethic of life with him for his disciples:

 – Jesus was rejected in his hometown by those who knew him the best!

• Jesus is teaching about rejection and the inability of those around him to receive the works of the Kingdom as signs of the King.
• His sending out of the Disciples on a sort of Proto-commission with instructions about what they are to teach, how to live and respond to those who either receive or reject them.
• The brutal handing over of the Baton as John the Baptist loses his head in the court of Corruption, as Herod would rather entertain and appear as a strong leader than honour a prophet of the Lord. 
• The feeding of the 5000 and all the hassle around it.

Jesus is walking on water, and the disciples lose themselves at the sight of it as they cross the water.

• Lots of hearings, miracles and signs of the Kingdom in between.  

There is so much going on in this chapter, yet the few verses we focus on this week seem disappointing compared to the scale of the events surrounding them.  They almost feel like a footnote in the passage’s corpus- something we can pass over.  Yet, as Timothy is reminded: “All of Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking and correcting…” That means every bit of the word of God has something to tell us about God and what it means to know him and make him know – even the seemingly “dull bits!” As one author put it: ” Christians read the Bible not as a document from history but as a world into which they enter so that God may meet them”¹ So today, amid all the rush and energy of Chapter 6, we learn as much about the heart of God and the wonder of Jesus in these quiet moments. 

The Focus of the Passage

What do we learn about God incarnate in these few verses amid the madness of Mark Chapter 6? A lot! We learn about the heart of Jesus, who is gentle, lowly, and compassionate to those in need.  We learn about the love and concern of Jesus for his disciples, as we see something of his Compassion and love in the way of the Kingdom, his demonstrated ethic for citizens of the Kingdom.  In a sense, these verses are the slices of bread on either end of the sandwich (which the lectionary looks at from John’s perspective next week).  In our passage, we see that “Jesus, in His Compassion, sees and responds to the needs of the weary, tired and scattered crowd.  A response that allows us to see and understand his identity as the Good Shepherd invites us to find our rest, purpose and peace in Him while extending His Compassion to others so they can know the same.”

1 | Are you Tired and Heavy Laden?

Jesus, Wait until you Hear!

In the section before the fall of John the Baptist, we remember the disciples being sent off in their two’s to practice the things they had seen Jesus doing and the truths they had heard him teaching.  They were sent to proclaim a message of repentance and to demonstrate the coming Kingdom in word and deed! And, seemingly, they did well, as Mark records: 

“And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.” (6:13)

This is not a bad summary statement of your First-ever short-term mission trip,  and it is all the more surreal when you think that Jesus had trained them, sent them and reviewed them.  Our passage begins in the aftermath of that success – after zooming out to John the Baptist, the camera has returned to the disciples as they return to Jesus from all their Kingdom endeavours.  They have returned from travelling, preaching, proclaiming and performing Kingdom acts. 

Imagine the vitality they must have felt as they returned to Jesus (6:30) and began to tell him about all that they experienced: How people responded to their messages, the welcome and rejections they received in each town, how they saw God at work in the hearts of people in ways they did not expect, and how even though they doubted they saw the provision and projection of God go before them in the simplest of ways. That is, before they even begin to explain the things their eyes have seen and the stories their brains are trying to process, it is such an inconsequential statement as Mark records their casing out of Demons and the healing of the sick.  Yet, it points to the profound realities of our world as far beyond the things that our eyes can see and our minds can comprehend.  The disciples were sent out to display darkness and evil in word and deed.  Something they did and something that should not be considered lightly.  

Identification of Trouble:  The Reality of the Kingdom Call 

Notice the flow and contrast between verses 30 & 31.  The disciples return to tell the tales of their first Commission adventure, and by all accounts, the proto-commission has gone well. After they have said Jesus of everything they have done and taught, how does Jesus respond? By commending them? Offering them some critical sermon feedback? Or, if he is telling his tales in their absence, perhaps he even shares the bad news about John the Baptist? Nope! None of these things.   

See the Heart of Jesus

Instead, we see his shepherd heart as he looks upon the disciples and recognises something about their state and, from his own experience – that they must be exhausted! So rather than rush to the next thing, we see something of the heart of God and the wisdom of Jesus’ ministry praxis as he beckons the disciples to rest and renewal, away from the immediacy of the needs before them and all the demands they were facing.  

It is a beautiful moment where the wisdom and kindness of Jesus to those who follow his call shines through.  The disciples have been serving and have been busy in their service, and now there is much for them to do and to get on with, and you can imagine their confidence and urgency, especially after all their tales.  Yet, Jesus beckons them to go with him as just a group so that they can rest a while.  Why? Because there were so many people coming in need that He and the Apostles could not even find a moment to eat. 

Compassion Is Shown Everywhere

Jesus saw the crowd’s needs, and we know that he looks upon them with Compassion. Yet, he also looks upon his disciples with the same heart because he knows that to minister in his Kingdom and for the King, we need to be healthy and minister out of our joy and abundance.  Fruitful Kingdom ministry cannot be done on an empty stomach and a joyless heart.  The needs will always be there, but the Kingdom worker might not always be able to meet them if they first do not look after their spiritual vitality.  We see that the Apostles are exhausted through the lens of Jesus; after a demanding few days on their mission trip, they have returned to be faced with the unending demands of the crowd before them. Thus, they seek solitude to spend time with God (even if they are met with a persistent crowd.)

It is a joy to serve the Lord, and when we come to know Jesus in faith through Grace, we are all called to it.  Archbishop Steve Woods put it beautifully in his election speech when talking about his mission and his heart. He quipped: “We are saved to be sent.” The movement of the Kingdom is not just for a select few people who seem to have the gifts or the heart.  It is for everyone who has confessed Jesus as Lord, in the joy of our salvation! 

The Gospel Call for Every Disciple 

The natural movement of our worship should move us outward to join the work of the Kingdom in the places God has placed us.  It is not just for the minister, the Youth Pastor, the vestry person or the missionary – it is for all of us! Yet, I wonder, have you ever stopped to consider the toll of the Kingdom’s work on those living it out?  The energy and time they exhaust to live for God, make him known and serve the Church? The work of the Kingdom is vital, but it also asks a lot of those who are living it out – especially those who have more asked of them – not because they are unique, but because of a role or call – the minister, preacher, lay leader, vestry person, Sunday School Leader, and so on…. all of those who God has called to a specific office in the Church and for his cause. I wondered if we have ever stopped to consider the pressure they are under or how they feel in the face of all the expectations on them. Perhaps, even before we arrive on the scene, we should add to the demands placed on them or critique something they have been involved with. 

Are We a Kingdom Burden?

Living in the Kingdom for the King is part of our call as discipleship, yet these few verses allow us to acknowledge the reality of that call on each of us, specifically those who God has placed in leadership in his Church, to make sure perhaps that we are honouring them, serving them, and uplifting them.  Rather than adding to their tiredness and burden by asking, demanding or criticising, let us be a part of the rest and solace that enables the servants of God to minister with full stomachs and joyful hearts as we encourage the preacher, lift up the youth leader, and pray for those whom God has called to serve his Church and build his Kingdom  – that which Jesus seeks for his disciples amid the relentless pace of their busy world. This pace did not decrease until some 2000 years later. 

A Thought: Christ’s Compassion is our Heart, and Cal

In his moving of his disciples to rest, Jesus shows Compassion for them (the same Compassion he will show to the crowd in a few moments).  So, as we wrestle with the weight of the Kingdom and call on those around us, let us pray to have a heart like Jesus and the courage to see him.  We should show Compassion to ourselves and those we are called to disciple and mission within the season that they need it. Compassion is not an opinion extra in the Kingdom of God; rather, it is the very heart of the Kingdom ethic we are called to live and know.  So, let us show it to ourselves and live it amongst one another. 

2 | What A Weary World We Live In

“We live in a greedy little world…. that teaches every little boy and girl…” I remember an old song rhyming, singing, and rebuking.  We all feel it, don’t we? The weight of the culture that we find ourselves living in – the pressure to survive and the pressure to be seen as successful.  There are not enough hours in the week to do all the things we ought to do, never mind what some people might expect us to do.  We live in a culture that pressures us towards success, where selfishness is the norm, and where we are shaped to judge ourselves against the failings and successes of others.  We live in a culture where busyness is the norm; even though we have 100 gadgets meant to save us time – they simply allow other things to demand more of us.  The pace of life has increased, and the pressure that comes with it grows heavier.  

We live in a busy, selfish culture that compels us to be “doing,” and if we are honest with ourselves and one another, we can all relate to the exhaustion of the Apostles; even more so, we have faced those moments of demand, where the to-do list seems to grow with every request we tick off it. We live in a busy culture where much is demanded of us, and if we are being brutally honest, that is even before we consider the reality of what it can be like to serve in the Church.  It is challenging to balance the expectations of our personal life, working world, and Church and community commitments. We are sheep that have lost sight of the shepherd, which is why we were created. 

Yet, something within each of us knows that amid the depth and striving, there is something that we are looking for, and our hearts will be restless until we find it in Jesus.  Sadly, sometimes, even when we have come to faith in Christ, we can let our eyes slip from what we have seen, and we need to be reminded to look through the busyness of our age, the distractions of our days to the reason for our hop, the reason for our living, and the place where we find rest.  We need to remind ourselves, amid all the pressures of daily lives, in the normality of our situations, that Jesus said: “Come to Me all who are tired and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

We live in a busy world, yet even 2000 years later, the rest we seek is found in the same place. The Apostles were exhausted from the work that God had called them to, and they were learning and would soon thoroughly learn that the rest and assurance they needed to be sustained in that call would be found in the one who sent them.  Today, whether we are lost in the busyness of the world or weighed down by the expectations that are on each of us in life or the Church, the invitation and its truth are still the same today as Jesus invites us: “Come to me all who are heavy laden and burdened and I will give you rest.”

3 | Grace Make known in the Compassion of Christ 

34 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had Compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. (-Mark 6:34 ESV)

The Compassion of Jesus 

The disciples and Jesus are all exhausted; they have been through much in the last few days. Using his wisdom and experience, Jesus knows that he must withdraw from the urgency of the need to spend time renewing.  It is not that he does not care for those who are coming to him; instead, he knows that in order to minister fully and effectively, he needs to do so from a place of dependence on the Lord.  Thus, he withdraws not to avoid the needs and demands of the people but to put himself and the disciples in a better place to meet them.  Well, that seems to be the intended plan.  As many saw them going on the boat, news spread and excitement grew, and the people sprinted from around the place to wait for Jesus and the disciples as they arrived. 

We have all been in that place of exhaustion, needing a break from things. We have all been in that place of heavy tiredness where we carry a weight that we cannot simply set down or take a break from. Jesus withdrew from the urgency of the moment, yet as he meets it again in how he reacts, we see something of the beauty of his heart and his Kingdom ethicCompassion—.  

Interruptions and Unexpected Situations

How would you respond to such an interruption? Imagine the audacity of the crowd to ignore the desire of Jesus and the disciples to rest and then to have the cheek to run around and meet them on the other side! What might you do? Get back in the boat and order the Disciples to turn the paddles around as you scold the crowd because you are tired and need some time. Grumble to yourself and the disciples as you reluctantly get out of the boat and try to do something. Knowing how we might respond amid the weight of exhaustion and the anxiety of demand is hard. 

How Grace is Made Known in the Unexpected 

Yet, in perhaps one of the most beautiful moments in Mark’s Gospel, we see so clearly the heart of Jesus and the response of the Kingdom. As he looks upon the crowd with a compassionate vision, he sees them as they are “like sheep without a shepherd.” Mark drawing on the imagery of Ezekiel 34:  

“You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. [5] They were scattered for lack of a shepherd; they became food for all the wild animals when they were scattered. [6] My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and there was no one searching or seeking for them.  Ezekiel 34:4-6 CSB”

The Beauty of Being Interrupted 

I remember someone once saying to me that faithful ministry is done in the interruptions and the heart of Christ made known in the Chaos of Church life.  The Goodness of God and the beauty of the Gospel are made natural and beautiful in our days’ unplanned, disordered normals because those moments are real.  The person meant that we can plan every aspect of our life, Church services, and ministry, but if we do not make room for the unexpected, the unaccounted and the somewhat chaotic, then we miss the kingdom opportunities that come our way.  We show if we have been grasped by the love of God by how we respond to the interruptions, chaos and disruptions of this world because if we are loved by Jesus and love like Jesus, then our resource in the power of the Spirit should mirror something of the beauty and Grace we see at this moment.  

Understanding the Compassion of Christ 

The Gospel grace in this passage is how Jesus looks upon the crowd and responds to them, for where we might scold and rebuke, complain and make known our distance – Jesus makes known the beauty of the Gospel by seeing with Compassion and showing it.  What is this Compassion? Henry Nowen sums up the beauty of Christ’s Compassion, which is our Gospel reality and Kingdom call, as he writes: 

“Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.”

Do you see the beauty of Christ’s Grace in this passage? Despite his need for rest and the tiredness that he and the disciples feel, he is overcome with Compassion for the people in their lostness.  Compassion literally being a compound of “Co_” and “Passion”_ (Suffering).  Jesus looks upon their lostness and then chooses to join them in it; that is Compassion.  Ezekiel 34 declares: 

” For this is what the Lord GOD says: See, I myself will search for my flock and look for them. [12] As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will look for my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and total darkness.:” Ezekiel 34:11-12 CSB

  Despite His need for rest, Jesus is moved with deep Compassion for the crowd. The Grace jumps out in this moment as Christ sees sheep without a shepherd; he becomes the shepherd foretold in Ezekiel 34—the Shepherd who looks for his flock and resources them from the places they have been scatted.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10), and in his Compassion, we see what that means as he brings his sheep in.  How does he do it? “he began to teach them many things.” 

Continuing His Kingdom Mission: Making Known the Gospel

It is not in the miraculous healings that the truth of God is made known, nor is it in something we do or that is done in a certain way.  Instead, it is in the teaching of the way of God and truth of God from the word of God that gives those who are lost the things they have been searching for. In Grace and Compassion, Jesus continues to teach them and function as the good shepherd who calls for repentance and a return to the rule of God.  This is the life he came to give, and in Compassion, this is the life he makes known (John 10:14):

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Sovereign Grace in Every Situation 

God is all sovereign and a God of Grace. Even in his humanity, Jesus is all-powerful and sovereign and has moved to the same Grace.  So he is not surprised by this interruption; instead, he uses it to continue the mission he has set forth – to reveal the Kingdom of God and gather his flock back into it by repentance from Sin and trust in him.  In Grace, he will never miss an opportunity to do that. In the interruption and urgency of demand, Jesus continues to do what he set out to do – make known the Gospel of Grace.  So we must be challenged to consider how we think and see. 

As Christ: So Must We 

Have we grasped that Grace is made most known in the realness of our world? When we meet people amid the chaos of where they are at, in the weight of their suffering, does the beauty of Christ’s Compassion shine brighter?  The Gospel becomes real when hopelessness abounds because the Gospel is hope that transcends every circumstance. 

The reality of our hope and the beauty of Grace is made known in the realness of the normal that those who are searching find themselves in when we meet them there in our worship and when we make space for that chaos, realness and reality in our lives, worships and gatherings.  The beauty of Grace is made known in a relationship – as the Good Shepherd moves towards his sheep in compassionate Grace, so we must be moved towards the lost and hurting, and so we must realise that when we bring them into our life, living, community and worship, it will bring something of the chaotic with it, yet, we delight in it because we known Grace is made known in the unexpected and interruptions that our Sovereign Lord gives us. As Jesus was moved in Gospel-compassionate-Grace, so we must be moved.  

Think about it for a moment: in verse, Just before the disciples have been sent off to put into practice what they have learned, they have just returned and were withdrawing to rest, and in the interruption, Jesus moves to do what he just sent the disciples to do – Proclaim and Practice the coming Kingdom and rule of God.  He moves as the Good Shepherd in Compassion to his lost sheep, but he also models as the Good Teacher the ethic of the Kingdom and the urgency of the message for those whom he was training to hand it over to.  Two thousand years later, it is our turn. As Jesus was moved in Gospel-compassionate-Grace, so we must be moved. 

4 | Our Calling in This World

In the madness and busyness of the world today, in simplicity and invitation, we are again encouraged by the word of God to look to Jesus.  He is the good Shepherd who has come to gather wandering sheep back into the fold and under the care of his embrace.  In our lostness, striving, and stirring, the Good Shepherdfinds our rest, purpose, and eternal embrace.  In the busyness and turbulence of the world, we find security in the solid rock that is Jesus, and we go into the work of the great commission to help others know the same foundation, hope, and Joy.

It is all for Jesus and from Jesus, yet we must take upon ourselves something in terms of self-care and Kingdom work. Faith is a gift. The Gospel is Grace and all from God, yet like a muscle, something is lost if we do not exercise it.   We are saved to be sent, yet in our sending we must almost strive to abide and rest in Jesus and the things he calls us to: 

–  The community of faith:  Church is not optional but an essential part of our life with Jesus and the health of our faith.  Church where the Gospel is central, the self is set aside, and the Joy of the Lord is made known: “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25.

• The Beauty of Relationship in Prayer: God saves us, and we get to walk with God and speak with him.  He speaks to us by his word, and we speak to him in prayer to express our concerns, fears, hopes and needs.  Prayer is vital to a healthy faith.  Praying with God and corporately: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16 and 1 Tim 2:! “First of all, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.”
• The Word does the work: It is by the word of God that we know God, know the way of God.  We are a people of the word, and that is why an Anglican liturgy builds to the Preaching/sermon, and the Prayer book encourages us to read, mark and digest all of the Scriptures throughout the year.  “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 These 2:15 “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.”
• The Rhythms of Grace: God gifts us rhythms of life and the Kingdom that help us to know God and grow more into the image and likeness of Christ. Some might not be explicitly in the Scriptures, but they are practices that encourage us and keep us in the faith.  Sunday gatherings, communion, Bible studies, prayer meetings, reading good Christian books, individual Bible studies, podcasts, listening to and singing good Christian praise music.  These practices and rhythms remind us of our Saviour and help us to grow in the faith. “Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,” Ephesians 5:19 or “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.” Acts 2:42
  

I wonder how you might define the word “_Church_”? Is it for you a place where certain things are done a certain way? A building? A Parish or even a people?  Much could be written about how to define Church biblically, but I love to remember that the original word means simply a gathering of people.  The Church is a place where the people of Jesus gather to Praise him and hear from his word and where new people can be brought into that community in all their chaos, disorder, and with all of their baggage and brokenness to meet the same Grace that each of us has found.  The Church is a place for the interruptions and unexpected moments of this world because, as we have seen, Jesus responds to them positively.  So the day we gather to worship him and thank him for his saving work, we remember that it was in the mess he met us and sent us.  Church as a Community is where we grow in Christ’s Compassion and extend it to others. From there, we go to Gospel Zeal to make the Joy of Christ known and rest in him. 

Conclusion | Grace Made Known in the Weariness 

53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognised him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched, it was made well. ( Mark 6:53–56  ESV)

The lectionary also sets our glaze on Mark 6:53-6 which makes the continuation of the narrative as Jesus and his disciples Land now at Gennesaret.  Jesus continues to show the same health of Compassion as he is recognised and then immediately  “heals many who came to him.” The Kingdom call and the Gospel ministry of making known the Compassion of God in word and deed.  The Good Shepherd’s ministry reality is continuous in his ministry of Gospel proclamation, His Call to Repentance and his demonstration of the Compassion of God in word and deed.  As Mark 6:53-56 unfolds, we are drawn to the same considerations we have thought about in the previous verses as Jesus’ continuous Compassion extends beyond being physically present to the revelation of his heart of the Good Shepherd in his concern for the lost sheep’s eternal state.  In Him, we find rest and eternal security in this life and the next.  In the thesis’s second verse, we are again encouraged to make sure it is Jesus in whom our needs are being met and for whom we are to be conduits of Compassion, Grace, and Gospel hope into the world and waiting world. 

 The slight difference between these two groups of verses is the focus on healing in 53-5.  It is imagery that is so common to use from our scripture readings that it loses its power and audacity.  Remember the reactions of the crowds to the first miracles of Jesus; they were shocked at the way he was teaching and the signs that he performed. The miracles were not just little moments of magic to woo a crowd before preaching the truth to them.  The Miracles were signs of the Kingdom because they showed the authority of the King.  All that Jesus did and all the miracles that Mark recorded in his Gospel were for the specific point of revealing something about the nature of Jesus’ heart, rule and Sovereign Authority.  When he casts out demons, we see that Jesus has complete authority over Darkness; When he calms the storm, we see he has full authority over all creation; When he goes to the Cross, we see that he has Authority over life and death, and supreme authority to forgive; and here when Jesus heals the sick, we see that he has authority over sickness and creation.  These signs of the Kingdom are displays of Christ’s saving authority, visual reminders of what will happen when he comes in finality to remove the curse of sin from this world.   So we finish with this: The one who has supreme authority over all of the creation challenges us in three ways:

1. See Him: Do we recognise him as the Sovereign Saving one and find our Hope in him, not the world’s lesser idols? 

2.  Like Him: If we follow Jesus, are we living out his way by his model with the Rythems and renewal of The Holy Spirit, or are we slipping into our own strivings and strengths?

1. Trust Him: Do we see the Gospel opportunities in the interruptions and Chaos of the world and, like Jesus, use them to Proclaim and build the Kingdom?  Moments which the sovereign Lord brings us.  Or do we expect perfection in the Church and get annoyed when our plans are interrupted by the Lord?

1. Rowan Williams, “God with Us” (London: SPCK, 2017), p. 87  ↩