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When he [Jesus] 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 image of Jesus and the multitude that could not get their fill of Him is a reminder of the “hunger” that we all experience in this life for something real, something meaningful, fulfilling and lasting. Today at International Lutheran Church we read about God’s mission and how Jesus’ compassion is what ultimately fills us today.  

The theme of animal husbandry and shepherding is common throughout the Biblical narrative. David famously depicts the LORD as his own shepherd who cares for him and provides for all the needs of all the people of God in Psalm 23. This theme runs throughout each of the lessons today including Jesus’ own ministry that literally recounts how He fed crowds of people who were like “sheep without a shepherd” with just five loaves and two fish. Growing up in Iowa, the capital of many feed and agricultural companies in the US during the 1970s and 80s, I regularly heard at the dinner table all about the many challenges faced by not only the American farmer but people around the world trying to feed their own communities in all kinds of conditions and situations. While we may not fully understand the life of a herdsman, we can still learn something from considering the relationships between the feed, the feeding, and the fed.

The crowds in Mark’s gospel were certainly experiencing something that they had never seen before in their listening to Jesus, seeing His miracles, and likely the whole atmosphere of being near Him. Our text tells us today that it was this desire that moved the people to flock to the places that they thought he would go, even to the middle of a desolate place. What was meant to be a break and time away for Jesus and His disciples since they weren’t even able to grab a bite to eat in peace, turned into an even greater example of our emptiness and His ability to feed us and satisfy our greatest needs. We might imagine what drew the crowds to hear this Galilean preacher: the miracles, the amazing stories, or even the way He upset the establishment and put-off the ruling leaders and social insiders. But what drove Jesus? What was His ultimate “hunger” or yearning that needed to be satisfied? Mark only says that Jesus looked on the great multitude of people with compassion, a literal wrenching and movement in His stomach out of seeing the greatest plight of all these people. They were “like sheep without a shepherd.” While their problems may have been obvious, there was no one who truly understood their needs or could do anything about them. They needed the right kind of feed.

In the Old Testament lesson from Jeremiah (23:1-6) today we hear how God promised to come and shepherd His people. The leaders and shepherds of Israel had scattered and not gathered God’s people. God’s judgement would visit them and in the same action gather and rescue His people from this leaderless misery by establishing His own righteous branch, His own kingdom and rule over them. Gathering them to Himself, God would feed them and care for them Himself. In the person of Jesus, the Son of God, we see this fulfilled. Jesus’ compassion, His love for us is so great that He would gather us to Himself to be fed by Him. He is the feed we need. In Mark’s gospel even the desert becomes a lush and green place to sit and enjoy this “meal” on Jesus, and in the end, there is more than enough to satisfy the desire of even those doing the feeding. No doubt the multiplication of fish and loaves was something to experience, but the faith to see that it is God who provides all our needs in Jesus is the real miracle. He becomes our desire as we see in Jesus how we have become His one desire.

Today God continues to gather us and feed us as we remember morning, noon, and night how it is His hand that satisfies us. We are gathered to His Table to feast even now on the bread from heaven that He gives to us through His Word and promise. Jesus gave His very life on the cross to satisfy and fulfill for us the Law and all its demands, as well as to feed us with His own compassion and love. Jesus did not stop by just gathering the shepherd-less on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, but has stretched His compassion as far as our lives as He fulfills in you and me His will and compassion today. His Spirit is feeding us and making us His own servants to share this meal with all and to gather all who have been scattered.

Pastor Carl