Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.highlandparkbaptist.net/sermons/94944/more-than-feeding-4000/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] With tonight's lesson, we start Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8 verses 1 through 21 go together.

[0:17] ! We'll only get through verses 1 through 9 tonight, but let's get the bigger picture by reading all of Mark chapter 8 verses 1 through 21. These verses happened after Jesus healed the deaf and mute man in the Decapolis.

[0:32] Mark 8 1 through 21 say, And his disciples answered him, How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?

[1:05] And he asked them, How many loaves do you have? They said, Seven. And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people.

[1:20] And they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish, and having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied.

[1:33] And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people, and he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

[1:46] And he said, And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread.

[2:23] And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see?

[2:36] And having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?

[2:46] And they said to him, Twelve. And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up? And they said to him, Seven. And he said to them, Do you not yet understand?

[3:00] For the verses that we will cover tonight, verses one through nine, you might be thinking, Haven't we heard this before in our study of Mark?

[3:11] The answer to that question is both yes and no. The answer is yes in the sense that this feeding of the four thousand men plus women and children should remind us of the feeding of the five thousand men plus women and children.

[3:24] We saw the five thousand fed in Mark chapter 6, verses 30 through 44. But we also can answer no to the question of whether we've heard about this event earlier in our study of Mark.

[3:37] Here are just some of the differences between the two miracles. The location for the two feedings were different. The time of the year was different. The number of people fed each time was different.

[3:50] And the quantity of leftovers also differed. As we go through tonight's verses, we'll talk more about differences between the feedings. But if you doubt my assertion that the two feedings were different miracles, perhaps you will believe Jesus.

[4:05] We just read Mark chapter 8, verses 19 through 20. In those verses, Jesus clearly indicated that the two feedings were separate events. Jesus asked his disciples about the quantity of leftovers that they had gathered from each feeding.

[4:20] In his gospel, John reminded us that he only included a sampling of the works that Jesus did. Listen to what John wrote in John chapter 21, verse 25.

[4:32] John chapter 21, verse 25 says, Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

[4:46] Mark and the other gospel writers almost certainly had the same issue. They had to decide what to include and what not to include. And of course, they had the Holy Spirit's guidance in that.

[4:59] But all four gospels include the feeding of the 5,000. Yet only Matthew and Mark include the feeding of the 4,000 that we'll look at tonight. One obvious question is, Why did Mark, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, choose to include the feeding of the 4,000 in his gospel?

[5:18] The answer to that question, at least in part, pertains to the primary audience for Mark's gospel. Mark wrote primarily for a Gentile audience. The feeding of the 4,000 is particularly meaningful for Gentiles because another major difference exists between the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000.

[5:38] The crowd during the feeding of the 5,000 included mainly Jews. The crowd during the feeding of the 4,000 included mainly Gentiles. That leads us into the main idea for this passage.

[5:52] Jesus' second feeding miracle proves his deity, fulfills prophecy, and shows that God's compassion applies to both Jews and Gentiles. Because most, if not all, of us are Gentiles, that main idea is pertinent to us.

[6:09] So here is that main idea again. Jesus' second feeding miracle proves his deity, fulfills prophecy, and shows that God's compassion applies to both Jews and Gentiles.

[6:21] As part of the training for the disciples and their future great commission work, Jesus has taken the disciples on a field trip to Gentile territory.

[6:32] That field trip started in Mark 7, verse 24, and it will end with our passage tonight. Think about what the disciples have seen so far. In Mark 7, 24 through 30, Jesus healed the daughter of a Canaanite woman.

[6:48] That daughter had been possessed by a demon. The disciples would have known that in the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to destroy the Canaanites. Here's just one example of that command.

[7:01] Deuteronomy chapter 7, verses 1 and 2 say, When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction.

[7:29] You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. Two weeks ago, when we covered Mark 7, verses 24 through 30, we talked about how the Israelites of the past had disobeyed God's command to destroy the Canaanites.

[7:44] Some Canaanites remained. The lady with the demon-possessed daughter had descended from those Canaanites, and that's why the disciples would have been surprised that Jesus, God himself, would show mercy to a Canaanite woman by healing her daughter.

[8:01] From there, the disciples' field trip continued with the events that we studied last week. We saw Jesus return to the predominantly Gentile Decapolis. A large crowd welcomed Jesus when he got back to that area.

[8:14] Matthew's account of this visit told us that Jesus healed many. Mark's account focused on the healing of one person, and that was the deaf and mute man who had been brought to Jesus by the man's friends.

[8:28] On this last leg of the field trip, Jesus again shows the disciples that Gentiles are and will be a welcome part of God's kingdom. When we put ourselves in the place of the disciples and think about the culture of Jesus' day, we will see that the feeding of the 4,000 is a very significant event.

[8:48] Tonight's verses document a real-life event and teach important spiritual truths, so this passage is about more than feeding 4,000. Jesus' continued association with the Gentiles is part of the reason why that next week we will see the Pharisees return to argue with Jesus.

[9:07] Jesus is continuing to willfully and intentionally break all the religious leaders' man-made regulations. Earlier in Mark's gospel, the religious leaders got angry when Jesus associated with Jewish tax collectors and sinners.

[9:22] In the religious leaders' minds, associating with Jewish outcasts was bad enough. But now in the thinking of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus really had crossed the line.

[9:33] Now Jesus was associating himself with those people, those Gentiles. As we look at tonight's passage, we'll see that the disciples still harbored some of the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees.

[9:46] That's why the feeding of the 4,000 is such an important part of the disciples' training. Like the reluctant prophet Jonah, the Israelites of Jesus' day despised the Gentiles and had no desire for their salvation.

[10:01] The disciples undoubtedly were affected by the ethnic bias of their culture. That deeply rooted prejudice was opposite the heart of God, who from eternity's original decree intended the message of salvation to spread from his chosen people to all nations.

[10:18] It was critically important for the 12 to understand that the gospel was a message for the whole world. We need to see that Jesus has a plan. He wants the disciples and us to see his love and concern for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews.

[10:34] Yes, he is the long-expected Messiah, but he also is the Savior of the world that we hear about in John 3.16. As we cover Mark chapter 8, verses 1 through 9 tonight, we'll split the passage into four sections.

[10:52] In verses 1 through 3, we see the compassionate Messiah. So the compassionate Messiah is your first set of blanks. Listen to Mark chapter 8, verses 1 through 3 again.

[11:06] We see the consistent pattern here.

[11:34] After some people see and hear about Jesus' ability to heal people, a large crowd forms wherever Jesus goes. This predominantly Gentile region is no different.

[11:46] Remember Matthew chapter 15, verses 29 through 31 that we also used as a cross-reference last week. Matthew 15, verses 29 through 31 say this.

[11:58] Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. And great crowds came to him, bringing with him the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others.

[12:14] And they put them at his feet, and he healed them. So that the crowd wondered when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing.

[12:25] And they glorified the God of Israel. The deaf and mute man that Mark told us about in Mark chapter 7, verses 31 through 37, was one of the many healings that Jesus did.

[12:39] Even if we had not learned from Mark that the healings took place predominantly in Gentile territory, the last sentence of Matthew 15, 31 shows us that the crowd was comprised of mostly Gentiles.

[12:52] That last sentence said, and they glorified the God of Israel. We also know that the deaf and mute man and his friends spread the news of the man's healing, even though Jesus repeatedly told them to keep quiet.

[13:07] Mark chapter 7, verse 36 told us, And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.

[13:17] Based upon those things, we could have predicted what Mark confirms in Mark chapter 8, verse 1, where he says, A great crowd had gathered.

[13:28] But a problem also developed. We also see from Mark 8, 1, that the people had nothing to eat. That's when Jesus calls the disciples to him.

[13:40] And look again what Jesus says in verses 2 and 3 of Mark chapter 8. Jesus said, We need to focus a few minutes on the first phrase of what Jesus said, and that is, By using this phrase, Jesus identifies himself with God.

[14:13] The gospel writers repeatedly state that Jesus felt compassion toward people, but only here and in the parallel passage in Matthew does Jesus, speaking in the first person, say this about himself.

[14:28] The verb translated have compassion is from the Greek word that literally means to be moved in one's bowels. Those, of course, were the visceral organs where the feelings of pain are felt, so that the ancients considered them to be the seat of emotions.

[14:43] So the idea was similar to modern expressions like a gut-wrenching emotion or a feeling in the pit of your stomach. The English word compassion comes from a Latin word meaning to suffer with, and it conveys feelings of deep sympathy, pity, and kindness toward those who are hurting.

[15:01] So here was a Jewish man telling his disciples that he has compassion for a predominantly Gentile group. But, of course, Jesus was more than a man.

[15:12] Jesus was and is truly man, but Jesus also was and is truly God. Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly revealed himself as the God of compassion.

[15:24] We'll quickly look at some Old Testament cross-references to see that. You can follow along by turning to them, or you can just listen. All the references are included in the handout so that you can study them again later.

[15:38] In all these verses, the Hebrew word that the ESV translates as merciful could be translated as compassionate. If you need proof of that, just look up these verses in the New American Standard Bible.

[15:53] The NESB consistently uses the word compassionate instead of merciful. But unless otherwise noted, all these verses use the ESV's rendering.

[16:04] Let's start with Exodus 34, verses 6 and 7. Exodus 34, verses 6 and 7 say, The Lord passed before him, that's Moses, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sins, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.

[16:41] Here's Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 31. For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

[16:57] Listen to Psalm 103, verse 8. Psalm 103, verse 8 says, The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

[17:11] Here's Psalm 111, verse 4. Speaking about God, the psalmist wrote in 111, verse 4, He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered.

[17:24] The Lord is gracious and merciful. Here are 2 Kings 13, verses 22 and 23. 2 Kings 13, verse 23 say, Now Hazael, king of Syria, oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoaz.

[17:43] But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them, and he turned toward them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, nor has he cast them from his presence until now.

[17:57] How about 2 Chronicles 36, verses 14 and 15? Those verses say, Here's Nehemiah 9, verse 17.

[18:32] Speaking to God about the Israelites, Nehemiah 9, verse 17 says, They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them.

[18:45] But they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

[19:00] This is Joel chapter 2, verse 13. Joel chapter 2, verse 13 says, Rend your hearts and not your garments.

[19:11] Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and he relents over disaster.

[19:21] The last cross-reference that we will cover to see how often the Old Testament mentions God's compassion is Lamentations 3, verse 22. Jeremiah wrote Lamentations 3, verse 22 after the fall of Jerusalem.

[19:38] And the words will sound familiar to you. Lamentations 3, verse 22 says, The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end.

[19:51] Let's look at the NESV's translation of the Hebrew in this case. The NESV says, The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for his compassions never fail.

[20:03] Going back to our text in the ESV tonight, Mark says in Mark 8, 2, that Jesus has compassion on this Gentile crowd.

[20:14] And again, that's a direct quote from Jesus himself. In the remainder of verse 2, Jesus says, He has compassion because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.

[20:26] And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way, and some of them have come from far away. Because Jesus is God, divine compassion marked the life of Christ too.

[20:41] Jesus expressed merciful care for people's spiritual needs and for their physical afflictions. He extended that care to both Jews and Gentiles. On this occasion, the Lord felt compassion for this crowd specifically because they had remained for three days with nothing to eat.

[20:58] In their eagerness to hear Jesus' teaching and witness his miracles, the people refused to go home, even if it meant sleeping outside and missing a few meals.

[21:09] Overwhelmed with the Lord Jesus, they put hunger aside. Jesus recognized what perhaps the people themselves did not even realize. Speaking to his disciples, the Lord said in Mark 8, 3, And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way, and some of them have come from far away.

[21:29] The word faint there is from a Greek word which means to weaken or to collapse. Knowing that the people had not eaten for three days and some of them would be traveling long distances to return home, Jesus responded with compassion.

[21:45] For those of you who go to dinner after we finish these Bible studies, I sometimes get concerned about delaying your meal if I run just a few minutes past our normal ending time. But think about these people in the crowd hearing Jesus.

[21:58] They'd gone days without eating. And before you say it, I also know there's a big difference between hearing me and hearing Jesus. So perhaps if I taught more like Jesus, you would stay longer on these nights.

[22:13] Now that we've seen the compassionate Messiah, let's move on to the second section of our passage. In Mark 8, verse 4, we see the confused men.

[22:23] So the confused men is your next set of blanks. The confused men referenced by the heading are the disciples themselves. Here is Mark 8, verse 4.

[22:36] And his disciples answered him, how can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place? Because of the feeding of the 5,000 that occurred just a few months earlier, the question makes the disciples appear forgetful or clueless.

[22:55] But their question is best understood as a kind of tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of the earlier miracle and their own admission that they had no adequacy or resources for such a vast need.

[23:06] The question was not intended to cast doubt on Jesus' miraculous power, but rather to emphasize the fact that if a crowd this large was going to be fed in that remote location, it would require another creation of food.

[23:21] The word translated to satisfy is from the Greek word which derives its meaning from the world of animal husbandry. And there it's used to describe livestock eating until they were completely full.

[23:33] And it's the same word used to describe the satisfied multitude in Mark 6, verse 42. In part, the disciples' question reflects their acknowledgement that they have no power on their own to feed the crowd.

[23:47] They're confused because they wonder why Jesus is telling them about the problem. But their confusion likely runs deeper than that. They're also confused because of their prejudice.

[23:59] After having been raised in the Jewish culture of that day, the disciples never expected the Jewish Messiah to feed a bunch of Gentiles. Notice how the disciples referred to the crowd as these people.

[24:13] If the disciples had any doubts about what was going to happen, it was not because Jesus' power was in doubt, but because they questioned his purpose. This crowd consisted of Gentiles, people outside of the Abrahamic covenant, whom the Jews considered to be unclean.

[24:31] It was one thing for Jesus to heal them, but the creation of a meal for them went one step further. For Jewish people to eat with Gentiles was forbidden by the rabbinic regulations.

[24:44] Understandably, that idea would likely have caused consternation among the disciples. Yet Jesus was teaching them an important lesson about how far the gospel would extend.

[24:55] This miracle served as a fitting climax to the time that Jesus and the Twelve spent traveling in Gentile territory. Think about when God sent Peter to visit Cornelius, the Gentile, in Acts chapter 10.

[25:10] Remember what Peter said in Acts chapter 10, verse 28. Here is Acts 10, 28. And Peter said to them, You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation.

[25:27] But God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. When Peter returned to Jerusalem, the hardliners who advocated that people must first become Jews before they could become Christians were upset.

[25:43] Listen to Acts chapter 11, verses 2 and 3. Acts chapter 11, verses 2 and 3 say, So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.

[26:01] Even Peter later struggled with the truth that it was fine for Jews to eat with Gentiles. Remember the confrontation between Peter and Paul over what happened in Galatia.

[26:12] These verses are Galatians chapter 2, verses 11 through 14. Here's what Paul wrote in Galatians chapter 2, verses 11 through 14. But when Cephas, of course that's Peter, came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.

[26:30] For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

[26:49] But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?

[27:04] If Peter occasionally struggled with the concept that it was okay to eat with Gentiles even after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, can you imagine how much Peter and the other disciples must have been confused here in our Mark passage tonight?

[27:20] By sharing a meal with the Gentiles, Jesus was going against things that the disciples had been taught their entire lives. As we wrap up this section of the passage, here's a question that all true Christians should ponder.

[27:34] And that is, do I think a certain person or perhaps even a group of people is unworthy of hearing and receiving the blessing of the gospel?

[27:46] And if you have yet to believe in Christ for salvation and other professed believers have made you to feel inferior or unworthy, also consider what we've seen so far.

[27:58] Notice the compassion of God that we've seen in the numerous Old Testament verses that we read. Notice also the compassion of Jesus that we've seen in these Mark verses.

[28:09] And notice how Jesus went to such great lengths to root out prejudice among his disciples. In the third section of tonight's passage, Jesus takes over.

[28:21] John Phillips said, that any demand that Jesus made on the disciples was ultimately a demand upon himself. No demand on him can possibly be a demand that he is unable to meet.

[28:33] All of the infinite resources of deity are his. And in Mark chapter 8 verses 5 through 7, we see the created meal. So the created meal is your third set of blanks.

[28:46] Check out Mark 8, 5 through 7 again. And Jesus asked them, how many loaves do you have? They said seven.

[28:57] And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people.

[29:08] And they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them.

[29:20] So Jesus first asked his disciples to take an inventory of the available bread. The seven loaves that they found could never feed such a large crowd on their own.

[29:32] The first part of verse 6 says that Jesus directed the crowd to sit on the ground. And the fact that the crowd sits on the ground is an indication that this second feeding miracle took place at a different time of the year than the feeding of the 5,000.

[29:47] During the feeding of the 5,000, Mark 6, verse 39 told us that the people sat on the green grass. And here they're sitting on the ground. The remainder of Mark 8, verse 6 is where the miracle begins.

[30:03] Taking the seven loaves, the form of flatbread, Jesus gave thanks and broke them. By giving thanks to the Father, Jesus modeled what it means to depend on God daily for provisions.

[30:15] Jesus signified to the crowd of onlookers that the power behind the miracle was divine. The verb tenses for the words translated took and having given thanks and broke specify action at a fixed moment in the past.

[30:31] The verb translated gave is in the imperfect tense which shows a continuing action. We also need to notice something else about Mark 8, verse 6.

[30:44] Jesus gave the loaves to his disciples to set before the people. So the disciples were the ones who set the bread before the crowd. Jesus continued to break down the disciples' prejudices by having them serve people whom they previously avoided.

[30:58] In a small way, the disciples' actions here in our passage served as a picture of how those same disciples would later take the gospel or the bread of life to all nations.

[31:11] Mark 8, verse 7 is similar to verse 6. The disciples found a few fish. Jesus took those fish, thanked God again, and multiplied those fish.

[31:22] And then the disciples also gave those fish to the people. In Mark chapter 6, a generic word for fish was used during the feeding of the 5,000.

[31:34] Here in Mark chapter 8, the word translated as fish specifically refers to sardines, probably because the feeding of the 4,000 took place in a Gentile area that was known for its trade in that particular species of fish.

[31:49] The miracle was the spontaneous and continuous creation of bread and fish by the Creator of all things. The Lord kept bringing meals into existence out of nothing as the disciples distributed them to those in the crowd until everyone was fed.

[32:06] So far we've seen the compassionate Messiah, the confused men, and the created meal. We have two more verses to cover tonight, and in Mark chapter 8, verses 8 and 9, we have the contented multitude.

[32:19] So the contented multitude is your last set of blanks. Look at Mark chapter 8, verses 8 and 9 again. And they ate and were satisfied.

[32:32] And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about 4,000 people, and he sent them away. With the food created and distributed, the people ate and were satisfied.

[32:47] And the word satisfied comes from the same Greek word found in verse 4. It indicates that the hungry crowds, after three days without eating, feasted until they were totally satisfied.

[33:00] When the meal was over, the twelve picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. These baskets were different than the small baskets that the disciples used during the feeding of the 5,000.

[33:13] Baskets in Mark chapter 8, verse 8, translates a form of the same word that was used to describe the basket that lowered Paul over the side of a Damascus wall in Acts chapter 9, verse 25.

[33:26] So these baskets were big enough for a person to fit inside. Mark chapter 8, verse 9, says that the crowd included 4,000 people. But Matthew chapter 15, verse 38, shows that the 4,000 excluded women and children.

[33:43] That's just like the earlier feeding of the 5,000 excluded women and children. Here is Matthew chapter 15, verse 38. Those who ate were 4,000 men besides women and children.

[33:58] And only after the people were properly fed did Jesus send them home. Daniel Akin said, what careful attention to their situation.

[34:09] Jesus saw their need just as he sees yours and mine. So think about that. Jesus saw their need just as he sees yours and mine.

[34:22] Remember the main idea. Jesus' second feeding miracle proves his deity, fulfills prophecy, and shows that God's compassion applies to both Jews and Gentiles.

[34:34] We need to spend just a little bit of time on how these real life events fulfill prophecy. The fulfilled prophecies are prophecies that we've seen fulfilled by Jesus' earlier actions in the sections of Mark.

[34:47] Jesus is the greater Moses. Jesus feeds people with teaching from God and bread from heaven just like Moses did. As Moses met Israel's physical needs with manna and quail, a greater Moses who is not only the good shepherd but also the bread of life fed people with an abundant feast.

[35:09] Jesus is also the greater Elisha. When Elisha asked his servant to feed all the prophets with just 20 loaves of bread, the servant replied, How can I set this before a hundred men?

[35:22] Elisha's response was, Thus says the Lord, They shall eat and have some left. And they did. To see that, check out 2 Kings 4, verses 42-44.

[35:34] 2 Kings 4, verses 42-44. A man from Baal, Boshalish, came bringing the man of God bread of the first fruits, 20 loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack.

[35:50] And Elisha said, Give to the men that they may eat. But his servant said, How can I set this before a hundred men? So he repeated, Give them to the men that they may eat.

[36:02] For thus says the Lord, They shall eat and have some left. So he set it before them, and they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

[36:16] Two weeks ago, we looked at Genesis 12, verse 3, in Psalm 67, to see how God always had planned to take his salvation to the Gentiles. Remember what God said to Abram in Genesis 12, verses 1-3.

[36:31] Here are those verses. Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

[36:47] I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. In the Mark passage tonight, Jesus showed us and his disciples that God's promise to Abram, who later became Abraham, of course, is coming true.

[37:06] Perhaps no other place in Old Testament Scripture more clearly shows that God's salvation will extend to the Gentiles than Isaiah chapter 49, verse 6. You've heard that verse in earlier lessons, but here is Isaiah 49, verse 6 again.

[37:22] God is speaking to the Messiah, and Isaiah 49, 6 says, he says, It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel.

[37:36] I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. This section about fulfilled prophecy intentionally is repetitive because Mark's gospel and Jesus' ministry intentionally are repetitive.

[37:52] We first saw Jesus miraculously healing and feeding Jews. In recent passages, we've seen Jesus doing the same things for Gentiles.

[38:03] Aren't you glad that Jesus still repeats the miracle of saving all people who put their faith alone in Jesus for salvation from their sins? Listen to this quote from J.C. Ryle about tonight's Mark passage.

[38:16] J.C. Ryle said, The feeling heart of our Lord Jesus Christ appears in these words. He has compassion even on those who are not his people, the faithless, the graceless, the followers of this world.

[38:31] He feels tenderly for them though they do not know it. He died for them though they care little for what he did on the cross. He would receive them graciously and pardon them freely if they would only repent and believe in him.

[38:45] Let us always beware of measuring the love of Christ by any human measure. He has a special love beyond doubt for his own believing people, but he also has a genuine, general, compassionate love even for the unthankful and the evil.

[39:02] His love surpasses knowledge. We know from Romans 3.23 that all people have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We know from Romans 6.23 that the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[39:20] And the gospel good news keeps coming. In Romans 10.9-13 you will hear a theme from our passage tonight. God's compassion extends to both Jews and Gentiles and even better than that you will hear that God's eternal salvation extends to both Jews and Gentiles.

[39:43] Fortunately for people alive today God never tires of repeatedly showing his compassion and extending his salvation. Here are Romans 10.9-13 Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved.

[40:04] For with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek.

[40:21] For the same Lord is Lord of all bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

[40:32] Let's pray. Father we thank you for the reminder of your compassion and also Jesus' compassion. We thank you that you showed that compassion not only to Jews but also to Gentiles.

[40:50]  Let us reflect that same compassion as we take your gospel to other people. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm