Jesus Satisfies Our Every Need :: Mark 8:1-9
Once again I invite you to open your service book, this time to Page 324 ... (you might as well set a ribbon there, if you haven’t already) ... and join me in confessing our faithful doctrine on the fourth petition of the Lord’s Prayer.
What is the Fourth Petition? Give us this day our daily bread.
What does this mean? God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayer, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.
What is meant by daily bread? Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.
In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus fed about four thousand tired and hungry followers with a feast of overwhelming abundance, a feast that clearly never ends. The people had been following Jesus for three days ... listening to his word, hearing his sermons, witnessing our Lord at work. How about you? Are you ready for a three-day sermon? Then Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it. He gave it to his apostles ... those he called ... to deliver his peace to the congregation, even when they didn’t know they needed it. They all did exactly what they were told to do. And in the process, everyone was fully satisfied in body and soul. Jesus always provides.
I’m not sure now which is more miraculous: The fact that Jesus fed about four thousand people with just seven loaves of bread and a few small fish, the fact that the people listened to Jesus for three days without grumbling, or the fact that everyone in this reading ... the disciples and all the people following Jesus ... did exactly what the Lord told them to do. But today, I will go with the first one: Jesus saw the needs of the people and so he nourished and nurtured the people who were following him ... in soul and body.
JESUS ALWAYS SATISFIES OUR HUNGER WITH HIS WORD AND SACRAMENTS.
This is our theme. First, when we are with him, he opens our ears to hear and satisfies our longing for God’s Word. Second, when we are with him, Jesus always satisfies every need of body and soul. Finally, Jesus always satisfies those who follow him by giving the bread of life.
I. Jesus opens our ears to hear and satisfies our longing for God’s Word.
We should burn this lesson about the feeding of the four thousand into our memories so that we may learn to believe that, regardless of our perceived lack of resources, regardless of how hungry we think we are or aren’t, our Lord always gives us what we need, when we need it! He achieves his will and purpose for us. What an honor it is to be on the receiving end of such a gracious and profound miracle that is still taking place. Because that’s exactly what is happening.
It is often quite difficult to come to this realization because we feel so far removed from the events of “those days” (v 1). Too often we think of the accounts of Jesus’ ministry on earth as something that happened yesterday. We tell ourselves: It’s past tense ... this happened yesterday. But the Word of God, most notably today in Mark, is actually quite moving. The Word of God is exactly like the evangelist to the Hebrews proclaims ... living and active. The Word of God is always doing something, always at work. And today is no exception.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, look all around you. Just like in our reading, a great crowd again is existing ... listening, hearing, following. Not long ago, Jesus left Galilee and went away to Tyre and Sidon. That means he left Israel. Today, he has come to the region of the Decapolis. He is showing us he has come to save you. He has come to open the ears of the deaf, and give voice to those who were mute. And people everywhere, upon hearing this Good News, become astonished, and as they were saying just before our reading began: He continues to do all things well (7:37).
They are so astonished they follow Jesus for three days, listening to his every word, watching his every deed ... without a care in the world. I don’t think they even realized they were physically hungry. Knowing this, Jesus called his disciples and said to them. ‘I have empathy [for these people] because already they’ve remained with me [for] three days, and they don’t have anything they can eat. And if I dismiss them [while they’re] fasting, they will collapse on the way to their homes. And some of them have come from afar’ (vv 1-3).
Yes, it just goes to show that man truly does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Dt 8:3). The Word always takes care of every need of the body and soul.
But that wasn’t good enough, we still declare. Like our parents, Adam and Eve, we want more. All too often we look to our own desire rather than rejoicing in the gifts that God continually gives. And we are dying as a result. As God told us, the day that you eat [of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] you will certainly die (Ge 2:17). Our sin brought us all kinds of doubt ... Doubt about how, when, and where God provides for his creation ... doubt about the power of God’s Word ... doubt that God actually cares for body and soul all the days of our lives ... even when we don’t realize we need it.
Lord, have mercy. Heavenly Father, bring us all to repentance every day. And enable us all to believe the Gospel and be saved by our Lord Jesus.
II. When we are with him, the Word of God always satisfies every need of body and soul.
And [Jesus] asked [his disciples], ‘How many [loaves of] bread do you have?’ They said ‘Seven’ (vv 4-5)? Jesus sees our every need. And he knows our every need. This is why he has come to us today. He came first in the fullness of time to share his life with us so that we would have life with him. The Perfect Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. He became one with us and of us. Therefore, he is the God of empathy because he knows your suffering, he knows your pain, he knows you.
Immediately after his baptism, the baptism in which he united himself with you, the Spirit led him into the desert where he fasted not for three days, but for forty days. So he knows your hunger. When you are without, when you face a difficult time, when you suffer loss, Jesus knows how you feel. Your suffering is his suffering.
But he does more than suffer with you and feel sorry for you. In Mark’s Gospel, here Jesus has begun his journey to Jerusalem to fulfill his all-atoning work by carrying your sin to the cross. There, he will suffer for you. And die for you. He will ensure your sin dies and is buried with him. He fulfills the demands of God’s law ... not for his own benefit ... but for ours, so that we can’t boast in self-righteousness. He offered up his righteous life as payment to set us free from our sins. And his resurrection proves it. He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!
III. Jesus always satisfies those who follow him by feeding them the bread of life.
[Then Jesus] proceeded to announce to the crowd to recline upon the earth. And he took the seven [loaves of] bread, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples in order that they set [the loaves]; 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 fully satisfied. And they took up the abundance of broken pieces [into] seven baskets. And there were about four thousand people (vv 6-9a).
You know these words. Although Jesus has not yet instituted the Lord’s Supper ... Jesus is clearly teaching us what the Lord’s Supper does for us. He is clearly preparing all of his disciples, those following him, for the Day of the Lord. His supper nourishes body and soul into everlasting life, even when we don’t know we need it. His supper gives us strength for our journey in this valley of sin through which we walk. His bread of life richly and daily provides all the needs of body and soul, even when we don’t ask for it.
This miraculous feeding is significant because Jesus is the One who is giving it. Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it. Jesus directs his apostles ... those whom he called ... to set it before the people. And in that broken bread, like the Emmaus disciples discovered, we come to know that Jesus is actually with us.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, when the Lord is with you, you know for certain that you have the forgiveness of sins because God has no part with sin. So take and eat. In it, Jesus gives you the gift of eternal life. This is the magnificent treasure in this text: Jesus is always providing for your body and soul. So hear the psalmist again ...
Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. ...
Sing to him a new song. ...
For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness (Ps 33:1,3,4) ... As we thank the Lord and sing his praise.
Then [Jesus] dismissed them (v 9b) ... in his name.