Compassion

By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy

v30The apostles returned and met with Jesus, and told him all they had done and taught. v31There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn’t even have time to eat. So he said to them, “Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest a while.” v32So they started out in a boat by themselves to a lonely place.
v33Many people, however, saw them leave and knew at once who they were; so they went from all the towns and ran ahead by land and arrived at the place ahead of Jesus and his disciples. v34When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw this large crowd, and his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things.
…. v41Then Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God. He broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. v42Everyone ate and had enough. v43Then the disciples took up twelve baskets full of what was left of the bread and the fish. v44The number of men who were fed was five thousand. ( Read: Mark 6:30-44, 53-56)
As Jesus went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
Back from a long trip, exhausted yet exhilarated, eager to report to their master, the disciples leap at Jesus’ offer to give them a day off in a relaxing spot with no more needy people–peace for a day for both Jesus and his disciples, now called “apostles” for the first time. But it was not to be because the crowd were already there when they arrived. In this brief incident described in Mark’s Gospel, a most touching story is recounted. It is no small thing to have compassion for the crowds. Jesus was tired, bone-weary. As he looked into the faces of his 12 friends, he saw their exhaustion, too. He had sent them out, and they had returned to him to tell their stories. But too much had happened. There was so much to tell.
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One evening years ago a speaker who was visiting the United States wanted to make a telephone call. He entered a phone booth but found it to be different from those in his own country. It was beginning to get dark, so he had difficulty finding the number in the directory. He noticed that there was a light in the ceiling, but he didn’t know how to turn it on. As he tried again to find the number in the fading twilight, a passerby noted his plight and said, “Sir, if you want to turn the light on, you have to shut the door.” To the visitor’s amazement and satisfaction, when he closed the door, the booth was filled with light. He soon located the number and completed the call.
A writer in the devotional, Our Daily Bread, commenting on this story, writes, “In a similar way, when we draw aside in a quiet place to pray, we must block out our busy world and open our hearts to the Father. Our darkened world of disappointments and trials will then be illuminated. We will enter into communion with God, we will sense His presence, and we will be assured of His provision for us. Our Lord often went to be alone with the Heavenly Father. Sometimes it was after a busy day of preaching and healing, as in today’s Scripture reading. At other times, it was before making a major decision.” (Luke 6:12). And so should we. (King Duncan, www.Sermons.com).
Jesus was aware of his apostles’ physical and mental conditions so he told them to go for a retreat in a place where they could be alone. But it was not to be because the crowd were already there when they arrived. But instead of being annoyed, he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. What happened next is one of the most popular miracles that Jesus did when he was in his earthly ministry: the Miraculous Feeding of the Five Thousand.
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The crowd have come a long way to hear Jesus and now find themselves in a deserted area without food and are feeling the pangs of hunger. In his compassion, Jesus inquires about the food supply on hand and discovers all that is available is five barley of loaves and two fishes in the possession of a boy. We can easily picture this youth’s bewilderment when asked to give up all that he has, to part with the only food that is available. However, his sacrifice is well rewarded when he sees Jesus feed the multitude with the food he has provided. Through the power and prayer of our Lord, the impossible became possible. What is given to Jesus as a sacrifice is given back by him totally transformed.
The crowd is fed, symbolizing that Jesus has come to give life to all people.
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This is the only one of Jesus’ miracles that is reported in all four Gospels, twice each in Matthew and Mark. It’s an important story.This story is important because even when faced with his own need and the need of his disciples, Jesus looked at the crowd and had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.As we hear this familiar story again today, we must hear its message, both as sheep without a shepherd and as disciple.
The disciples were reluctant even to try to feed this mob. So, many times, are we. We believe what we bring to God’s needy people is insufficient, inadequate to be of use. Unassisted, that’s the truth. However, we follow the example of the One who did nothing without invoking the Divine. “Thank you for the little I have to bring, O God; bless it and make it enough, I pray,” we must say. If we are indeed to be Christ’s hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth, heart in the world today, we can do no less.
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One message to be taken to heart from this miraculous feeding of the crowd is the importance of sharing what we have with those who are less well off, especially those who are starving. The Lord asks us to give ourselves and our resources generously to him, to place what we have and are at his disposal. Not many of us have experienced the pangs of real hunger which darkens the mind and forces an honest man to become a thief. Our problem is that we have too much food. The inclination to selfishness is strong in all of us. The more we have the more we want. There is food enough in the world for the needs of all people but not enough for people’s greed. Let our Lord’s compassion possess us that we may overcome this human anomaly.
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Let ministers not do anything or teach any thing, but what they are willing should be told to their Lord. Christ notices the frights of some, and the toils of others of his disciples, and provides rest for those that are tired, and refuge for those that are terrified. The people sought the spiritual food of Christ’s word, and then he took care that they should not want bodily food. If Christ and his disciples put up with mean things, surely, we may. And this miracle shows that Christ came into the world, not only to restore, but to preserve and nourish spiritual life; in him there is enough for all that come. None are sent empty away from Christ but those who come to him full of themselves. Though Christ had bread enough at command, he teaches us not to waste any of God’s bounties, remembering how many are in want. We may, some time, need the fragments that we now throw away.
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We hear how Jesus took some loaves and gave thanks to the Father. Thankfulness for what we have got, can be a beginning. Every day we live in this world is a miracle of God’s divine providence, much greater than the feeding of the multitude, but because it happens with such regularity, we take them for granted. This story should make us think about thanking God not only for our food but for the many blessings and benefits that come our way and which we take so much for granted.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our
necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have
compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those
things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our
blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 11 Collect, BCP)