9th Sunday after Pentecost
August 10, 2003
Mark 6:30-34

^6:30The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. ³²And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. ³³Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. ³⁴As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. (NRS).

Jesus is the Compassionate Shepherd.

  We have now read of many of Jesus’ miracles from the Gospel of Mark. We have noted that these miracles reveal Jesus. They help us answer the question, “Who is this?” As we progress through the Gospel and the many miracles of healing, of casting out demons, of controlling the forces of nature and even raising the dead, we come to the inevitable conclusion that Jesus has divine power and authority. Therefore, he has the authority to forgive sin and so make us acceptable to God; he has complete authority over Satan and all evil spirits; he has authority to teach and speak for God.

  Eventually the question that we will have to face is that of his nature. Is Jesus simply a man with special power like one of the great prophets before him, Moses or Elijah for example? Or is he more than that? Is he God? You and I know the answer to that question. We know that Jesus is somehow both true God and true man in one person. Even though we cannot explain how that can be, that truth explains Jesus. However, at this point in Mark’s Gospel, people-including the disciples-do not yet understand Jesus’ true nature. They are still collecting the pieces of the puzzle as it were. Here’s one more piece of the puzzle. Just before recounting the time when Jesus fed 5000 men with five loaves of bread, Mark notes this: As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. His choice of words here recalls two concepts that relate to God and his work: compassion and leading the sheep. The fact that Jesus had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd further reveals him as the unique Son of God and our Saviour. God would have us understand that Jesus is the compassionate shepherd so that we will trust in him.

  We could speak simply about the emotion of compassion and note how much Jesus loves us. That is absolutely true. We could also speak about the metaphor of Jesus as a shepherd, that is, our leader. That too is absolutely true. But if that is all we do, we will miss something very important. Those concepts have roots in the Old Testament. They pertain to God himself in his dealings with Israel. Therefore, they reveal something about Jesus, for as he himself said, You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. John 5:39 (NRS).

  First, Jesus sees the people as sheep without a shepherd. That phrase is used only a few times in the Old Testament but with great significance. Moses uses it when he asks God to appoint his successor to lead Israel. Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep without a shepherd. Numbers 27:16-17 (NRS). God appointed Joshua-or ‘Jesus’ in Greek-to lead the people.

  The prophet Micaiah uses it of the people under the rule of the wicked king Ahab. Before going to war with the king of Aram, Ahab asks Micaiah if God will make him successful. The answer is no; Ahab will die in battle. Therefore, Micaiah said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep that have no shepherd.” 1 Kings 22:17 (NRS). Less than 150 years later, the northern kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians and the people were literally scattered sheep without a shepherd.

  The prophet Ezekiel also used the image of sheep without a shepherd. The reason the southern kingdom of Judah went into exile in Babylon was because the leaders, i.e., the shepherds, had neglected the sheep. They had not proclaimed God’s word to the people. Instead, these false shepherds led the people astray into sin and idolatry. Therefore, God punished those shepherds and said this: I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. . . . I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken. Ezek 34:15-16, 23-24 (NRS).

  Dozens of other passages make it clear that the concept of a shepherd and his sheep apply to God and his people. God is the real shepherd, prophet, priest and king are his under-shepherds, and the people of God are his sheep. When those sheep are without a shepherd, it means that they are separated from God, without a faithful prophet, priest or king who speaks for God.

  Jesus see the people as sheep without a shepherd. They are separated from God. There is no prophet, priest or king who speaks for God. The Pharisees and Sadducees, had led them astray. They turned Judaism into a sort of nationalistic legalism. One had to be a Jew and observe the Law of Moses in minute detail to be acceptable. They despised and shunned those who couldn’t measure up, which was most of the population. Rather than leading people to the same faith that Abraham had, they, in Jesus’ words, were making people twice as much sons of hell as themselves!

  No wonder the crowds flocked to Jesus. He not only did miracles to heal and save them, but he spoke words to them that they had never before heard. Whereas the Jewish leaders refused to be near the sinners, Jesus ate with them. Whereas the Jewish leaders condemned people, Jesus forgave them. The Pharisee might pray, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” Luke 18:11 (NRS). But Jesus would say, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Mt 11:28 (NRS). In other words, as Ezekiel said, God had come to shepherd his flock, to seek and to save them, not to sell them off to the highest bidder. Jesus was God’s appointed leader like Joshua; he was the faithful king like David; he was the promised shepherd through whom God himself would shepherd his sheep.

  We too are or were among those sheep without a shepherd. Our Epistle lesson says it all. So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”. . . remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Ephesians 2:11 (NRS). Without Christ, we are without God, sheep without a shepherd, wandering in the wilderness, the prey of the devil. The god we imagine or invent for ourselves is nothing. The God who saves is the one who came to us in the flesh and was quite different than we expected. The prophet said, “I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.” Zech 13:7 (NRS). And so, Jesus, the compassionate shepherd, gave his life for the sheep. He was stricken for us.

  Because Jesus saw the people as sheep without a shepherd, he had compassion on them. We have already noted the contrast between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. Compassion was not one of their major characteristics. Not all of them, of course, lacked compassion, but enough of them did for the Pharisees to object to Jesus’ eating with tax collectors or to say, This crowd, which does not know the law-- they are accursed. John 7:49 (NRS). Jesus, however, understands their situation, feels sorry for them and wants to do something about it.

  But again, this is not just an emotional concept. It’s not just that Jesus is a nice guy. He has God’s compassion. God’s compassion in the Old Testament is almost always connected with his forgiveness and restoration of his people after they have been punished. For example, Moses says to the people, that after they have deserted God and gone astray, if they repent with all their heart, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, gathering you again from all the peoples among whom the LORD your God has scattered you. Dt 30:3 (NRS). When the good king Hezekiah was reforming the nation, he told the people to repent. For as you return to the LORD, your kindred and your children will find compassion with their captors, and return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him. 2 Chronicles 30:9 (NRS). And Isaiah, speaking of the return from Babylon says, For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the LORD, your Redeemer. Is 54:7-8 (NRS).

  God’s compassion then takes on an eschatological or ‘end-times’ perspective. God will fulfill his compassion for his people in the great Day of the Lord, the time when God will restore his creation and his people and destroy all evil. In the Psalms, the songs of Israel, people cry out and for God to have that compassion. Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion? Psalm 77:9 (NRS). Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. Psalm 79:8 (NRS). Turn, O LORD! How long? Have compassion on your servants! Psalm 90:13 (NRS).

  In the New Testament, only Jesus is said to have compassion for people. Given the Old Testament context, to say that Jesus had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, was to imply that the end-time had come. Through him, God was going to rescue and restore his people, i.e., have compassion on them. I think the people understood that, for John tells us that after Jesus fed the 5000, the men wanted to force him to become king. They thought he was the Messiah!

  Mark prefaces his account of the feeding of the 5000 with this observation: As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. He wants us to understand that Jesus is the one the Scriptures were talking about. He is the one who was to come, God’s servant, the Messiah, the Redeemer. He is God’s way to have compassion and save his people. He is God’s chosen shepherd to lead his sheep. He is the compassionate shepherd. When we trust and follow him, he leads us back to God. He restores us to a right relationship with God and ends the punishment that our sins earned. Because of him, we no longer need to fear God. We can approach him with boldness in prayer trusting that he hears us for Jesus’ sake. We can count on the fact that we will rise from the dead for Jesus’ sake. Our compassionate shepherd will not forsake or fail us.

  There is one warning we must mention. By giving his life for us, Jesus proves that the love and mercy of God are greater than his anger and justice. But we must never take God’s compassion for granted. We must not become so accustomed to God’s compassion that we begin to exploit it and allow ourselves the freedom to sin. We must never forget why the sheep were scattered in the first place: sin. It ruptures our relationship with God. As God did not spare ancient Israel, so he will not spare presumptuous people today. God is not mocked.

  As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Those words reveal Jesus. He is God with us. In Jesus, God leads us. In Jesus, God will restore us to himself at the resurrection. Trust and follow him. He is the compassionate shepherd.