Active Compassion of Christ

It's a great day to rejoice. I had the privilege of being in Chip's class this morning. He's doing the Ten Commandments, and I had a great time with a wonderful group of men and women. I had a good time talking to Ben, actually looking up at Ben. We've been 6-5, and so I was looking up at Ben and talking, so I had a good time talking to Ben and to Jim, Fitzpatrick, and also to Mike, and talked to others, and so I had a good time talking to you all today. I'm excited. We're not going to be in Jonah today. We're going to look into Mark, and so if you take your Bibles and turn to Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8. I'm going to read verses 1 through 10 of Mark chapter 8. I'll be reading from the NIV Bible. It says, During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, I have compassion for these people. They have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way because some of them have come a long distance. His disciples answered. But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them? How many loaves do you have, Jesus asked? Seven, they replied. He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. And they did so. They had a few small fish as well. He gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. About 4,000 men were present. And having sent them away, he got into the boat with the disciples and went to the region of Delmanatha. Let's pray. There is no other name on the heaven by which man can be saved. It is the name of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist said that there is one coming whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. You are the one who said, destroy this temple in three days. You will be raised again. You were the one who made a cord and said, took a cord and made a whip and said, how dare you dishonor my father's temple? You are the one who said before Abraham was, I am. The people hated you. It says in John, you came to your own and your own did not receive you. They did not like you. But it says, as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God. And by your grace, under the sound of my voice, are men and women who have become children of the living God through faith in Jesus Christ. And as we come to your word this morning, we need you to speak to us. We need to hear from you. As we look to face another week. We need to be reminded of you, our great God and King, our savior. And so we ask now that you would speak, we ask their father that you would open up our hearts. We ask there would be good soil. Ready to hear the good word. That we would apply it for your glory. And for your name. This, I pray in Jesus name, Amen. I want you to leave here this morning, feeling the weight. And the beauty of Jesus Christ, specifically his compassion. I want you to leave here this morning, thinking and feeling the weight of Jesus Christ's plan to minister to people through people. I want you to leave her today humbled that you cannot fulfill. The uninterrupted compassion of Jesus Christ that he wants to flow through you. And I want you to leave here this morning, thinking and feeling the weight and beauty of Jesus Christ. Specifically, how you and I are dependent upon him to work his compassion through us. And so we're going to camp in Mark chapter eight, verses one through 10. And what I want to show you from these 10 verses. Is this. Jesus compassion for people. Will test the faith of his followers. Therefore, followers must daily grasp their total dependence on Jesus Christ to work through them to minister to people. That's what I want to prove from Mark chapter eight, that Jesus' compassion for people will test the faith of his followers. And therefore, followers must daily grab their total dependence on Jesus Christ to work through them, to minister to people. Or I could put it another way. I want you and I to understand that we are totally dependent on Christ for his compassion to display itself in our lives. Totally dependent on Jesus Christ. In verses 1 through 3, we're going to see that Jesus' compassion forces all of his disciples into action. In verse 4, we're going to see that disciples of Christ cannot fulfill the compassion of Christ. In verses 5 through 10, we're going to see that Jesus Christ fulfills his compassion by including his disciples in the action. When we come to Mark chapter eight, there's a conversation going on between Jesus and his disciples. The background is this. Jesus in the region of the Decapolis. This is a makeup of land of 10 Gentile cities. They're near the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. And from Matthew's account in chapter fifteen, verse thirty, it says that great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others and laid them at his feet. And it says that Jesus healed them. The people from this region are overwhelmed, they are amazed at what Jesus has been doing, and it says that the people praise the God of Israel. Even saying that Jesus does everything well. As was the norm in Jesus' day, there are great crowds following him. Large crowds. They want to hear and they want to see what Jesus Christ is going to teach and they want to see what he's doing. So in Mark 8, verses 1 through 3, it may say in your Bible, there's a heading there, the feeding of the 4,000. Or Jesus feeds the 4,000. The number of the people that are there is not known until you get to verse 9. And it says this without counting the women and children. So all we know from verse 8 that it is a large crowd. And so the number was probably anywhere between 10,000 or 15,000 people that were there. And these people have been with Jesus for three days. They've been amazed at his miraculous healings and also his teachings, though neither Mark nor Matthew say that Jesus was teaching at all. But even though it does not say that Jesus was teaching. The providence of God has set up the scene in which Jesus is about to teach his disciples. He's about to show them and he's about to show us some important truths that all disciples of Christ. Need to grasp in order to minister to people. The disciples need to get their hands around the fact and they need to understand. And they need to be moved in their hearts. And put into practice Jesus words in action. What Jesus is about to do is not a magic trick. It is not a shifting of the hands. Jesus is going to meet a need. Very specific need. The need is in the first three verses. The people had nothing to eat. They were hungry. Before Jesus moved on, he was not going to leave the people in this situation. He was not going to leave them hungry. He was not. He was going to meet the need. As usual, the disciples are with Jesus. And Jesus Christ is preparing his disciples to meet an even greater need than hunger. Though this is a very important need, Jesus is preparing these men to be the mouthpieces. They're going to be the spokesmen. They are going to be the heralds. They are going to be the foundation by which God is going to declare to spiritually need of people that they need to repent of their sins and they need to believe in Jesus Christ and they need to live for his honor for the rest of their lives. The need before them is one of many. Along the path of disciples training. Jesus is about to teach him. That you all need to grow in compassion. He's going to teach him this. Before we look at this, let me remind you of why the disciples are with Jesus, which will connect us with what he's about to teach him. You remember that Jesus chose 12 men for an earthly mission. You remember these men? From Matthew 10, 2 through 4, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, Philip, and Bartholomew, Thomas, and Matthew, the tax collector, James, son of Aphaeus and Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who would betray him. A.B. Bruce, in his book, The Training of the Twelve, says, These twelve men, however, as we know, were to be something more than traveling companions of menial servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were to be, in the meantime, students of Christian doctrine and occasional fellow laborers in the work of the kingdom and eventually Christ's chosen, trained agents propagating the faith after he himself left the earth. All of these men were being prepared. By Jesus to be fishers of men, as it says in Matthew 419 about Peter and Andrew. They were being prepared to do something totally different than they had ever done before. These men signed up for a great task. Did these men know what they signed up for? They probably did not. And you and I, when we trusted in Jesus Christ, we probably did not know fully what we signed up for. But one of the things we signed up for when we trusted in Jesus Christ is we signed up to go after people. We signed up, just as the disciples did, we signed up to go after people who would hate Jesus and would hate them. We sign up to go after people who suppress the truth by their wickedness, to go after people who neither glorify God nor give thanks to him, but whose thinking is futile and their foolish hearts are darkened. We go after people who are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanders, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent ways of doing evil. They disobey their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. There are people who are dead in their transgressions and sins. They follow the ways of this world and of the rule of the kingdom of the air. The spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. They were going after men and women in whom the master and Lord was Satan. They go after men and women who gratify the cravings of their sinful nature and follow its desires and thoughts. They were going after men who were by nature objects of wrath. They were going after men who were destined to receive the full wrath of God unless they repented and believed. These are the individuals they were going after. That is who you and I signed up when we trusted in Jesus Christ. To go after men and women like this. We're going after individuals who hate the Holy One. John 3, 19 through 21. They don't come to Christ because they love their sin. You and I who worship the Holy One are to go after those who hate the Holy One. And so remember, it is the 12 that stayed when everyone turned back and followed no longer. It says in John 6. And so these men are going after unregenerate men and women. You and I are going after men and women who take a chance every second with no guarantee they will breathe another breath. You've been called to go after men and women who live around this church, but not everyone in this community is lost. And there are some who have trusted in Jesus Christ, just like you and I, but not only men and women in this community, but in your community and in mine. You're going after men and women, boys and girls, golf buddies, coffee friends, bowling team members, softball team members, your teachers, your child's teacher, the person that cuts your hair, the person that does your nails, the girl at the beauty salon, or the person that cuts your grass. Unregenerate men and women in need of the gospel. They're everywhere. And so for two to three years, the disciples see Jesus interact with the Pharisees. They see him heal the deaf and the mute, restore sight to the blind. They see him calm the wind and the waves, walk on the water, turn water into wine. They see him sit with sinners. They see him teach the law, raise the dead, and drive out demons. Every day, every moment, the disciples are in a class. They are being prepared to be fishers of men. And Jesus knew exactly what he was doing, even if they didn't. These men needed to grasp their need to be compassionate because they were going to minister to uncompassionate people. What about you? In what ways are you going to be a better fisher of men? How can the particular Sunnyside class you go to make you a better fisher of men? How can your desire to read through the Bible in a year or to do devotionals make you a better Fisher of men? How can the Wednesday night study in the book of Philippians make you into a better Fisher of men? How can the books you love to read make you into a better Fisher of men? All of these questions can have many answers. And so I ask, how is what you are doing strengthening you to be a better Fisher of men? and of women. So Jesus is preparing these disciples. So Jesus' compassion forces these men into action. Verse one says that Jesus called these men to himself, or he bid them to come. Jesus did not make a loud announcement to the crowd of his concern for them, but he speaks directly to the disciples. And he shared with them that he, Jesus, had compassion. It was not that Jesus and the disciples had compassion, but it was Jesus who had compassion. Why did Jesus call the twelve to himself? He could have had everyone sit down and Jesus could have easily fed the people or he could have said to the disciples, give me your food so I can feed the people. The twelve need to have Christ like compassion. What is Christ like compassion? Well, in the original, the word compassion meant the inner parts of the body, the bowels, and it came to suggest the seat of the emotions is the place where the emotions were located internally. And so Jesus is moved internally, which leads to an external action. Jesus compassion that he's about to display is not new to the disciples. He displayed it in many places. Listen to these verses in Matthew chapter nine, verse thirty six to thirty eight. When he saw the crowds, he, Jesus, had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out the workers into his harvest field. And so Jesus sees the crowd. He has compassion on him. His compassion leads him to say, we need to pray. We need to pray that the Lord would send out workers to this crowd. Internal concern leads to external action. In Matthew 14, 14 through 16, it says, when Jesus landed and saw a great large crowd, he had compassion on them, listen to this, and healed the sick. Internal action, he has compassion, it moves him to heal the sick. Matthew twenty thirty four says Jesus had compassion on them and touch their eyes immediately, they receive their sight and follow him. Jesus has compassion on these individuals. He touches them. They receive their sight. Internal action leads to external action. This is the kind of compassion every follower of Christ is to have. So what is Christ like compassion, this is this is it. Christ's compassion is this, because he is God, Jesus has continual, unceasing, uninterrupted, unbroken internal concern for people that leads to external involvement in meeting needs, whether physical or spiritual. Jesus has continual unceasing, uninterrupted, unbroken, internal concern for people that leads to external involvement in meeting needs, whether physical or spiritual. Jesus' compassion never ends. It never ends. And this is not natural. This is not natural. At some point, our compassion comes to an end. All of us have a point which will pour out grace and kindness and mercy and love. But for Jesus, it never ends. It's because he's God. He's fully God, as it says in Lamentations 322, because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed for his compassion never fails. Psalms 111 verse four says he has caused his wonders to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and compassionate. Psalm 116, verse five says, The Lord is gracious and righteous. Our God is full of compassion. As I've already said, Jesus' compassion was not natural. He consistently had compassion for people who were marginalized. He had compassion for the sick, for the lame, for the leper, for the blind and hungry, and the list could go on. But in our text, Jesus breaks the established norm of his day by displaying compassion excuse me, to Gentiles. A Jew is displaying compassion to Gentiles. Jesus' compassion crosses racial lines. These two groups of people hated one another. Jesus Christ, the master teacher, is setting the example that his disciples, who were all Jews, must embrace, teach, and display to all who would follow Christ after them. They were to show that Jesus' compassion has no connection to tradition, nor to the unspoken or spoken code of society. Jesus' compassion does not discriminate. Jesus' compassion does not take racial sides, but his compassion causes Jesus and his followers to cross to the other side in order to save sinners. Whether Jew or Gentile, black or white, Asian or Latino, Russian or Iranians, male or female, Jesus' compassion is continual. internal concern for people, no matter who they are, that leads to external involvement in meeting needs, whether physical or spiritual. And so this compassion must be displayed to marginalized people who live in this community and who are in the nations. That is the compassion of Christ. And when this kind of compassion, which is not natural, is displayed. May the only testimony that people can say about First Baptist Church of Durham. May the only testimony people can say about Jefferson Park Baptist Church be the thing that they said about the church in Antioch. They're Christians. That's the only explanation why they do what they do. They're Christians. Jesus' continual display of compassion in these verses and the ones we are looking at point to his deity. Christ's compassion goes far beyond feeling sorry for people. Jesus' compassion leads to action for the glory of the Father. And so if you're progressing, if you're progressing in Christ's likeness, pray that your compassion will be better one year from now than it is today. I'm assuming this because we're all growing in Christ's likeness. It says in Colossians 3, 10, and we put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge and the image of its creator. If you look there in verse 12, it actually says, clothe yourself with compassion. And Jesus' compassion was more than words and feelings, it was backed up with action. All of Christ's followers should be growing in Christlike compassion toward all people. And so the disciples are listening as Jesus explains the providential situation they're in. The option to send them home hungry will have an un-Christlike effect. Verse two says, I have compassion for these people. They have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way because some of them have come a long distance. Jesus is fully aware of the situation. Listen to the facts that Jesus knew about the situation. He knew the number of days that people were with him. He knew they had nothing to eat. He knew that if he were to send them home hungry, some of them would collapse. He knew that some of them had come a long distance. Jesus is the one who knows the specifics of the situation, not the disciples. My brothers and sisters in Christ, may you be comforted that if Jesus is the only one who knows a specific need or needs in your life, there is no one better able to meet your need. It is good when other brothers and sisters in Christ and the body are aware of what is going on. But thank God that if Jesus is the only one who knows, he knows the details. Jesus knows. That you have no clue what to do with your degree. Jesus knows you need to pay for classes and books for next semester. Jesus knows your desire to be married, if it is his will. Jesus knows when you sit on the couch and wrap your arms around a pillow and cry, not having the strength to utter a prayer because of the pain internally and externally in your life. Jesus knows that you need wisdom and caring for your elderly family member. Jesus knows that you struggle or you're struggling with coworkers or management on your job. Jesus knows what your children are doing and where they go, even if you do not. We could go on, but Jesus knows. And so, Jesus has brought the twelve to himself. He's explained the providential situation, and he looks to the disciples to take action based on his compassion. So, Jesus' compassion forces the disciples into action. The disciples cannot be passive. And say as they did with the feeding of the five thousand, just send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy some food themselves. The disciples in that verse wanted to dismiss or release or detain no longer the crowd and have them go find food. But Jesus says in the next verse in Matthew 14, 16, they do not need to go away. You give them something to eat. You know, maybe before the disciples met Jesus Christ, when they were fishermen or as one served as a tax clerk or another as a zealot, they could treat people like that. They can tell them just to just go away. The treatment of people that says, you know, we see you're hungry, we see there's a problem, but just just go away. But now they were followers of Christ. And so how they used to deal with people, treat people, think about people, help people before Christ is what needed to be dismissed, is what needed to be released, is what needed to no longer be detained. Jesus was calling the disciples to himself to involve them in meeting the need of the people. But more than that, it was for the disciples to own up to this need and say, Jesus, if you're concerned, About these hungry Gentiles. Then we as your followers are concerned also. That's the point that Jesus wants to get him. Followers of Christ are concerned about the things that Jesus is concerned about. Jesus, compassion is not passive, it is active, and therefore, if you are being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, your compassion must be active, it cannot be passive. And so, Jesus' compassion forces his disciples into action, and so the conversation between Jesus and his disciples continues. But now, in verse four, it is time for the disciples to respond. And they acknowledge their inability to fulfill the need. Verse four said, his disciples answered, but where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them? The disciples cannot fulfill Christ's compassion. It seems as though they learn from the feeding of the five thousand. That they were at least willing to go and find some food. But even if the disciples went to get bread, the remote place they were in would not supply enough food for everyone. Remote place there, if you have an ESV or NAS, it says desolate place. If you have a KJV, it says wilderness. This word here that is used for remote place is used also in Luke eight twenty nine to describe the place of the demon possessed man was led when he was seized by the evil spirit. For it says when this man broke his chains, he was driven to a solitary place. And so a remote place is an inhabited uninhabited region. It is desolate, is a thinly populated area. A remote place is a waste. Jesus, where are we going to get enough food to feed all these people? In this wasted place. And so it appears that the location. Is a hindrance to fulfilling Christ's compassion to feed the people. It appears that the location is a roadblock. The disciples are correcting their assessment of the situation. It is a fact they are in a remote place. The disciples plan on their option to meet the need of the hungry people is hindered by their location. The location does provide food, but it doesn't provide enough food. The verse does not say where. They were going to get the bread to feed them, but it just says we says, where can anyone get enough bread? Or where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy the hunger or fill the hunger of the people? And so the disciples response to Jesus compassion is this. Listen, Jesus, we want to minister effectively. We want to fulfill your compassion, but our location is the problem. We got a problem as to where we are. Or they could be saying to Jesus, you know, Jesus, you need to come down from your cloud of compassion and see reality. It is a worthy desire to want to feed the people, but it cannot be done. Not by us. Because of the location. Do you think Jesus was unaware of the location? As if the disciples had provided him with some breaking news. Who led the disciples to this remote place? I remember it was Jesus. Remember, the disciples are following Jesus, it's not the other way around. It's amazing that God can use anything to teach. As we looked at last week in Jonah, he has everything at his disposal. And God can use anything to teach this community of believers about forgiveness and grace and mercy and kindness and service and sacrifice and sin and salvation and prayer and the power of the gospel. He has everything at his disposal. And so Jesus is working on the faith of disciples. And Jesus never kept the disciples away from situations that would stretch their faith, and that is true today. You remember, it was Jesus who said to his disciples, let's get into the boat and go to the other side. And while he took a nap, the winds and the waves rocked the boat and they thought they were going to be killed. You remember, it was Jesus who sent his disciples ahead of him and they were straining at the oars because of the wind. And they see Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water. You remember, it was Jesus who took Peter, James, and John up a mountain to witness an amazing sight, his transfiguration. Jesus never kept the disciples away from faith-stretching situations. He took them into them. He put them in situations that enabled them to grow in their faith, in the knowledge of his deity, and that they were totally dependent on him to fulfill the task he was preparing them for. Faith-stretching situations enable us to grow in the knowledge of God, and they remind us of how absolutely dependent we are on God. Faith-stretching situations cause us to do what it says in James 1 5. If any of you lack wisdom, you should ask of God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. Jesus is at work preparing and transforming the mind of the disciples, and he is doing the same work on you also. Jesus is going to stretch your faith. It is because he does not want your faith nor my faith to remain where it is. And understand this, that Jesus never promises that when he wants to stretch your faith, the circumstance will be pleasant. No guarantee. There could be a pleasant circumstance But it may not. And so the disciples faith is stretched. Their location hinders their option to meet the need. And so disciples of Christ are powerless to fulfill the compassion of Christ. And so followers of Christ must grasp their inability to fulfill the compassion of Christ. You and I must understand that we are totally dependent on Jesus Christ to fulfill his compassion in our lives. We cannot do it in our own strength and ability. We need Christ to work through us. And so the conversation shifts from the disciples to Jesus and now shifts back to Jesus. And we're going to see that Jesus Christ fulfills his compassion by including his disciples in the action. Jesus answers the disciples question with a question. Amazing, he doesn't even address their comment. He just says, how many loaves do you have? The disciples replied, we have seven. The disciples had seven loaves of bread and a few small fishes, seven verse seven. The seven loaves were loaves that took the form of kind of oblong or round flat cake like they are probably as thick as one's thumb and probably as large as a plate or a platter. Hence, it was not to be cut, but the bread was to be broken. The seven loaves and small fish in the disciples possession. Could feed the disciples and a few others. They would not come close to feeding the 4000 hungry crowd. As long as the disciples kept what they had in their possession, you can only feed a few people. Some of the people would go home a long distance without collapsing. As long as the load stayed in the disciples hands. It couldn't do much. Let me ask you this. What do you have? That you can use that can open a door to talk about Jesus Christ. How is God gifted you? What skills, abilities, hobbies, work experience, side job you like to do? Who do you know? What do you know can be used for God's glory? What sacrifices have you made in the past and what can you sacrifice now? What do you have that God can use to display his compassion to people? Jesus, in verse five, said, How many loaves do you have? We arrive at the high point of this story. When seven loaves and a few small fish get in the hands of Jesus Christ. Everything changes. Seven loaves and a few small fish in the disciples hands, only a few people can be fed. But when they cross over to the hands of Jesus. It's time for a meal. It's time for the entire crowd to get fed. Everything has been building to this point, the large crowd, Jesus' compassion to feed the hungry people, Jesus' compassion to not send the people away, Jesus' compassion forcing the disciples into action, the disciples inability to meet the need Jesus asking him what they have, the disciples respond, seven loads and a few small fish brings us to verses six through nine. The first six, after hearing what the disciples have, the conversation between Jesus and the disciples comes to an end. And Jesus speaks to the crowd. He says to this crowd, sit down on the ground. All the attention. Is now focused. On the one in whom it says in Matthew 317, God, the father would say, this is my son whom I love with him, I am well pleased. The attention is focused on the one in whom Peter would say in a few verses after this story, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. The attention is now on the one in whom it says in John one twenty nine, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The intention is on the one that says in John eight fifty eight. Before Abraham was born, I am. The attention is on the one who said, I am the light of the world. All the attention is now on the one in whom Thomas would say, my Lord and my God. The star of this story is not the 4000. It is not the seven loaves and fish. The star of this story is Jesus Christ. Jesus is rightly the center of attention at this moment, not the disciples and not the seven loaves and small fish, but Jesus Christ. Both groups are focused and dependent on Jesus Christ. The hungry people are dependent on Jesus Christ to take seven loaves and a few small fish and feed them. The disciples are dependent on Jesus Christ to fulfill his compassion for the people through him. And so the best place in life to be is totally dependent on Jesus Christ. It says in Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. It must be said that whatever causes you to get focused and dependent on Jesus Christ, it may be painful and even trying at times, but those seasons in life cause us to pray and ask others to pray for us. They keep the Bible next to the bed. It enables us to ask people, what good books can you recommend for me to read to help focus on Jesus Christ? It helps us to even go beyond our favorite heroes of the faith, whether that's John Calvin or Jonathan Edwards or Beth Moore or John Piper, Sabini Anwanibele or Sally Clarkson. The best place to be in life is totally dependent on Jesus Christ. And so Jesus takes the loaves and gives thanks or he blesses them. You notice he does not complain about the loaves. He's thankful for what he had. It says in Mark chapter eight, verse six through ten, he broke them and gave them to his disciples and said before the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well. He gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. It says they were satisfied or they were filled. The hunger they had is no more because Jesus chose to meet their need. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. You remember the disciples who had given Jesus the seven loaves and a few small fish are picking up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. They picked up seven large baskets. These are not the small baskets that were used to feed the five thousand. One commentator said that these are the kind of baskets that they used to lower Paul over the wall of Damascus. Huge baskets. We finally learned the number of people in verse 9. It says 4,000. Matthew's account says beside women and children. The burning impression of what took place that day would have stuck with the crowd, but I believe it was ultimately intended for the disciples to grasp Jesus' deity. His love for people and how dependent they were for Jesus Christ to work through them. Because remember, it was the disciples who distributed the food. Just imagine what is going through their minds as they distribute this food and it keeps going and it keeps going and it keeps going. It was the disciples who picked up the seven basketfuls. We don't know what they did with the leftovers, Matthew and Mark do not say. But what we do know is that the disciples have seven basketfuls of broken pieces that they did not have at first. Seven loaves and a few small fish turned into seven basketfuls. The only reason why they are holding these baskets is because of Jesus Christ. That is the only explanation. There was no other way to explain. It is a miracle that 4,000 plus people are fed with seven loaves and a few small fish. Yet we do not have recorded in Acts or any of the letters the disciples feeding 4,000 people. Jesus was not preparing the disciples to be restaurant managers. That was not his goal. He was preparing them to be fishers of men. And this is a miracle. It is a miracle that points to Jesus being more than just a man. He was the God-man, fully God and perfect man in one body. It was the hypostatic union. These men who were with him for three years were being prepared for post-cross ministry. They were being prepared to take what they had heard, what they had seen with their eyes, what they had looked at, and their hands had touched to the nations. The disciples would be the spokesmen and examples of Jesus Christ to the nations so that many would repent of their sins and live for Jesus in every area of life. Another quote from A.B. Bruce, he says, those on whom so much depended needed to possess very extraordinary qualifications. The mirrors must be finely polished that are designed to reflect the image of Christ. The apostles of the Christian religion must be men of rare spiritual endowment. And they were. The feeding of the 4,000 is a miracle. But an even greater miracle than that is Jesus' plan to use these 12 men minus one. The same men a few verses over in Mark who misunderstand Jesus and argue with one another because they think one of them forgot to bring the bread. It is these faithless, fearful, and wicked to the core men who were chosen to follow Jesus for three years and hear him teach, rebuke, heal, and do miracles. It is these men he entrusted to take the gospel to the nations. That God has chosen to reach unredeemed people by using former unredeemed people who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. My friends, that is a miracle. That is a miracle that God would choose to use you and I to tell someone else that you need to trust in Jesus Christ. That's a miracle. And so Jesus Christ fulfills his compassion by including his disciples in the action. You and I are totally dependent on Christ to display his compassion to our family, to our friends, to our coworkers and neighbors, and especially to this community where you are located. I think we could all agree that just as the community you live in needs Jesus Christ, so does this community. They need Jesus Christ. And so the means that God has chosen to display his compassion is through men and women who have been recipients of his compassion. We can look at other means to use, but the number one way and everything else falls underneath this one. It's people connecting with other people. It is not easy, but we learn from the text what the disciples needed to grasp. And that is that you and I are totally dependent on Christ for his compassion to display itself in our life. So this morning, we've talked about compassion being displayed to other people, but we must not lose sight of the fact that The reason we're here today, the reason we are praying together and praising God, the reason we're learning and the reason we're giving is because we have received the greatest act of compassion known to mankind. The truth is, all of us at one time were in a solitary place. All of us were in a remote place. We were in the wilderness, some deeper than others, but we were there. We had a need we could not fulfill. We needed to be rescued from the wrath of God. And the only way we could be rescued from God's wrath was by God himself. And so Jesus Christ did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. He took the very nature of a servant, put on human flesh and became obedient to death on the cross. His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond any human likeness. And so God demonstrated his love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus Christ met our need by taking the full punishment of God's wrath on himself. And so you and I are recipients of the greatest act of compassion this world will ever know. And so by God's grace, let us take this act of compassion Across the street and to the nations, let's pray. You are the king of glory. Instead of you and Isaiah, holy, holy, holy. In Ephesians, it reminds us that we were chosen before the foundation of the world. Not based on whether we would choose you or not, you didn't look down in history, but you chose to unite us to yourself. You gave us every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. You chose us, as it says in Ephesians, to be holy and blameless. And you did all of this for the praise of your glory. And so you are worthy of all praise and glory. We thank you for pouring out compassion and grace upon us. We thank you that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We thank you that the righteousness from God has appeared. We thank you that because of Jesus' death, we are justified. We are declared legally to be in a right relationship with you, not based upon our works, but based upon the work of Jesus Christ. And so we thank you. And so we ask, dear Father, that you give us strength to take the message of the gospel, that we would live it out in our lives, and we would speak it with great clarity and boldness. For this we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.