“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.” (Mark 6:34 ESV)
Jesus’ feeding of the 5000 recalls God’s miraculous provision of food to Israel in the wilderness. Jesus is, however, much greater than Moses. The manna the Lord gave in the wilderness was sufficient for each day only, but the bread with which Jesus fed the people was more than what was needed. The disciples collected the fragments into twelve baskets which reveals both the great abundance and the magnitude of the miracle; they end with far more than they began.
Psalm 23 also applies in this account of the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus has compassion on the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd. The principal task of a shepherd is to bring sheep to food and water. Jesus is not like worthless shepherds who do not care that the people are perishing but is the true shepherd who feeds his sheep so that they may “not be in want.” They do not get a cracker crumb or two but a full serving, which completely satiates their hunger.
A Shepherd is someone who stays with his sheep at all cost, guiding, protecting, and walking with them through the fields. He’s not just a person who raises sheep. They lead sheep to food and water and are ever mindful of the sheep’s condition. They gather lambs that cannot keep up in their arms. They seek out lost sheep; and when they find them, they carry them back to the fold on their shoulders. They guard against predators and thieves. It is a dirty and hard job, not a position of rank and superiority.
Jesus saw His people as lost sheep, needy, looking for comfort, and hope. Their shepherds were the scribes and Pharisees, the teachers and mediators of God’s Law and of His grace. They administered the system of sacrifices which was supposed to be the means through which God demonstrated His mercy and granted forgiveness for sin. Yet these religious rulers were not fulfilling their calling. They were laying burdens of laws and rules that none could easily fulfill if at all, thereby denying people access to God and His love while at the same time living in luxury and pride at the expense of the ones they were supposed to serve. They were not shepherding God’s people, leaving them people open to the brutal assaults from the hardships of life in their day, as well as the deceitful temptations of Satan, with little meaning and purpose, with no hope of relief.
Sheep without a shepherd. Is this not an apt description for many in our world today? Many feel beaten up, assaulted by all that is going on. But we who have faith in Jesus are blessed to have for Jesus is our shepherd. He is always with us. Billions wander about in this world with no shepherd to guide them. They ignore the church and the Word of God. They seek for shepherds all over the place: science, academia, the government, the media, celebrities, politicians. They wander around with no firm moral or spiritual guidance The result is chaos.
Jesus told the disciples you give them something to eat. He tells us, His church the same thing. Our calling as Christians is to dispense bread, the bread of life, Jesus, the gospel, God’s grace and truth.