Mark 6:32-34 Amplified Bible
32 And they went away by themselves in the boat to a secluded place. 33 Many [people] saw them leaving, and recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the [surrounding] cities, and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd [waiting], and He was moved with compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd [lacking guidance]; and He began to teach them many things.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Jesus was tired, and the people were spiritually lost and in danger — “sheep without a shepherd.”
So Jesus gave them what they needed most: “He began teaching them many things.”
From a Christian point of view, saying a “shepherd and teacher” is redundant.
A shepherd teaches by guiding, leading, protecting, correcting, and caring.
Christian, you have a Shepherd and a Teacher.
Jesus had a pattern of slipping away from time to time to rest, refresh himself, and talk with His heavenly Father.
He also encouraged His disciples to take up this same practice in Mark 6, after they had labored in ministry, telling them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31).
Yet on this occasion, just as Jesus and the disciples arrived at their destination to rest, a great crowd formed.
If this crowd was not necessarily unwanted, it was certainly unsought.
There would be no possibility of rest.
But Jesus did not lash out in frustration, seeing these people as an intrusion.
Instead, He “had compassion on them.”
Literally, as the Greek puts it, His bowels churned.
We might say our stomach lurched.
Jesus was stirred to the very core of His being by this crowd.
Why?
“Because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”
Indeed, they may literally have looked like sheep: thousands of people in their light-colored Middle Eastern clothing, scattered against the landscape.
But, more importantly, they were in need of a shepherd for their souls.
They needed help navigating safely through life and securely through death.
Jesus had come to be Shepherd, looking for the lost sheep—looking for you and for me.
Jesus went on to feed the crowd, physically and spiritually, proving Himself to be the Shepherd who makes us lie down in green pastures, leads us beside still waters, and restores our souls (Psalm 23:1-3).
Here is the King inviting people into His kingdom, the Shepherd inviting sheep into His fold.
Where the disciples said, Send them away, Jesus said, Sit them down (Mark 6:36, 39).
This is what Jesus does for us: He sees us, hungry and thirsty, straying and lost, He welcomes us, He has compassion for us, even at the cost of His very own life.
Where else can we find a love so true?
Souls of men, why will ye scatter
Like a crowd of frightened sheep?
Foolish hearts, why will ye wander
From a love so true and deep? [1]
1 Frederick William Faber, “Souls of Men, Why Will Ye Scatter” (1854).
Today, see the leading of your Shepherd not as an imposition on your life but as an act of grace toward you.
If you are confused about your way forward, trust Him to guide you through, in this life and to the next.
When struggling to love others, ask Him to give you His heart of compassion for fellow lost sheep needing a Psalm 23 Shepherd. Christian, you have a Shepherd.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God, the Holy Spirit,
Praying …
Psalm 121 The Message
121 1-2 I look up to the mountains;
does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
3-4 He won’t let you stumble,
your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5-6 God’s your Guardian,
right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
sheltering you from moonstroke.
7-8 God guards you from every evil,
he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
he guards you now, he guards you always.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 