The Miracle of Surrender

Audio Transcript

Let me go ahead and ask you please to take your Bibles and turn back to the book of Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6 will begin in verse 30 this morning.

I probably don’t need to tell you or describe this to you because all of us have experienced this if we’ve lived long enough that there are moments in life when you can’t help but see the gap between what is needed and what you actually have in your hands.

I think of so many scenarios where we see this play out in real life. A single mom at the end of the month with bills stacked on the counter and three or four children asking what’s for dinner. A husband or wife sitting in a quiet house wondering how they’re supposed to go on alone. An employee facing impossible demands at work. A patient hearing a diagnosis that they never expected to hear. Different circumstances, different stories, but it’s that same helpless, sinking realization that what I have is not enough for what I’m facing.

But it’s in those very moments of life, when what is needed is obviously much more than what we possess, that we have the opportunity to see Jesus move in ways that are far beyond our strength or our resources. What we’re going to look at this morning shows us a remarkable example of the power of Jesus to take what is lacking and to make it more than enough.

But I also want to say that while today’s verses are truly extraordinary and astonishing, we won’t actually see the full meaning of them until next Sunday when we look at the response to this miracle. That is when these verses today take on a whole new depth that is so vital for us to grasp. So we’ll sort of do the first part this morning, and God willing, we’ll pick up the second part next Sunday.

Now, as I often try to do, rather than just jumping into these verses, it’s important to know what has led up to this moment in the life of Jesus and in the life of His disciples, because doing so will once again show us the beautiful heart of our Savior. Here’s what has happened since last week when we looked at Jesus raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead and healing the woman who had been suffering for 12 years. This is what has happened since those events. First of all, Jesus made a quick trip back to His hometown of Nazareth, where He was rejected by His own people.

Now that’s a bit of a downer in anybody’s ministry. And if we think that Jesus was impervious to feelings and emotions, we’re dead wrong. We must read the Scriptures and see. He was exposed and subject to everything just as we are. And so He goes back to His hometown and they say, “Yeah, we don’t want You.”

Then He sent His disciples out two by two on their first missionary trip without Him. And while they’re gone, He gets the awful news that His dear friend, John the Baptist, has been beheaded in prison. And by the way, as if that’s not bad enough, he was beheaded in the most humiliating way imaginable. As a bit of a joke in a party. A drunken party.

You know, I must drop this in again, lest we forget, following Jesus does not guarantee a perfect life on this earth.

John the Baptist, no greater man ever born, according to Jesus, spent his short life proclaiming the coming Messiah, pointing people to Jesus, away from himself, was faithful to the end, thrown into prison, began questioning everything, and died as a party favor of having his head removed. Sometimes that’s what serving God looks like. Happy Sunday morning to all of you.

Problem is, we usually only read the first half of Hebrews chapter 11, which is called the Hall of Faith. The great things that God did through many people. Read the second half sometime. Just read it sometime.

So now Jesus has heard this news. John the Baptist is dead. And as He’s grieving that news, His disciples return from their trip and want to tell Him everything that has happened. And during all of this, we see once again that these massive crowds are still constantly flooding to Jesus with needs of every imaginable kind. So that’s the context for what we’re about to step into today, this very familiar passage.

This is much more than just a flannel graph story for Sunday school. Now try to put yourself in the place of Jesus in this moment. Mark chapter 6, verses 30 and 31:

“Then the apostles returned to Jesus and told Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them,” watch this now, this is quite spiritual, it really is, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted or desolate or quiet place and rest a while. For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.”

Now this is the second time we’ve seen that strange phrase. Jesus and His disciples were so busy in ministry, they didn’t have time to eat. Why is that so important? Why is that used as a marker for the busyness of Jesus? Because in that day, as I told you, meals were the central point of love and family and fellowship. You didn’t have the option of pulling up to a drive-thru and grabbing something quick on the go.

Meals were a big deal. And when families and loved ones and friends wanted to fellowship, they did so for hours around a table. And so they’re saying here, Jesus doesn’t even have time for that. He’s so busy. And we saw that this caused such a stir a few weeks ago in one of our messages that they sent people to Jesus to try and set Him straight because they thought He had lost His mind. I mean, who doesn’t eat?

He’s exhausted by the demands of ministry. He’s sad about the death of John, and He and His disciples desperately need to rest.

Verse 32: “So they went away in a boat to a deserted place by themselves.” But, oh boy. “But many people saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.” So Jesus and His disciples arrive at this Motel 6 somewhere way back in the woods somewhere off the beaten path, what is supposed to be a quiet place, but instead they’re met once again by massive crowds and non-stop needs.

Now, how do you think Jesus responded to this? How would you respond? How would I respond? I can tell you I’ve gotten this right sometimes, and I’ve gotten it terribly wrong at other times. Look at this, verse 34. Now remember the context I’ve just painted for you. Jesus is not having a relaxing week, sipping pina coladas on the beach. Think of where He is in His life.

Verse 34, “When Jesus went ashore and saw a large crowd, He was moved with compassion for them.”

“Moved with compassion for them.” Why? “Because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things.” This is extraordinary.

Jesus is trying to get away, but He’s swamped by people again, and yet it says, “when He saw them.” He didn’t say, “Oh, here we go again.” It says, “He was moved with compassion for them.”

Forgive me for just a moment for being quite frank, but this word in the original Greek means intestines or bowels. It’s trying to describe the deepest kind of pain you can have in your gut that is so excruciating you’re doubled over in agony. This is the picture that it’s painting of when Jesus saw. It wasn’t just like, “I guess I better make some time for them.” He saw these people, and it’s like He took a punch to the gut. He was doubled over in agony, hurting for these people.

He was tired. He had gone out there to rest, but when He saw the crowds, He ached inside for how lost and how needy they were.

Do we ache for anybody? Do we double over in pain for any lost person in this world?

As I’ve said, the more we study His life, the more we’re going to see His kind and caring heart for the lost and the hurting. You cannot study the life of Jesus, truly study His life, and walk away hating Him. It’s not possible.

These crowds were often tiring. They were exhausting. They were draining. And yet they were the very reason He came to this earth.

His entire mission is summed up beautifully in Luke chapter 19, verse 10. It says this, “For the Son of Man has come,” it’s a reference to Jesus, “for the Son of Man has come.” Why? “To seek and to save the lost.”

That’s why He came. When He stepped off that boat thinking, “Boy, it’s going to be nice to get some rest,” and looks up and here come these thousands of people over the hills again, He just did a reset and said, “This is why I’m here.”

And as He looked at those people, He saw more than people. He saw lost souls that desperately needed a Savior. He came to seek and to save the lost.

The most important thing Jesus did in all of His ministry is not the miracles. The most important thing He did was to preach the gospel.

Preach the gospel. And that should be the most important thing today for every true church. You’ve heard me preach the gospel in this church hundreds of times in different ways. You know what? I’ve never had one follower of Christ come to me and go, “Hey, it’s getting a bit much with the gospel thing. Could you maybe talk about something else? Let’s talk about some social events, like planting trees for peace or saving the whales or whatever.” All good stuff, that’s all fine.

No one’s ever said that to me. Why? Because once the gospel changes you, you never get tired of it. It is the most important thing.

May we never substitute the gospel in this church for anything else that we think is more appropriate or more cool.

He saw these people, and He describes them as sheep without a shepherd. That’s not a random phrase. He didn’t just make that up. He’s quoting this from all the way back in Numbers chapter 27 when Moses was about to die. And Moses prayed and said, “Lord, please don’t leave these people like sheep without a shepherd.” And yet here we are, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years later, and that’s exactly how Jesus described them because that’s exactly what they were. Their religious leaders, the scribes, the Pharisees, the rabbis, they weren’t true shepherds. They saw themselves as far above the people. They certainly weren’t going to get down into the mess and the mud of people’s lives and help them. That’s what a shepherd does. And this is why again and again throughout Scripture, Jesus is described as the Good Shepherd. By the way, we’ve talked about this as well. Shepherd, not a glorifying term.

You wouldn’t put that on your business card. “Hey, I’m a shepherd. Let’s connect sometime.” This didn’t happen.

And yet Jesus loved this term. He was called the Good Shepherd. He was the shepherd who would leave in the middle of the night in a storm to go out and find one lost sheep. He was the shepherd who would ultimately give His life for the sheep.

These people had never experienced a religious leader like that, ever.

And Jesus looks at them, and in one place it says they were “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” And I can tell you, I’m not a farmer or anything, as you know, but sheep without a shepherd is a nightmare waiting to happen.

Sheep must be led, and I’m talking about us. We must be led. I have a video clip I was going to bring. I couldn’t get it to work for some reason, but in some part of the world, maybe a part like this, it’s showing a man going over to this deep rut in the ground where a sheep has fallen and he’s gotten stuck, and he reaches down and he grabs the sheep, and he works and he pulls the sheep out and sets him up on the ground. Literally, the sheep runs and falls right back in the rut again.

It’s the perfect illustration of human beings. Just dumb animals.

Jesus looked across this sea of faces, and He saw what no one else could see. He saw beyond the crowd. He saw into their hearts. And again, I ask, do we see beyond skin and eyes and hair and clothes and houses and cars and job titles? Do we see people as souls who will live somewhere forever?

When I was growing up, I sometimes, you know, as a little kid would get embarrassed everywhere we went. I mean, they weren’t rude about it or bullyish about it, but just every opportunity they had, my parents would share Christ with people at the gas pump, at the post office. Sometimes I’d be like, “Gee, can I not look weird for one day?” You know, but now I’m older, I get it, the clock’s ticking. I have more, you know, life behind me than I do in front of me. I understand now. They saw people as souls who needed the gospel.

Oh, Jesus knew their earthly struggles. He saw that when He looked at these crowds. He saw some who were wounded by broken relationships. He saw those who were struggling to make ends meet. He looked out at that crowd and saw moms and dads grieving over a wayward child. He even saw the successful ones who looked all polished on the outside, but were still empty and searching for meaning on the inside. He saw all that.

And so it says, He began to teach them. And surely we have to pause and go, “Teach them? They had more important needs than that, didn’t they? Teach them?” This is key here. Why teach them? Because at the end of the day, and this is not dismissing any real needs, but when it’s all said and done, what people need far more than physical or emotional or financial help, they need spiritual help.

These people had religion, but they didn’t have truth.

And it is the truth of God’s Word. When God’s Word is spoken, when God’s Word is taught, when it goes forth, that is what illumines people’s hearts and minds and shows them their need for a Savior and reveals who that Savior is. It’s God’s Word. “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” And so Jesus teaches them.

And as He does, afternoon quickly turns into evening. Verses 35 and 36: “By now it was late in the day, so the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the hour is already late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.'”

Honestly, they get a hard rap for this, but this is perfectly reasonable. A suggestion to make: “Hey, Lord, we’re in this remote place. It’s already late, it’s getting dark. There’s nowhere around here to get food for these people. Send them away so they can go and buy something, and they won’t be hungry.” That was the human response to this need.

But Jesus has a little test for them. Verse 37. Watch this.

“But Jesus answered, ‘You give them something to eat.'”

“You give them something to eat.”

“And they said to Him, ‘Shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?’ But He said to them, ‘How many loaves do you have? Go and see.’ And when they found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.'”

Now when it says loaves here, don’t think of the grocery store shelves. It’s not a loaf, it’s more like, more like a dinner roll, and probably a flat one at that, like pita bread. Five little pieces of that. Now John’s Gospel in this parallel account of these events gives us some more details. He tells us it was Philip who did the math on this. It also tells us that Andrew is the one who went and found a little boy with this bread and fish and brought him to Jesus. So Jesus turns to them and says, “You give them something to eat.”

Do you think if the disciples had had enough faith, they could have given everyone something to eat? Boy, that makes me sit and think a while.

Have there been moments in my life, and this is a rhetorical question because I believe the answer is yes, where God has given me an opportunity to trust Him for far more than you can see, and I’ve said, “I don’t see a way to make that work.” And so I say, “Sorry, Lord, I just can’t believe You in this one.”

Philip runs the math on his abacus or iPhone or whatever he had, his calculator, and he works it out. Smart guy. 200 denarii, eight months’ wages, he says, wouldn’t be enough to buy food for all these people. “Jesus, this is impossible. Can’t be done.”

Jesus says, “Go and see how much you have.” So they go and look, and Andrew brings this boy’s food to Jesus. Now, I want you to see from John’s Gospel how close Andrew came to showing true faith. This whole story could have read differently for us today.

Look quickly at John chapter 6, verses 8 and 9. “One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,” that’s to Jesus, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fish,” if he had only stopped there. But he said, “But what are they among so many?”

Imagine how different this conversation could have sounded if Andrew had said, “Lord, all we found so far is five little pieces of bread and two small fish, but I know You can do a miracle with this just like You did with turning the water into wine at Cana. Remember that, Jesus?” “Yes, I do, Andrew. Do it again.”

But he didn’t say that. He said, “Here’s what we’ve got, but what is this among so many? How far will this go among so many people?” He was walking by sight instead of by faith.

How often do we do the same thing? We look at what we have, we look at the need, we do the math, and we go, “Lord, I’m sorry, there’s just nothing You’re going to be able to do about this. This is too big for You.”

You know, I’m like that father who said, “Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief.” Are you there? I live my life there. Oh, I have more faith now than I did 10 years ago and 20 years ago, for sure. There’s growth, there’s progress, but it’s not fast enough for me. I want, I want to live my life looking at a problem and looking at God and going, “He’s got this.” I don’t even need to pause and hesitate. I know He’s got this.

Verse 39: “Then He commanded them,” the disciples, “to make all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, Jesus blessed it and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to His disciples to set before the people, and He divided the two fish among them all. So they all ate and were filled,” or satisfied, it can be rendered, “and the disciples picked up 12 baskets full of broken pieces of bread and fish.”

Do you understand what a crazy faith we have to believe in Jesus and to believe in this book? What I just read is utter nonsense apart from the power of God.

Now Jesus could have agreed with Andrew. He could have said, “Yeah, you’re right, Andrew. Good call. This isn’t enough. You guys go find some more.” Instead, He took the little that had been given to Him, and He blessed it. Now please, I want you to get this. Jesus blessed what wasn’t enough. He gave thanks and blessed what wasn’t enough.

How often do we say, “Well, as soon as I get this or as soon as this happens, then I’ll give God thanks.”

Jesus took this measly little meal, which would have been barely enough for one grown man, let alone all these thousands of people. He took what wasn’t enough, and He gave thanks for it, and He blessed it.

Is there anything in your life that you’re refusing to give thanks for? Anything in your life that you will not bless because it’s not what you want it to be? It’s not as much as you want it to be. It’s not where you want it to be. It doesn’t look like you want it to.

The little boy gave Jesus what he had. Jesus could have said, “You know, what are you doing with this? Are you mocking Me? This is clearly not enough. This is a joke. Get him out of here.” It’s all he had. Jesus could have put the burden on the boy and said, “Go find some more. Make yourself useful.” He just brought what he had.

And even though it wasn’t enough in his hands, it was more than enough in the hands of Jesus. And Jesus blessed it, He broke it, and He gave it. And as He gave it to the disciples and they gave it to the people, it kept multiplying and multiplying until everyone ate and was filled.

I don’t have time to get into this. You can dig into it on your own, but I suppose this could really be labeled a miracle of creation. God is creating abundance out of nothing. I mean, if you break one of those little buns or loaves, crackers in half, you don’t have any more. And yet when He broke it, He was creating more. Ex nihilo is the Latin word, out of nothing.

How many people are we talking about here? Well, Matthew, in his version of this, says there were 5,000 men besides women and children. Now that’s offensive to us today, and it should be, but women weren’t counted in that day for much of anything. It was quite horrible. And so the normal practice would be, “How many people we got?” “5,000 men.” And the women and children are there like, “Oh, thanks.”

Conservative estimate would be 10,000 people. Most scholars and historians double that. I don’t know, 10,000 people? Look, 5,000 is plenty. Why do we need to tack on numbers and try to make this something? Obviously it was more than 5,000 or Matthew wouldn’t have said 5,000 men besides women and children. But even 5,000 is impossible.

Now John also points out, you know, you go, “Where’d these people come from?” John points out in his narrative of this that the Passover was near. What does that mean? Why is that important? Well, every year at Passover, hundreds of thousands of people traveled from all over the known world to Jerusalem. All the roads that led into Jerusalem were crowded.

Not Edersheim. Who is it? Josephus estimates that when he was alive one Passover, there were two to three million visitors in Jerusalem. I don’t know if that’s correct, but again, take the smallest number. And so why would John drop that in here in this narrative of feeding the 5,000? I think it’s important. It could mean that as these hundreds of thousands of people are packing the roads, traveling to Jerusalem at this time, that word spreads in that part where Jesus is.

“Hey, the miracle worker. You remember the one who upset Passover last year?” “Yeah, I remember that. I was there. I saw Him turn those tables over.” “He’s back?” “Yeah, He’s right over there, just like a mile over that hill.” And I would imagine that crowds of people temporarily abandoned their trip to Jerusalem and said, “Come on, kids, let’s go see the miracle worker.”

And now you’ve got these thousands of people thronging around Jesus. He’s been teaching them into the evening. They’re hungry. And He performs this miracle from the meager offering that was given. He multiplies it. Not only did it feed thousands of people, but there was so much left over that it filled up 12 baskets.

12 disciples. 12 baskets. So every disciple who had doubted, every disciple who had questioned, every disciple who said this was impossible was forced to walk away carrying a basket full of evidence. That’s pretty cool.

Evidence that Jesus is more than enough. Oh, they would need this lesson in a few years. Evidence that Jesus can take what is lacking and multiply it beyond anything we could imagine. See, this miracle wasn’t just for the crowd. It was for the disciples. In fact, I think first and foremost, it was probably for them. Jesus is in the process of training them. He’s about halfway through His ministry now at this point. He’s training them. He knows He’s going to be leaving. And so He’s putting them through the paces. He just sent them out on their first missionary trip. They’ve come back and they’re reporting to Him, and now all along the way He’s teaching them. He’s teaching them, giving them opportunities to grow in their faith. This was a vivid reminder for these disciples that the One who fed thousands could certainly take care of 12.

And the same is true today. I don’t mean to sound cliche-ish, but I must say, Jesus still specializes in taking what is insufficient and making it more than enough to meet the need. When our resources come to an end, His power is only just beginning.

Why do you think the New Testament says, “It’s in my weakness that He is made strong”? If I can do everything myself, I don’t really need Jesus in my life, do I? It’s like that doctor my mom witnessed to one time. She said, “Well, I don’t know what we do without Jesus. Do you?” And he said, “Yeah, He comes in handy once in a while.”

Let me start to wind this down by sharing, oh my goodness, so many personal examples from our family over the years on the mission field. I’ll share one that is very close to home here. When we started this church, we met down at the other end of the building, the far end down there in a small room. It’s all we could afford.

And we quickly outgrew that space, and we searched all over town, couldn’t find anything that we could afford. And we came down to this end of the building, which was just completely dark and unused, and looked in here, and all of this was offices built out with studs and wiring and the whole thing. This whole room, tiny, I think it was a call center at one point. So just tons of tiny little offices all through here. And we looked at this and began to kind of envision the possibilities of what if we came in and tore all this out and created an auditorium and all of that.

And we started looking at the renovation costs and the time and all that was required to do that. And I mean, it was far beyond our resources.

But everywhere we looked, every time we drove to another place to look, God brought us back here. Kept pointing us to this spot right here. And we ran the math and said, “There’s no way. There’s no way our little group of people is going to be able to pull off these renovations and just all meeting the fire code and all that is insanely expensive.” Y’all enjoy those bathrooms, by the way? They’re very expensive. And the firewall that you can’t see back behind the nursery there, very expensive.

But every time we tried to go somewhere else, God brought us back here. It was obvious to everyone that it was over our heads, but we had to make a decision. So the elders met and talked and prayed, and we all agreed to step out by faith and tackle this project, and many of you were here. You remember the long weeks and Saturdays of gutting this place out.

We took that step of faith, and folks, God has provided our needs every month since. You understand this church is debt-free. Boy, I hope you don’t get in debt. I mean, you know, there are cases where that’s fine, but it’s so nice just to be able to go… Now, we’ve had some close months. I’ve stood right here a couple times and said, “Hey, guys, I’ve just been told we have 48 in our checking account. Just letting you know. All right.” And then we move on to the sermon, and that’s, that’s about it. There have been some close ones, but God has… We took that enormous step of faith, not foolishness, by the way, faith, and God stepped in right behind us, and He has provided every step of the way.

But we never would have seen that happen if we hadn’t brought God the little we had and trusted Him to multiply it. It’s amazing what God can do when we give what we have to Him.

You know, entrusting what we have to God is sometimes like going to a fancy birthday party or shower or something, and you just don’t have much money for a gift, and you walk in with your little gift, and it’s kind of wrapped sort of sloppy, and see all these big fancy things, and you’re just kind of like, “Oh man, I don’t even, I’ll just stick this in my pocket. I’m kind of embarrassed to leave this. This is all I have to give.” We must not think that coming to God is that way.

God doesn’t look to us to supply the need. He looks to us to just bring Him what we have.

When the widow put in, what was it, her two little copper coins? Jesus said she gave more than everybody. And they’re like, “I don’t think that works out quite right in my math.” Jesus goes, “No, she outgave everybody.”

But you need to understand, this miracle didn’t begin until that little boy gave what he had. Five loaves, two fish. Not much in the eyes of the disciples, but more than enough once it was surrendered to Jesus.

Let me close by saying this. This is really important. This, you know, sometimes this sermon, these verses are used to clobber people over the head for giving more money. I’ve seen that done. That’s not what’s happening here today. I’ve never stood up here and asked you for money. Not once. I’ve told you our needs, and I’ve left it at that. This sermon is not about money. If that’s your hang-up, then you deal with that. This is so much bigger than money.

This principle that we’ve seen play out here, what Jesus just did, is more than about food or money or physical needs. Most importantly, it applies to our lives.

When people said, “Hey, Jesus, we want to follow You,” Jesus paused and said, this is in the Pike version, “You sure about that? You sure you want to follow Me?” “Yeah, we want more bread.” And Jesus would say things like, “Unless you’re willing to take up your cross and die, you can’t follow Me.” And the people bolted. Because Jesus wants your life. He wants your life, first and foremost.

So is there any area of your life that you’ve been holding back from God because you’re convinced it’s not enough or it’s not good enough? Your talents, your skills, your time, your service. Maybe you’ve been saying, “Oh boy, what difference could I possibly make?”

I asked that question for a long time before ever saying yes to God to do this. I wrestled for years because, as I told you, I’m the kid who dropped out of public speaking class in high school and said, “I will never do that again as long as I live.” And Jesus called me to this. I’m like, “You got the wrong person. You don’t remember 10th grade? You don’t remember that guy? I’m not that guy.” And so I fought it because everything I do in life I try to do my best. I genuinely try to give my best, like not sloppy or wasted leftovers, and I just couldn’t see this working at all. Y’all scare me still every Sunday up here.

But I remember the point when I finally brought my no public speaking talents to Jesus and said, “Here You go. Take them. It’s not much, but I give it to You.”

Is God calling you in any area to surrender some part of yourself, and you’re going, “I’m just not good enough. What I have is not enough”? The question isn’t whether you have enough. The question is whether you’re willing to give what you do have to the One who is enough.

What might happen through this church if every one of us took this simple message today and prayed about it and said, “Lord, show me one area of my life that I need to turn over to You and trust You with for more.” Because when ordinary lives are placed into the hands of an extraordinary Savior, they become instruments of His power and His provision and His grace. Don’t you want to see that in your life? I do. I want to see 10 times more, 100 times more.

Jesus said, “What do you have? Go and see. Now bring it to Me.”