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Scripture Reading: Mark 6:1-56
In the foregoing message we saw that in Mark 6:1-6 the Slave-Savior was despised by the Nazarenes, and that in Mark 6:7-13 He sent out the twelve to preach. We pointed out that just as the twelve preached, cast out demons, and anointed the sick, we today need to preach the gospel, present the truth in order to cast out demons, and minister life to others by anointing them with our testimonies of the experience of Christ. In this message we shall go on to consider Mark 6:14-56, a portion of the Gospel of Mark that covers four matters: the martyrdom of the forerunner of the gospel (Mark 6:14-29), the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6:30-44), the Lord’s walking on the sea (Mark 6:45-52), and the Slave-Savior’s healing everywhere (Mark 6:53-56).
We should not think that if we preach the gospel, present the truth, and minister life, we shall be welcomed. No, like John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, and the disciples, we should expect to be rejected also.
After the Lord was rejected by the Nazarenes, He sent out the twelve. Then after the sending out of the twelve, John the Baptist, the forerunner of the gospel, was martyred. The martyrdom of John the Baptist indicates Satan’s hatred, expressed by the darkness and injustice of the worldly people in power, toward the faithful forerunner of the Slave-Savior.
How did it come to pass that John the Baptist was executed? This execution was carried out at the request of Herodias. Mark 6:17-19 tells us that Herod “had sent and seized John and bound him in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of Philip his brother, because he had married her. For John had said to Herod, It is not lawful for you to have the wife of your brother. And Herodias had it in for him and wanted to kill him, and could not.” John was murdered by the darkness of politics, by the darkness of those who were in power. With Herod there was no justice. Herod had committed fornication with Herodias, the wife of his brother, and this woman hated John the Baptist.
Herod knew that John was a righteous and holy man, and to a certain extent he had regard for him. “Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. And hearing him he was much perplexed, and heard him gladly” (v. 20). It certainly was unjust for this righteous and holy man to be bound in prison.
Verse 21 says that “an opportune day came, when Herod on his birthday made a banquet for his great men and the captains and leading men of Galilee.” During this banquet, the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, pleasing Herod and his guests. Drugged and deceived by her dancing, Herod said to her, “Ask of me whatever you want, and I will give it to you” (v. 22). Following the instructions of her mother, Herodias, she asked for the head of John the Baptist. Therefore, as a result of hatred, darkness, and the indulgence in lust, the righteous and holy forerunner of the gospel was put to death. This is a vivid picture of the rejection by the world of the gospel.
In 4:35—5:43 we have a picture of today’s human society. According to this picture, society is full of rebellion, demons, unclean industry, disease, and death.
In 6:1-29 we see another kind of picture, a picture of rejection, injustice, and hatred toward the gospel and toward those who are handling the gospel. Since this is the situation, we should not expect to be welcomed by the world. We should never expect to be honored or highly regarded. There can be no such thing for those who serve the Lord in the gospel. If we are faithful to the Lord in His ministry, we shall be despised, and we shall suffer rejection, injustice, hatred, and perhaps even martyrdom. However, we should not be disappointed by the world’s rejection and hatred. On the contrary, we should be encouraged by it.
After the forerunner of the gospel was martyred, the Slave-Savior said to His disciples, “Come you yourselves privately to a place in the wilderness and rest a while” (v. 31). In order to rest, “they went away in the boat to a place in the wilderness privately.” Nevertheless, a great crowd followed them. On the one hand, in this chapter we have rejection, hatred, and injustice. On the other hand, the crowd was still following the Lord.
Mark 6:34 says, “And coming out from the boat, He saw a great crowd and had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.” His expression of compassion exhibited the Slave-Savior’s virtue in His humanity, which was carried out by the power of His deity.
When the disciples suggested to the Lord that He send the crowd away, He answered, “You give them something to eat” (vv. 35-37). The Slave-Savior had compassion on the people and wanted to feed them.
We all know that the Lord used five loaves and two fishes to feed the five thousand (vv. 38-42). John 6:9 tells us that these five loaves were barley loaves. In figure, barley typifies the resurrected Christ (Lev. 23:10). Thus the barley loaves signify Christ in resurrection as food to us. The loaves are of the vegetable life, signifying the generating aspect of Christ’s life, but the fishes are of the animal life, signifying the redeeming aspect of Christ’s life. To satisfy our spiritual hunger, we need Christ’s generating life as well as His redeeming life. Both of these aspects are signified by small items — loaves and fishes.
The five loaves and two fishes also indicate that whatever we have of the Lord we need to bring to Him so that it may become a great blessing to many others. The Lord often uses what we offer to Him to provide for the need of others.
We should not look down on our experience and say, “We don’t have much of the Lord. We have not experienced much of Him.” Look at what the Lord can do with five loaves and two fishes. The Lord does not require more than we have. If we give Him what we have, He will bless it. When we present what we have to Him, He will pour out the blessing, bestowing His unlimited blessing on what we present to Him.
Verse 43 says, “And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.” Here we see the result of the Lord’s blessing. This not only displayed the Slave-Savior’s power of deity as the Creator, who calls the things not being as being (Rom. 4:17), but also signified the bountiful and inexhaustible supply of His divine life (Eph. 3:8; Phil. 1:19).
I am burdened that we would be impressed with the pictures in 4:35—5:43 and 6:1-44. We should not be bothered or disappointed by the fact that the number of those in the Lord’s recovery in this country is still rather small. It is our destiny to be despised and rejected. We may even say that God has predestinated us for this. Even the God-man was despised and rejected. If He was rejected, then we should not expect anything different. Furthermore, the Lord’s forerunner, John the Baptist, who was a landmark in history, was imprisoned and martyred. If such a thing could happen to John the Baptist, then we should not expect something better.
We should not be frightened by the fact that it is our destiny to be rejected, hated, imprisoned, and even martyred. Instead of discouraging us from taking the Lord’s way in His recovery, this should encourage us to present what we have to the Lord. We may have only five loaves and two fishes, but we can give this to Him for His blessing. If we give the Lord what we have, He will bestow His blessing on what we offer to Him. The result will be that others will be fed and satisfied, and there will be twelve baskets left over.
No matter how much rejection, hatred, and injustice there may be, we nevertheless have the kingdom life today. In this kingdom life people are healed, nourished, fed, and satisfied, and there is an abundance left over. This is an accurate picture of today’s church life.
The church life is portrayed by the pictures in 4:35—5:43 and 6:1-44. In the first picture we have storms, demons, hogs, disease, and death. Nevertheless, into such a deplorable situation the Slave-Savior comes to subdue the rebellion, cast out the demons, clear up the unclean industry, heal the sickness, and raise the dead. As a result, we all are healed, enlivened, and revived.
According to the second picture, we shall be despised and experience rejection, hatred, injustice, and martyrdom. Nevertheless, even in such a situation the crowd is satisfied. Everyone is fed and made happy. We offer everything we have to the Lord, and then we receive from Him much more than we offered. This is the kingdom life, the church life. We are very much blessed to be in the kingdom life today. Although we seem to lose everything, actually in the Lord we gain everything.
In chapter four of the Gospel of Mark we have the seed of the kingdom. In a previous message we considered the history of the growth and development of this seed. We saw that from God’s point of view the kingdom is the development of Himself as the seed sown into us. But from Satan’s point of view the kingdom is the subduing of rebellion. This is the significance of the record of the subduing of the storm in chapter four coming immediately after the Lord’s teaching concerning the kingdom of God. Then in chapter five we have the demonstration of the kingdom in the Slave-Savior’s casting out demons, clearing up the unclean industry, and healing the death-sickness. By the coming of one Person, Jesus Christ, God incarnate, five categories of negative things are dealt with: rebellion, demons, unclean industry, disease, and death. Praise the Lord for this wonderful picture of the kingdom of God!
A second picture of the kingdom is portrayed in 6:1-44. In this picture we see the attitude of the world toward the Slave-Savior. Valuing those with a high status, the worldly people despise and reject the gospel. In the account of the execution of John the Baptist, we see the darkness and injustice of worldly politics. This is truly a picture of today’s world.
The world despises the gospel and rejects it. However, the Lord Jesus is not disappointed by this. Instead, as the rejected One, He sent out the twelve. Then after the martyrdom of the forerunner of the gospel, the Lord gained the five thousand, fed them, and satisfied them.
After the enemy kills one, the Lord produces five thousand. This has been the history in the Lord’s move throughout the centuries, and I believe this will continue to be repeated among us.
In 6:45-52 we have the record of the Slave-Savior’s walking on the sea. Mark 6:45 and 46 say, “And immediately He constrained His disciples to get into the boat and go before to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. And having said farewell to them, He went away to the mountain to pray.” The Lord prayed in order to fellowship with God, seeking His will and pleasure for His gospel service. The Slave-Savior did not do this gospel service by Himself as one independent of God and according to His own will. Rather, He carried out the gospel service according to God’s will and pleasure by being one with God to fulfill His purpose.
Verse 48 says, “And seeing them distressed in rowing, for the wind was contrary to them, He comes toward them about the fourth watch of the night, walking on the sea; and He would have passed by them.” In 4:38 the Slave-Savior was sleeping in a boat beaten by a windstorm that threatened His followers. Here He is walking on the sea at the same time that His followers are distressed in rowing by the waves of the sea. These incidents indicate that the Slave-Savior, as the Creator and Ruler of the universe (Job 9:8), was not bothered by any circumstances and that He would care for the troubles of His followers in their journey following Him.
When the disciples saw the Lord walking on the sea, they cried out and were troubled. But He said to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not fear! And He went up to them into the boat, and the wind ceased” (v. 50-51). This miracle not only testifies that the Lord is the Creator and Ruler of the heavens and the earth, but also indicates that He cares for the hardships of His followers while they follow Him in the way. When we have the Lord in our boat, the wind ceases. The record of the two miracles recorded in this chapter implies that at the time Christ was being rejected, He and His followers were in the wilderness and on the stormy sea. Nevertheless, He was able to provide for their need and carry them through hardships.
In 6:53-56 we have a brief record of the Slave-Savior’s healing everywhere. He and His disciples crossed over the sea and came to Gennesaret. Immediately the people recognized Him and began to bring to Him those who were ill. Verse 56 says, “And wherever He entered into villages, or into cities, or into the fields, they laid those who were sick in the market places, and entreated Him that they might touch if even the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched Him were healed.” Christ’s garment signifies His righteous deeds, and the fringe signifies the heavenly ruling (Num. 15:38-39). Out of Christ’s heavenly-ruled deeds is the virtue that becomes the healing power. As many as touched Him in this way were healed.
