To truly understand this manifestation of Jesus' power and goodness, we need to look beyond the miracle and see how Jesus' actions reveal to us His true identity, and how they instruct us to act as His disciples. I have often over-looked Jesus response to the disciples when they bring up the problem of feeding this large group of people. He doesn't mince words when he instructs them, "you give them something to eat." The disciples expected to turn the crowd loose to fend for themselves, and yet Jesus takes the opportunity to teach them that they should concern themselves with the needs of others. Do our attitudes and actions as Jesus' disciples live up to what He has envisioned for us? Jesus' actions when he does obtain a little bit of food are noteworthy. He takes, looks up to heaven, says a blessing, breaks, and then gives. Many of us take, and some of us even look up to heaven and acknowledge God as the giver of our blessings, but how many of us then divide what we have and share it with others? Jesus' teaches us what it means not only to say we are thankful, but also to demonstrate that appreciation through our actions.
This miracle story teaches us something about how we should act as followers of Jesus, but it also reveals something about who Jesus is. The phrase "the good shepherd" is never used by Mark, but Jesus' character- especially when contrasted with that of Herod- identifies Him as such, even if the title is never used. Herod, Israel's supposed leader, is shut up in his palace feasting with the elites, and executing the righteous and innocent like John the Baptist. Jesus however, walks among the people, having compassion on them and seeing to their needs. In Numbers 27 Moses expresses fear that after his death, the Israelites will become as "sheep without a shepherd". In that instance God chooses Joshua to act as Moses successor. Now, centuries later, we see Jesus, whose name is a form of Joshua's name, having compassion on the crowd because they are like "sheep without a shepherd." Moses fears have been realized, and yet God has acted by providing a new, better Joshua to meet both the temporal and eternal needs of His people. In ways that invoke the 23rd Psalm, Jesus makes the people lie down in green pastures (v. 39), and prepares for them a table (v. 41). In the person of Jesus Christ, God has faithfully fulfilled the promise He made to Israel through the prophet Ezekiel:
"For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice."
- Ezekiel 34:11-16
God has indeed come among us as a shepherd, searching us out and rescuing us, making us lie down and feeding us. He calls each one of us to Himself. Do you hear, or better yet do you recognize, the voice of your shepherd?
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