SPEAKER_01 0:04

Jesus once fed 5,000, but then he did it again for 4,000 more. Was it just a repeat miracle? Or was he revealing something deeper about his heart for those the world overlooks?

SPEAKER_02 0:17

Join me, Pastor Richard, as we continue our journey through the Gospel of Mark.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Today's Gospel reading is taken from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 8, verses 1 to 10. And together we say, Glory to Christ our Saviour. Jesus feeds the 4,000. In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away. And his disciples answered him, How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place? And he asked them, How many loaves do you have? They said, Seven. And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. And they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And they were about 4,000 people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanuta. This is the gospel of Christ.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

This morning I want to speak to you first about Teresa Shija. All right. And if we can have the next slide, thank you. Teresa was known as Singapore's mother, Teresa. Did you know that? And she was born in Guangzhou, China, in 1898. She grew up in extreme poverty. And if you uh you hear her story, there was times she was so hungry and there was nothing to eat, she actually would pluck grass and eat it just to try and have some sense of something in her belly. And after her abusive father had abandoned the family, she, together with her siblings and her mother and her grandmother, they fled. And despite having no formal education, she persevered, she pressed on. And at age 47, she was able to study nursing. Well, quite a journey from someone with no education at all to be able to do that. She eventually made her way to Singapore and she set up the home for the aged and sick. And she continued her work there until age 87. And at that time she was forced to retire. But guess what? She wasn't done. She immediately went on to open the Heart-to-Heart service. And this was a welfare nonprofit that distributed cash allowances and food to needy elderly and families in need right here in Singapore. And she continued this work of compassion even past a hundred years old. Her story wasn't finished. She kept going on. And she attributed, when she was interviewed, she attributed her sacrifice and compassion to her mother, who had sacrificed so many times for her children, even in their state of poverty. So Teresa Xuja, Singapore's mother Teresa, she passed away in 2011, not that long ago, at the age of 113. At the time she was the oldest person to have ever lived in Singapore. Teresa was known for her compassion. But church, in Jesus, we are able to receive a greater divine compassion. We have someone who is able to care for us in a way that no one else can. And this morning, today's message is especially for a few people. God will speak to all of us, but it's especially for a few people. It's for those who have perhaps backslidden or left the church or left the Lord for a time. Today's message is for you. It's also for those who are struggling with same-sex attraction and want to obey and please God. This message is for you this morning. And it's for those who are single and struggling with loneliness. This message is for you. And finally, today's message is especially for those who are caregivers, caring for elderly, caring for those who are long-term in need of health care. This morning, this message is for you. A month and a half ago, uh, Reverend Wei Yi preached on the feeding of the 5,000. And today is on the feeding of the 4,000. Now, have you ever thought to yourself? You don't have to say it out loud, have you ever thought, maybe these are the same account? But the gospel writer Mark, he, you know, he just had a brain lapse. He forgot and he sort of penned it in again, but a little he forgot the numbers too, and uh maybe he just sort of lost track of things. Well, they are not the same account. And how can we know that for sure? Well, it's because Jesus didn't regard it as the same account. See, later on in uh today's passage, in verse 18, Jesus speaking, he says, Do you have eyes but fail to see? And ears but fail to hear? Don't you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? Twelve, they replied. And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls did you pick up? They answered seven. So Jesus clearly says these were two separate accounts. So no, it wasn't Mark having some memory issues. These really were two different events. And so this is the second miracle of mass feeding, and we have to ask why exactly did Jesus perform the same sort of miracle twice, and Mark felt it was important to record them both. Why is that? Why is it in here? The first feeding is found in Mark chapter 6, and I'll just read out a few verses from that account. It says, 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. And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. So in this first account, the feeding of the five thousand, we see that the disciples, they were concerned for the crowd. It's only been one long day in this feeding of the five thousand. They went out to a desolate place, a wilderness place, somewhere very rural, a bit ulu. And it's been a long day, and the disciples say, hey, everyone's hungry. Something needs to be done. But when it comes to today's passage, the crowd has been with Jesus for how long? Anyone? Three days, right? Three days they've been with Jesus. Three days, and they've had nothing to eat. Grab didn't deliver out to the wilderness area. They had nothing. There was no shop to run to. And it's been getting to the point that Jesus is afraid if they start returning home now, some of them are gonna faint on the way. They're not gonna make it. It's been three days without food. Well, Jesus had compassion on them. In this feeding of the 4,000, Jesus had compassion on them. Not the disciples, but Jesus. Why is that? Why is it that the disciples didn't have the compassion, but Jesus did? In fact, we we can get the impression from the text that even when Jesus spoke up about the needs of the crowd, the disciples were still very reluctant. How come, huh? Why? Well, according to the commentators, uh, you know, there's some differences between the accounts. The first crowd that was fed in the wilderness, uh, it was an area near the Sea of Galilee. Okay, and this is significant because that first feeding of the 5,000, it was an area where the people were predominantly Jewish and the disciples were Jewish. But this second crowd that had followed Jesus to a wilderness area was in this area called the Decopolis. All right, that sent ten cities, the Decopolis. And this was a mainly Gentile area. And so I think that why the disciples weren't really concerned in this feeding of the 4,000 is because they weren't really concerned for the Gentiles at this point. Uh they, like most of the Jews at the time, were very ethnocentric. You know what ethnocentric means? No, it means they were focused on their own ethnic group and they felt superior to other groups. Uh many people are ethnocentric. Many. In my own home country, there's you know a clear feeling of superiority to the rest of the world. Uh China is the same. Did you know that? All right. How do we say China in Mandarin? Chongguo. Think of the character. It's the Middle Kingdom. It is the center. China is the center, right? And in fact, some maps, if you look at them, it will place China more or less in the center of the world map. Did you know world maps are not all the same? And so it's very, it's something that is quite common that people can be ethnocentric. And I think that this was the case with uh the disciples here. So why? Why did they feel that way? Well, because of their treasured history. Out of all the nations, God chose Israel to be his chosen people. He chose Abraham, and through Abraham, the beginning of this new nation, and Israel, uh, you know, this was God's beloved. These are the ones all through, they remembered their history. These are the ones that God preserved. And if others wanted to worship God, then they were expected to become Jewish, right? But the Gentiles, well, in their thinking, the Gentiles, that includes us, uh, were not people of God's promise. They simply they weren't so important, not like the Jewish people. And so here, this uh out with this crowd of 4,000 plus women and children in this very Ulu area, they're hungry? Well, they should have thought of that before they came out here. It's not our problem. Uh this this is not really our concern. Can you see how their thinking worked? And there's something else to take note of here. Uh this feeding of the 4,000 was foreshadowed. It was kind of looked towards in the previous chapter. In Mark chapter 7, verse 28, there's this Ciro Phoenician woman, uh, who a Gentile who brought her daughter who was demon-possessed to Jesus, and she begged to cast out the demon. And at first, Jesus he refused, and then he did as she asked. Um, maybe we can read the passage. It says, Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. Uh here he's talking about he came to fulfill all the prophecies that had been given. And so he was first coming to fulfill the prophecies that the Jewish people Israel had received. But she answered him, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs. And he said to her, For this statement, you may go your way. The demon has left your daughter. And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. Does this passage sound a little bit familiar? A little bit. Makes us think of our Holy Communion liturgy, doesn't it? Part of our prayer of humble access. Look, in a sense, this feeding of the 4,000, a primarily Gentile crowd, it was a fulfillment of Jesus having compassion on that Gentile woman. Jesus fed the Gentile crowd bread in the wilderness, and he continues to feed you and I today. We receive his provision by faith with thanksgiving. And so as we look, why is this passage included? Why not just stick with the 5,000? I tell you, the answer is found right here in verse 2 that uh David read for us earlier. I have compassion on the crowd, Jesus said. I have compassion on the crowd. Jesus cares for both the near and the far off. Jesus has compassion for those who are hungry, and that is good news for us this morning. To the religious hypocrites, if you've read your New Testament, you know that Jesus spoke quite harshly to them. He called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs. Beautiful to look out on the outside, but on the inside, unclean and dead, full of dead bones. But to those who hunger, Jesus says, Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He also said, Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you. And to those who are hungry for something spiritual, for something more than the rat race of building a career, something more than chasing comfort and wealth, Jesus today he stands powerful and compassionate. If you're in a difficult place this morning, you're struggling with something, perhaps it's uh again, someone, you're a full-time caregiver now, and it's not something you ever signed up for. It's not anything you expected, but it's where you find yourself. Jesus is powerful and full of compassion even this morning for you. What does it mean to be compassionate? Compassion kind of has three elements that build up to it. The first is empathy. And empathy is the ability to imagine and feel what someone is going through. To imagine and feel what someone is going through. And then sympathy is feelings of concern for that misfortune. Not just I know what you're going through, but I care. I care that you're going through that. And the third, and this is the defining characteristic of compassion, is turning that feeling into tangible support. This is what compassion is. Compassion is to recognize suffering, to feel deeply the distress, and to be compelled to take action. And Jesus, when he looked at the crowd, he had compassion on them. And when he looks at us this morning, my brothers and sisters, he has compassion on you. He cares for you. He cares about your situation. He cares about what you're going through. He sees and he knows. Jesus is ready to feed you today. I don't know if anyone here this morning is hungry, but Jesus is ready to extend compassion. Now, there are those who say we don't need to believe in any concept of God in such a modern age. That we as human beings we should be self-sufficient. You know, look at us, look at all we've done, look at our skyscrapers, look at our medicine, look at our scientific advances, our harnessing of nuclear power, look at our technology. We have self-driving cars, we have AI, we have uh we've made it to the moon, we have rocket ships going up. Do we really still need God? Some people will argue this. And you know what? Sure, humanity has made huge advances in all these areas. But have we been able to make any improvements to our hearts? Have we eradicated greed through our own human power? Have we ceased to grasp for power? Has slavery been eliminated in the world? Is there no more poverty? Have all the wars ceased? Have we learned to be content to be at peace and to care for those who are different from us? To those who say, We don't need a God anymore, this is what the Bible says. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Human pride and the depravity of sin have enslaved us. Romans chapter 3, verse 10 says, There is no one righteous, not even one. It's only in Christ that we can find true freedom. It's only in Christ that we are able to have our hearts changed, to be free from the enslavement to sin. It's only in Christ that we can find freedom to love our God and to love our neighbor. And Jesus is able to feed those who are hungry and to show compassion to those who seek Him. Jesus had compassion on the crowd. Our Savior, Jesus, the Son of God, He's the Savior of power and compassion. And if you are in need of compassion this morning, there is no one better to approach than Jesus. There is no one better. There is no one who is able to show more compassion than him. For Jesus, our compassionate Savior, he is the compassionate Christ. He is the shepherd who weeps over wandering sheep. He is the healer who touches the untouchable. Does anyone need of compassion this morning? His mercy knows no measure. His love knows no limits. His grace has no boundary. I don't know if anyone needs his compassion this morning. When the leper cried out, Jesus reached out. When the blind begged, he restored sight. When the guilty woman trembled, he forgave. Jesus is the balm of Gilead. He is the comforter of those who are crushed in spirit. He is the Savior who stooped from heaven's throne to wash the feet of men. He saw our misery and bore our sin. He felt our pain and carried our cross. And this is our Savior. This is our God.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

We pray that you've been ministered to by the Word of God today. If you'd like to know more about Eastern Christian Church, please visit our website at yccanglican.com. Have a blessed day.