The Compassionate Christ

In Nomine Iesu
St. Mark 6:30-44
July 22, 2018
Proper 11B

Dear saints of our Savior~

Two weeks ago we watched the Savior send off His disciples two by two. The time had come for the Twelve to take their first baby

steps as apostles and ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Still today in the church we send out pastors-to-be for a whole year of vicarage, or internship. Many of you know that I was a vicar at Luther Memorial Chapel in Shorewood under Pastor Wieting. To say that I learned a lot that year would be an understatement. There’s hardly ever a week that goes by to this day where I don’t draw upon my experiences that year. You can only learn so much in the classroom, right? Eventually, you’ve got to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.

Today’s Holy Gospel picks up at the end of vicarage, as the apostles Jesus sent out are returning to their Teacher. They’re excited, energized, and eager to tell Jesus about all of their little adventures—demons exorcised, diseases healed, good news preached and proclaimed. So many stories to tell—successes and failures, joys and sorrows. So Jesus takes them on a little retreat in the wilderness, away from the crowds. It was supposed to be a time to recharge and reflect, to rest and recuperate. So they went off in a boat by themselves.

But the crowd followed them. Somehow, word got out that Jesus and the Twelve were back together again. The crowd grew larger as people ran from their houses with their sandals barely strapped on. They came from all over, a huge sea of humanity, clamoring for Jesus and the Twelve. They were like rock stars, celebrities, heroes. Everyone wanted a piece of them. Plans to rest and recuperate quickly evaporated. There was no escape and no retreat.

We don’t know what the disciples thought about all of this; but we do know what Jesus thought. Jesus saw the crowd, and He had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus wasn’t annoyed or overwhelmed or angry. No, Jesus was filled with compassion. For Jesus, it was literally gut-wrenching to see people so desperate—people so lost and confused—people without a clue. Jesus saw sheep without a shepherd—vulnerable people, people at risk—accidents just waiting to happen.

Have you ever imagined what the Lord must think of our generation today? What must He think of a people who imagine that their own feelings can determine the most basic biological realities of maleness and femaleness? What must the Lord think as He sees our idolatry of celebrity—the ways we glamorize what is evil, and the ways we demonize what is good and decent? What must the Lord think when He looks at this mob of humanity, in the year 2018, that will chase after anything and everything that promises health, wealth, or pleasure?

The answer is “compassion.” He is the compassionate Christ—the One in whose wounds we find our healing and forgiveness. Jesus understood that the crowds chasing Him and His disciples were there for all the wrong reasons. They just wanted a quick fix—a piece of the action—a glimpse of glory—just a few favors. But as Jesus looked deeply into the hearts of that crowd, He saw what no one else could see: the need, the emptiness, the fear, the guilt, the despair that was driving the frenzy. And seeing all that, Jesus had compassion on them.

Beloved in the Lord, Jesus Christ looks at you the same way, with the same compassion. For you don’t always turn to Him as you should. And when you do turn to Him it’s not always for the right reasons or with the right attitude. He sees right into that heart of yours—sees the guilt, the shame, the fear, the despair—all the byproducts of your sin. The Lord Jesus looks upon it all and His reaction is compassion. That’s just how Jesus is. He is the compassionate Christ—our Savior.

But the compassion of the Christ is more than just a feeling. It’s not just that Jesus just feels sorry for you. No, Jesus sees your troubles and He addresses them. He provides what you need. Look at what He did for the “shepherdless” souls that were crowding around Him in today’s text. He began to teach them many things. Don’t overlook that simple sentence. Jesus taught them. He gave them His Words. And He has the words of eternal life—words of Law and Gospel.

And after Jesus fed them with His Word, He miraculously multiplied five loaves and two fish to make a feast for thousands. He showed them that He was their Shepherd. Echoing the 23rd Psalm, Jesus had them sit down in green pastures. And taking the loaves and fish, Jesus looked up to heaven—up to His Father from whom all blessings flow—and He blessed the bread and the fish and had His disciples distribute to the people.

It’s another teachable moment for the Twelve. Jesus has them distribute the miraculously multiplying bread and fish. Jesus is teaching them what it means to serve—to minister. For they would be the church’s first pastors. Jesus was teaching them how it would go. He would be the source; they would do the feeding. He would work the kitchen; they would be the runners and the platers and the waiters and the servers, bringing His food to His people.

This is the compassion of the Christ! And this is the place where that compassion flows into your life. Here He teaches you many things through the preaching and proclamation of His pastors from this pulpit. Here He provides a miraculous meal for you—bread that is His body and wine that is His blood. In the early church the bread and wine for the Sacrament were brought forward as part of the offering. The people brought their bread and wine to Jesus, just as the loaves and fish were brought to Jesus in today’s miracle. Only here the miracle isn’t merely making more bread and more wine. That would be nice. But by the power of His Word, Jesus does something better. He takes our meager bread and wine and makes it precious, priceless, and powerful—makes it His own body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. This is the compassion of the Christ for you.

This miracle—the feeding of the five thousand—is the only one of Jesus’ miracles that you can read about in Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. Not one of the evangelists dared to omit it. There’s something here that’s so fundamental and foundational for those who follow Jesus in faith. Jesus invites us to place our meager and insufficient resources into His hands, and He uses them in miraculous ways—to pour out His compassion on all the lost sheep of this sinful world.

Jesus took five loaves and two fish and fed a crowd of thousands. He takes our bread and wine and feeds us with His own precious body and blood. He takes our ordinary water and washes us in Holy Baptism—forgiving us and making us His own dear children. He takes sinful, ordinary men and gives them to His church as pastors—as undershepherds of the Good Shepherd to serve His people. He takes our dollars and our cents—the dirty cash and quickly-scribbled checks we call the “offering.” And with the wealth we faithfully place into His nail-scarred hands, the Lord does marvelous, miraculous things—supporting missionaries and ministries that span the whole world.

You can trust this Jesus with everything you have and everything you are because compassion is the name of His game. For when the day comes that we depart this life—once again we will simply do what we have always done. We will place what we have into the hands of Jesus, trusting His promises. As we Christians leave this world, we commend our bodies and souls to the compassionate Christ. And we await the magnificent, miraculous result: the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

On Good Friday Jesus bore your sins in His body on the cross. The compassion of Jesus is what led the Lord to His crucifixion cross. You can trust Him with your very worst. You can confess your sins to Him. And in exchange you have His blood-bought forgiveness and righteousness. This is the love of Jesus. This is the compassion of the Christ. And it’s all for sheep like us.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.